the rest of the trip!!!

February 16
Hanging out in Akumal. Morning snorkel to reacquaint ourselves with the off shore aquarium that is Akumal Bay. the kids loved being back. Keira and Heather kayaked in half moon bay as it was as calm as we had ever seen. Jason spent a few hours in the pool. And we enjoyed chicken and rice by the pool for dinner courtesy of the lunch truck. Jason and keira were also thrilled to meet the new family next door and make friends with the two kids, who were also 4.5 and 7.
February 17
Spent some time at the Playa Caribe pool, Heather kayaked in Half Moon Bay and we went to Akumal beach for a swim. Moved to our new place in Chan Chemuyil, a collection of small homes, mostly holiday homes, mostly but not all expat owned and/or rented. Our house Casa de la Paz was great. It is at the end of the street so flanked on two sides by jungle. It is very nicely decorated, with a living and dining room, kitchen and two bedrooms including a very comfortable king size bed. We had a walled in backyard. Every part of the house and outside walls were brightly coloured. After settling in and saying hi to our (real) geckos on the wall, we went into Chemuyil pueblo which is the real village. It is a lovely town, very well maintained with two parks and lots of kids. The kids loved it. We only learned later that Keira has got a huge gash on her leg from the rusty slide that of course she wouldn't confess to, lest she be stopped from playing.
February 18
Saw a toucan from the backyard this morning.
Walked to Xcacel Beach - first ones there. Way too wavy to even think about taking the kids in the water. We waited until finding a beach attendant and then confirmed that we could go to the cenote. It was so quiet at the beach and we saw big hermit crabs, lots of butterflies and birds, iguanas and squirrels.
Then made our way to Tulum and swam for about three hours in small but fun waves. We also went for ceveche, which I had been dreaming of. Before asking any questions, I ordered the "grande" because really how much fish could be served up for M$120?! The answer is lots and lots of fish can be served up!
February 19
We started out at Akumal beach for snorkeling. Luckily the kids also like it there Then made our way to Xcacel Beach - so beautiful, so wavy. We played in the sea froth for awhile and then had a good long swim in the cenote. We spent some time at home and then walked into Chemuyil. On the way, we found a big cave with a small cenote in it. The kids bounded into the gaping large hole in the earth.
We also met a family from Montana who are staying across the street. Keira invited them over to hang out and it was hilarious. The kids went CRAZY - they were loud and gregarious and totally bonkers. The parents were great and kind of just went with it. Keira invited them to meet her pets...a spider (that she then made shake on its web in the most amazing way) and the birds that she said "just fly over there in our forest."
February 20
It was raining a little this morning so we headed off to you guessed it - a Mayan ruin. This time we headed south of Tulum for about 20 kilometers to the town of Muyil. It was a great ruin and we had it mostly to ourselves. Remarkable features included some areas where Mayan paints in blue, green and red were still visible. The main pyramid was partially restored so we could climb half and then gaze upwards at the local kids who hanging off the very top. The forest was beautiful and bordered the Si'an Kaan biosphere from the opposite end of where we had been earlier in the trip. We did a lovely boardwalk hike through the forest to the end of a laguna that would have linked up to the lagoons where we took our boat tour. It was cool to see such different ecosystems so close together. At the ruins the air was hot and "dryer", 100m further on the air got humid and heavy and the forest turned to jungle.
Then we headed off to Casa Cenote near Tankah Bay. This is actually a series of seven linked lagoons that you can snorkel through. In another great Gass-Lachance adventure, we all plunged in and headed off through the mangroves, spotting little and big fish and blue crabs on the bottom. These cenotes actually link with the huge, world's second longets cave system that is here in the Yucatan so some people were also diving and looking in caves, which really caught the kids imaginations.
Then we took off to Tulum Beach which all of us really love - so beautiful and wavy but not too wavy. We played for hours in the surf. We ran into the family from Montana and played with them too.
February 21
week 3!!!!
We tried a new beach - Xpu-Ha, just north of Akumal. Then we went to the local Chemuyil cenote, Xunaan Ha. It was great - quite large and very beautiful. Super green and clear in the middle with four big caves off the sides. Apparently it connects with Dos Ojos a few kilometers down the road. We all swam and swam. Jason did lots of snorkeling while Keira did lots of diving.
Lunch at home and then back on the road to Tulum Beach. Lots of swimming and an actual beahc walk to view the Tulum ruins from the beach. Pretty spectacular.

