Ixtapa Island

Let the recaps continue!

Day #2: Tuesday

Beach Day at Ixtapa Island

We decided to schedule an outing for Tuesday, so that morning we all gathered in the lobby to meet up with our transportation for the day. Our guide introduced himself as Juan Lopez, and added a few of us to the open seats in his van while the others took a cab. We all reunited at a dock area, where we would catch a small boat to Ixtapa Island for the day.

Before we hopped on the boat we stopped to check out the TONS OF CROCODILES (and iguanas) in the area. I enjoyed the crocodiles, but I stand firm on my stance that iguanas are not to be trusted.

Crocodiles in natural state!

Piles o' crocodiles

Close-up

He's looking at me. What does he want from me???

When we all had arrived, Juan told us what we were going to do and how our day was going to play out, then we walked down the dock to catch the teeny tiny boat that would take us over to the island. Holy seasickness-waiting-to-happen, batman.

Our group getting instructions from Juan

View on the way to the boat

Eric, me, Zita and Jacob on the boat

When we arrived at the island, Juan led us over to the other side, pointing things out (snorkeling areas, bathrooms, etc.) along the way. Ixtapa Island was very pretty.

View from Ixtapa Island

Cactus!

How badly do you want to live in one of those hammocks?

Juan led us to a little covered restaurant-type area, where there were tables and lounge chairs reserved for us. He gave us our lunch options, then instructed us as to where we could get massages, rent snorkel equipment, etc. (At this point, the rest of the group that came in the van but was not "us" decided to make Juan return them to the mainland, because they had been expecting Ixtapa Island to be their own private island! That was odd.)

Our group wanted to do some snorkeling, so we did that right away. They got us suited up with all the equipment, and our guide (not Juan, a snorkel-specific guide) led us back to the good snorkeling area. The snorkeling was really good - we saw lots of awesome fish, and our guide even grabbed a starfish for us to hold! I was a chicken and didn't want to hold it, but he grabbed my hand and put it on me anyway. It was weird. We also got to feed tortillas to fish! That was awesome; they swarmed all around us. Very cool.

Unfortunately, snorkeling did not quite agree with everyone in our group. Eric and Heather soon returned to shore, feeling a bit seasick. I stayed out quite a bit longer, then started to feel a little queasy and thought I had seen plenty of fish, so I joined them on shore. Zita and a rather seasick Jacob came out next, followed lastly by the die-hards Chris, Molly and Arturo.

Eric and Heather, post-snorkeling

I had fun!

Zita and a not-feeling-so-hot Jacob

Chris

Molly and Arturo. It was Molly's first snorkeling experience, and she loved it!

We all went back to our tables/chairs then, and relaxed for a bit before lunch. At the table next to us, there was this rabbit that I swear was really a small kangaroo, and it was begging for food. I saw it eat a piece of onion! It was interesting. There was also Speedo guy providing spectacular scenery, so that was nice. (Don't worry, he had a fanny pack cover-up. Very modest.)

Bunny kangaroo wants your lunch

Just be glad I didn't take a picture of him laying in front of our table, all spread eagle and such.

Cousins Club with beers and relaxation

Eric!

Before long, it was time for lunch. Our lunch was included with the price of the excursion, and consisted of either guacamole or nachos, fish, rice, salad and a beer (or soda, if you prefer). Naturally, it also came with tortillas, because (as Arturo said) "you can make a taco out of anything."

Guacamole and nachos

Fish, rice and salad

Catching up with each other during lunch

We spent some time after lunch just sitting around and chatting, and before we knew it, it was time to head back to the boat to return to the resort. It was a fun afternoon on Ixtapa Island - I wasn't ready to leave yet!

Walking back to the boat

Arturo, Molly, Jacob and Zita

When we got back to the dock, we spent more time admiring the crocodiles, and some of the group checked out some birds across the street. Then it was back into the bus to head home.

Back on the mainland

Ready for the bus ride back to the resort

When we got back to the resort we went out to the beach to relax for a bit (or play in the waves, for those inclined to do so), then we caught another stunning sunset.

Love it.

How sweet is this picture Eric took?

Sisters with margaritas and a sunset

The old married couple

We then went back to our rooms to prepare for dinner. Another theme of the week was the ever-increasing dinner crowd - as more and more people arrived, our dinner tables got bigger and bigger! That night we only added one: Molly's Aunt Lori. We all went across the street to a restaurant called Chili Beans, where the margaritas were HUGE and 2-for-1. And, if you complained they weren't strong enough, they came by and poured another shot in there for you. My friends, it was magical. That is definitely not something you'll see in New York.

Pretty, pretty drinks

¡Salud!

Heather and Chris became dinner (and margarita) buddies

Kicking that drink up a notch

For dinner I had the house shrimp, which included a tableside flambe! Eric ordered shrimp stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. Yes, seriously, and it was delicious. The food was yummy and the conversation was fun, so we had a great time at dinner!

