Turmoil in Tulum

One of the adventures we were looking forward to was visiting some of the Mayan ruins in Mexico.  There are a few in the Cancun area.  Will planned a day out seeing one set of ruins in Tulum where the ancient city is perched right on the coast.  

As we drove into the ruin area (a protected park) people started shouting at us, saying we couldn't drive any further.  The GPS was telling us we could.  Will ignored them and drove on.  I had to close my eyes and ignore everything!  We did stop and pay for parking.  Enterprising individuals tried to sell Will a tour package with admission into the park at 500 pesos...actual admission is only 80 pesos.  Will said no to several sales pitches as we made our way into the entrance of the park.  We parked and walked down the street.  As we passed vendors shouted at us to buy their wares.  A few people had animals (snakes, monkeys, etc) they offered to let you hold and charge you for a photo.  It was overwhelming for me.  

We made our way into the ancient city and paid the more reasonable entrance fee.  

 

It was so cool!  The ruins really were right on a cliff over the bright blue ocean.  There were several buildings.  The area was also really crowded.  There were lots of people milling around.  It was hard to enjoy the buildings in peace and quiet.  Colter was not really into it.  I ended up taking him off separately and we looked for iguanas.  Colter ranked us as we spotted more and more.

We managed to meet back up with the rest of the family for some pictures and a little informational tour from Wyatt.  He was the one most engaged with the tour pamphlet.  He discovered what the city was like in its glory days.  He described commerce and social life for us.  Wyatt also pointed out cool carvings.  One was of the defending God, on the winter solstice the sun shines on the feet of the carving.  

Tulum was cool...but it was also hot and crowded.  We all ran out of patience.  We drove into the town of Tulum to find a restaurant to eat lunch at.  Lorien was feeling the most out of patience and decided to stay in the car while we went out to eat.  

The food was really yummy!  I tried ceviche for the very first time, it was good!  We really enjoyed the chips and salsa too.  We ordered a big platter of fish and vegetable and ate our fill.  We all needed the fuel and time to sit.

On the drive through the town we got into some of the residential neighborhoods.  Will said it reminded him of his mission in the Dominican Republic.  The houses were made of whatever people could gather for materials: cinder blocks, sticks, cans, very random stuff.  We also passed a LDS chapel!  

It was interesting to see some ruins and experience a hyper tourist spot as well as the town the tourism supported.  

Adventure in abundance...

Look, if you are ever in the Cancun area of Mexico and get a chance to spend the day at Mexican Disneyland...do it!  Excaret is a theme park company in Mexico.  They have 10 or so parks and most of them are in the Cancun area.  We decided to give the park called Xplor a try.  It went far and beyond our expectations for family fun.  There were 9 zip lines, caves to explore, an underground river, jeeps to drive through the jungle, and food.  We spent some time getting suited up with helmets and wrist bands.  Will indulged me and paid for a picture package.  Xplor has this brilliant system where they read your helmet/wristband numbers and cameras all around the park take your pictures.  At the end of the day you have loads of photographic evidence of your amazing day.  

Our first order of business was a run on the zip lines.  Once you start, you have to go down all nine lines with the last one running you through a waterfall and into a river.  It.  Is.  Wild.  You start out a hundred or so feet in the air, zip down, climb up, and zip down again.  I was terrified.  Thankfully, Lorien and I got to ride together a few times.  Wyatt rode alone, Clare and Adell together a few times, and Will and Colter.  We switched up the order once or twice.  We all had to ride the last line alone...into the water!  The men and women who harnessed you in and out of the lines were absolute professionals.  They speedily clipped us in and out.  They asked us distracting questions when we looked too nervous.  They told us how to be safe and have fun.  It was crazy.  You were harnessed in and flew over the tippy top of the trees.  I hated every second of climbing up and standing on the edge.  I hated every second until three seconds after stepping off the edge.  Those 30-50 seconds of flying over the forest were incredible!  Worth all the nerves and sickness of the moments before.