February 22
Last (real) day!!!!
I woke this morning and worked really hard to turn sadness at our last day into gratefulness and it more or less worked!!
We headed out early to Akumal Beach. It was very wavy and the red flags were up but Heather and I both did two long snorkels and had some of best turtle time. \the kids played and played. Keira and I went to the village library to do a puzzle. Everyone had lots of treats, included fish and shrimp tacos with mango salsa and home made icecream. We were surprised how quickly time had passed when we left 5 hours later. Then we picked up an Akumal chicken for dinner later and droppe the car off at our house and walked to Xcacel Beach and cenote. Saw anteaters on the path home. had a swim in the chan chemuyil cenote.
Highlights of the trip
1. The sheer joy and enthusiasm of the kids as we undertook new challenges and adventures. Jason remained open minded to doing new things and was rewarded with so much fun. He has been exceedingly positive. A recent repeated conversation was to ask us what our favourite things about Mexico are and then go onto list what his were and they were everything! The list was long! Keira is about the bravest and physically talented 4 year old I know. When she was faced with something that made her nervous (like jumping into Casa Cenote - she was concerned about the depth because of the scuba divers. It was reasonable!!), she would simply say " I just need a few minutes to warm up to this!".
2. Warm sunshine, warm water, beautiful clouds that turned pink at sunrise and sunsets.
3. Lots of sunrises over the ocean.
4. Sleep.
5. Swimming and snorkeling in Akumal as a natural aquarium.
6. Jumping waves at Tulum.
7. Having my kids think that I am really cool because I can speak Spanish.
8. My kids willingness to speak polite words of Spanish to just about everyone they met.
9. Exploring ruins with my family.
10. Lots of family time. Who knew you could enjoy Go Fish so much?

February 23 - Last day! Travel Day!

We got up really early and threw everything into the car. We headed to Puerto Morelos in between Playa del Carmen and Cancun. There is a national reef park there that is great for snorkeling. We arrived in town, took kids to the big central park while I negotiated a snorkeling trip. We all headed out in a small fishing boat to the reef about 200 metres off shore. Jason and I started off first with the guide until he saw a big fish (but not the biggest one of the day) and wanted back in the boat. Keira didn’t like the swimming in the middle of the ocean either but I am happy to report that they waited patiently in the boat while Heather and I snorkeled and saw live conches, lobsters, a big barracuda, many fish and lots of beautiful live coral. We returned to shore an d swam some more and the reluctantly leave the beautiful Caribbean sea, had passionfruit ice cream and tacos and piled into the car for the airport. Minor meltdown at car rental return- extra charges, lots of good Mexican machismo, yuck! But then onto the airport, and a direct ride to Halifax. The kids were so happy to see their grandparents at the airport and recounted them with tales of ant eaters, toucans, armadillos and fish.

