Cancun

Alex, I and the big boys got to enjoy some time like "the ol' days" as Adrien puts it (aka BQ or before quads time). We went to Riu Resort in Cancun, Mexico for a week in December.

The resort lobby had a huge Christmas tree and Santa...

The resort is simply amazing. Alex and I go every year; it is usually 'our' time, but this year we decided to include the big boys too. It is an all inclusive resort, which means there is more food and activities than any person can get thru in one week. But we sure had fun trying, hehehe.
The fruit buffet was always a work of art:

The boys spent sooo much time playing ping pong. They even played tournaments and met and played with boys from other countries. It's such an awesome experience for them to meet and learn about other cultures. I know some don't think it is right for kids to miss school for vacation, but I think the boys learned much more from a week in another country than they ever would in a classroom.

Of course I forgot my camera, so the only pics I got were from my phone. I like these beach pics, but the boys are so dark.

Adre &  Lex

Mommy, Lex and Adre

One of our favorite things we enjoyed was Cactus Juice. All of us really like to drink it, but I think the boys had just as much fun playing with it too. It forms a foam on top and would leave a 'mustache':

Playing on the beach and in the water is our favorite pastime.

and body surfing is the boys favorite!

Another beach pastime we have is 'sand ball'. Daddy is the expert at creating a sand ball, similar to how you would create a snow ball. Then they toss the ball back and forth until it falls apart. Lame? Maybe, but it sure is fun!

The boys each won a ping pong tournament. So at the end of the week they held an awards ceremony and they received a certificate.

The resort activities staff is all about having fun. So they had them all dancing to get their prize.

Now let me tell you, each evening the activities staff put on an awesome, awesome show. They dressed up differently each evening and kept us well entertained.
I'm not sure who they were portraying here, but it sure was funny.

The Village People

Michael Jackson

This shopping cart at a local store was so cute.

And the boys had fun trying on sombreros and posing with wooden guns and wipes. I have to say that I truly enjoyed spending time with my big boys. They are such a treasure. I am so lucky to have such wonderful young men in my life.

This is the view from our room balcony.

And the highlight of Adre's trip was a beach soccer tournament. Soccer is his mostest favorite sport. The activities staff hosted several sporting events all week, but this one was by far the hugest event of the week. Now remember we are in Mexico, and in other countries SOCCER is THE sport. So this was not a tournament for kids, in fact they highly discouraged our boys from playing. But they were insistent. So they split teams up by country, and since there were NO other players from the US, the boys were grouped with England. The England team included a couple older teenagers and a few grown men.
Like I said, this was a huge deal. They even put on a pre game event with dancers and all, some were just the staff dressed as women (but only in fun, lol). They 'girls' all lined up and cheered as they introduced the players. Here's Lex and Adre getting cheered onto the field (blocked off section of beach).

They introduced the England team last and actually put on an entire ceremony of having the 'Queen' come out and all the players had to bow before her. It was really funny to watch my US boys play along.

Then they had all the players on the field doing the Macarena! Now what  sight that was. All these grown manly men shaking their tushes! hehehe

The boys were dubbed the 'mini mates' by the announcers. Here they are on the sidelines watching another team play.

And here is a shot of them in their game. I was pretty proud of all those men, especially the England team for including my boys. Cause let me tell you, they played rough and actually argued and fought. This was not just for fun, these men were out to prove that their country played the best soccer. I actually wanted to pull the boys off the field, I was so afraid they were going to get hurt. But all the men really backed off and protected them, just allowing the boys to have fun. And I think they did, I know Adre had the time of his life out there on that sand soccer field.

OK, back to the beach.
The boys really are in that wave!

See, there they are! lol

And again, inside the wave. That just amazed me. They would be body surfing, then once they hit the beach it was like the wave just sucked them in turned them over and laid them out of the beach.

And they kept going back for more.

waiting for that one perfect wave to catch.

and do it all over again! I prefer to watch from the comfort of my lounge chair.

Now isn't this a nice 'good morning' greeting? Mimosa anyone?

Oh, but this is my favorite: the juice bar.

They had 1-2 workers that that was their job each morning, to make fresh juice. And it was all so YUMMY!

haha

Now, doesn't this just look so sweet? But actually they are wrestling, not hugging. But I will take a good 'hug' pic whenever I can get it. hehehe

same here, wrestling, trying to dunk each other.

The infinity pool...
Adre was jumping off the edge into the pool

What a beautiful sky line. Again, the boys are sitting on the edge of the infinity pool, but you sure can't tell where the pool ends and the ocean begins. Simply beautiful!

Lex is jumping, but it looks like he is running on top of water.

Adre & Lex standing of the edge

Each evening they displayed magnificent ice sculptures.

This is bad, but I don't remember this guys name now, but he was the boys favorite activities staff member. He was so involved with the kids. They all were, really went out of their way to assure the kids had a good time.

Posing with MJ (Michael Jackson impersonator)

This was my favorite show: A tribute to Michael Jackson

The Thriller

There was a Starbucks and mall right across the street from our resort

Daddy and Adre with Señor Frog

Mom & Dad posing with a polar bear (but don't worry, he is just a statue-lol)

Now, this really is a hug, well, not really a hug, but close enough. hehehe

This is the view of our resort from the beach.

My most favorite activity is a stroll along the beach at sunset. I like to sleep in, so I never see the sun rise. Therefore, I try to enjoy the sunset whenever I can. It is not unusual to come across a wedding along the beach, especially since I like to walk at sunset. That seems to be when a lot of couples tie the knot on the beach. Which, btw, Alex & I also exchanged our vows at sunset. Anyway, I thought this table setting was so beautiful. We came across it on one of our sunset walks along the beach. Apparently someone had a romantic evening planned. Oh la la.

Since this was just 2 weeks before Christmas, the boys had Christmas presents on the brain. So they made me their wish list on the computer and emailed it to me. hehehe

This is the view from our hotel elevator. Our beach was on the other side, so this is looking more at the shopping centers and restaurants.

I am so grateful to have had this time with my boys, it is so nice to reconnect with them. Adding quads to our family sure did change the dynamics A LOT. And I think the boys have adjusted very well. We couldn't imagine our lives any different. But it sure was nice to be a family of 'just 4' for a short time. By the end of the week tho, we were all missing our littles. So we asked Mrs Becky & Mr Randall to meet us in St Louis so we could see them as soon as we got off the plane. Then we enjoyed a weekend of fun with them. But that is another post. Stay tuned!