 

After our first run on the zip lines we took a dip in the river that runs through the caves.  We had to get all the way into the water and swim our way through the caves.  Other than being chilly we had a great time.  There were little fish and lights to see where we were going.  After the caves we were shivering cold.  The day was not hot.  We tried to dry off and warm up.  Lorien went to the car to take a nap.  The rest of us rode the zip lines one more time and got lunch at the cafe.

We also took a drive in the jeeps.  They were really just golf carts with gas engines.  We got to race through the jungle and scream through caves.  I have pictures of that activity too but cannot get them uploaded.  Finally we got Lorien from the car and did the zip lines one last time.  So, so, so, so much fun! I cannot believe I got to do this crazy thing with my family.  I cannot believe I was brave enough to go on the zip lines when I hate heights.  Honestly, I never thought this was something I would get to do or be brave enough to do.  By our very last round on the zip line my nerves were gone and I really enjoyed the rides.

The park closed at 5:00 pm.  We all agreed, it was the most fun we had ever had.  We all congratulated ourselves for our bravery.  We headed back to the condo and ordered pizza for dinner.  This day was the perfect description of adventure for our family.

Oh Mexico

We made it!  After one full day of planes (no trains) and automobiles we arrived at our condo in Mexico.  We stayed south of Cancun near Playa del Carmen right on the ocean.  It was gorgeous and heaven on Earth.  

First thing in the morning all the kids (but Lorien) rounded up their swim gear and headed down to the beach.  They played for hours in the warm water.  Will and I ventured down to see how they were doing and get a little sunscreen on their skin.  I cannot believe how beautiful it is here.  The air is wildly humid but I don't mind!  

 

Will, Adell, Wyatt, and I walked into the little town near our condo for lunch.  We tried to order in Spanish (Will was the only customer with any language experience).  The food was delicious!

For dinner we drove into a taco place in Playa del Carmen.  It was rumored to be the best tacos in all of Mexico.  Having only had tacos in two places in Mexico I can definitely testify these tacos are the best!  We ordered 36 little tacos and ate, and ate, and ate.  The tacos el pastor were our favorite.  We left full and happy!

We can tell already, Mexico is going to be good to us.

A month of little things...in reverse...

January and February have been a bit of a blur.  We've kept our heads down focusing on remote learning and life at home while the nation and world continued in commotion.  Here are a few little high lights from life at home.

We had a mini Super Bowl party with some of our approved pod people.  Uncle Alan and Aunt Heather came over with their kids.  I enjoyed cheering for Tom Brady for the first time in my life.  Now that he doesn't play for New England I can be a fan.

A hundred years ago (or maybe four) Adell made this paper chain of our family members and hung it about our Family Home Evening chart.  Heads up, we never do FHE and this chart is purely ornamental.

This week (February 6th) Adell made a goal of making a new paper family chain using her animation and character skills.  She drew and painted up this darling little set of Andersons.  We all love it!

Will went out to Utah for work again and drove up to Idaho to visit Wyatt.  The went on a snowy hike, ate good food, and threw axes.  There is also apparently a story of Wyatt falling into a leafless bush and getting a stick up his nose.  I don't know all the details.  You will have to ask one of them.  

Colter and Adell are good friends.  I am so thankful for this year they have had to rely on each other as solo playmates.  They fight a lot too...as siblings do...but when they are getting along it seems like a lot of fun.  

Sometimes we spice things up with a couple of kids in our pod.  We do not have a formal pod but we do visit with the same 3-4 families and their kids.  It feels safe...and unstructured.  One of our pod friends has kids Adell and Colter's age.  They are always up for a picnic inside or out.

Colter has become a downright wiz on the rollerblades.  He is fast and confident.  He goes all around our neighborhood by himself or with a family member...mostly alone.  He loves it and I love seeing his blade skills improve.  Rollerblading is his first choice when forced to turn off YouTube and get some physical activity.

And that wraps up the quiet life in the Anderson house right now.  I cannot believe we are close to a year of COVID 19 diminished life.  I keep a little daily journal and it has been spooky to look back on my entries for these days last year.  Knowing now how life was going to change and for how long...seeing how little idea I had of it.  Remarkable.  But I guess plenty of things are that way in life.  Once you move you can look back on your life and mark times you had no idea a big move was coming.  So it goes and so we go!