Preparing my shrimp tableside!

My finished shrimp - it looks weird, but it was rather tasty.

Eric's shrimp stuffed with cheese, wrapped with bacon

At dinner

After dinner (and all those margaritas) we weren't quite ready to call it a night yet, so we all went up to Molly and Arturo's suite for a little afterparty. It was great to spend so much fun time with my cousins! We talked, we laughed, we made faces, we compared stupid human tricks and degrees of flexibility. It was good times.

Zita, Jacob, me, Molly and Heather

I don't know.

I was please to find out that Jacob and Molly are as inflexible as I am, although you can't see that here. Zita is clearly the most flexible, and therefore clearly married into the family.

Ha!

Eventually, the party wound down and we all went our separate ways for the night. Many more people would be arriving the next day, so we needed more rest! It was a great first full day in Mexico!


Coming up next (either tomorrow or Monday, depending on my level of weekend motivation): Various parents arrive, and Eric and I go horseback riding!

¡Bienvenidos a Mexico!

Let the Mexico recaps commence! As I mentioned, I'm going to write one new post per day, and each will cover one day in Mexico. I'm sure I could combine some things or organize it differently, but I just feel like this is the easiest way to keep posts well-organized and a manageable length. Feel free to skim/skip as you like; I won't be offended! But I do hope some of you will enjoy my reliving of our week in beautiful Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo.

Day 1: Monday

We've arrived!

We had a long but surprisingly easy commute to Mexico. Eric and I left for the airport at around 5:00 a.m. (uggghhhh) to catch our 6:30a.m. flight. We went to bed late and neither of us slept very well, probably because we were both worried about oversleeping and missing our flight. We set two different alarm clocks, just in case! But, no need to worry, we were awake in plenty of time. Our flight left on time, although we were flying around storms so there was a LOT of turbulence. We had hoped to sleep on the flight, but between the turbulence and the incessant "the seatbelt sign is on, we're experience turbulence, please be seated" announcements, sleeping really wasn't possible.

We had a plane change in Houston, where we met up with my sister Heather. She arrived in Houston from Tampa about 15 minutes after we got there, so we met her at her gate and all found our new gate together. Once again, our (tiny) flight took off on time. Before we knew it, we could see the coastline and mountains of Mexico out the window! We landed around 2:30 Central time and were super excited about it.

Our first look at Zihuatanejo Bay!

Beautiful mountains

¡Bienvenidos a Mexico! Welcome to Mexico!

After going through customs and getting our bags, we hit up an ATM for some pesos then took a cab to the resort. On the way there, we saw a couple of interesting things - a big pick-up truck with police in the back carrying huge guns, and a dad driving a scooter with the mom on the back, holding a kid on the side of her lap. So apparently the police are serious down there, but the child safety laws are not. Just FYI.

We stayed at the Dorado Pacifico Resort in Ixtapa, which was very nice. It was neat because the lobby was all open-air; there were no doors at the entrance. You walked right in, and there were glass elevators to take you up to your floor. The interior kind of reminded me of the Oberoi, where Eric stayed during his first trip to Mumbai.

El Dorado Pacifico

Looking up inside the hotel

As we were checking in, Molly and Arturo came to meet us. Molly gave us each a welcome bag, which contained all kinds of goodies for the week: a postcard, welcome book, brochures, sunblock, a tiny sombrero, etc. Very cute!

We then made our way up to our room on the 9th floor. The room itself was fairly standard, but the view was great!

Our room

Our view

My favorite part of the room (other than the view): towel animals. Here is our towel animal wearing a festive sombrero (courtesy of our welcome bag!)

We dropped our luggage off and got right down to business: bathing suits on and head to the pool! We met up with Molly, Arturo, Jacob (Molly's brother), Zita (Jacob's wife), and Molly's friend Chris there. We ordered some lunch (shrimp and fish quesadillas) and some beers and got ourselves settled in to life in Mexico.

Cheers to Mexico!

By the pool

Lunch! FYI, everything comes with salsa. Everything.

Yay, Molly!

After relaxing for a while, we went up to Molly and Arturo's suite (which was gorgeous) for a bit, where Molly gave Heather and me part of our bridesmaids' gifts: adorable monogrammed bags stuffed with all kinds of goodies, like bath stuff, notepads, sleep masks, purple flip flops, and sunglasses. We were so spoiled!

We then went down to the beach to catch the sunset. Some of the group played in the waves, but Heather, Eric and I stayed on dry land and just watched. It was really spectacular.

Molly, Jacob and Arturo in the water

Paradise

Eric in the Pacific

Heather watching the sunset

Yay, sunset!

I should mention that stepping into the Pacific Ocean crossed one-fifth of an item off my bucket list: put my toes in all five oceans. The Pacific was a new one for me!

