I’m finally getting around to writing about Mexico. Nick and I spent five nights and six days at the beautiful Excellence Resort Playa Mujeres in Cancun, Mexico. Like I mentioned before, it’s the first time we’ve ever been away this far of this long from our girls AND we haven’t gone on a relaxing vacation like this since our honeymoon.

I have to say…it was better than our honeymoon. All inclusive is the way to go!

We didn’t have to think about anything. Not a single thing. Since meals and drinks were paid for in advance, we only had to think about what we were in the mood for instead of how much we were spending on each meal. We  never left the resort for excursions or entertainment since it was all right there. We didn’t do much except for lay around in the sun and under bed cabanas, but we could have done bike tours, wind surfing, paddle boarding, tennis, ping pong, bingo….you name it. Our only regret is that we didn’t opt to do some of those extra things early in the week when the weather was fantastic. By the time we were tired of sitting on our butts, the weather got gross. I did however take the water aerobics class one day. So fun!

We highly recommend the resort.  It’s gorgeous, so peaceful and relaxing, and we talked to a few people who’d been to other resorts in Cancun, but love it at the Excellence more than anywhere else. We’re already planning to go back with friends – who’s in?

Before I left, I wondered how I’d do being away from my girls for that long. On our travel day, I felt like Rapunzel from the movie Tangled when she left the tower. I was screaming in my head BEST DAY EVER!!!! and thrilled about traveling without children (which I do alone once a year) – I could go to the bathroom without luggage or children in the stall with me! I could watch a movie! I could read on the plane! I was going to MEXICO!  But then we watched the episodes of The West Wing where the President’s daughter is missing and I lost it. I’d get teary thinking about how we left them, and worry that Mariah was so sad for us. I could see her sweet face and tears welling up in her eyes. Then I’d remember I was going to MEXICO! and I’d cheer up again.

I did miss my girls, but I still enjoyed my time.  I had a  hard time being away while Lana was sick, wishing I could give her snuggles. And one night during our video call Mariah was in tears and it was too much for me, I cried too. But overall, I knew they were in good hands.  On the trip home I imagined how our first day back would go. Lots of morning snuggles in bed. Pancakes for breakfast with Nonno and Nonna before they headed out. A family day of sweet happiness.

Oh no. Not at all.

Nick woke up around 4am and had been hit by food poisoning. Lana was still sick in the morning and had no voice. Mariah and I had a birthday party to attend 45 minutes away and we needed to shop for the present still. Yeah. That family day of sweet happiness was out the window. So was the next day when I took both girls to Mariah’s preschool church so she could sing. There’s no nursery in the teeny little church and containing a sick and crabby Lana was not her (or my) idea of fun. That afternoon Mariah spikes a fever. Croup and Laryngitis for both after a trip to urgent care.

The week transitioning back to reality was rough. Really rough.

Thankfully by Tuesday, things were looking up and we started to get back into somewhat of a routine. And this past weekend we had two wonderful family days of sweet happiness.

I’m so grateful for my time away with Nick to relax and reconnect. Since we’ve been back to normal here, I’ve been soaking in my time with the girls. My time away helped me appreciate them more and delight in them again.

I highly recommend taking time away from the every day routine – even if you can’t take a long trip to Mexico – to really appreciate what you have and to come back refreshed.  If we had family here to watch the girls, I think we’d be sending them off to Grandma and Grandpa’s for a long kid free weekend every few months.