Day five started with a trip through the Windjammer Cafe. As per usual, Brooke loaded her plate with fresh fruit and a few donuts, haha. Balance in all things, right? I think Colby normally stuck with Kevin, which is why I have more food pictures with Brooke.
The kids made sure I took a picture of the towel swans...
Then it was time to disembark at Costa Maya, Mexico. The water was the most beautiful shade of turquoise!
We walked through a few shops, then stopped to watch the Dance of the Flyers. This ancient ritual begins when four men climb a 75 foot pole with no harnesses, tie ropes around their waists, then descend on a spinning platform to the ground while playing flutes. It is believed that this pleases the Gods. We weren't visiting any of the ancient ruins in Costa Maya, so it was cool to see a bit of their culture.
We stopped to see the flamingos, hence the pose...
And we about died when we heard the scurry of these gigantic lizards as we rounded a building to find the taxis.
We wanted to go visit Mahahual Beach, but after our last taxi experience of being taken to the wrong port, we were a little apprehensive about it. But we also didn't want to be stuck at the shops, so we decided to give it a shot. We agreed upon the price to get to the beach, and although they said it was the same to get back, Kevin was skeptical that they might jack up the price and there wouldn't be much we could do about it. Thankfully, they didn't do that, but as we pulled out of the port area, I could see Kevin carefully watching which streets we turned on and making sure we were going the right direction.
I'm really glad we risked it because the beach was beautiful. They tried to convince us to go to the beach clubs ($15 for adults, kids were free) since the public beaches are "usually crowded", but I'm glad we declined because the exact opposite was true. The public beach was nearly empty and we could see all the people over at the beach clubs. They must've all listened to the bad advice.
I laughed when I saw that Kevin took a picture of me taking pictures of the kids, haha. You know I love my pictures :)
I'm not sure why Colby's hair was quite so crazy, but I love this picture so much. He looks like an adventure dude :)
They had the most beautiful shade canopy and the beach was incredible. Brooke didn't really want to get in the water, which really frustrated me, especially when we were in Mexico and the water was amazing.
She was content to sit in the sand and play...
One of our favorite parts of the beach were the wooden swings. It was so peaceful and relaxing to just sit and swing. The temperature was perfect, the view was amazing, and I enjoyed the conversation as a family. I honestly could've stayed for hours!
Colby could only sit still for so long, and then busied himself trying to bust open a coconut. I love this boy's determination when he sets his mind to something.
I finally told Brooke that we WERE going into the beautiful water as a family, so I put her on my back and away we went. Apparently she was afraid of the seaweed, which was practically non-existent in the area we were in, and the water was so clear so you could see anything that "might" have been floating towards you, so I felt like it was a decent request.
I love this family picture and I'm glad we could experience the beaches of Mahahual together.
Huge lizards also enjoyed the beach, and naturally, Colby tried to get close enough to touch one. He wasn't successful, but he had fun trying.
We did some last minute souvenir shopping and the kids found just what they were hoping for.
Colby bought a wooden top engraved with his name and the words Costa Maya. This top was much easier to use than the one he bought in Roatan, so he was excited.
Brooke bought a bracelet, which was loved! She had to negotiate a lower price because she only had a few dollars left, but she did it.
The kids really loved shopping at each port, and I loved that they could get what they wanted with their own money :)
The line was super long to get a photo by the Costa Maya sign, so we opted for this one instead.
And then Brooke and Colby followed someone else's lead and wanted a picture on this statue...
Once we made it back on the ship, we dropped off some stuff in our room and found another towel display.
Then it was off to the helicopter pad again, haha. I have never been in such gusty wind, I honestly felt like I was going to blow over.
We couldn't let the day end without some time on the Flowrider. Luckily, they didn't have the divider in, so the kids could go back and forth on the wave and Kevin was able to surf. I wanted to try the surf board, but then chickened out because I didn't want to make a fool of myself. I also was a little worried about my back. We saw a guy dislocate his shoulder the night before when he fell, so I was apprehensive about the inevitable fall.
I can't remember what the theme was that night, but we just tried to coordinate in our pastels.
As I watched Brooke eat her caesar salad, with her arm stacked full of souvenir bracelets, I knew I needed to take a picture. Brooke had decided that she wanted a bracelet from every port, and she was thrilled with her whole collection. Her name bracelet and two rainbow bands were from Cozumel, the two colorful bands on the bottom were from Roatan, and the double-banded one was from today (Costa Maya).
Colby was stuffed and just wanted to play with his food, haha. I've said this a few times, but I have really enjoyed our dinners in the dining room. The conversations about our day have been really sweet, and our waiters have taken really great care of us.
The next day was at sea, and I was ready to rest and "relax" as much as the kids would allow :)
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