Jeremy, Tanner and Dallin went to Tulum Mexico with my side of the family for Thanksgiving 2020. I made the very tough decision to stay home because of my recent sciatic flare. It was a big bummer, but ultimately the best decision so that I could have a better chance to recover properly.
The boys did great on the travels there, keeping themselves well entertained with Jermey’s camera and their toys.
They arrived in Cancun and stayed the night at a hotel there, enjoying a firework show, the beach and lawn games.
Then they rode with the grandparents to the beautiful mansion villa in Tulum. The place was absolutely gorgeous, right on the beach. The whole home and property was just for our family, complete with chefs, butler and housekeepers. Every meal was cooked fresh in the kitchen for the family. The boys were also so excited to see their baby cousin, Charlotte!
Desha and Craig got in a very scary car crash on the way to the villa. They both fell asleep because they had been traveling all night, Desha was driving. It truly was a miracle that they weren’t hurt at all. They hit signs, drove through trees and cement barriers, windows shattered, etc. Some kind people helped them and once Desha got ahold of Dad and Jeremy, they came to rescue them.
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The kids had so much fun exploring the beach, pool and villa. Charlotte was absolutely adorable. I did video calls with the family throughout the trip. It felt great to watch everything and not feel guilty that I had to lay in bed. I was glad that I wasn’t holding anybody back from having a great time.
Jeremy, Clay, Craig and Deshe went scuba diving off the coast of Cauzmel. Jeremy got a massage while everyone stood in line and then they almost missed each other getting on to the ferry. But all was well. Jeremy and Clay were scuba buddies. They had a great time seeing all kinds of neat creatures along the wall in the ocean. They had fun on the streets eating before the ferry brought them back to the mainland.
The family spent a lot of the vacation time just casually hanging out on the sand, by the pool etc. Grandpa and grandma took the boys kayaking one-on-one while others napped and chilled. Tanya and Clay took turns watching Charlotte and working/relaxing. Jeremy did some work and also lots of play. He read some books and went snorkeling here and there as he pleased, and took the boys with him once or twice. Noone ever had to stress about meal prep or clean up, and just came and went casually whenever they wanted to eat. One morning, Charlotte woke Dallin up because she really wanted to see him and couldn’t wait for him to sleep in. In the evening, the family played some low key card games, and went to bed early. A couple times they played some really fun rounds of sardines to carry on the tradition we started at our big trip in Costa Rica. Dallin really liked having Craig as his buddy for sardines. Also, on one special night, each family group did a little dance performance and then they had a dance party.
One day, Jeremy and the boys went to some Mayan ruins called Coba with the grandparents, Desha and Craig. It was such a neat experience. They rode their bikes all over the acres of ruins and learned a lot of history! Even though I’ve been to Mayan ruins in that area of the Yukatan, I was pretty bummed not to be with them for these activities, but so glad they could have this experience. This was some of the best homeschool field trips they could ever have!!
Charlotte really missed the boys while they were gone and was glad to see them when they came home!
The butler made the kids smoothies and pina colladas every day.
Meanwhile, I was at home trying to recover and also making the effort to offer lessons to my students, since I ended up canceling 3 weeks of lessons with everyone and most people were home for Thanksgiving. For my online voice lesson, I had us lay on the floor to learn about low breathing, which of course was helpful to my back. I also taught piano and a couple classes in the park in an effort to ease back into work. Everyone was very gracious and supportive to let me go easy. The neighbors made food for me becuase they knew I was all alone that week. I also got to enjoy a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner with the Cavey family on our street (Laura, Ben, Owen and Gretchen).
The family continued to have a great time! They all took an adventure together to see the Cenotes of the area. A cenote is an underground river, and you can see them at certain cave openings. Jeremy especially liked this experience. I think this was the one adventure that everyone went on together. The trip was very low key, which I very much appreciated for the kids and for everyone to be able to actually relax and enjoy each other.
The third adventure was to see the ruins at Tulum, which overlooks the ocean! The boys enjoyed this place, too, but got a little tired. Jeremy sparked their interest to buy some souvenirs, and they each found something special with their own money. It was a it overwhelming for them because there were lots of shopkeepers very eager to sell to them (as always at these types of markets) but they were especially aggressive since the tourism traffic was very sparse this whole year. I’m not sure if the boys will want to shop for souvenirs anytime soon.
The last full day of the trip was spent enjoying all the best things at the Villa one last time. It was such an amazing, relaxing time for the family.
I do want to mention that every night the boys got in their private room with Jeremy, Tanner would start stimming and chanting negative self talk and death threats. It was really confusing and disappointing that he would have so much fun and be so content all day and then punch himself and say he’s a bad kid while getting ready for bed and almost up until the moment he fell asleep.
OMG, look how curly Tanner’s hair is!! I love it!
The airport wouldn’t let the boys take home their special konk shell that they found, so it was a sad moment.
This trip is something the boys will remember for their whole life. Beach, water sports, ancient ruins, delicious food, time with aunts, uncles and cousin. Thank you Grandma Nana and Grandpa Papa for taking us on this trip and treating us to such a beautiful place for Thanksgiving!!
