Love is picture perfect: July 2013

I thought it was about time to catch up on my blogging. I have been MIA from blogging most of the month as we have been busy living, vacationing, and enjoying summer.

Let's start with the 4th of July: We had a relaxed, low-key 4th. Darryl worked a half day. We went to my parents for some yummy grilling and returned home so Brittyn could take a brief nap before fireworks. Then we headed out again to watch fireworks in Apple Valley. We always sit with my parents, because my dad loves to get everywhere super early...which truly comes in handy when you have children. They reserve us nice spots and then we don't have to sit forever. The girls loved the fireworks. Brittyn snoozed through them last year, but this year she was super into them. She kept saying "boom, boom".
Here are some pics from the 4th:

{She LOVES her older sister!}

On July 6th-13th, Darryl and I spent a week in Riviera Maya, Mexico at the Grand Luxxe! We were celebrating our 10th year anniversary early (as our anniversary is December 27th). We chose to go back to the same location, as our honeymoon as that area is so beautiful. We stayed in a different hotel this time.. Grande Luxxe. It was AMAZING! We barely used the whole room....it was HUGE. We felt like we should have invited more people to stay in our room.
Our agenda was as follows:
Saturday: arrival and pool time at our hotel
Sunday: we headed to Cancun for the day. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and enjoyed free drink and meals (after we listened to their long winded persuasion to buy another timeshare) all day.
Monday: We headed to Playa Del Carmen to spend the day. We did lots of walking, shopping, and drinking. It was very HOT!
Tuesday: Spent the day on Cozumel. We took the ferry boat from Playa del Carmen. We rented a scooter (which I was a little nervous about), but it was one of the most fun things we have done. We took our own time exploring the island, stopping off at little bars and beaches, and I really enjoyed the island breeze from the back of the scooter. Totally recommend renting a scooter! We had dinner at an amazing italian restaurant at our resort. DELICIOUS!
Wednesday: we stayed around the hotel. We lounged by our private pool for Grand Luxxe guests and private access to the beach. We then headed to Playa Del Carmen for some more shopping and dinner in the evening.
Thursday: we went to XPLOR park. We did zip lines, jeep rides, and other water activities. The zip lines were really cool! I think next time we will do a more private zip line tour, but the park was really fun.
Friday: our last full day was spent taking everything in. We spent the day at the pool and beach and celebrated our fun week.
Saturday: We were delayed about 3 hours into Minneapolis due to bad weather that morning. Not fun! However, it was great to see the girls again as Darryl's parents graciously watched them during the week.

Vacations always go by so quickly, but it is always nice to come home.
Here are some iphone pics from our trip (as I didn't want to bring and haul around the nice camera)

Leaving MSP!

OUR ROOM!

Bathroom!

The part we never used!

The bedroom

A view from our beach

Cancun, Hard rock Hotel

Crazy kids

Beach Body

Sandy Toes

A view of the Grand Mayan at night. This hotel was also on our property.

Grand Mayan Lobby

Lunch at Playa Del Carmen

Fancy dinner at Tramanto

Tramanto Italian Restaurant

Hot guy on a scooter in Cozumel!

Our lunch views in Cozumel

Bar swings...yes, please!

Cozumel

Rooftop Dinner in Playa Del Carmen...toasting to a great vacation

Grande Luxxe Pool

My favorite part!

Goodbye Grande Luxxe....AWESOME VACATION.

Lastly...Yay if you have read this far. Here are some random Iphone pics from our life lately. Just enjoying summer. I can't believe July is coming to an end. We are gearing up for my brother Colin and Jacky's wedding on August 3rd. The girls are flower girls and I am a bridesmaid. Should be a fun time! Hope you are all enjoying these summer days...they pass way too quickly if you ask me!