What was my New Year’s Resolution for 2024? To have more fun! So, in January, I received an invitation in the mail from Mariott to come visit Cancun. I’d never been there before and I’d never taken the kids out of the country either, so I asked them what they thought. Their eyes got big and all three grinned at the idea of a different type of summer trip.
So, the first thing that I needed to think about was getting all of us passports. I drove over to the post office and picked up some applications for the four of us. I took them home and filled them out for each of us. It took me back to when I got my first travel id in college to study abroad in France. I still have it from when I was 20. The old picture of me with my black leather choker and wool sweater made me feel nostalgic. I thought about how excited I was–it was a dream come true. I loved every minute of it. This was fun too! The idea of taking my kids to Mexico felt pretty great.
Anyway, I scheduled two times for me and the kids to get our new passport pictures. The first time,I forgot to bring our birth certificates. We were two minutes away, but the postal worker said I needed to reschedule. The second time we went there she didn’t show up. Luckily, another worker kindly told me that I could go to the State House without an appointment, so we headed over there and it was a piece of cake–much easier and everything went smoothly. One thing that gave me mixed emotions was that my kids’ dad had to be there too to sign off on the kids’ travel documents. It went smoothly and all was well, but I just felt disappointed that this part of my life hadn't worked out for me yet.
Josie and I were sitting on our front steps when the mailman delivered our brand spanking new travel ids. So fun to open up the package and see our crisp new navy blue faux leather bound books. Now we were officially set to go.
So, the night before the trip came and we were all feeling excited and nervous. I printed off a trip list for all three kids and myself to try to stay organized. Bathing suits, check! Sunscreen, check! That’s really all we needed, as I learned later, but we all packed other clothes too. Josie brought her boogie board, but the boys left theirs at home.
We all got up at 3:00 am to make it to the airport by 5:45. A lovely Lift driver picked us up and took us to the airport. We made it there and were greeted warmly by one of Josie’s friend’s moms who worked at the airport. Seeing her eased my nerves as we took off our shoes and loaded up our bags on the conveyor belt to be scanned before we got to our gate. Nothing like a kind airport worker; it happened to us both ways! It makes all the difference!
So, our flight there was perfect. We all got to sit together and it was a direct flight. When we landed, I said a prayer to have a nice experience to the hotel and it happened. Marriott emailed me a few weeks before with what to expect at the Mexican airport including pictures of drivers who would pick us up. They warned us to ignore and don’t shake hands with anyone at the airport who may ask us if we needed a ride. That made me nervous, but there was a lady with a nice face who was walking our way and directed us straight to our driver. I’d never been so relieved. I just wanted to keep us safe while we headed to our destination, and we didn’t have a single problem.
So, I did have one snafu, which was I forgot to bring a major credit card. Whew, did I learn from that experience! That is the one thing I didn’t check off on my list and it will be the very first thing that I check on our next trip!
Our driver for our trip to the hotel was very friendly. He chatted with us and pointed out different sights along the way. He helped us with our bags when we arrived. Everything about our hotel, which was called, Westin Lagunamar, was perfect. As soon as we got there, the kids and I threw on our suits and headed straight to the water. There were two huge infinity pools with lounge chairs neatly lined around the perimeter and more under wooden trellises –plenty of places to relax. There were more lounge chairs right on the beach with thatched roof umbrellas for lots of nice shade in that hot sun. Along the side, by the stairs to the beach was a beautiful, large round indigo blue tiled jacuzzi and a swim up bar to boot.
The first morning we were there, we explored the grounds. We had brunch at one of their restaurants. The feeling I had with the kids was pure relaxation. We all took in the view and ate our pancakes with Nutella and felt really lucky. After breakfast we booked it back to our room and threw on our suits and headed to the water. We all lounged on our chairs and swam around both infinity pools and had a great time. That night we ate pizza by the pool and just enjoyed ourselves. There were one or two iguanas walking around on the grounds and what looked like huge aloe plants here and there as part of the landscaping.
The staff was friendly and helpful. Every morning, when I went to the pool the concierge would greet me with a “Andi!” and would wave me down to a certain chair close to the front row. By the second to last day, I had made it to the front row. He would arrange the towels on the lounge chair for me. He’d smooth out a long towel for me to lay on and roll up a second towel and tuck it under the top for a cushion for my head. The second day, I learned you have to get up bright and early if you want a good seat with a view of the ocean, so from then on, I was pool-side by 7:30. I’m an early riser anyway, so laying by the pool that early was still so relaxing.
My beach read of choice was the latest Elin Hildebrand book, Swan Song, that I bought because it was autographed. The kids and I would have breakfast on our little balcony and come back from the pool and beach for sandwiches at lunchtime. One of the awesome concierges gave the boys boogie boards to use, so all three kids surfed the beautiful brilliant blue waves while I watched feeling grateful and happy to have this fantastic experience with my kids. We explored the restaurants at the hotel each night for dinner and then walked along the beach or on the grounds including to take a look at a fenced off area that had maybe forty to fifty mounds filled with sea turtle eggs.
One morning, I saw a lady looking at silver jewelry on the beach that a man had displayed in a wooden box. I walked over with the kids and we ended up getting our souvenirs for the trip. I got a jewelry set with a silver starfish necklace, a chunky silver band ring and dangly earrings, the boys each got a chain and Josie got a starfish ring–perfect to remember this great trip.
The morning we had to head back to the airport, I wandered down to the pool one last time and the pool concierge called my name and fixed the lounge chair for me even though I just had my traveling clothes on. Such a great way to end the trip. I looked out at the beautiful ocean and blew it a kiss hoping to one day return soon.
My beautiful kids and me loving Cancun.
So relaxing…