The Stallion Showcase

Thursday, March 26

Lisa and her kids came down for a visit since it was their spring break week. This is the 3rd or 4th year coming down here! Each time they've been down here, Ian's school had their Stallion Showcase, previously known as evening of the arts. Erik was at work, Gabe and Elisa didn't want to come, and Lisa was too tired. I wasn't too keen on taking Aiden, but Calvin was happy to come! I had fed them all bean burritos using high fiber tortillas, and lo and behold, Calvin had to go #2 while we were there but refused to use any of the restrooms. Luckily, we weren't there for too long. Ian's band played for approximately 2 minutes and then we stopped by his gifted class to see was project he came up with--an invention idea to protect one's Nintendo Switch from anger issues. It makes me wonder.... did Ian get mad at the switch and break it, or did it get stepped on (I did see it on the floor)? Ian will never tell, but this project of his did some talking for him. Lastly, we stopped by his social studies classroom to see a few of his completed assignments. Calvin was begging to leave by then, so we headed out. I ordered pizza from Dominos for dinner and picked the pizza up before going back home.

Me and Cal-Pal waiting to hear Ian and his band play

With so many band players, its hard to get a good picture of Ian 

A very very short performance from Ian's band.

Ian's Switch invention idea that he came up with in his gifted class

Ian's social studies project

Spring Break in Mexico, Day 6: The Last Day/Going Home

Our flight wasn't until later in the day, so we had some time to kill before then. We decided to eat breakfast on the property. It seemed to take forever for them to get our order out. We had time to spare, but I was tired of sitting at the table by the time the food came out. My food was okay, not bad but not good either. I didn't feel satisfied after eating it. 

Egg ranchero or something...it wasn't that good.

After breakfast we walked over to the nearby beach, felt the water with our toes, and turned around to leave. None of us had sunscreen on so I didn't want to stay out for too long

At the beach for a bit

It was then time to check out of our hotel. Between checking out and needing to be at the airport, we still had more time to do whatever we wanted. We drove around Cancun to see all the resorts and tourist attractions. We decided to stop by a flea market and look at the random stuff, but we didn't really see anything that we wanted. The kids didn't even want to look at anything because the sellers were extremely obnoxious and yelled out prices whenever we got near any of their inventory.  Erik had taken off his watch because he thought someone would steal it, and he hid it in the center console of the van. Unfortunately, he didn't remember where he left it until after we returned the van and got to the airport. He got a ride back to the car rental place while the rest of us waited at the airport. Needless to say, he did not get his watch back. Poor Erik. While we waited for Erik to try to get his watch back, I bought some Mexican candies at a shop inside the airport. I had some Mexican cash/pesos leftover, and I needed to use them up.  After picking out some fun candy, I bought Elisa a shake at Starbucks (using the credit card). Erik came back and we boarded the plane to go home. 

Elisa and her Starbucks shake

Spring Break in Mexico, Day 5: Xel Ha

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

We slept in a little bit longer and headed over to Xel Ha (another part of the Xcaret parks). Our first activity was the lighthouse waterslide, which I declined to go down. I suppose everyone else enjoyed the slide. Then we went to go snorkel again. Gabe and Elisa sat this one out. Ian went with Erik and me. The view through the goggles was a little fuzzy, I wasn’t sure if it was from the mask or from the water itself. There wasn’t much to see anyway, so we weren’t in the water for too long.

Dolphins

We saw some fish while snorkeling.

Next, we walked to the tram, which took us to the head of the river. This time we could check out flippers or rafts. Almost everybody used a tube to float down the river. We ended up in the bay where there were lots of water activities: cliff jumping, rope bridges, zip lines, etc.

Riding the "train"

Only Elisa and Erik were brave enough to cliff jump.

Erik and Ian guarded our tubes and shoes while we conquered the rope bridge.

We all got separated after the rope bridge. Some of us went on the zip lines. Eventually, we all found each other and made our way back across the bay. After the river, we found another buffet for lunch. It wasn't quite as good as the one at Xcaret. They had a few of the same things from the other buffet, just not as good. We left after eating. Good thing too because it started to rain again.

