My Beamish Brood: Viva La Mexico

In January, Paul and I had the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Mexico with fourteen of our closest friends, all in the vicinity of our tenth anniversaries. Fourteen of our closest friends, you ask? I know, it's hard to believe that we have been blessed with so many great friends. For years now we have shared all of the joys and the difficulties of marriage and family life, and we decided it was about time to celebrate! The idea of a trip together had long been tossed around as a fun possibility, but I never dreamed it would actually come together, much less that all of us would be able to make it! Childcare, time off from work, all the crazy logistics... everything seemed to fall together to make the trip possible. It already seems like a dream, that week on the beach in the sun with my friends. But it was no dream, and I have the photos to prove it! So without further ado, our Pre-Tenth Anniversary Trip to Mexico!

Our flight left before sunrise on a Wednesday in January, and as we packed our gear and our shivering bodies into the car to head to the airport, it was hard to imagine that in mere hours we would be trading our winter jackets for flip-flops. After a quiet and uneventful flight, during which I almost finished an entire book (in one sitting! That hasn't happened since before children!), we disembarked into the Cancun airport. A bus drove us the hour to Playa del Carmen, when we finally got our first glimpse of the resort and the ocean. The ocean! Oh my goodness, I could have stared at the ocean for the whole week straight, it was so beautiful.

The forecast had been predicting a lot of rain for the week, but thankfully we only got poured on a couple of times early on. Then the temperatures started to rise and we spent the majority of the time basking in perfect beach weather. Most of our days had a similar pattern: wake up, eat breakfast, go to the beach all day, take a quick break to grab lunch, stay at the beach until dinner, change for dinner, hang out at the bar in the evening. Paul played a lot of beach volleyball and beach soccer; I preferred to float in the waves and relax with a book. It was almost overwhelming to have so much free time and no little people to entertain... I almost didn't know what to do with myself! There were two pregnant ladies on the trip (would it be a group of Catholic couples without a couple pregnancies?), and we constantly had to be explaining to the bartenders why on Earth we were ordering virgin mojitos at an all-inclusive resort?! When they found out that the combined total of children between the eight couples was twenty-eight, with two on the way, they (and everyone else who overheard) were completely floored.

On Saturday, we changed things up with a Mayan Adventure Tour. I was not at all excited about the prospect of riding an ATV, especially with a long van ride to and from the location. My morning sickness hit me pretty hard mid-week, and I was worried. Thankfully, the adrenaline must have kicked in because I felt great the whole day! The ATV was, to be honest, completely terrifying. Paul will laugh at me for saying that, but I'm not ashamed of my wimpiness. But the rest of the tour was amazing! Ziplining into an above-ground cenote, snorkeling in an underground cave, flying above the jungle on a zipline... so many things I never dreamed I would do.

Before we knew it, we were packing our things and flying home to frigid Minnesota and our waiting children. The trip was incredible, but I was definitely ready to see all of my munchkins. We had sent the boys to Rapid City to stay with Grandma, Grandpa, and Liam. The girls stayed with my parents in Burnsville. But they were all waiting for us when we arrived home! Thanks to our amazing parents for making this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity a reality! We couldn't have done it without you! (Who else would take in our crazy children for a week?!)

Cheers to our first ten years, honey! May there be many decades more!