TByrd: Mazatlan

This year for our annual family trip we went to Mazatlan, Mexico. We had such an incredible time relaxing and spending time together.

A 5am flight meant leaving our house at 3:30am. Yikes! The kids did wonderfully, though, and loved the bag of tricks I brought to keep them busy on the plane. Aiden particularly enjoyed the window clings I brought along.

Finally in Mexico! Sleepy babies on the bus to our resort.

We finally made it! We unpacked and headed to La Palapa, the delicious restaurant at our resort. We enjoyed a fantastic Mexican dinner and watched the sun set. Welcome to paradise!

We spent the majority of our time relaxing! The weather was amazing. Ava absolutely loved playing in the sand and getting it absolutely everywhere. The waves on the shore were very strong, though, and not super safe for the kids. It only took Aiden one time of being knocked over to decide he preferred the pool!

I LOVE this shot of my parents. Giving them the gift of relaxation is so wonderful. I wish we could do it for them more often!

Aiden absolutely loved sitting behind the waterfalls in the pool.

He was also very brave and had a blast going down the water slide on his own. Note the iguana sunbathing on the right. Aiden asked me if it was a statue. I said no, he was real, but that he loved watching Aiden go down the slide. That was all the convincing it took.

Our room was on the top floor of one of the buildings and was literally just feet away from the beach. So Perfect! The two balconies on the top right were ours.

Our balcony was the perfect place for morning milk and coffee.

One of our adventures was to the Mazatlan Aquarium, which actually houses tons of different animals. The kids loved it!

Ava said, "turtle" perfectly for the first time while we were looking at them!

We also spend a day exploring the city. We started at the Public Market. I wish I had pictures of it, but it is an incredibly busy place and we were focused on keeping the kids safe. After that, we headed to a bakery and picked up some doughnuts. We ate them in a plaza where Ava made some new feathered friends!

Grammy and Grandpa took a tour of the city one day. Here are some of their pictures from that adventure.

While we were there, Grammy and Grandpa were generous enough to give Eric and I some date time. One on one time in paradise. Who could ask for more? We enjoyed going out to dinner one night and some long strolls on the beach in the morning.

Grammy and Grandpa snuck away for some alone time every now and then too!

Since we were in Mexico for Halloween, it meant no trick-or-treating for the kids. They didn't mind though because the Great Pumpkin found them and spoiled them rotten!

Aiden was a Mexican wrestler for Halloween with an authentic Mexican wrestling mask straight from the Public Market. He SO excited about the stretchy, glow-in-the-dark skeleton that came with a book from the Great Pumpkin. He named him "Skeletony" and he went everywhere with us for the rest of the trip - even the pool!

Ava reading her new book with Grandpa.

We enjoyed lots of delicious meals at La Palapa. Eric, always wanting to immerse himself in the culture went a little crazy with his ordering one night!