Back at our condo, Ian and Elisa headed straight for the huge pool. We decided to eat at the restaurant on the premises for dinner. Elisa said she wasn't hungry and stayed in the condo. Gabe had (surprise) a burger. Ian had (surprise) mac and cheese. Erik and I shared the brisket tacos and the chocolate lava cake for dessert.

Swimming in the huge pool

Our last dinner in Mexico

Spring Break in Mexico, Day 4: Xcaret

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

St. Patrick’s Day. We woke up somewhat early to go to Xcaret when it opened. Once in the park, we got our lockers to drop off our bags, and we placed our towels and sunscreen in a duffle bag, which would be waiting for us at the end of the river. Then we put on our lifejackets and floated down the underground river. It was a little bit longer and colder than we expected. It wasn’t quite the same as Rio Secreto because it seemed more man-made.

There were macaws and flamingos at the park entrance.

Ready to swim

The water wasn't very warm, it was fine once we got used to it.

We swam through lots of manmade caves between cenotes.

Cliffs and waterfalls

"Mayan Villages" along the way

Sometimes we swam. Other times we pulled ourselves along the edge or along the ropes.

An open cenote in the middle of a cave

This cave had several groups of sleeping bats.

The cave below the butterfly garden with a stained-glass window for the ceiling

These were kiosks where you could take your picture.

The light at the end of the tunnel!

Lots of mandrake roots

There was a fork in the road, and the kids took the opposite path from us.

We met back up at the Xcaret Mexico sign.

We made it to the end!

At the end of the river, we picked up our towels and walked around the beach. We checked out some snorkeling equipment and snorkeled for a short time in the bay. The only interesting thing we saw in the water was a stingray. Erik ordered some waterproof iphone protectors so that we could take pictures in the water. Erik took some pictures of us snorkeling.

Along the way, there were pods of water with seaturtles swimming around inside. Here's a picture of Ian with the turtles behind him.

Um....rocks?

Me

Elisa

Gabe

Ian

The stingray. I actually didn't see it when I was snorkeling. 

More turtles to see!

Next, we walked through the aquarium on our way back to our lockers. We changed out of our swimsuits and into dry clothes just in time for the rain to start. The kids and I dressed in our St. Patrick's Day clothes. We got a few stares, mostly due to Ian's leprechaun top hat that he wore. There were some others wearing green. If I wasn't sure that Mexico doesn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I am now! We avoided the rain for as long as possible before heading to a restaurant for lunch. This was a nicer buffet than yesterday at the Rio Secreto, with plenty of desserts to keep the kids happy. 

After lunch, we walked around the Mayan Village where we saw a tiered cemetery. I didn't get a picture, but the graves were marked by handmade decor on each grave, made by the families to honor the person and reflect his or her personality. The rain started up again, so we hid in a candle-making hut near the chapel. 

Avoiding the rain

As the rain slowed, we emerged from our hiding place, and an employee invited us to visit a gift shop with domed room. He demonstrated the cool acoustics effects of the dome. He had us pair up (Gabe when with him) and stand on opposite sides of the dome. There were markers showing us where to stand. We could whisper something to the wall, and our partner directly across could hear the whisper as if it were spoken directly into the ear! It was trippy, but supposedly completely explainable by the laws of physics and acoustics. It was so trippy that the employee made sure that we didn't leave thinking we weren't totally nuts, by stating out loud that we weren't crazy! 

Inside the dome

Next, we walked around the aviary and butterfly garden. Then we walked through the chapel and Hacienda, which was full of random paintings and outfits. Finally, we went through Rio Paradiso on a boat ride. We went back to our lockers to get our stuff and stopped by the spider monkeys on the way out.

Toucans and waterfalls

This bird acted like it would peck anyone who tried to touch it.

A picture with the flamingoes

Butterflies

Staying (relatively) dry on a boat in the river. It still sprinkled a little.

Monkeys

On our way home, we stopped at a local supermarket, Chedraui, to buy some breakfast items and random snacks. It kept raining for the rest of the day, but the kids still jumped in pool for a few minutes before we went back inside.