Happy to be at the beach again

This weekend we spent in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Sunday was Marcy’s birthday and a few weeks ago I asked her if she was interested in going somewhere warm for a birthday. After a couple of Denver snowstorms she was fully on board, so I cashed in some airline and hotel points and we were off Cabo.

We played a lot of football on the beach (and in the pool)

We stayed at the Sheraton Grand Hacienda Del Mar right on the beach. We had a fantastic room, thanks to a lucky upgrade, that had separate bedroom for the kids. But we didn’t spend much time there with the kids making the most of their beach time. They went swimming in the ocean (it was really calm when we we there, and warm), played football, played games they just made up and raced after waves. And we spent quite a bit of time by the pool and hot tub as well.

Jude and Anna playing a game on the beach

As is typical in Mexico, there were all kinds of people selling their wares on the beach. Marcy got some great jewelry and Anna had her braided.

Showing off her new braids

On Saturday night we decided to go into downtown Cabo for dinner. We wanted to get off the resort and we found a popular restaurant on Yelp. Afterwards we walked around town and both kids, particularly Jude, was struck by the poverty with old people trying to scratch out a living selling cheap trinkets. We also found a guy with an iguana who let Jude put it on his head for a dollar.

Jude making new friends in downtown Cabo

One of the highlights of the trip was the turtle hatching. The hotel nurtured some turtle eggs through hatching and kept them in a covered box on the sand. Just in front of the hotel is a natural egg-laying location, and the hotel has protected that area and help get the turtles to the sea. They tried a couple of times to release the turtles into the ocean but they weren’t mobile enough. Then on Sunday night they let the dozen of so hatchlings out and they slowly made their way into the ocean. This was about a 30 minute process, and at least 20 people were watching and cheering on the little guys.

A baby turtle trying to make it to the ocean

Speaking of Sunday, it was Marcy’s birthday. Unfortunately, I picked up a bout of food poisoning on Saturday night so I spent most of the day in bed. We had an afternoon activity planned of snorkeling, kayaking and standup paddle-boarding. I could barely move so I had to skip it but the kids and Marcy had a great time.

Water sports with Cabo Adventures

They got back to the hotel quickly because they wanted to make it for the 5pm turtle release. Then we had Marcy’s birthday dinner at the hotel, I was able to rally for that.

After Marcy’s birthday dinner at the hotel

The trip was over all too quickly but we all really enjoyed it. We have had a cold fall with more snow than usual in Denver so it was great to get to the warm weather (it was 80 every day) and beach. The kids were especially sad to leave but Marcy vowed that we would try to have another beach vacation for her next birthday (a big one).