Time for a Wedding!

For the last leg of this trip we headed to the Riviera Maya for my brother's wedding.  Our travel day began at 3AM and after passing through a few time zones finished around 6PM when we checked into the Azul Fives Hotel.  Despite getting an up grade to first class for the last flight, it felt like our longest travel day yet.  Arra was beyond cranky (for her) the whole time.  We were so happy to get to the hotel that we barely cared that the room we had reserved wasn't ready for us until the following day. ("Barely", if you know me at all, you know how that conversation went.) We quickly met up with my brother Jeff, his bride to be Jessica and a few other members of the wedding party at "Sky" Bar (spelt Zky Bar for some unknown reason), but Arra was still fairly grumpy, so we headed to our room for the night.

Jeff and Jess can correct me, but I think they had close to 80 guests in total come for the week.  So, there was always something on the go and someone to have a chat with.  Arra being the water baby that she is, the majority of our days were spent in the water.  Usually the beach in the morning and the pool after her nap.  All of the wedding guests kind of came and went and did their own thing, but at any given time there were a bunch of us just hanging out or playing with Arra in the water.  The opportunity to spend time getting to know each other and just relaxing together is why I will always favour destination weddings.  

My girl and me hanging out in the pool in front of our room

Us with Uncle Jesse and the great aunties

Arra loved her floatie, she would pretty much fall asleep every time she go in it.  Also, look at how clear the water is!

Jesse and Donna heading out for their parasailing adventure

The week also had plenty of events leading up to and including the wedding.

The first event was the rehearsal dinner, attended by the wedding party and the parents of the bride and groom.  It was a really fun night and a great chance to meet the other people in the wedding party who we didn't know yet.

My "little" brother and I at the rehearsal dinner

The next event was the Sangeet and Henna night.  This night is a traditional ceremony and celebration a few days before the wedding where the women get their henna done and everyone has a chance to meet, dance, eat and celebrate.  It was the event I was most looking forward to other than the wedding and unfortunately I had to miss it.  Arra's crankiness finally explained itself when she awoke in the early morning on the day of the Sangeet with a 39°C temperature.  She only wanted to lay on Mommy, and so duty called and I couldn't leave.  I've still included photos of the event because it was such a fun and important event for everyone else who was able to go.

My stunning sister in law gets her henna done

Cigar rolling for the gentlemen!

My family after draping the veil over Jessica

The next day Arra was starting to feel better, so I was able to attend Jessica and Jeff's Vanta (Cleanse Ceremony).  This ceremony took place the day before the wedding an was a lot of fun.  It's traditionally a ceremony for only the bride, but Jessica's family didn't leave Jeff out of this one!  Friends and family got to rub tumeric paste onto each of them and then feed them a sweet treat.  The ceremony was complete when the bride and groom were tossed into the ocean!

Pretty, even when she's covered in paste!

Rub crap all over my brother?  Yes please.  His only request was that we avoid his sunburn.

...and then tossed into the ocean!

Arra was feeling much better later in the day, and I was so disappointed that we had missed dressing her up in her Indian outfit the night before, so we got dressed up for Jessica's Chura (bangles) ceremony.  This was another fun event filled with singing and music.  Jess could not let Jeff see the bangles until the wedding, so he wasn't invited to this one.

Back to her silly, happy self!

The Carsons all dressed up!

Jess gets her bangles

The last event of the week was the BIG event.  Jeff and Jessica's wedding day.  It was hotter than hell and everything went off without a hitch!  They had a fairly traditional Western style ceremony, although there was some shoe stealing shenanigans and Bollywood style dance routines going on.  My brother is very happy and Jessica is a wonderful addition to our family and that's all that really matters, so I won't say too much more about the wedding.  It was a perfect day.

Our sweet flower girl

Exchanging vows 

Smooch!

Hitched!

The Carsons were all in the wedding party

Look out Bollywood!

The whole wedding party. (I am sideways because I'm trying to get Arra to stop touching Cat.)

The last few days of the trip we found ourselves doing more eating, relaxing and swimming.  That's what vacations are for after all!  So that's it, another Carson family vacation in the bag.  Now to start planning (and saving) for the next one!

“Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.”

A Disney interlude...

I know this shouldn't be a whole blog post.  We only squeezed in 2 days at Disneyland.  But I can't help it.  It's Disney.

