Playa del Carmen Vacation 2013 {Part 1}

Happy Monday! We got back last night from our vacation in Playa del Carmen, and while it's wonderful to be home, I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that I actually have to cook now. I'll probably make something quick and easy like this baked ravioli. It's a good "transition back into cooking" meal. :)

Our vacation started early last Monday morning as we headed for the Atlanta airport. We had to stop and get some morning fuel first, though. Cinnamon crunch bagels at Panera {my favorite!} and a Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino. Oh my goodness, that frap was SO good! It was like a chocolate cookies and cream smoothie with a hint of coffee. Not very "breakfasty," I know.

Once we got to the airport, everything was smooth sailing. I kept saying that I couldn't believe how perfectly everything was going. Of course, when our last vacation included running through the airport and making it to the gate just as they were about to stop boarding, almost anything would be better. We even had time for a leisurely lunch at Qdoba and some airport shopping. Had to get a king size Kit Kat for the flight! I'm telling you, when we're on vacation, pretty much anything goes. :) Even the flight was great considering the in flight movie was "Safe Haven." Love!

Here we are waiting for our ride to the resort once we arrived in Cancun. I just love palm trees!

We stayed at the Valentin Imperial Maya in Playa del Carmen and absolutely loved it. Once we got there, we took a few minutes to explore the lobby and take a few pictures.

No, we did not intend to match!

After we were all checked in, we headed to our room to find these these fun swans! The resort offered a class on how to fold towels like this, and I thought about going...for about three seconds. The pool was a lot more enticing, though. I'm sure there's a YouTube video for towel folding!

Another night, we came back to our room to find this cute little elephant friend. I had to realign his eye stickers before I took a picture, though. Daniel laughed at me, but they were crooked!! They still look a little crooked in the picture, but I promise, they weren't!

About two minutes after we arrived in our room, someone delivered cake for our anniversary. Listen, anyone who delivers cake is a friend of mine {especially considering I was on sugar withdrawal}.

Since we didn't get to the resort until late afternoon the first day, we spent some time exploring and enjoying the scenery. It was a HUGE resort which meant there was a lot of walking {probably not a bad thing considering all of the eating we did}, but it was absolutely beautiful. This is part of the lobby. I loved all the fountains.

This was the view we had from our balcony. There were two weddings at the resort while we were there, and we could see them from our balcony. {Don't worry, we were well hidden by all the palm trees and there was no way we could photo bomb any pictures!} We could tell when there was a wedding because they would park a cute little golf cart that had flowers on it by the beach path next to our building.

{Click picture to enlarge}

This was the main path to the beach. They even had several hammocks hanging between palm trees. We went to swing in the hammocks one night and while we were walking there, Daniel said he wanted to video me getting in the hammock. Mean! {He did help me get in, though...and no video.} I'm proud to say that I successfully situated myself in the hammock without mishap {however, not gracefully}. They were definitely the most uncomfortable hammocks ever, though! All that for nothing!

We liked these swings that looked out on the beach much better!

Well, that's all for today. We have mountains of laundry to get to! Stay tuned to read about our jet ski adventure nightmare, hundreds of iguanas, sea turtles, and LOTS of food!

Hope you have a great Monday!!

Vacation Recap: Part Two