Celebrating Christmas in Cancun скачать в хорошем качестве

Celebrating Christmas in Cancun

Of the past 13 Christmases with our kids, we’ve spent 8 of them in Houston, Texas at Aunt Cindy and Uncle Barry’s house. This is Lillie’s side of the family and we’re usually joined by several of her cousins as they fly in from New Jersey, Florida, and other spots. The boys love the Houston holiday and made it crystal clear that we were robbing them of this year’s Nerf gun fight, cookie-making, dog cuddles, the food, and so much more. We couldn’t match the Houston festive spirit this year, but the boys had their French cousins and sunshine to counterbalance the nostalgia for those well-worn traditions. We arrived in Puerto Morelos (about ~40 minutes south of Cancun) on Friday and immediately settled into a resort rhythm: Buffet breakfast in the morning, swim, waterslides, grilled burgers or tacos for lunch, followed by more swimming, an activity or two organized by the resort’s “entertainment staff,” and finally a sunbreak in the hotel room before a buffet dinner. The kids reveled in desserts at almost every meal and Colin drank his weight in virgin mud slides, strawberry daiquiris, and shirley temples. He honestly looked a bit too comfortable at the swim-up bar in the middle of the pool. We knew celebrating Christmas day in a hotel room would feel a bit off-center so we spent a few weeks trying to set the boys’ expectations for a morning with no Christmas tree, fewer presents, and less family. With Stephanie and Mat’s help we decorated one of the hotel rooms. We taped tinsel in the outline of a Christmas tree to the wall, hung a few lights, and then added a handful of presents for each kid along with their stockings. Either the expectation-setting worked or we just got lucky, because they seemed happy with how the day played out. The hotel also did a great job making the week feel festive with games, shows and even a visit from Santa on Christmas Day. We spent one day away from the resort at Xcaret, an enormous “eco-archaeological theme park.” It’s a blend of Disneyland, safari, and cultural showcases seamlessly built into the Riviera Maya. We barely scratched the surface of the 50+ attractions (snorkeling, cenotes, wildlife exhibits, traditional villages, and the famous “Mexico Espectacular” performance). The highlight was floating down an underground river that weaved around the park, but the well-stocked aquarium, a seaside hammock garden, and a trio of men playing Christmas tunes on a marimba added to the fun. On Friday we drove 40 minutes further south to an Airbnb in Playa del Carmen. We’re centrally located, only 2 blocks off of the main drag with countless shops, bars, & restaurants. Playa del Carmen is probably best known as a convenient homebase to travel out and explore nearby cenotes, Mayan ruins, and the many eco adventure-parks. All 4 kids were pretty sun-soaked so we’ve been angling toward the shady parts of the beach to give them a break. We closed the week with a day-long excursion to the Tulum ruins, a walled Mayan city perched on cliffs overlooking the sea, and two cenotes, water-filled sinkholes formed from collapsed limestone bedrock.