At the hotel
We went to the same place as last year, in Playa del Carmen on the Mexican Riviera. In so many ways, it was much nicer and more relaxing than last year. Despite a few tumbles, we could trust the twins to run around on the jungle paths without falling too often. We didn’t have to hold their hands constantly near the water features for fear they would jump in. We even dared a few excursions this year. We went to Xcaret, a nearby ecological preserve, where we floated down an underground river, looked at birds and turtles and sharks, and climbed up a small pyramid.
Floating the underground river
Claire and Ronin did really well in the river until about halfway through when a guy dressed up like a Mayan came over the wall and stood behind us for a photo op, shaking his leg-rattles menacingly. Claire turned around, shrieked, and wouldn’t stop crying about the “scary guy” the rest of the way. I tried consoling her, I tried distraction, I tried singing some of her favorite songs, and she remained trembling and inconsolable. Once we left the river she was fine, and on our way out we stopped to look at the pictures (we bought the one above that was taken without a scary guy) and Claire just pointed out matter-of-factly the scary guy in some of the other pictures on display.
Ronin at Xcaret
On top of the pyramid
It was a long day, but there was so much to do and see, we didn’t want to leave until we’d gone to all the parts we wanted to visit. We ended up having naptime in a hammock.
Naptime at Xcaret
Claire recited her first poem while we were at the eco-park. Upon not finding an iguana where she’d last seen it, she announced “Iguana all gone-a.”
The twins loved all the animals. Ronin declared on the first day that the peacock was his favorite animal. Claire liked the large catlike rodent of which we can never remember the name. I have quite a few videos of them chasing the peacocks around. They liked to ask the peacocks where they were going, and to tell them to come back.
In another change from last year, Justin was able to go scuba-diving twice. I felt comfortable enough with the twins that I felt like we could be alone in this environment for a few hours, and it worked out well. I took them for long walks on the jungle paths, and down to the playground for some climbing and bouncing and banging. They loved the playground, and could play by themselves or with other children who wandered in and out. Here is a video of Ronin reading a playground sign in Italian and thinking it says Ronin.
At the playground
We went down to the beach and played in the sand and had a snack. I had to chase after one or the other occasionally, but all in all it was totally pleasant.
Sitting on the wall at the beach
We soon settled into a routine of eating, naps, walks, playtime, and swimming. We had two inflatables for the children, and Claire in particular loved her crab boat. She was not overly fond of water, but with the promise of her crab, she was happy to go bob about in the ocean waves. Once she discovered how much fun the waves were, it was hard to keep her out.
On the beach
Justin and Ronin in the ocean
Claire really seemed to blossom on this trip. Aside from the scary guy, she was much more personable with strangers than she ever has been. She let people take her hand, ruffle her hair, and talk to her. Both children learned to say “Hola” and “gracias” and “adios” and “topes” (speedbumps). We noticed both of them did a lot of imaginative play. Ronin liked to swoop about as an airplane, with his arms outstretched. Claire started spinning the wheels at the end of the rollaway bed and said she was spinning turntables. This was the first time we really noticed that they were accurate with plurals. They said “There they are” vs “There it is.” Ronin liked to stop and listen for jungle noises and said “Hear that sound!” whenever a bird called or a monkey howled. Claire had a nightmare one night and was able to tell me that it was about the funny dog from the movie Toy Story. Claire also frequently expressed emotion. She’d run down the path, shouting “I’m happy! Having fun!”
On the negative side, Claire has developed a new level of whine, and when something goes wrong for her, it is her first and sometimes only resort. If she wakes up in the middle of the night, she cries out “Mah binky, wah wah.” She would say it if she dropped her crab boat: “Mah crabby, wah wah.” It happened so much that Ronin started copying her without the actual whine included. He looks at her and states “Mah binky, wah wah.” Ronin was not as whiny, but he was really bad about opening the hotel door and bolting outside without us. He could actually squeeze through the slightly open door even with the chain lock on, but at least it slowed him down a little bit. After a total of probably 2-3 time-outs ever for them, Ronin had at least six time-outs for running outside that very first night we were there. Thank goodness he got better after that, but he still needed a verbal reminder occasionally. I think part of it was that the lure of all the excitement outside was no match for our disapproval at him running away.
Claire watching turtles
After a few days of ocean swimming in the afternoon, we went to the kiddie pool, and although it had no waves, it was a perfect depth for Claire and Ronin to get more comfortable in the water. Claire liked the waves at the beach, but she LOVED the tiny pool. She scooted around on her hands, kicking her feet, saying “I’m swimming! I’m swimming!”
Justin and the twins in the tiny pool
Our last full day in Mexico, we went on another excursion, this time to the Mayan ruins of Tulum. I was expecting a pleasant morning roaming around the site and taking pictures of the children against a beautiful, scenic background. Wrong! Claire was screaming and kicking so much on the taxi ride out there, Justin encouraged me to give her an emergency pacifier so the driver wouldn’t run off the road. They’ve only had binkies for naps and bedtime for almost the past year, but this seemed like a special circumstance. It quieted her down, but she refused to part with it once we got to Tulum. I tried to take it back a couple of times, figuring the train ride to the ruins would provide enough excitement. Not at all. In fact, the train pulled up and we got off and she howled “Mah train, wah wah!” She cried to the ticket booth, she cried on the walk through the gate. I finally just took the binky away, figuring in another 10 minutes she’d forget about it with all the interesting things to see. Like at the river, I tried distraction, I tried consoling, I tried singing, and again nothing worked.
Tulum
An hour later, Justin and I were both frustrated with Claire’s inability to forget about her binky (wah wah) or her train or anything else she became fixated on. As far as taking pictures was concerned, I have about 5 pictures of Claire with mouth open and tears. We were embarrassed about the tour groups we passed, trying to learn about the history of this magnificent complex while a small child howled in the background. One guy stopped us and told us he had twins at home and he missed them. We mumbled something quickly and moved on, and I secretly thought that maybe he wouldn’t miss them so much after seeing our cheeful little group. Eventually, Justin told me to just give her the binky, and while I was trying to get it out Ronin took a tumble down the steps of the pyramid and banged his forehead and started crying.
Wah wah
All of us were so upset by then, we moved to a secluded area with a stone bench under some trees and tried to pull ourselves together. We were promptly bitten by a swarm of mosquitos and fled, but not before getting massive bites. It turns out that Claire welts up just as much as Justin does, while luckily Ronin and I don’t tend to react so much.
Ronin at Tulum
We were fortunate that most of our trip went so well, and it was only that last day that was really stressful. The flights, although long and uncomfortable, were not as bad as they could have been. We had a portable DVD player and that helped, and it also helped that both children think seatbelts are important. We got in early yesterday morning, and I’m on my 8th load of laundry and wishing I was back at the beach, but it is good to be home.
