To kick things off, here's the view from our balcony!
Of course, there was lots of time spent at the pool - especially in the lazy river. Lucky for me, since Sean was along, Luke had a brand new friend to play with and I got way more relaxation time laying by the pool. If you know my husband, you know that his amount of energy is seemingly endless. And somehow, on vacation it seems to double. But, I have to say, it's part of his charm :)
Sean and Kim also taught us a new card game, which we became slightly obsessed with. So, we spent a few evenings playing cards on the beach before dinner. Now THAT is the life....
The crew!
Luke is sporting my hat here, but I think it works on him too! Such a stylish man...
Sean and Kim!
We also found a ton of delicious local restaurants. One of our favorite things to do on vacation is find good local restaurants outside of the resort. At this restaurant, I believe Luke got a full fish of some sort, to which he proceeded to eat the eyeball of the fish and spit it out. Apparently it wasn't as edible as he thought it would be...
So, you may remember the view below from last year. We have a favorite breakfast restaurant right on the Nuevo Vallarta Marina called the Estudio Cafe. It's only about a 10 minute walk from the resort and is pretty cool because it's also an art gallery. It has great food and an amazing view. What more could you ask for?
How relaxing does this look, right?
Me and my french toast - my favorite!!
We spent one of our days visiting a small beach town called Sayulita about a half hour north of Nuevo Vallarta. It's a super small town, but I think it was one of our favorite activities. It's known for really great surfing, so we spent a bunch of time jumping in the waves and hanging out on the beach. We ended the day with dinner on the beach and a walk through town where we bought fresh churros for dessert. (The guy selling them made them right in front of us!) And then we took the Mexican bus home, which is always an experience.
Chillin' on the beach!
Me and Luke in Sayulita
On our last day of vacation, we decided to go on a boat excursion. We went with the company we went with last year (Vallarta Adventures) since we had such a good time. This year we did the Marietas tour, which took us to the Marietas islands. They are actually protected, so the islands are just really peaceful and serene. Here we are on the boat!
One of the great things about this tour is that they have a few photographers running around the whole time taking pictures. And at the end of the tour, you can purchase all the photos. So we opted in on the deal since there were four of us, and I'm so glad we did. They got some great shots!
It took about an hour or so on the catamaran to get out to the islands. And I have to say, I had a bad case of motion sickness. So, I was more than ready to jump off the boat and go snorkeling once we got there. I'm usually not a big fan of snorkeling (for some reason, I can't quite figure out how to use the snorkel without getting waterlogged, and I'm slightly afraid of fish). However, I didn't care this time. I just needed to get off that boat!
Snorkeling!
While we were snorkeling, we got to swim to a hidden beach. You can see the arc of the rocks in the photo below. When the tide is low enough, you can swim under and get to this beautiful hidden beach.
Team Mexico!
After we were done snorkeling, they loaded us up on some smaller fishing boats and drove us over to the most beautiful, untouched island. We spent an hour or so exploring and hanging out on the beach.
I bet you can't guess who this is spending all his time jumping waves :)
That's me, sneaking around in the sea caves!
My favorite travel buddy!
So, the photo below cracks me up. The photographer had this idea for the photo. He was actually laying in a tunnel between the rocks on the beach. To me, it resembles an akward Christmas card photo. But, you gotta love it, right?
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Another great part of the trip was that we got to see humpback whales!! It was so awesome!
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And of course, we can't forget to give a shout out to my parents, who let us use their time share yet again - and even bring our friends. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
