Our Trip to Cabo

We've been back from our trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for over a week now and I'm still missing it. It was such a great trip! I was trying to decide if I should do a few separate posts for the trip, but I ended up just keeping it all together. So prepare yourselves for a LOT of pictures!

Departure day, June 6th, did not go as planned unfortunately. First off, we got up to the counter to check in and Janie's name was spelled wrong on her ticket, which caused some problems (silly since she's just a lap child). And then we found out Janie's passport says she's a MALE. I cannot even believe that with everything I went through to get Janie's passport to us in time, they messed it up!!! Thank the high heavens they let us through since it "wasn't a mistake on the airport's part or our part." While we were dealing with all of that we found out our flight had been delayed 2 hours, and as the hours went on there continued to be problems with our flight.

Miss Janie finally decided to just take a nap.

We finally made it onto the plane and sat for a good while. This picture, though, was taken just minutes before they told us all to get off because they couldn't figure out some mechanical issues (can you say de-ja-vu, Hawaii?!)

By now Jen, Jill, and Amy had made it into Phoenix for a layover from Utah and they were about to head on their way to Cabo. It baffled all of our minds that the airline would only allow passengers on who only had carry-ons, which was hardly anyone. Apparently there were lots of open seats :/ So then we waited around for a few more hours before they finally rounded up a plane for all of the rest of us. This is all so fun for those of us with little ones ;) Luckily, Aiden and Janie handled it all very well and we finally made it onto a plane 7 hours later than we were supposed to. Only pro to all of this was that there were lots of open seats. Janie and I had a whole row all to ourselves!

We made it into Cabo around dinner time, so we ate and just took it easy. Amy and Richard found a great house for us all to stay in. I never got a very good picture of it. They did a good job of keeping it pretty private with all of the landscaping.

It was called the Tooker Villa.

Aiden wanted to give the pool a try right away!

Janie's bare bum ;)

Mom serving us all "cocktails" that evening ;)

The next day, Sunday, we all slept in and had an easy-going morning. We headed to Church at 1. I was the hero of the day since I found the ward and got us there ;) ;) LDS Tools is awesome!

On our way :)

We only stayed for Sacrament, and the whole meeting was in Spanish, so we didn't get too much out of it (except for my parents), but it was still fun to experience.

We had all been hearing about Hurricane Andres, and when we got back from Church the rain began. The wind had started earlier in the morning.

Janie taking a nap that afternoon.

And snacking with Aunt Jen a little later.

It's hard to tell, but Amy was sweeping. I joked that she looked like a little housewife with 2 toddlers and a baby on the way :)

After just trying to wait out the hurricane for a few hours, some of us decided to brave it and head to an ocean lookout point. The waves were gigantic!

The gusts of wind had gotten a lot stronger!

At some point in the afternoon the power went out so we gathered and lit all of the candles we could find as it got dark.

I haven't even mentioned that it was my grandma's birthday! My mom picked up a cake and had gifts ready, so we sang to her and ate cake and she opened her gifts by the light of candles ;)

Later on we all gathered in Jen and Amber's room to watch a movie on the laptop.

That night was a little rough. It got really warm in our bedrooms without a/c and it was crazy windy through most of the night. It woke me up multiple times, rattling the windows and sliding door. But around 3 in the morning the power came back on, so we knew the storm was starting to pass.

When we woke up Monday, things were pretty much back to normal! That morning we all headed to a resort for spa treatments. Some of us got facials and others got massages. It was very nice.

All crowded into the tiny elevator.

We got back and played in the pool some.

Grandma and Aiden in their goggles ;)

That evening we had FHE together.

Tuesday was kind of our big beach day.

Headed down.

The only picture I have with my dad at the beach, and it's the back of him ;)

Cutest little beach bum!

Such a good dad.

I decided to join in the fun.

Just chowing on chips with salsa and guac.

Aiden was loving the strawberry daquiri, virgin of course (for all of us, not just him) ;)

Hermanas. Amy was hiding out in the shade with sleeping Janie :)

So I didn't mention, when we went to the spa on Monday, Trent and I took turns watching the kids. While I was in getting my massage, Janie slipped on the stairs and got a giant goose egg on her forehead and a little cut under her nose. Then when we woke up on Tuesday her right eye was practically swollen shut! We think it was from a bug bite. So the poor, sweet thing looked like a total train wreck for a good day and a half or so before her eye opened up again. We all couldn't help but laugh. She was still as sweet as can be..haha.

You can kind of see it all here.

Loving some m&m's :)

Wednesday Aiden was in the pool before most of the rest of the house was even awake yet! He couldn't get enough!

I got a whole sequence of photos of him diving (well, belly flopping) in, but I'll cut it to 3 ;)

Janie was happy to just watch from the side, like Mommy :)

I love that Janie got to know GG (great grandma) so well on this trip :)

Janie got in with the boys.

Richard flew in that afternoon and we were supposed to go zip lining at 3. There were some miscommunications and it didn't end up working out, which ended up being a blessing in disguise. We would've died in the heat!

That evening we had dinner at the Office on the Beach, which a number of different people had recommended. It was fun to eat right in the sand by the ocean.

