Kid-Free Cancun and Our Amazing Race Try-Out

After our trip to Puerto Vallarta last year resulted in a severe case of Montezuma's Revenge for me, we swore we wouldn't be returning to Mexico any time soon. But then Mark and Christine decided to get married in Cancun, and we decided we couldn't miss it -- especially once Mop and Hop volunteered to babysit for us for 6 heavenly kid-free days!!

We had such a great time celebrating with all the family and friends who flew to Cancun to be with Mark and Christine, and especially loved staying on the island where the wedding took place -- Isla Mujeras. I lugged along our huge camera, but took way too few pictures -- probably because I had my nose in my Kindle the whole time! :)

This was our view from the villa on the island:

Here's all the groomsmen and Tim, before the wedding started:

Mark and Christine were (I think) the first American couple to get married in the island's Catholic church, and the local kids were fascinated with the whole production. They crowded into the doorway of the church to see the bride enter, and the little girls kept sneaking up to the front of the church to peek at the row of bridesmaids. They were adorable!

The day after the wedding, everyone relaxed poolside at the villa where the bridal party stayed... it's hard to tell where the pool ends, and the ocean begins!

Despite all the fun, I had very good reasons for not wanting to stay in Mexico -- including two babies at home and a stomach that is not at all receptive to Mexican water -- but I almost didn't make it out of the country. The morning of our flight, I cleaned out my purse, and threw out the Mexican tourist card that I was given upon entering, in Mexico City. I didn't realize (and definitely wasn't told!) that I needed to hang on to it and present it in order to leave the country again. We had a two-hour layover in Mexico City, and we needed every minute of it to race around the huge airport and fulfill the requirements of an insane Mexican treasure hunt. We had to visit at least seven different officials, fill out a Mexican police report, negotiate with a Mexicana airline supervisor, and finally get an official stamp from an immigration officer, before getting to board the plane to San Francisco! According to Tim, I'm not really the best candidate for Amazing Race. I say that it's not really fair to judge someone who's five months pregnant and wearing flip-flops ;)