Scout’s Age
9 months
Most Important Gear
Hard to say, our hotel provided nearly everything we needed. Basically just needed to bring the baby and her formula.
Itinerary
Day 1
Fly into CUN - 3 hour flight
Check into hotel
Day 2
Hotel breakfast buffet
Beach hangs
Dinner at the hotel
Day 3
Hotel breakfast buffet
Beach hangs
Mom and dad massages
Beachfront lunch
Dinner at the hotel
Day 4
Flight back to DFW - 2 hours
Best of the trip
Best baby hotel ever - just needed to bring the baby, they had everything!
Stroller
Baby monitor
Babysitting services (which we used and loved)
Accommodating restaurants - extra baby friendly
Trip Story
Mexico. Another place near and dear to us. And, to be more exact, Quintana Roo. It's the home state to beauties such as Cancun, Carmen del Playa and Tulum. We were married at Sandos Carocal and, being from Texas, have been numerous times. Mexico is a colorful, vibrant, beautiful country. And we are very protective of her. I have 2 pet peeves when it comes to travel complaints: #1 This place is dirty. (I hate this critique so much and I'm sure I'll expand on this in a future blog!) and #2 It's dangerous. The latter is often used when talking about Mexico, yet, I've felt more in unsafe in U.S. cities when traveling. So, no duh. I could technically be in "danger" anywhere. Don't make dumb decisions or drunk decisions and you should be fine. So, read what you want, hear what you hear, I'm telling you, it's safe if you want it to be. (i.e. don't go down dark alleys or get in cars with strangers not driving cabs)
Now, that being said, let's dive into the wonderful world of Mexico with a baby!
We stayed at the Azul Beach Resort in the Riviera Maya area, only 15 minutes drive from the airport. The resort is beautiful and typical "Mexican Resort". Palapas, swinging beds, swim up bars and incredible views. The beach is great, however, the water wasn't my favorite I've seen in Mexico. Weirdly, only a few minutes south of turquoise Cancun beaches and minutes north of the indigo waters of Playa del Carmen, the water was dark and a tinge murky. Mind you, murky Caribbean water is still clear and gorgeous and warm, I was just surprised by the shade. Apparently, a National Reef Park lies just beyond the waves and you will see numerous excursion boats letting tourists out to explore the natural wonder of coral. All in all, aside from the shade of the water, it was a fantastic beach!
As for the actual resort, it was PERFECT for a family with a baby! I can't say this enough. Upon arrival, we were greeted with champagne and a card to check all of the baby supplies we would need. I checked most of them and they included: crib, changing table/bath tub, bottle sanitizer, and stroller. There is even sunscreen you can use at the beach palapa.
What's not included/what I packed: diapers, wipes, pool float, small inflatable pool for beach. This last one was a Pinterest find and was awesome for the beach! Even though Scout loved the sand, it was nice to put her in the pool with some toys, a bottle or even a little water and get to just relax!
One of the first things I noticed about Azul was that is was small for a resort. Only a dozen or so villas. The second thing I noticed about Azul was that almost every family there had a baby. Seriously, strollers everywhere! It made me feel so accepted for who I was. A first time mom who wanted a vacation but also wanted to show my baby sand and waves and the world. To be surrounded by people who understood me and what I was and welcomed me regardless of my "baggage". It was liberating, I tell you. But seriously, what is better than walking into a posh Italian restaurant and not worrying about people judging you for bringing a baby along or ordering a bottle of wine or drinking said bottle and ordering another drink. Who cares? There's a baby screaming near the wine cellar and another kid throwing pasta at a toddler thats drumming with garlic bread. God bless baby resorts.
Did I mention that ALL of the restaurants have high chairs??
Something I wasn't totally sure I'd buy into was the babysitting services. So, once I realized everyone at the resort LOVED babies, I decided to check out the daycare area. This was a fairly large area with tons of toys, a trampoline, slide, climbing wall, movie station and building center. We went to one of the morning baby playtimes and joined in to the songs and dances led by their very competent and sweet staff. After that, I was totally sold:)
So, I made a babysitting appointment (and then a spa appointment) and packed Scout a little bag of necessities. We dropped her off and then to drown out the mom guilt that can cripple us all, I took a shot of tequila and made a beeline for our couples massage.
The spa is great. The women working there are sweet, professional and very relaxing. Being that I am also in the business of pampering women, when it's my turn I'm very picky and critical of things. They passed all of my tests and I was so fully and amazingly relaxed. I think they know everyone there is a parent and is exhausted and is knotted up and is exhausted (did I say that already?) After the hyrdro-therapy and couples massage and sauna, we headed back to pick up our little munchkin. She was so happy and looked like she'd had so much fun! In fact, I hadn't packed enough food and they told me that they just went to our room and made her a bottle...seriously full service! Yeah, so, use the babysitters and use the spa and make the most of it!
There is a theater and there were shows every night, but we went to bed every night at 9. It was amazing. I'm sure we missed some great shows...or I heard we did. But that deep sleep in sync with the sound of the waves right outside our door were better, I'm sure.
So to sum up the trip...take naps as a family in the bed swings with a piña colada, get a massage, drink some wine and enjoy a fantastic (albeit different than college) trip to Mexico!
I almost forgot! They have these super-duper incredibly adorable baby pool lounges by the kiddie pool right next to the giant Patrick Star statue!