February 13, 14 and 15

February 13
This past Sunday, we enjoyed Sunday in Merida, which is a weekly festival. The central part of town closes to traffic and each square has music and dancing and markets. We started at Santa Ana square which had a more alternative markets of handmade crafts (such as lovely soaps), and fundraisers (Keira got a couple of keepsakes from an organization that helps abused animals). We also popped into the Anthropology Museum and were very impressed by the collection of Mayan artifacts, including some very detailed carvings and hieroglyphics. The kids were impressed by all the skulls, illustrating both the Mayan tradition of altering babies skull while they are still young to achieve either a flattened look or an oblique one, and also skulls that had been dredged from the Chichen Itza cenote thus being from sacrificial "participants". Keira's notebook from the museum has two words: "mouse" and "skull".
We then went down towards Santa Lucia square. It was there that I spotted bike rentals for participation in the cycling loop that was set up through town for the morning. Heather and Jason headed off to explore on bike, while Keira and I went for some lunch. We shared some cheese empanadas from a vendor in the square and then the music started up on stage - basically traditional standards such as the rumba and the mambo, and couples quickly filled the front of the stage, in their Sunday best and often coordinated. We enjoyed this and then somehow (as in how did we get talked into this?) went in search of a stuffed animal for Keira. The day before, on every corner in the market, people had been selling Valentine's gifts, including stuffed animals done up in packages with balloons etc. . Once I saw up close what was actually in these packages and how shoddy and potentially dangerous (chemicals etc) their contents were, I made a deal with the devil and took Keira to a department store and got her quite a fancy little stuffed puppy. Despite the fact that she has a lot of stuffies and dolls, you could never say that she doesn't play with them and so that new puppy then got a collar (actually a bracelet) at the other market and has already been to visit three Mayan ruins. He is currently on guard at our front door.
We met back up with Heather and Jason and headed to the main square which was packed with people, vendors (including impressive balloon sellers with a couple of hundred balloons each). We also took a horse and carriage ride through the central part of the city (a good and relatively inexpensive way to rest feet). We had lunch by the plaza and enjoyed the music which changed on a hourly basis. The last performance we enjoyed was a traditional dance troop. Keira was quite impressed by the Mexican dancing. Jason was impressed by the large lime popsicle we got him to keep him occupied (something for everyone right??!!).
February 14
We headed north of Merida to Progresso on the Gulf Coast. This is Merida’s beach area. Progresso was very busy with a cruise ship in. The atmosphere was rather sordid and we were both offended by the tourist behavior towards Mexican women. It was particularly disturbing that as men downed Coronas at 10 a.m. they felt they could make these comments in front of our children as well. We moved on along the Gulf Coast, where there is a thin line of small fishing villages with mammoth holiday homes along the coast. We were on the look out for flamencos but it was out of season. We visited a Mayan ruin at Dzambo where the Mayan produced salt on salt flats and the town next door was a major trading center. Very interesting. Then we looped back and visited Dzibilchaltun, a Major site know for how its major temple aligns with the sunrise on Spring Equinox. It also had a beautiful sacred cenote. After this we went home and enjoyed our beautiful house for one more night.
February 15
We started the day off early. We had mixed feelings about going to Chichen Itza but it a great half way point between Merida and the Coast. We got there early enough to avoid most of the crowds. We were amazed at the numbers coming in at 11 a.m. but the waiter at the restaurant said that while there would be about 2000 people there yesterday, on a busy day there is 20 000!! It is one of the wonders of the world and so much larger than anything we had seen in terms of individual ruins and the entire site. Jason was very keen to go but had mixed feelings upon arrival - crowds (relatively speaking); prohibition on climbing (with so many visitors very understandable); and difficulty in appreciating the entire site at once. However in the end we enjoyed our visit. We actually ate at the restaurant on site (so concerned about tourist restaurants and getting sick but we all seem well 24 hours after).
We are now happily back at Playa Caribe in Akumal. We had planned on spending one week in Merida but early on recognized that we would actually like to squeeze more beach time out of our vacation, given that we are in fact beach bums. We checked back in, Jason got in to the pool for an hour and then we headed to Akumal playa and I went our snorkeling to say hi again to the turtles, fish and rays.

