Mexico 2013 - Puerto Penasco

We haven’t taken a Hunt family vacation for two years while Mom and Dad were on their mission, so we decided to celebrate their return with gusto!  We were able to get two 8-person condos down in Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico on the beautiful Sea of Cortez at Mayan Palace.  Puerto Penasco is only a nineteen-hour drive from Rexburg, so having a vacation there meant we could introduce our kids to some Mexican culture without having to pay for airfare.  And introduce them to Mexican culture we did!  Some of our trip highlights included:  Swimming in the crystal clear, bathtub-warm, white sand oceans of the Sea of Cortez.  Bartering for trinkets at the Mexican flea market (My favorite purchase?  Eleven tubes of black market, non-FDA approved Retin A!  Adios wrinkles!)  Eating fresh shrimp with a friendly pelican as the sun set at an ocean-side restaurant.  Kayaking in an estuary where we watched blue crabs scurry under our paddles (Speaking of blue crabs, those things are feisty.  My dad learned a life-lesson when he picked a large one up and it about took off his thumb nail!)  Watching platinum-blonde Carson break open a piñata with a horde of Mexican children.  Swimming for hours and hours and hours at the gorgeous Mayan Palace pool.  Driving through the beautiful Organ Pipe National Monument.  Gathering sea shells and building sand castles on the beach.  Playing with Jack (or “Jacket” as Quin prefers to call him).  Paying for McCall to get her hair braided into cornrows (20 minutes) and then deciding that, “Heck – I can do that myself” and then discovering that while I can do that myself, it takes me an hour and half to braid cornrows!  Geocaching in Sedona, Arizona.  Playing card games with the family.  And, last but not least, making it safely into and out of the country!

It was a long car drive to Mexico - this is how Jed passed some of the time.

Right before the border you cross through Organ Pipe National Monument

The entrance to our resort - Mayan Palace

The front gardens

Mayan Palace main lobby

Boardwalk down to the pool and ocean.

Jack loved hiding in the bedroom armoire.

Lots of seashells from the beach were used to outline our name.  Mayan Palace in the background.

Playing in the beautiful waters of the Sea of Cortez.

The water was a warm as a bathtub and crystal-clear. 

We spent at least six hours a day at the pool or ocean.  Looks like Quin's ready to go!

We watch this video clip all the time and it never ceases to amuse me.  I love how Kai jumps into the water like a "fairy" and Quin's diving method is classic!

This video clip of Wyatt is probably one of my favorite all-time videos.  It makes me laugh every time I watch it!

Puerto Penasco is a big shrimping area.  This statue was on the Malecon (or boardwalk).

Who wants to go to Sonora in August?  The weather was hot and perfect for cactus gardens.

We ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant out on a pier.  This seabird was hanging out on the railing by us.

Love my sisters!  Ash and Nin on the boardwalk.

Ash photobombed this family picture.  Sneaky Sis!

McCall got her hair braided into cornrows.  Time from start to finish (with two people):  20 minutes.

I decided that I could do the same thing that they did on Carson's hair.  Time from start to finish:  90 minutes.

We went sea kayaking in the Morua Estuary.

Back across the border!  Home sweet home!