May 17, 2007

• We’re back … and what a trip! For my mom’s 60th birthday (not until June, but we celebrated early), she treated the entire family to a Mayan Riveria all-inclusive vacation. So first and foremost – Thanks and Happy Birthday, Mom!

  Day 1 … we got up very early for a morning flight and flew into Cancun. We were pretty tired, so we just acquainted ourselves with the resort grounds. We stayed at the Barcelo Caribe … it was huge, much bigger than the all-inclusive we stayed at in Puerto Vallerta last fall.

  

  Day 2 … we spent the day at the resort, which included a kid’s waterslide/park area. The onsite buffet tasted great and there was tons of variety, including tuna sashimi on seafood night! In the afternoon, we went shopping in Playa de Carmen and bought gifts for the neighbor kids watching our birds and Zachary’s twin friends.

  

  

  Day 3 … we took an all-day tour to Ik Kil cenote and Chichen Itza. First stop was Ik Kil. Zachary loved walking in the “dark, dark tunnel” and watching people jump off a ledge into the water – I wish I knew to bring my swimsuit! After that, we went to a Mexican buffet restaurant where we were entertained by mariachi dancers. When we finally got to Chichen Itza, I could tell Zachary was not feeling too great. He seemed miserable, likely due to heat exhaustion. Right after we got back from the tour, Zachary got sick. All night, he felt hot, like he had a fever, although we couldn’t be sure since we did not have a thermometer with us.

   

  

  

  Day 4 … In the morning, Zachary seemed a little better, so we assumed he was on the road the recovering from heat exhaustion. Alice and James went on an adventure tour while the rest of us stayed on the resort again. Sophie, dad, and I went snorkeling and tried out the water trike. Sophie even tried wind sailing, but I think it was too windy for a beginner. Zachary was still tired and didn’t want to eat anything – not even his favorite usually-off-limits sugary cereals. He also refused to drink but a few sips. At the end of the day, he was starting to become less responsive so I called the resort doctor. It turned out Zachary was dehydrated so he was taken to the city hospital in an ambulance van. He had 2 IVs and stayed overnight.

  

  

  

  

  Day 5 … The next morning, it was as if we had a different toddler …  Zachary was bouncing off the walls, acting recovered. We were released from the hospital and hailed a taxi back to the resort. We spent our last afternoon there playing on the beach. James and I kayaked a bit while my parents watched Zachary. Zachary refused to touch the ocean water – and didn’t want me in the water either – but enjoyed playing in the sand. Oh – and both my sisters went scuba diving of Cozumel!

  

  

  Day 6 … we flew home – again an obnoxiously early flight. The worst part was that I either caught what Zachary had or ate something bad. I was so sick on the plane. It was such a miserable experience – thank goodness Zachary was well behaved and my sisters/James took care of all the luggage/carseat. When I got home, I went to sleep and didn’t wake up until the next morning … and I felt much better.

  I’m convinced that going through pregnancy had some non-obvious permeant changes. I used to be very healthy. Since I’ve had Zachary, my stomach is much more sensitive – and I seem prone to food poisoning.  Anyway, I’m bummed we ‘missed’ the second half of the vacation due to illness. The hotel grounds were beautiful, the ocean was very clear, the weather was nice, and the sand felt like velvet … softer than the sand in Bora Bora. I’d like to request a vacation do-over … let’s all go to Hawaii next!

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