After sunset we went back up to our various rooms to shower and get ready for dinner. Right across the street from the resort is a nice square with tons of restaurants, so we went over there and wandered around until we settled on a restaurant called Maria Bonita. They set up a table for all of us and we settled in with margaritas. Heather was super excited because they brought out a special stand for her purse! How awesome is that? We need those in the States!

¡Salud!

Heather's purse stand

The couple of the week

Me, Zita, Jacob, Arturo, Molly, Chris and Eric. Not pictured: Heather, the photographer!

For dinner, I had the Plato de Mexico, which consisted of tacos, enchiladas, chile relleno, and a quesadilla. Yum. Eric had shrimp fajitas. Also yum.

My Mexican Plate

Eric's shrimp fajitas

It was at dinner that we got our first taste of "Mexican time." Dinners in Mexico were loooooonnnnggg. Everything is slow. It was quite an adjustment from New York, that's for sure. But, we were in good company with good food and good drinks, so who's complaining? (Besides Eric, of course.)

In front of the restaurant after dinner

By the time dinner was over, we were beat. All that traveling really takes a lot out of you, and we had fun plans for the next day. So, we went back up to the room and fell asleep pretty quickly. We had to rest up for Day #2!

Two exhausted people!

Coming up tomorrow: Day #2 on Ixtapa Island! Stay tuned!

The Birthday Boy

 At my cousin's wedding in Mexico!

(photo by my cousin's friend Bryce - he's awesome!)

Today is Eric's 28th Birthday! It's that one day of the year when I can gloat, because for the past four months Eric has been going on and on about how old I am, but now he has "caught up" to me and all his "28 is so ooooolllllllllddddd" talk is backfiring on him. Take that, birthday boy!

But seriously, I am wishing my husband a fabulous birthday. He certainly deserves nothing less. Unfortunately, he has to work today, and it will probably be a long one. I'm hoping he'll get out of work at a decent hour so we can have a nice dinner tonight, but if not, we'll just have to celebrate this weekend. I'm so lucky to have Eric, so I'll make sure we find some quality time to celebrate him this week!

For Eric's 26th and 27th birthdays, I commemorated the day by listing things that I love about him. I figured I would try to continue this tradition this year, with a fresh, new list of 28 things that I love about my husband. So, let's do this:

28 Things I Love About My 28-Year-Old Husband

1. I love that he planned a perfect proposal for me (nearly five years ago already!).
2. I love that he did the "shopping cart" in the dance circle at my cousin's wedding (don't worry, we'll cover that more in depth next week!).
3. I love that he puts the Christmas lights on the tree for me now, and does the "squint test" to make sure there are no dark spots. I can't handle dark spots.
4. I love that we made up a secret high five (at his request).
5. I love that we understand the way each other thinks.
6. I love that he likes to hold my hand when we are just sitting on the couch watching TV.
7. I love that he will stop and dance with me in the street.
8. I love that he has become so interested in taking beautiful pictures.
9. I love that he can solve a Rubiks Cube in under five minutes.
10. I love that he enjoys a nice whiskey and Coke (as do I).
11. I love that he always knows the right thing to say to cheer me up or calm my fears when I'm worried about something.
12. I love that he listens to Christmas music all year-round.
13. I love that he encourages me to step out of my comfort zone and try new things.
14. I love that when he has trouble sleeping, he plays a round of golf in his head.
15. I love that he is so much fun to talk to that I can't go one day without sending him a ton of emails, because there are too many things that I want tell him about and I'm afraid I'll forget them all by the time he gets home.
16. I love that he responds to almost all of my many emails.
17. I love that he watches Dexter with me every week even though it drives him crazy.
18. I love that he loves tulips.
19. I love that even after 12 years together, we're still learning new things about each other. Did you know that he can't bend his left elbow all the way? Me neither, until a week or two ago.
20. I love that he wears his flip flops for as long as he possibly can each fall.
21. I love that when I have a problem I'm trying to figure out, he will talk it through with me as many times as I need.
22. I love that he said my green bean casserole was the best part of Thanksgiving dinner, even though his turkey was clearly the best.
23. I love that he always tells me when my hair looks fancy. The other day he even said I was glamorous!
24. I love that every night before we go to sleep, he tells me if I need anything during the night (glass of water, etc.), to wake him up and he'll get it for me. I would never wake him for that but it's very sweet of him to offer. I believe he really means it.
25. I love the interesting questions he comes up with to ask at the dinner table. Example: if there were a statue being made of you, in what pose would you want it to be?
26. I love that sometimes he drinks Mountain Dew for dessert.
27. I love that he encourages my creativity.
28. I love that he is so dedicated to figuring out the best possible future for our family.

So there you have it. I have now posted 81 unique things I love about Eric on this blog over the course of three years. I don't know how it wouldn't, but in case it doesn't fully come across, Eric is a pretty incredible guy and I'm so lucky to be married to him. He is definitely my favorite.

Happy birthday, my love!