Note Card Party at Vee's Place!

It is SO HOT, so today for Vee's note card party, I am going to do cards with lots of sunshine and blue, blue ocean to cool off your eyes (at least).  Don't know if we'll be going on any kind of vacation this year, but I can dream, can't I?  These photos are from our last trip to Akumal, summer of '10 and here...

Mexico, sigh............. One of our favorite places to go.  Oh, how I LOVE to fall sleep and wake up listening to the ocean rushing onto the rocks or just lapping the beach.  Feeling the sultry, salty air and the breeze on my sticky, sun-warmed skin...

A sleepy, slower way of life, never getting in any hurry, just a very relaxed way about this place...

Seems like the skies and the water are so clear - like clear mountain vistas.....

You can swim in the ocean and snorkel and take in all the coral and timid sea life, or simply relax in the pool, rest your chin on your hands and close your eyes.  Let the sun and the cool water and breeze carry all your burdens away as you doze.  A day spent in the sun and water makes you feel so drowsy, doesn't it?   This kind of relaxing is soooo good for the body, mind and soul.  So have a little bite to eat, lie back in your lounge by the beach and watch the sun go down and the moon come up over the ocean...

Enjoy your trip?

Go see Vee's blog for a list of others who've joined the party! You can be next!

Under the Sea!

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

I didn't get to attend church today.  Princess has a stomach virus and so I stayed home to take care of her. Had to go to the pharmacy early this morning and get started on fluids etc.  I hope it passes quickly and I hope I don't get it!  I watch 3 local church services on TV and hopefully I'll get to go tonight. My husband went on this morning, and he can stay home tonight.  I know she's 22, but she's having to drag herself back and forth and has fever.  Poor baby.

Thought I'd post the last of the vacation pics. This is all, Promise!  Our guys took 3 days to go scuba diving. I'm not a diver - I snorkel.  So, here's some underwater snaps of our bunch diving. They are diving the barrier reef off the Yucatan peninsula - it stretches all the way down the Yucatan and teems with fish, coral and other sea life.  Dive skins are optional in the warmer waters of the Yucatan. Tony and Adam carried theirs but decided not to wear them.  Skins are also good to protect oneself from coral.  Adam DID come back with some cuts on one ankle, but still was not sorry he didn't wear his skin.

Well, here's our crew - Tony & Adam are top left and John & Kristen are top right ABOVE.

See the black/white Lionfish right in the middle of this reef? (below)

Here (below) are a couple of strange looking ocean creatures!

Ok, there you go - most of these pictures are self-explanatory.  This dive was about 60 feet which isn't too deep.  Don't wanna go past about 100 feet because of narcolepsy risks.  They did some shallow dives and one about 90 feet.  It's always best to take a scuba diving course and become certified rather than  just dive on vacation on the spur of the moment.  The vacation spots WILL take you uncertified in some places but I think they are getting more and more restrictive for safety reasons.  As well they should - can't be too careful!  Moray eels, sea turtles, barracuda, nurse sharks - they had fun! 

Can you imagine swimming around in a salt water aquarium and seeing all the multi-colored and neon-colored fish?  Well that's what it's like except those little fish in the aquariums are much, much bigger in the ocean - sometimes gi-normous!  AND you can almost reach out and touch them!

Well, that raps up (finally) our trip to Akumal, Mexico.  We had such a great time. I'm peeling even tho I was very careful about my skin.  More like flaking off.  Well, I kept my tan a couple of weeks anyway.  : (

I think next post I'm going to do a refresher on the farmhouse and show you some pictures.  It's been quite awhile and I have some new readers that don't know what we're working on!  So you folks take care and I'll be back soon.  Princess is calling me again from her sick bed...

Tour of Tulum, Mayan Ruins, Mexico

Along the  Yucatan coastline on the beach south of Cancun, south of Playa del Carmen, south of Akumal (where we stayed) lies the coastal ruins of ancient Pre-Columbian Mayan temples, surrounding buildings, and dwellings.  I could go into great detail about some history of these ruins, but I won't, so if you're interested see here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulum#Description .  It's one of the most beautiful places that I've been in my life.  We were there about 9 years ago and things have changed - more tourists, more roped off areas, more markets and events going on.  You used to could go into some of the buildings, but because of erosion, wear and tear, they won't let you anymore.  It was more pristine before, but surely still beautiful...

Remember you can click on the photos if you want to enlarge!

The highway to Tulum.  The roads in the well-traveled areas are really pretty good. Just watch out for Mexican taxis!

Steps to begin the tour...

I can't tell you what all the names of these temples are - they are to all different gods - harvest, war, fertility, etc.  Just like our American Indians did...and other civilizations.

People that came to the New World discovered these ruins around 1500-something...

We saw SOOOOO many of this little critters - Iguanas - everywhere we went !

These temples were everywhere...

This one was a temple to the wind - with this huge hole underneath it the breezes went through...

 

This piece of beach was located between the two big rocky cliffs. AND a little rain storm blew up - as usual in tropical climes.

This temple, if I remember correctly, was the temple to the Descending (diving) god. I need to read up more on the different buildings here....

Here's my two creatures...

Isn't this absolutely gorgeous!

Hanging out with some of the locals in full Mayan costume!

Look at this big  baby!

Can you believe my little girl? Well, I can - she's always been a tomboy!

And NOW!  For a little shopping!!!

Doncha just LOVE all the colors in the markets???

This Mayan rite was so awesome and scary - they would climb up this tall tall pole...

Lots of beating of drums and little flute-thingies, and then, then, and then...

And fling themselves off the top and spin upside down round and round until they came to the ground!!!

Well, here we will conclude our tour of Tulum, Mayan Ruins, Mexico...   Here's us four (minus Josh - he didn't get to go because of work. :(    )   Hope you enjoyed it! We surely did!

Join me for just one more post about my vacation - something you probably won't see anywhere else - underwater diving photos of our guys and closing comments!  Thanks for putting up with all these photos and your sweet comments!  Hasta la proxima, amigos!