Feb 11-12

Yesterday we welcomed another sunrise over the ocean from our place at cesiak. (Our basic routine has been a very early bed time, like about 7 p.m. - and that included adults for the first few nights- and generally all of us waking before dawn. Hence, lots of amazing sunrises.) Then we packed up and re-entered civilization. We made a quick stop in Tulum and then headed to Punta Laguna, Mayan village inland that has started a tourist cooperative and is working to develop a viable business. It was an amazing. First the drive in, along small country roads, with flocks of green parrots. Then we arrived in the little village and met our guide. We were looking for spider monkeys in the wild, which they have a large colony there. There are also howler monkeys, jaguars, pumas and crocodiles, although on the other side of a beautiful lake. We spotted a monkey early on and were treated with lots of chances to observe monkeys eating, swinging through the trees and to Keira's delight, with baby monkeys on their backs. The jungle was amazing too, with vines, and barb studded trees and many colonies of leaf cutter ants who had created their own highways throughout the jungle. Jason was hotter than I had ever seen him or perhaps anyone. He started to wilt after an hour but stuck close to the guide, recognizing quite rightly that he was the one who could get him out of the jungle safely. Keira had one of her whinier hours ever which was surprising given that she loves animals but the whole expeirence wasn;t working for her. She saw one mama and baby and was done!
After the monkeys, we got back on the road, then took the wrong road and couldn't seem to get on the fast higway so shadowed it along a slow road that passed through several lovely Mayan villages.
We are settled into our rental home in Merida. It is absolutely beautiful. In Merida, lots of people including many expats, restore old houses. Casa Bonita has a main house with 5 rooms, including an amazing bathroom (will post photos someday, not good at describing interior design). The floors are antique and each room has a different pattern and colour. There is a small courtyard, and then the kitchen building, which is the kitchen of my dreams. Bright tiles, screened windows all around, huge 6 burner gas stove (I really want a six burner stove) and a nice big table to gather round. Then there is more courtyard, leading into the grassed backyard around the great pool. There is a lovely garden with banana and papaya trees and cacti. The kids are enjoying it too and discovering various baskets of toys to play with. In typical Gass Lachance style, despite the fact that there are two bedrooms, we are all snuggled into one, warm puppy style.
Today we explored Merida, walking pas a number of major parks and churches to the main plaza and Cathedral. the kids were motivated for this walk becaue we had promised them a pinata each. So we found pinata street in the market, they chose matching burro pinatas and we found a few little things to put in them. (We also found uber cheap Hello Kitty party supplies for Keira's Bday. so what if they are in spanish!!!)We then went to the main market which I think was a great experience for the kids and we loved. Much bustling and bargaining.
We filled and popped the pinata and decided to take advantage of the clouds and light rain and headed to Uxmal, a ruin south of the city. It was really great - larger in scale than we had seen yet on this trip. Despite announcing upon arrival taht she "would watch from her car window", Keira enjoyed exploring. Jason is turning into a junior archaologist and was begging for more unexcavated ruins when we had to leave.
The kids seem to be quite settled into our trip. We expected more whining and homesickness; instead, we are generally pleased with their enthusiasm for everything - churches, ruins, markets, beaches, cenotes and of course, playing. They are both good at greeting and thanking people in Spanish. Keira has developed an obsession with coloured, scented Mexican toilet paper. Jason will likely reveal that he is trilingual by the end of the trip. Heather and I are loving the trip and aren't frustrated (as I had feared) by the family focus of the trip. Instead, their joy is a great experience in itself.

