Cancun!! (Part 2)

Part of the excitement of going on SVOSH is the fact that you can pay extra and have a three day getaway to an all inclusive resort. We figured if we are going to work hard we were also going to play hard! Our resort was Cancun, Mexico.
The resort we stayed at was called Krystal Cancun. It was beautiful! We walked into our room and found this:Even better, we walked out on our porch and saw this view: It was by far the coolest hotel I have ever stayed in. Although we were exhausted, we were too excited to get down to those white sandy beaches and that crystal clear water, that we headed right to the beach after checking in and eating lunch.

The beach was beautiful and the water was warm which made it fun to play in. It also seemed like the perfect time of year to go because the weather was hot (but not horrible) and it was the ending of the busy tourist season since schools were back in session.

The ocean and the waves got a little too hard to play in so we also spent a fair amount of time in the pool. Justin and our friend, Neal, found these little Mexican kids who were playing water polo and joined in with them. I thought it was hilarious because they kept yelling "HUSTINE" to Justin. :)

They offer a bunch of tours and excursions to go on and we decided it would be fun to spend a little extra to do one of them. The main one we wanted to do was go snorkeling. A bunch of people from the other SVOSH group decided to go on the speedboat/snorkeling tour. We were planning on going, but I was informed by a couple of concierges that the company wouldn't take me because I was pregnant. So instead we saved some money, talked to a few people about where we could just go off of the beach and borrowed the gear from the resort. We were told to get on a bus and go to this private resort area down the strip and there was a reef there that was decent. We were also told by others that it wasn't worth it and we wouldn't see anything without going on the tour. None the less, Justin, Neal, and I decide to go the adventurous route and try to do it on our own.
We took a 20 min bus ride and had to walk to rest of the way to where we thought we were going. It ended up being a HOT and LONG walk. We finally got to the place we were told to go to and were literally the only people on this part of the beach. We played around for a while and only saw a couple of small fish.
We looked down the beach a ways and could see a big rocky area and thought maybe we would have more luck there.... and we sure did! We got over there and started to see some AWESOME stuff!
Soon enough some people show up on speed boats and started snorkeling right where we were. We talked to a couple of them and found out we were in the exact spot where the tour actually takes people! We were pretty excited when we found that we saved money and we went to the best spot there is... so much for those people who said it wouldn't be worth it! :)

As mentioned, we were on a private resort area where there were security guards who wouldn't let us on the property. We had to stay along the beach to get back to the bus. This beach was so secluded and SO beautiful! It looked like a scene from a magazine:

The walk along the beach back to the bus stop was also very long (probably around 2 miles)... I guess that was the downside of having to do it on our own. But we made it, and it sure was an adventure. Plus it was fun to come back and tell everyone who paid for the tour and doubted our abilities that we saw exactly what they saw! :)

As we walked a long the beach we saw about a million of these iguanas. They were kinda creepy.

As part of our all inclusive stay, the hotel offered a dine out program. They had a variety of restaurants to choose from with a limited choice of food that you could get for free. We ate out at Hard Rock Cafe and Senior Frogs. Senior Frogs was really fun, but interesting. When we first got there we could tell that it could pretty wild and raunchy. Luckily we were there early enough that it was a bit more family friendly. A couple things they had us do was dance on stage with the waiters/waitresses. Stand on our chair and do the YMCA. Get in a circle and massage each others backs. Mambo around the room. And wear balloon hats. It was pretty fun. Oh, they also had a water slide that went in the middle of the restaurant and dropped off out in the ocean. On Sunday morning we woke up early to watch the sunrise over the ocean. (Okay so Justin mostly woke up, I kinda layed in bed and got up for a few minutes). Justin didn't want to miss it so he was up way too early at 5:30. It was still dark and the sun didn't rise for quite a while. It was also a cloudy morning and not quite as beautiful as he was hoping, but it did come through for him and he got some pretty nice pictures.
We then got ready for the day and decided to go to Church. (Actually Neal, who is also a member, was the one who thought of it and found out where the church was).
It was interesting going to a meeting where you don't speak the language and can't communicate with anyone... however, I'm glad we went. It is neat to see the same church in a different part of the world and really strengthened my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel.
It was the nicest building in downtown Cancun!
We took the rest of the day easy on Sunday and relaxed and napped a lot.
Here is our last evening stroll on the beach:

The next morning we were headed home, but not without one more dip in the ocean!! (Sorry our lens was fogged up so these pictures are really horrible) Of course, on that last trip out to the ocean I got knocked down by a huge wave and lost my sunglasses in the water (augh!)

Again, an amazing experience that I was so glad Justin and I were able to have together. It was so nice being there with just the two of us, and although we were excited to get home to our baby and our own comforts, I wouldn't have spent this time any other way than with my best friend! In fact, we called it our 2nd honeymoon since even though I am hugely pregnant, most people were calling us "honeymooners" there! haha :)