... that we love to BBQ?

The day after we got back from Mexico, Lance came home to visit for a few days before his big trip to Africa.  So obviously that means FAMILY BARBEQUE!!!!!

We had so much fun!  Matt was a great BBQer

We all oooed and aaahed over baby Ezra

And I discovered the first fruits of our garden this year: a single ripe sugar snap pea!!!

I was so excited to see this beauty.  It was way too hot for peas last summer, plus I was a super lame gardener and really bad at harvesting.  By the time I went out there to get the peas, they were all either too big and overgrown to eat, or shriveled and burned from the heat.  I vowed I would do better this year!!!  And this one little pea was DELICIOUS!!!!!  I can't wait to harvest more!

I love family and BBQs and springtime!

... that I'm not exaggerating, because it really is that awesome!!!!

Love.

Matt took this picture, then said "I'm gonna take one more, hold on... One, twooooo..."  And then this happened:

Cutter napping by the pool

Love this little waterbaby

Late night movie in Mom's hotel room with our latest family obsession: Despicable Me.

Even got to go to the resort spa!

But soon enough it was time to go.   Babes had one last drink for the road:

And then it was time for goodbyes.

I scored an awesome pair of sunglasses at the airport with my last pesos

Just a little souvenir from this awesome trip.  I am so grateful to my parents for this last family vacation before they leave for Taiwan and Cait leaves for Korea.  It was a great trip that I will never forget.  I love my family and Cancun!!!

... that we know the real Cancun?

We took the bus into the city every night we were there, and it was pretty fun!  One night we found this little plaza where they had all these cars set up for kids.  Cutter loved it!

 And lining the whole plaza: food carts galore!

 We got these amazing Mexican corn on the cobs... and it went kind of downhill after that.

These empanadas had some spicy sauce on them that almost did permanent damage to Matt's tongue, and my chili relleno tacos were a little too spicy for me too.

Then we ordered a couple more things that were less than stellar, including Matt's marquesita: basically a fresh waffle cone that he decided to stuff with Nutella and cheese... he "thought it was supposed to be that way?"  So strange.

Oh well.  Still a pretty fun night, even though we struck out in the food department.  The next night, we went back out to downtown for some more tacos.

We met a few superheroes downtown too

Good times :)

... that I don't know how to spell Chichen Itza?

Okay, I figured it out.

Our second full day in Cancun was spent on a tour of some ancient ruins in the area.  My parents booked an awesome LDS tour guide from Helaman Tours and it was really great!  First stop was Ek Balam:

A little nap in the van during the drive (thanks husband for this nice pic)

I saw this picture on Matt's phone and asked him why he took it.  He told me he took it at a random rest stop to show Cutter when we got back, because he knew Cutter would love the Spiderman.  This man is the sweetest :)

Finally we got to Chichen Itza!

Super cool.  Our tourguide was really great and taught us a lot of really neat things about the ruins and Ancient Mayan culture.

After the ruins, our guide hurried us over to a cenote so we could get there before the other tour groups arrived.  What is a cenote, you ask?

An amazingly beautiful, natural swimming hole dug down into the ground and filled from the water table below.  The water was cool and refreshing after walking around ruins in the heat all day.  It was honestly one of the coolest places I have ever been to.


The boys, getting ready to jump



The natural pool was lit in the middle from the light above and filled with little fish.  I was a little hesitant to jump in (only scared of heights when I'm jumping off), but Cait made me do it with her for a picture.  Then the 1st pic didn't come out, so I did it again.

Totally worth the headache.  I am awesome.