Feb 9-10

We have spent the last two days exploring the Si'an Kaan Biosphere. Yesterday, we enjoyed the large surf with some boogie boards for a couple of hours. We also went to Vistors Centre and toured their small museum. The kids loved the concrete animal park, which involved a flamingo, ant eater and jaguar sharing a small space. There were also models of two manatees, which was great as the kids knew what they were when we saw some today. At the visitors centre and here, we also went and looked at the laguna, which at this point in the biosphere is the major ecosystem.It is a series of lakes with mangrove islands. From the two docks, you could see multitudes of big and small fish in the turquoise water. We also took a drive to the Boca Paila bridge, which marks the point when the road goes from bad to worse.There were a few people fishingoff the bridge, some on the old wooden structure and some on the new (crumbling) structure. We even spotted a crocodile in the water below, which made me slightly nervous about the bridge and its missing guardrails!
Today we started off with a great swim, although the surf just keeps getting bigger which is fun for adults, but slightly crazy for kids. We then returned to the visitors centre (5 km or 30 minutes the first day - it is a very bumpy road) where we met our guide from the local Mayan tourism cooperatuve for a tour on the laguna by boat. We had a fascinating tour. We started out exploring the mangroves and saw many fish and stingrays on the bottom. We passed under the Boca Paila bridge and went to the sea to see how one element enters the brackish laguna environment. Then we visited mangrove islands and rose spoon bills and opreys and numerous other birds. We went to see an underwater cenote which looked very cool and this is how freshwater enters the lagoon environment. It was a 10 m dark blue hole surrounded by the teal coloured laguna. Pastor our guide also showed us a Mayan ruin, that was an place to make offerings when Maya people were travelling to trade between Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. There are at least 25 through the laguna system. It is amazing to think that these structures may have lasted as long as 1000 years in the face of hurricanes, the laguna environment, etc.. Then we travelled over to another cenote and were blessed to see numerous manatees. I had always wanted to see manatees and wasn't sure that I would ever have a chance to in the wild.We also saw a crocodile! (but not near the manatees)
Speaking of things that go bump in the night, I should also report that the kids found two dead scorpions. They reported these findings to the guides, one of whom impressed them by picking up the scorpion, talking about it and then tossing it to a bird.
I am typing in our dark tent by latern. Heather is winding our wind up flashlight. I have enjoyed being by the sea but the lack of electricity and the ensuent moisture level in our tent has resulted in everything being damp for days, including humans. Can't beat the sunrises though. The food has also been awesome and the kids were obviously sick of us feeding them the same old thing and have eaten with gusto.
On to Merida tomorrow....

February 8

It rained overnight and was still gray in the morning. Since we had packed up the night and our plan for the morning involved using the Playa Caribe pool until we had to leave, we needed a new plan. So we headed to the Coba ruins. These ruins are about 40 km inland from Tulum. We had left a little later than we would ideally like to, but still arrived ahead of the masses. To get to one group of ruins at Coba, it is 2-3 kms in the reserve and another km to get to another site (Coba was an early, large Mayan city with many kms of raised Mayan roads). We decided to get two bikes and a bicycle taxi. Jason could not have been happier, biking (without a helmet as marvelled) through the jungle to ruins sites. Coba is only partially excavated even at the major sites so the ruins often have trees growing out of them. Keira was also quite happy in the bicycle taxi. The other three climbed to to the top of the grand pyramid -Keira forgetting her fear of heights until she stopped climbing and looked down. Heather got a greta work out ferrying children down. It was a great experience. After we tried to see the crocodiles in the lake but they weren't there - no sun!!
We drove into Tulum and had lunch which everyone enjoyed (chicken tacos) and a visit to the panaderia. We also visited the san francisco supermarket AGAIn for snacks. As we left the skies opened and a tropical downpour ensued. The kids we a little wide-eyed as we made our way down the road south from Tulum into the Si'an Kaan Biosphere. The road is awful and we were going about 10 km an hour. The potholes filled with water and the palms were dripping. Finally we got to cesiak where it wasn't raining. We unpacked into our tent, had a swim and generally tried to settle into the place.
We are now tucked in for the night in our tent cabin. It is dim but comfortable. Jason is listening to a story on his ipod and Keira is listening to music on her mp 3. She has rejeuvanated after a delicious dinner here at cesiak and has a million questions and some concerns about being in the dark in the middle of the jungle. Bedouin Soundclash seems to be taking away some of her worries as she bounces along. I will leave the last word to her. "Guys is something going on at the ocean?" Just the waves!