Disney was never part of the original plan for this trip, but when we realized we were going to have to fly out of LA, rather than San Diego, we couldn't resist.  Early Friday morning, we made the 2 hour drive from Mission Beach, San Diego to Disneyland Drive, Anaheim.  We pulled into Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and we were home.  Valet parking, checked into our room right away and treated like gold.  By 10AM we were in California Adventure Park.  We headed straight for Cars Land where Cody and I each quickly rode the Radiator Springs Racers.  Arra is too short for this one still, so she'll have to wait for next time. (Tip for parents travelling with little ones too small to ride:  Use the Disney Rider Switch Pass on rides or just get in the single rider line-up!).  The rest of the day was spent only riding rides that were Arra sized.  We did pretty well avoiding long line-ups, although, with the help of a giant turkey leg, we did survive the 45min wait to get on the Toy Story Ride.  Arra looked so cute in her 3D glasses, I wish we'd gotten a picture!  Her hands down favourite ride (and therefore our favourite ride of the day) was The Little Mermaid.  She was clapping, laughing and pointing everything out to us.  It was awesome.  After Arra's (and Cody's) nap, we spent the afternoon in the hotel pools.  Our little thrill seeker loved the water slide and went down it no less than 20 times.  Dinner was in Downtown Disney at the Rainforest Cafe.  Arra was mesmerized by most of the animals and the periodic thunderstorms.  She was terrified of the gorilla that happened to be right next to our table.  We went back to California Adventure for a few more rides after dinner, but Arra was falling asleep on her feet, so we decided that was enough fun for one day.

Grand Californian Hotel lobby

 
Arra was overwhelmed with all of the stuffies in the stores.  Luckily she's still at the age where she's happy to just look.

Keeping her eye on that gorilla at The Rainforest Cafe.


Day number 2 at Disney was at Disneyland Park.  It is my favourite place on earth.  I know it is commercial and crowded, etc.  I don't care.  I have loved it since I was a child and I guess at this point I always will.  Disneyland is celebrating it's 60th anniversary this year, so it was fun to be there for all the celebrations.  We started our day on Cody's favourite ride The Jungle Cruise.  It is an original park attraction from 1955 and it shows.  It is kitschy with bad jokes.  It's perfect.  Arra loved it.  Next we rode 2 more classics The Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.  These are probably my favourite 2 rides since I was little, and they still hold up!  We knocked off a few more rides before grabbing massive Disney corn dogs and heading back to the hotel.  Our afternoon was spent in Toon Town and having dinner at River Belle Terrace.  I had hoped to watch my favourite show, Fantasmic in the evening, but thought better of it when we realized we had a 3AM wakeup ahead of us.  It was a short but sweet visit.  Until next time...

Riding the Jungle Cruise

Fun times in Toon Town

Mickey's House

Riding the Jolly Trolly with Daddy!

"True Friendship Multiplies the Good in Life"

Our trip to San Diego began with a bit of a rough start.

Travel Tip!
- Make a copy of your passport and leave it with friends or family.

Another Travel Tip!
- Remember to take that passport out of the scanner before leaving for the airport.

Once Donna shuttled Arra's passport to us, we were off!  We cleared security and met up with our long-time friends Lisa and Jarett and their 2 kids Adalynn and Lleyton.  After a long travel day filled with lost strollers, long layovers and cranky toddlers, we were all very happy to arrive in San Diego.  Our place was amazing!  After a Costco run was made and the kids were fed, showered and down to bed, the four of us spent the evening on our rooftop patio drinking wine and watching the ocean.  Sea World was even nice enough to put on a fireworks display for us!  I love that the crapiest of days can still turn out great with a little positivity and a sense of humour.

The view from our kitchen window.  One row back from the beach!

The rest of the week flew by and was a great balance of getting out and seeing the sights and having chill time at the beach.  Our first full day was the perfect San Diego day, complete with a morning on the beach, fish tacos for lunch and a rooftop BBQ to end the day.  (The Carsons also snuck in a family nap!)

We made it to the beach everyday!

The next day was spent at Legoland.  Arra didn't do so well on the drive there (she has inherited my unfortunate predisposition to car sickness), but she was a champ on the rides and loved all of the sights and sounds that come along with visiting an amusement park.

Arra is looking very serious here, but once it started she loved the carousel!

And of course the splash park.

The next few days flew by as we hit some outlets, walked along the piers checking out the air craft carriers and boats, paid a visit to the San Diego Zoo, and of course spent lots of time on the beach.  The highlight for me was the zoo.  It's a beautiful place with so much to see, but more than that, all of the kids seemed to love the day there, making it lots of fun for us big kids too.  We also orchestrated date nights by exchanging babysitting which was even more fun for us big kids.

Lunch downtown, then a walk on the pier.

A couple of little monkeys at the zoo.

My favourite people.  (L-R - Lisa, Jarett, Adalynn, Lleyton, Cody, Arra, Me)


Our last day and evening in San Diego were perfect.  A visit to Mission Bay in the morning, family nap and then Mission Beach for the afternoon.  We had a big seafood grill on the roof and after the kids went to bed we drank wine and shucked oysters.

Cody oversees Lisa's schucking. 

Lisa and I are both big lovers of travel and have been best friends for over 20 years and this is only the second time we have travelled together.  This was such a wonderful week for our families, I'm hoping to have many more trips together.

