Cozumel

 

Our final excursion day was to one of my favorite ports of call in the world, Cozumel! We got off our cruise ship and had time to peruse the fabulous shopping at the port. Ellie and I had someone demonstrate how they paint with just their fingers, and then picked out a hand-painted magnet for Maga. 

A performing group did an entire Mayan-style ceremony with fire and dancing that was super cool. Ian got a picture with them. He was, once again, very much in his element. Then we got on our tour bus to the quick drive over to Chakanaab State Park. The water in Cozumel is so incredibly pristine with clarity clear to the ocean floor. Our first part of the excursion was an encounter with the dolphins and manatee. It was so much fun. Each of us got to shake hands and get a kiss from a dolphin. Then we got to do some handshaking and kissing with the manatee. Liam was hilarious and asked if the manatee was wearing armor because its skin was so much rougher than a dolphin's skin. The kids' grins were magical. Since buying pictures was $330...we have no pictures of the event, but the memories will be forever. 

After our encounter with dolphins and manatees, we had free rein at the park. This included lunch, drinks, the beach, chairs, hammocks, and some Mayan replicas in a garden. 

Ian and Miles immediately went out to explore the Mayan replicas in the jungle gardens. 

Liam made a beeline for the hammocks. On our way, we got stopped by a photo op with an iguana. Liam was ALL IN. He was super excited about holding it. Later on, when the photographer found us with the picture and the frame, I asked Liam if he wanted it. Liam grinned, "For my apartment," he declared emphatically...so yes, I bought the overpriced frame and picture. It's hard to say no to Liam when he smiles like that. 

Liam then parked himself in a hammock very happily. 

Matt and Ellie jumped into the ocean pretty quickly and swam around in the crystal clear waters. Liam then decided he was hungry. I took him over to get some food. They at first told me he was to wet to come inside for food...then a tropical rainstorm opened up, and now everyone was wet, and Liam got to come inside. It was over pretty quickly, but it allowed everyone a chance to eat. Then we had a quick chance to swim briefly, and the photographer from earlier let us all have a turn holding the Iguana and take cell pics since we bought both the frame and pic earlier. 

Iguanas are super warm and soft, not what you expect when holding a lizard. 

As it turns out, there isn't a single one of my kids who doesn't like holding an Iguana. 

After that, it was time to go. I actually got worried that I mixed the times up, but I did not, and all was well. Miles decided he wanted a fancy chess set. The really big ones were about 900 dollars. The smallest one, made with malachite and carved Olmec figures, was 160. Miles had 50 of that...the other 110 came from Christmas gift money (as in he has to wait for Christmas to open it under the tree). He was pretty excited. 

We got back feeling pretty worn out. Everyone needed to wash the salt water off their bodies and then head down for another fancy dress dinner. Tonight was the night they were serving dishes like crème brûlée and lobster. Unfortunately, we hit a storm, and the boat began rocking like crazy. Matt became too seasick to eat (even though lobster is his favorite). Our super nice waiters noticed he had left, and sent an extra creme brulee back to our room for him. Ellie managed to wheedle a second lobster tail out of our waiter through sheer cuteness. It was hard to say goodbye to all of our excursions. Now we just had one last day at sea before our most anticipated vacation was over.