Celebrating La Futura Novia

Day #4: Thursday

Massages, boogie boards and a bachelorette party!

On Thursday morning, many of our group (including Molly, her mom, my mom and Heather) got up and went out on a ziplining adventure. I'm told they had a completely awesome time.

Arturo, Molly's Aunt Kathy, Aunt Debbie (Molly's mom), Heather, my mom and Molly ready for ziplining

(photo stolen from Aunt Debbie)

Heather and my mom

(photo also stolen from Aunt Debbie)

Eric and I, however, opted for sensibility and relaxation. We stayed behind at the hotel, had some breakfast, and then went out on a little souvenir shopping trip at some of the shops down the street. We got all we wanted, including our usual magnet souvenir and a new beach cover-up for me. We then returned to the hotel for the MOST RELAXING MASSAGE EVER. We each got the very appropriately named "relaxation massage," and it was glorious. The massage building was another open-air building, so you could just hear the ocean surf over the relaxing music. The oils smelled divine and there even were beautiful bowls filled with colored water, flowers and candles below the little face hole in the table. So, so relaxing. Ooooh, I want another one. I think this was definitely a better option than ziplining, don't you?

My view during my massage

By the time we had finished our massages, the zipliners had returned. We got our bathing suits on and met them out at the beach.

My mom and Heather relaxing after their adventurous morning

 We are two relaxed people.

We ordered some lunch and while we waited for our food, I decided to finally try my hand at this boogie boarding thing that Molly and others had been so enthusiastic about all week. They just looked like they were having so much fun, that I thought I should give it a shot.

Molly and her aunts in the waves

Looks like fun, no?

And lo and behold, it was awesome! I got the hang of it right away (thanks to some tips from Aunt Debbie) and soon I was a boogie boarding machine. Eric joined me out there too, and we had a great time "racing" in to shore.

Woohoo! We're doing it!

Clearly, I thought it was fun.

Eric and me heading out to catch another wave

Fun stuff.

When we felt we had enjoyed our share of boogie boarding, we returned to our beach chairs and had a delicious lunch (mahi sandwich for me, hamburger for Eric). Then I left Eric on the beach so Heather and I could run across the street and get some supplies (read: champagne) for Molly's bachelorette party that evening!

When we got back to the beach, Eric and I hit the pool. The pool had two water slides, and once again, all the others had been enjoying them all week so we felt it was finally our turn to jump on that bandwagon. We spent some time sliding and socializing with some of Molly's friends who had just arrived that day, and then another volleyball game got underway.

Volleyball! Clockwise from left: Molly's friend Bryce, Eric, Arturo, Chris, Molly and Molly's friend Arasp

Go, Eric!

That night, there was another gorgeous sunset (surprise, surprise)...

Photo taken by my mom!

...but we missed it because we were upstairs getting ready for Molly's last "single girl" night out on the town!

Two girls ready for a bachelorette par-tay

The plan was for everyone to meet on the beach at 7:00, because there was a rumor going around that newly-hatched sea turtles were going to be released to the sea at that time. Well, we all showed up, but the turtles failed to make it. So, we killed some time until 8:00, when everybody (and I mean EVERYBODY) was meeting for dinner. Tons of Arturo's family and friends had arrived that day, and Molly and Arturo requested a big ol' team dinner. We ended up going back to the same restaurant we went to the night before. Okay, not everybody came with us, but we had a huge table. I don't even know how many people were there - 20, maybe? 30? It was a lot.

WARNING

This is where things start to take a turn for the crazy and get a little wild. Dinner kicks things off, then we get into some downright bachelorette craziness. If this sort of thing offends you, please cease and desist reading this post and try back tomorrow!

This was probably our rowdiest dinner yet. Naturally, the 2-for-1 margaritas were flowing, and this time, they were STRONG. I actually wouldn't even call them margaritas, but rather they were 2-for-1 "glasses of tequila disguised as margaritas." In fact, when bringing out my sister's second margarita, our server even told her it was "muy fuerte" (very strong). They knew what they were doing!

My mom, Heather and Chris at dinner

Heather's face just says it all.

Then, they came around with a whistle and the "Mexican Kool-Aid." They tried to start with Chris, but he quickly pointed them in the direction of the bride-to-be. Molly was a champ about it (way to warm up for the bachelorette party!), then they continued on down the line.

Mexican Kool-Aid!

We spent a long time at dinner (thanks to both the abundance of booze and the super large group - have you ever tried to split a check 15 ways?), but by the time we were done, we were all feeling loose and ready to party! Arturo and the boys left us and went off for a party of their own, and we pulled over right outside the restaurant to officially outfit Molly in proper bachelorette wear. What does that mean, exactly? Well in this case, that meant the obligatory veil, a sombrero headband, a sash (hand customized by yours truly to say "Futura Novia" instead of Bride-To-Be), a feather boa, white heart-shaped sunglasses (with matching black ones for the bridal party), and a giant flashing penis straw. The rest of us sported "Team Bride" pins and smaller penis straws. Naturally. (Big thanks to Heather for getting most of the bachelorette goodies!)

Checking out her altered sash

She's almost ready!

Okay, she's definitely ready.

I stole this picture of the group from Zita. Our night is just beginning!

Our first stop was Señor Frog's, which was right next door to the restaurant. We went right in and claimed a nice long table, got the drinks flowing and the dancing started. We started with some more "Mexican Kool-Aid" for Molly and a round of margaritas.

Heather, Zita, Molly and me inside Señor Frog's

Party on, bride!

My mom even came out to celebrate!

Dancing cousins

Before long a guy in a mask (like the movie The Mask) came around and got a conga line started. Naturally, we jumped in and conga-ed all around Señor Frog's, and even out into the parking lot. When we came back in most of the conga-ers (myself excluded) went up on stage for some line dancing (including a naughty hokey pokey).

Conga line! Heather clearly loves it.

The Mask guy

At that point we decided Molly needed a "Yard" of margarita (that totally wasn't even close to an actual yard, but whatever), and then the drinking and dancing continued. Good times.

Love the attitude.

I mean, what can you even say?

Dancing!

Heather sneaking a sip from the "Yard"

Yay, futura novia!

Love these girls

After a while we felt ready to move on, so we bid farewell to Señor Frog's (and my mom, who was ready to call it a night - thanks for hanging out, Mom!) and made our way down the street to another bar called Rumba Caliente. As soon as we walked in they were playing Cotton-Eyed Joe (a favorite of ours since my wedding), so we went crazy. Want to guess what we did at Rumba Caliente for the rest of the night? Drank and danced, naturally.

Crazy girls

 Sisters! (I am totally going to start wearing these sunglasses in real life, just to warn you.)

Love my cousin

Molly, Zita and me! (I'm pretty sure Heather was in there too, but I cut her off. Sorry, Heather.)

We stayed at that bar until closing time, then walked back across the street to the hotel. We weren't quite ready to call it a night, so we went out to the pool to dip our feet in and relax a bit. We sat and chatted and relived the fun evening as we soaked our poor tired dancing feet, and then finally dragged ourselves up to bed at about 4:00 in the morning. What a night!

Cheers to the happy bride-to-be!

Coming up tomorrow: a relaxing day on the beach, followed by a divine dinner on Molly's Wedding Eve!