As soon as I saw the pictures of the resort that Tastefully Simple chose for this past year's Silver Leaf Incentive trip, I knew I had to get us there. I set my goal and worked my butt off. I had some help from a lot of people and made it a possibility, and after months of dreaming, we finally made our way to Mexico last month.
Leading up the trip, I spent a
lot of time preparing for leaving the kids. We've never left them...we
rarely get a babysitter, let alone needing to leave them overnight! I
had a very detailed, six-page note ready for my mom and Rosi, and was
certain that saying our goodbyes would be difficult. I'm kind of sad to
admit that there were no tears from anyone. Gavin seemed a little
nervous the morning of, but it was honestly more because he afraid of
getting in trouble for taking his new Pokemon binder in to school than
it was because we were leaving. Ha!
Jarrod and I immediately
took advantage of the 'adult' time by actually getting to read and sleep
on the plane. Yes, you read that right....I got to READ a magazine and
actually close my eyes! It was amazing!
The service we got from the first minute we arrived in Mexico was amazing. We'd never been on an all-inclusive trip, let alone an incentive trip that Tastefully Simple went above and beyond on. Every single thing was taken care of for us! We learned quickly that vacationing by ourselves meant that we took a lot of selfies. Had the kids been there, the pictures would have been all about them....instead, we got a lot of scenery shots and selfies. I used my phone more than the camera, to be honest!
We spent a lot of time just laying by the pool. There wasn't a lot of 'doing stuff' on this trip. Our mornings including early walks around the resort (because even without kids, we can't sleep in) which was HUGE. Seriously, so much bigger than we ever imagined. We would then end up at the pool, having drinks while getting some sun and meeting new Tastefully Simple friends. It was pretty cool to see so many consultants in the same place, especially all the faces I recognized from reading the Gazette for the last five years.
The best part of the trip was obviously the opportunity to just reconnect and spend all my time with Jarrod. We were together pretty much every minute of the trip. It really was just like a second honeymoon for us. So amazing to have this chance to be husband and wife first, not mom and dad. We need to do this again!
The resort was gorgeous! We weren't blown away by the beach at this resort, but we've heard their sister resort, Beach Palace, has a gorgeous beach and when we go back, we will definitely take advantage of the shuttle and spend a day there. I wasn't able to enjoy the saltwater of the ocean because of a minor health issue, so we stayed poolside. Notice the swim up bar, the lounge chairs IN the water, and the swings at the bar!
More selfies...plus one awful picture that someone took for us. She obviously wasn't a photographer.
Mai Tais, watermelon margaritas, and lots of Mexican beer were consumed! I may or may not have had three margaritas before lunch on Saturday and needed to take a nap by 1:00. Ha!
The only thing we really had to spend any money on (well, besides the two pairs of sunglasses I bought...I forgot mine in Arkansas, so I bought one pair at the Cancun airport, ended up not liking them, and bought a second pair at the hotel) was a splurge couples massage. Not exactly the greatest massage I've ever had, but any massage is good to me! :) All the food and drinks were included and were absolutely amazing. Los Tacos was our favorite place we ate at, but we also had some great sushi, the fresh orange juice was delicious, and the Brazilian steakhouse was so crazy good!
Oh, Moon Palace...how we fell in love with you, and with one another all over again. I'm so thankful for Tastefully Simple for giving us this opportunity. I know we will definitely visit Cancun again, and we'll be sure to bring the kids along with us. Until next time, cheers!