A mariachi band came and sang Lion King to us :)

My mom reserved us a glass bottom boat for after dinner. None of us thought it would be anything too exciting, but it ended up being really neat! The guide ended up taking us out much further than we thought he would and he taught us a whole bunch of stuff along the way!

A cruise ship.

He showed us how this rock (at the front) looks like Mexico upside down.

So many birds!

That rock in the back is known as the Scooby Doo rock. Do you see it?!

Through this hole you could see the Pacific Ocean on the other side. We were on the Sea of Cortes.

Our guide was telling us a bunch of fun facts and suddenly we looked through the rocks and saw all of these sea lions (hard to see unless you zoom in).

A closer look at the sea lions.

Apparently this rock (below) is the southern most tip of Baja Mexico.

Irish triplets :)

We got home after dark, but hung out by the jacuzzi for a bit.

Thursday morning we went zip lining at 9 and it was hot! So glad it didn't work out on Wednesday for 3 in the afternoon!!

Amy couldn't join in, seeing as she's 7 months pregnant, so she stayed back with our kiddies. Thanks Aunt Amy!

The only picture we got since we couldn't bring our phones along.

We got to go on 7 different zip lines and rappel down at one point (this was optional, only Trent, Amber, and I did it from our family).

That afternoon we spent lots of time in the pool :)

And we ran out of running water :/ We felt like we were getting the full Mexico experience ;) Luckily we called up Manuel and he told us just what to do. There was no one staying next door so he told us how to take their water ;)

Richard made steak that evening and we had a whole smorgasbord trying to make a dent in all of the food we had purchased at the beginning of the week.

Then we went out for paletas, handmade Mexican ice and cream pops with fresh fruit.

So yummy!

Afterward GG earned major points when she let Aiden pick out this Iron Man :)

Then we just had a nice walk on the beach.

We happened to be matching.

On our way back to the house we noticed a crab crawling around in the resort's pool..ha.

Friday Amy booked a yacht for us.

The marina.

They got us all drinks right away and then prepared lunch for us later on.

They took us out to a beach where they anchored for an hour, so that we could snorkel and paddle board.

The guys on the yacht felt like the life jackets were more effective this way..haha.

Richard on the paddle board.

I stayed back on the yacht with Janie since she was getting tired.

And she zonked.

The whole family :)

As we made our way back to the marina we were watching how close these pelicans were eyeing this fishing boat...

...and suddenly a sea lion jumped out of the water onto the boat!

So I actually got on Google to check whether what we were seeing were seals or sea lions in Cabo (I love to have my facts right..haha) and one of the first results that popped up was a video with this exact sea lion! He's a local sea lion named Pancho that jumps on all of the fishing boats to beg for fish!! Funny, huh?!

A little walk around the neighborhood after dinner that evening.

Saturday was our final day and we got to swim with dolphins!

On our way over Aiden made sure Iron Man was under the seat belt as well ;)

They had a list of things that each of us got to do with the dolphin.

First up was the Boogie Push and I was literally the first person to do it. So that was surprising! The dolphin came up behind us and pushed us all the way back to the wall (several yards). Those dolphins have strong beaks!

You can see the dolphin here getting ready to push Amber.

Trent gave her a passionate kiss ;)

I know it's kind of silly to post all of these, but then again, why not?!

My favorite one :)

Hug.

Since Amy's pregnant she wasn't really allowed to actually do the swimming part. To her surprise the trainer 'accidentally' had her do the belly ride. Amy thought she was just hugging the dolphin, but then it took off..haha.

Definitely a neat experience! Aiden (and Janie) had fun watching from the observation area with my grandma. He's still talking about it :)

Afterward a group of us decided to head to the beach one last time.

Everyone went out on the boogie boards and I stayed back to take pictures ;)

That evening we went to dinner by the marina at Solomon's Landing, which Trent had seen featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. After dinner we shopped around some.

Then we headed home and packed for Sunday :(

A final picture with Grandma before heading to the airport. Aiden looks so tall and old here! Trent and I always joke that we think Aiden has a little crush on my mom :)

And one with Aunt Jen.

We made it to the airport and had a little trouble finding where to drop off the rental car. We finally made it to check in and were told we weren't going to make the flight. They told us they have a policy where you need to check in an hour and 10 minutes early and we weren't early enough. We couldn't believe it!! The airport is teeny tiny and we know we could've made it :/ So we got to spend another few hours in the airport :/ My mom and Trent spent like 2 hours on the phone (mostly on hold) trying to get us onto another flight without any hassles.

Janie had time to take a full nap...

...and roam the airport.

I'm pretty sure she waved to all of the airport workers and then some :)

We made it onto a flight and actually still made it home at the same time we would have if everything had worked out as planned. We ended up on a direct flight, instead of one with a layover, so that was good! Kind of a bummer that both travel days (the bookends) were so messed up.

BUT I don't even remember those days when I think back on the trip (only when I'm blogging..haha). I keep telling Trent how much I enjoyed this trip! It was so great! It makes me sad that now that we're all getting older, the whole family is only ALL together a few times a year, if that, anymore. I really loved having everyone in one house again for a whole week :)

Huge shout out to my grandma for making this trip possible for us! We sure love you Gram!