Spring Break at the Royalton

For the girls' Christmas presents this year, we got them passports and a trip to Cancun! Pretty good present to us as well :) Jeff worked with a travel agent to plan the entire thing. We arrived in Mexico on Monday, early afternoon and checked into our hotel.

The Royalton Riveria Cancun is an all-inclusive resort, only two years old. Just outside our room was a private pool!

We made a trip to the beach that evening too. Because the beach is awesome. 

That night, the resort hosted an 'open air market' with lots of vendors. The girls and I had lots of fun shopping! Then we listened to live music and danced. Every night there was a show or performance of some kind. Kind of like being on a cruise ship! 

We had dinner at The Agave Restaurant. The Agave was traditional Mexican food (not Tex-Mex) and we really liked it. It was fresh and the portions were small/artistic. Because it is all inclusive, we ordered lots of different things to try. 

The next day we were up early and ready to go! We had breakfast at Gourmet Marche, which had a huge breakfast buffet. The buffet was full of variety and had our favorite-- waffles and an omelette bar ;) Then we had to try out all the pools. Of course these slides were a hit with the girls. 

We spent the day going back and forth from the pool to the beach. The girls are at such an easy age! 

 That afternoon, there as a kids' foam party in the pool. Never too early to start the Spring Break shenanigans! The resort had lots of kids activities-- organized sports, water games, music etc. And although it was Spring Break, these kids were the 'wildest' people in the resort. It was very family friendly. No crazy college kids. Just lots of families looking to relax.

 That night we went to Grazie for Italian food. Once again, we were impressed. The girls had their favorite- buttered noodles :) Jeff had lasagna and I had roasted chicken and vegetables. There was plenty of warm bread too. After dinner, we watched another live show. This one was Katy Perry and Rhianna. The dancing and costumes were amazing.

On Wednesday, we ventured outside of the resort for a catamaran ride and snorkeling. 

It was a little windy and cool- but the sun kept us warm. (Which was good because I failed to bring any beach towels!) 

Jeff and Afton snorkeled, while Maisy and I kept watch on the boat. She insisted she would not get in, but I thought if I jumped in and swam-- surely she would join me. NOPE. I swam in the cold water, alone.... while she looked at me. NICE :)

Afton loved snorkeling- she is so adventurous like Jeff! They were in the water for over an hour. They saw lots of fish, huge star fish, and a beautiful reef.

Jeff was the was only one in the Conner family to try the 'spinnaker'. It was basically a towel attached to a parachute. The parachute whipped around in the air while Jeff held on. Then he let go and was flung into the ocean! 

The boat ride back to shore was relaxing, and of course the views of the water were amazing. 

After we got back on shore, we had a yummy lunch under the palm trees. Then it was time for Maisy to have her adventure. The girls and I got to swim with dolphins! Our dolphin was named "Scarlett". She was so sweet and smart. She pulled us around the pool and then pushed us on a boogie board. She also gave us kisses and hugs. I have wanted to do this since Jeff went on our honeymoon. So this experience was 14 years in the making for me.

That night we wanted an easy dinner, so we went to "The Score" Sports Bar. This was the only restaurant that we were disappointed in. The bar food- which is basically just supposed to be yummy junk food- was horrible! We sent it all back and then watched the live 'fire dancing show' from the sports bar balcony. The view up there was awesome. (And after wards, we went back to the room and order room service pizza-- all-inclusive resorts do rock!) 

Thursday morning, we discovered my favorite restaurant at the resort- "The Caribbean" it was right on the water and felt so fresh and beachy! (We had lunch there too that same day as well as breakfast the next day!) 

We spent most of the morning on the beach. It was simply gorgeous.

Then the girls hung out in the room while Jeff and I got massages. Remember I said they at such a great age?! :) We made it up to them with lots of fun swimming after wards. 

That afternoon I went and waited in a line for over an hour to get our dinner reservation at "Zen" which is the most popular restaurant on the resort. And pretty much the only one that takes reservations. It was worth the wait-- these girls love hibachi! 

Friday was St. Patrick's Day. The girls woke up to treats from our Leprechaun- who knew he could travel to Mexico?! It was also our last day- so we only had a half a day in the sun. But we made the most of our time for sure. 

We headed home with happy hearts and so many great memories made. 

We picked up our sweet Coco and had a few more adventures with friends. 

Spring Break was just what we all needed to re-energize and re-focus so we can finish the rest of this school year!