Settling in...

It is clear as the days go on that we are settlinginto vacation mode. Despite pleas from the children to go to cenotes and wavy beaches, we have been happy here in Akumal. We finally discovered that if you can stop watching sea turtles and move down the bay, there is an enormous amount of colourful corals and so very many fish. There are some of the largest reef fish that I have ever seen, including one parrotfish that was enormous. There are also lots of rays including eagle rays. We have seen huge groupers too. Heather has also done some good snorkelling in Half Moon Bay which is where we are staying. I find it a combination of too wavy and too shallow, and prefer more water between me and sea animals, huge eagle rays in particular. But Heather has been enjoying exploring. There are actually a large number of turtles which hang out in the surf in front of our hotel so even if one of us is hanging with the kids by the pool, you can still enjoy turtles. Jason has seen 8 turtles and feels that is enough so hasn't done much snorkelling in the last couple of days. In truth, I think he is pretty freaked out by the rays and the groupers. Keira has been refusing to snorkel, with a laissez faire kind of attitude of "seen one turtle, seen them all". Today however she was inspired by the appearance of the underwater camera and went out with Heather to be rewarded with many turtles and rays including a small juvenile ("baby") turtle.
We have been lucky here to be beside a lovely Canadian family with a son almost exactly Keira's age, with a strong interest in Lego and a fun-loving two year old daughter. The kids have had lots of fun playing in the pool, at the beach and going between rooms to establish kids only clubs.
Yesterday, we did make a brief foray to Akumal pueblo looking for a chicken dinner and then onto to Chemuyil, which is the town we will be staying in at the end of our trip. it seems to be a cute little town. We played at the municipal park and were joined by a 5 year old girl. Throughout our travels, people told us that today was a holiday but couldn't tell us why. Finally I resorted to google for an explanation. It was the marking of the Dia de la Constitucion. In very-Mayan Yucatan, i have read that someof the more government-type holidays are not marked with any great fanfare. The 5 year old in Chemuiyl had a pinata though, to the great envy of our kids!

Today, we spent the morning at the beach, the afternoon at the pool and in the bay, with a brief return to the beach for a swim. After supper, as the kids played with our doors wide open, we were treated to a brief yet impressive parade of tarantulas. keira of course was fearless in the face of the large hairy spiders but Jason had a reasonable reaction of horror.
Tomorrow adventure starts and we head off the grid to our camping tree house adventure!

Mayan ruins, juming stingrays and more

As I predicted while signing off this morning, we did head to Tulum Ruins taking advantage of the cloudy skies. In true Gass-Lachance fashion, we were the first to arrive and even the parking lot attendant had to chase us down to pay. We had the place to ourselves for most of our visit - well at least we only had to share with the iguanas. Jason loved it and was the official photographer, methodically documenting it all. Keira wanted to know where to find the bodies aka tombs and then discuss how exactly people died. We settled on them falling ff the cliff, which you would think people would learn to avoid after building a city there and all. The kids might have enjoyed the 300 m trencito ride back to the parking lot even more. Then we headed to Tulum beach for some serious swimming. We also took advantage of being in Tulum to stop at the San Francisco supermarket again. I was wrong, and in fact Heather had bought enough tortillas just for the Gass lachance family (not a fiesta en el pueblo) on vacation and so more were needed. I think we also each took turns (and I do mean all four of us) reading the receipt and marveling at how little "all those cucumber" or "all those mangos" were.

Jason was in the pool for about 3 hours (probably more) today. heather and I took turns snorkelling in half moon bay. We keep ending up going at low tide which places us only a couple of feet above manta rays in the bay. We have both also seen multitudes of fish, squid, puffer fish and turtles. After both of us were out of the water, a big ray leapt out of the water almost at waters edge and then sped so fast in the water for a couple of hundred meters (the water is clear so we could follow his shadow). We are hoping not to bump into one of those!!!