"Wherever You Go, Go With All Your Heart"

I recently returned from a week long getaway to Now Jade Riviera Cancun Resort.  It was a wonderfully relaxing trip, taken so that I could share in my friend Denise's wedding day.  The resort, food and company were perfect...and it's the first time I couldn't wait to get home from a trip.  I've travelled alone and away from Cody many times before, but this was the first time away from Arra and I found it very hard.  I was the creepy mom talking to all the kids and watching them play.  I just couldn't take my eyes off of them, they all reminded me of Arra.  I got in some much needed sleep and lazy time on the beach, not to mention the 3 books I read.  Now I'm ready to do it all over again, but this time I'm taking my heart with me!

Denise (the beautiful bride), Kelli and me

Tomorrow we leave for 3 weeks of travel and I find myself once again in the midst of Dante's Circle of Hell devoted to packing.  Here's my updated packing list for travelling with a toddler.  It's ever so slightly shorter than my previous list.   This trip will actually be a few mini trips all strung together.  Tomorrow we head to Edmonton for a few days, then off to San Diego for a week with my oldest/best friend Lisa (a fellow travel blogging mommy) and her family, then 2 days in Disneyland (because how can we not?) and finally back to the Mayan Riviera for my brothers wedding.  I'll once again try to update along the way!

"The Time to Relax is When You Don't Have Time for It"

Apparently being a travel blogging working mom is a bit more challenging for me than when I was a travel blogging stay at home mom, but here it is, my (very late) update on our latest adventure to Arizona.

I use the term 'adventure' loosely as this trip was one of the most relaxing/low key we've taken since...ever.  At the same time, I consider every trip I take to be an adventure in one way or another.

After countless flights, this one was a bit new for us as we attempted to get Arra installed in her carseat.  There were many babies and small children on the plane, all presumably on their way to visit their snowbird grandparents, but Arra was the only one in a car seat.  I know it's not common practice and we traveled with her as a lap baby before we really knew better.  But know better, do better and not only was she safer, but, wait for it...she actually slept on the flight and Cody and I enjoyed not having 25lbs or squirminess all over us.

Arra safe and happy in her seat.

Donna and Judy were kind enough to invite us to their home away from home for the month.  They were staying in a beautiful place on a golf course in Mesa complete with several pools and a golf cart for us to bomb around on.  Every day started with a swim, then lazy reading time on the patio while Arra napped.  In the afternoons we'd go for outings to the park for a picnic, to the swap meet or to the zoo.  Cody and I even got a date night in one evening!  This was a much needed getaway for our little family after the upheaval to our routines my return to work has caused.

Cody loved driving the golf cart around!

So much fun swimming every day!

It wasn't too warm while we were there, so we had daily hot tubs too!

Arra liked reading on the patio too.

Date night for Cody and me. <3

Arra's favourite outing of course was a trip to the zoo.

Here We Go Again!

It's the night before we leave home, and once again, this is the sight that I'm faced with.

This trip is much shorter than our last one.  When it's all said and done, we'll only have been gone for 10 days, and yet we are packing the same amount as we did for 5 weeks!

Our travels this time take us on a mini vacay to Arizona and then Edmonton for a few days of Teachers' Convention.  The Aunts are in Mesa for a month and have invited us down.  As the temperatures dropped to -40 Celsius last week, I couldn't help but give myself a pat on the back at being clever enough to accept their offer.  The cold temperatures, plus the fact that Cody and I have both been working like dogs have made this little get away a much needed time for our family to reconnect.

I'm feeling a bit nervous about this flight as it is the first time we'll be flying with Arra in a car seat, in her own seat on the plane.  In theory it's going to be easier in a lot of ways and of course it's much safer for her which is the main reason for our decision to buy her a seat.  However, we've had our travel with baby procedure down pat for over a year now (which of course I love), so it's always a bit nerve racking to change up the routine.  Every trip is a new adventure, no matter what, that's what I love about travel.

And just as an update, although several months have passed and I continue to grow as a person, I still very much hate packing with my soul, so I'm going to head downstairs to watch the SNL 40th anniversary on my PVR and procrastinate just a bit longer.

Let's all do a happy dance for vacation!

The Stages of Sleep Deprivation - Baby Jet Lag Edition

Denial 

Night 1: "She slept through the night for 15 hours!  I don't think she's going to have jet lag!"

Night 2:

- 9PM: "Is she awake already?" "No, can't be, I think she's just talking in her sleep."

- 11PM: "Maybe if we do bath time and her bedtime routine again she'll go back to sleep"

- 1AM: "Let's try to get her down in an hour, she should be tired by then."

Anger

"Why did we let her sleep so long today?!" "I'm so tired, we're never traveling outside of Mountain Standard Time again!"

Bargaining

"Is it ok if I just go to sleep for an hour, then I'll take the next shift if she still hasn't gone to sleep?"

Depression

"I'm so tired I want to cry."

Acceptance

"This is our life now.  We'll never sleep again."

Excuse the dimness of the photo, but we're trying to convince her it's night time.