Our trip in detail...

Saturday, June 25

We dropped the dogs off at 9am which is SO hard for me. I hate their sad little eyes as we walk away. But we did it, had lunch with my brother and future sister-in-law and nephew, and went to Braxton's parents' house to stay the night.

Sunday, June 26

 We got up at 3:45am...so early! But I was actually up because I was so excited! We got to the airport around 5 or 5:15. We saw my family there, who left a little earlier than us, and took a few pictures before leaving. Our flight left at 6:45. We got to Houston around 9 or so and left from there around 10:30. We arrived in Cancun around 12:30...to lots and lots of rain. It was a little depressing. We had to wait in a huge line to check in for the shuttle and it was covered, but the wind was blowing so hard, we were still getting soaked. It was POURING. And we kept hoping that it was just in Cancun and not in Playa del Carmen, which is about 30-45 minutes away. But it was still pouring in Playa del Carmen when we got there.

We checked in and found my family. Our room ended up being next door to theirs which was really cool. And our room was AMAZING! We upgraded our room to get a really amazing wedding package... and it was SO worth it! We had a living room in our hotel room! And the balcony was absolutely amazing with an awesome view. So we explored the resort for a while, not going outside because it was still pouring at that point. We checked the weather and it was supposed to rain EVERY DAY WE WERE THERE, including our wedding day. That is NOT what we wanted to hear! Apparently we were in the middle of a tropical storm!

We went swimming with my brothers that night, but it was COLD because of the rain, so I just got out and watched them. The rain had slowed down at that point, but the pool was still freezing. Me and Braxton ended up ordering room service and going to bed early because we were so exhausted from traveling all day.

Little Rock Airport with my dress tucked under my arm.

Our bed when decorated when we arrived.

Our balcony

The view

Hanging out on the balcony

Monday, June 27

 The next morning we woke up early because we went to sleep so early the night before and it was NOT raining! So we went down to the beach and then hung out at the pool for a little while. At 11, Mom and I met with the wedding planner to set up the final details. We went back to the pool and stayed there pretty much all day. It started raining again around noon, but we just stayed at the pool bar which is covered and hung out. Later that afternoon, we went back inside the resort to the area where they do the nightly shows and played pool and board games since it was still raining. It sucked that we couldn't go outside, but we ended up having a lot of fun with my family.

Love the pool!

Braxton & my brothers

Drunk guy doing water aerobics OUTSIDE the pool

My brother hanging out by the pool

Tuesday, June 28

 Tuesday was the day the rest of our family was supposed to get there. We were supposed to go snorkeling early that morning, but it was raining when we got up, so Mom cancelled it. Around 8am though, the rain stopped and it was beautiful. Braxton and I decided we wanted to do something that day because we knew we wouldn't do anything but lay around the pool or beach the next day because it was wedding day! So we decided to do an afternoon snorkeling and wave runners trip. We rode wave runners from place to place to snorkeling and it was so much fun, except the part where Braxton flipped us off the wave runner. I knew when he used the phrase, "Hold on!" that it wasn't going to be good. When we got back, Braxton's family, Clay and Marissa, and Martha were there. My dad was supposed to be there, but I got a text from him saying he was having plane trouble in Dallas.

That night we got around and had dinner as group in one of the restaurants. Then most of us stayed and watched the nightly show and hung out afterwards.

Watching the nightly show

On the wave runner!

Maroma Marina

Underwater HOLE... so creepy! It's way bigger than it looks here! A person can EASILY fit inside!

Wednesday, June 29

 WEDDING DAY!!

The night before I was really stressing about Dad getting there. His flight had been cancelled in Dallas, he was flown to Mexico City, and the last text I got from him said his flight was delayed there and he would do his best. I woke up Wednesday to a text saying he was at the resort WITHOUT his luggage, which is where his wedding outfit was. Ugh! That has to be the worst travel experience ever! He left Arkansas around 8am that morning and arrived in Cancun at 3am! WITHOUT luggage! At least he was there.

We met Dad for breakfast then he was going back to the airport to find his bag so he'd have clothes for the wedding. We went to the pool around 11 with Mom, Braxton's brother and sister, and Martha.We hung out for a little while and then went back to the room to relax. Around 3, Mom came to the room to start curling my hair and Braxton went to his parents' room to get ready. Martha and Mom did my hair and I did my make up.

The wedding was at 6, and it was perfect. It didn't rain AT ALL Wednesday. There was a little confusion that we had our own minister (Terry), so some woman talked for a while before him, but he did the vows and all the important parts so it worked out. ha! After the ceremony, we did pictures with everyone then with just us for a little while. The reception was set up on the beach next to it and we had a private beach bar too. It was awesome.

Us & Dad!

Braxton's family

Braxton & his siblings

Me & Martha

Sand ceremony

Reception

The whole group

Fun!

Thursday, June 30

 Thursday everyone but us left. We got up early to catch a shuttle to take us to swim with dolphins! I am so glad we did it. It's something I have always wanted to do, and it was so much fun! We got to give them a kiss, dance with them, hold them like a baby, have them spin us around, do a dorsal ride, do a foot push, hold a bar and have them jump over it, and a few other fun things. The foot push is the best. You lay on your belly in the water with your feet out behind you and two dolphins come up behind you, put their noses under your feet and push you out of the water. I got completely out of the water! It is so much fun! Unfortunately, you couldn't take your own camera and they charged a fortune for pictures so we don't have any from that part. After we finished with the dolphins, they took us over to another area, gave us goggles and took us in the water. Then AFTER we were in the water, he told us to look down and see the sting rays and SHARKS we were swimming with! Talk about scared! There were 2 nurse sharks which are supposed to be non-aggressive and they were sleeping, so it wasn't too scary. But Braxton has watched a video on tv where a nurse shark bit off a guy's hand. He told me about that after we got out, which is probably a good thing. After that, we went to another area and got to hold a baby manatee. We did end up buying the picture of this because we liked it so much! It was a great experience. We went back to the resort, had some lunch, then went over to The Royal, which is the sister resort to our resort next door that is nicer and adults only. We explored and hung out at the pretty amazing pool for a little while. Then we went back to our resort and hung out by the roof top jacuzzi which we had all to ourselves. It was so pretty, we decided to go to the beach and lay around for a little while. It was a really nice day. Later that afternoon, we went back to our room to start packing a little and to get around for dinner. When we got back to the room, it started pouring outside again! There wasn't even a chance of rain that day. We felt so bad for the outside wedding we saw set up, but we were so thankful that our wedding day was the ONLY day it didn't rain at all. The rain did end, but they moved that couples' reception inside. We got dressed and went to one of the fancier restaurants, which was Italian, to eat. It was very good! Then we went back to our room, hung out on the balcony for about an hour, then went to bed to wake up early for the airport the next morning. It was a great day!

Us & the 9 month old manatee

Royal fountain

View from the rooftop jacuzzi

After swimming with dolphins

Royal pool

View from the rooftop hammock :)

Royal lobby

Friday, July 1

 Friday we left for the airport at 6am. Everything went smooth until Houston, where our flight was delayed about 1.5 hours. This was depressing because we wanted to make it back in time to get the dogs from the vet before they closed at 5:30. We thought we could still make it, but we hit a wreck outside of Little Rock, and we missed them by about 20 minutes. We picked them up early Saturday though, so it still worked out! It was a wonderful trip!