We also had delicious food today. There is a truck that we noticed that makes lunchtime deliveries to people working along the row of condos. Finally today the timing was right (hungry) so I head over to inquire and got six delicious empanadas and two bowls of amazing chicken soup and some of the hottest fresh salsa ever. We also discovered the thai- Mexican fusion place down the road which has been amazing. The chef is a woman who spear fishes her own lion fish each day This is impressive.

Hola from Mexico

Hola from Mexico!

I am outside before dawn breathing beautiful tropical air while I write this. <the birds are just starting their morning noise. We are having a great trip! The trip here was smooth although we did learn perhaps our first lesson about trips like this with kids: 1. Direct flights from Halifax are likely worth a small additional amount! Jason did well but was pretty anxious until we were happily settled onthe flight to cancun. Keira had a blast. I don't have any photos but she had her earphones on, watched movies, drank juice and coloured with her surprise craft items in her bag and was thrilled with it all.

We got to Cancun and got through the airport and got our car no problem. Heather and i have prefected our system over tehyears. I talk, she drives in different countries. The highway was relatively easy to navigate and we arrived in Akumal at about 5 p.m.. playa caribe is great - very well maintained, our apartment is nice, and we are enjoying the bayfull of sea turtles and the pool. i think almost everyone was asleep by 7 p.m. on the first night.

On Day 2 we were all up very early (Jason at 3 a.m. - thank goodness he reads), and headed to akumal playa (we are on half moon bay) very early in search of teh supermarket. We spent hours on that beautiful beach (it is has a path through the coral for swimming whereas our bay doesn't). <there is a little loncheria just off teh beach that serves up Jason's favourtite sandwiches in the whole world and decent chicken tacos. Later that morning (actually only 10 a.m. but remember our day started early), we heaed t yal-ku lagoon. This is a place where the sea water empties but is very protected so great for little snorkellers. So many fish!! like swimming in an aquarium. Keira put on her mask and started trying to catch fish. Luckily, they and the numerous iguanas who lounge near the pool and all the feral cats are too quick for her. The lagoon is where Jason first spotted an iguana and I think he was horrified but is doing so well - within in minutes he was following his sister following them. After that we had some pool time, and then walked back into akumal playa for some swimming.

Day 3 unfolded in a similair fashion - Akumal bay for the morning and finally saw turtles and rays while snokelling. Again I think i pulled jason out of teh sky when he saw his first ray while the two of us where out in the middle of the bay but then was able to look and enjoy. We are happy howeever that he only saw a little ray not someof the giants we have seen!!! After the bay and lunch by the pool we headed to Tulum in search of groceries. We all had fun at the mexican supermarket. Heather was so thrilled to find fresh hot tortillas she bought enough for a fiesta en el pueblo! Speaking of the spanish the kids are doing great at using what they know with people and Jason is soaking up a lot of the language. I think he has a real gift. we also went to Tulum beach which words can't describe. Definately one of the best best beaches I have ever seen. <the kids loved the waves. <keira has started to pout if she learns we ar egoing tp any other beach - she has good taste.

Yesterday we spent the morning at the beach and finally got Keira out to see turtles. She liked snorkelling in our little shallow bay and the lagoon but found the turtles and corral in akumal bay alittle much. I doubt we will get her out again as she says " I told you that I would see one turle and I did." We ha d some pool time and keira had a playdate with another Canadian girl here and then we headed off to explore and went to the beach we will be near in our last week. Sobeautiful and a cenote too. I don't what Jason or Heather thought as we went through the jungle and arrived at a translucent freshwater pool full of little fish but H hopped in and so did K. Jasonw asn't so sure but once he got in he wouldn't get out and declared cenotes were his favourite thing.

Dawn has broken so I am going to help with breakfast. it looks slightly cloudy so I think we will go to tulum ruins today. I am not sur ehow jason will manage the heat once we moveaway from the coast. apparently it is hotter than usual.