Honeymoon Part II

Hola! Here are some honeymoon photos taken from our trip to Huatulco, Mexico with the real camera!



Down by the beach at our hotel. Nothing like a vacation for two to make you seriously consider getting a selfie stick...


 

I asked Joe to take a photo of me while backlit by the sun so I would look like an angelic beach angel. Totally worked.





On our last day of the trip, I was recovering from tummy troubles, but still managed to win the "surfing" competition down at the pool. (I probably only won because I was the only contestant who hadn't been drinking, haha.)



This is the right half of the resort.

 

The sky bar was in the center of the hotel. The view was so cool during sunrise, sunset, and really all times in between. We took to drinking sueros which is a non-alcoholic drink that is supposed to help you rehydrate after being in the sun all day. Important for Minnesotans who haven't seen sunlight in six months.



The hallway to our hotel room.

And our hotel room. Housekeeping kind of went crazy with the rose petals. This isn't even one of the grandiose displays.

 

I didn't take a lot of food photos this trip. I was too busy shoving it in my face. (MAYBE that's where the tummy troubles came from.)

Here are photos from our three levels of Huatulco excursion.

^^^This was the first "level" of Huatulco. Beautiful views, even for the dry season.^^^

Below is the town of Santa Maria. Unlike Cancun and Playa Del Carmen, Huatulco is much smaller and quieter. Tourism is not nearly as developed, but it's a peaceful area with a low crime rate. The businesses here produce goods mainly for the people of the town, not tourists. We were told that much effort being made to make Huatulco a sustainable tourist area so that the environment is protected and so are the people who inhabit the area.

We watched these tortillas get made and then we got to eat them. SO good.

 

We visited an 84 year old bakery that had been passed down from generation to generation and even ate bread baked in the stone oven.

 

 

Our van broke down on the way up the mountain to see the third level of Huatulco (the level that would yield us coffee), we still made it up there via taxi and brought home a few kilos of  coffee. So the day may have gone off-course, but we still did what we came to do.

 

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Lastly, as you may have noticed, we didn't have a lot of photos of just the two of us. On our last day we did a small photo session with the hotel photographer. She got a lot of great shots, and below are the ones we purchased. Even with my poofy hair, I'm so happy we have these to remember our trip by.

 

 

 

 

I want to thank my dear husband once more for taking us on such a sweet and memorable trip! And a HUGE thank you to my in-laws who watched our girls for a week. It means more to me than you know. It came at a great time as we have been together for 10 years and married for almost five.

 

With two little ones, it can be so hard to find time to ourselves, just to even have a conversation. That being said, this trip gave us that uninterrupted time punctuated by drinks, tacos, gorgeous views, and nice hot weather. Although the whole week-wasn't smooth sailing, but hey, that's life. And we are nothing, if not adaptable. I will always cherish this trip and it'll have a special place in my heart.

 

Adios until next time, Huatulco!

 

If you are interested (and you think you can stomach watching a really shaky video), below  is some footage of our time in Huatulco:

 

 

 

Honeymoon in Huatulco!

It really happened! After being married for almost five years, we can now cross of "honeymoon" off our to-do list.

 

Below are a few photos taken with my phone.

 

 

We spent all of last week, Saturday through Saturday, in Huatulco Mexico. We stayed at the all-inclusive resort Secrets. As cheesy as it sounds, the resort had extremely nice accommodations.

 

 

 

 

^^^(The lobby, our room, and the hotel balcony)^^^
 

 

We always made time for lounging and reading at the pool, but most days we actually kept to a schedule! We would start the morning at the Coco Café (smoothie for Joe, donut for me) before having second breakfast, which meant either ordering room service or hitting up the buffet(all included!). Then we would do 9 am yoga followed by archery and/or the fitness center. Then we would change for the pool, hang out and have lunch there. The afternoon's activities would normally consist of several games of water volleyball and beach volleyball. Joe also squeezed in some games of bocce ball and horse shoes. And we tried paddle boarding one day. Do we know how to relax or what???

 

 

Me and my donuts. I love donuts. I probably was a donut in my past life.

 

 

The archery instructor told Joe "How do you say... there is no one like you!" Joe already knew this, but affirmation is always nice.

 

 

You probably thought this was Katniss Everdeen on vacation. Nope! Just me!

(How am I supposed to return to LA Fitness in Richfield now? Just saying)

 

 

The restaurants served scrumptious food. Again, it's tough coming home where there is no one to serve me several courses for dinner of various cuisines. Bummer for sure.

 

 

We strolled along the beach one evening, watched the sunset, and saw some crabs scuttle around. What a cliché thing to do on one's honeymoon, but still so nice!

 

On Tuesday, Joe was asked to compete in the Mr. Secrets competition. Since neither of us can resist attention or being in a beauty pageant, he obliged. Although he didn't win the title, he certainly made a respectable appearance. He had to do push-ups with me on his back, complete in an obstacle course, do some posing, and a little lip-synching. And we received a bottle of champagne, so really, that's winning in my book.

 

 

Our one excursion we took was the "Three Levels of Hualtulco" tour. More on that later! We visited the town of Santa María, ate some freshly made bread and tortillas, and of course, had our van break down on the journey to the most important level of Huatulco (the level that grows coffee).

 

 

By the way, you haven't really lived until your mode of transportation breaks down in the middle of nowhere in Mexico and the only thing to drink is cerveza since the fresh water had been poured on the radiator of the van. But we made it back to the hotel eventually!

 

Unfortunately, after going to bed that evening, I ended up not being able to sleep because of severe stomach pain. In the morning I saw the hotel's doctor and was told I had intestinal inflammation... which is probably the most romantic thing that could have happened on our trip. Fortunately, Joe took very good care of me, even though it was the biggest wet blanket moment of my life.

 

Thursday was essentially lost to me as I spent the entire day resting in bed, as any core movement was very painful. By Friday morning I felt a little better and was able to go down to the pool for the last day and eat some small meals.

 

 

We did acquire the Oxaca-grown coffee, so really, it was all worth it in the end.

 

 

And even though we have been married for nearly five years, people assumed we were newly-weds and were surprised to hear that we also have two kids! Maybe we don't look as weathered as we feel?

 

For the most part (aside from the transportation and tummy troubles), the week was everything we hoped it would be. Hot, sunny weather, endless delicious food, gorgeous views, lots of lounging with having nowhere to go and having all day to get there.

 

The first few days I missed our little ladies terribly, but we were fortunately sent lots of photos and got to FaceTime on a couple occasions, so that eased my mind a lot.

 

A few more photos to come with my real camera!