and back to the riviera maya we went

We recently got back from our summer vacation to the Riviera Maya where we spent a relaxing week at the Barcelo Palace Deluxe.  

Do you remember when we filmed at this resort back in January? Here's the teaser reel from all of the photage shot at every Barcelo resort in Mexico. You'll see Bryan and I several times.

For pictures of our last trip to Riviera Maya click here. For an explanation and more info on the footage we shot, click here and here.

Back to our most recent trip back to this amazing destination! 

We were so in need of a good vacation and pulled out all of the stops... including many bloody mary's on the flight down, of which I'm still not sure how we negotiated a taxi from Cancun airport down to the Riviera Maya with the buzz we had acquired on our flight!

Night 1

Dinner at the Mexican Restaurant

Day 2

Night 2

Dinner at the Brazilian restaurant

Day 3

Night 3

Dinner at the Caribbean restaurant

Night 4

Dinner at the French restaurant

The outdoor hotel walkways and adult only pool are gorgeous at night! 

Day 5

Night 5

Dinner at the Japanese restaurant

Day 6

Night 6

Dinner at the french restaurant (our favorite!) and Shannon arrived in Mexico to kick off her vacation week and spend our last night with us!

Hurricane Ernesto totally derailed some of our plans, cancelled our flight and made our travel day back home 10 hours longer than it should have been. So is life! Here's a quick video taken as the storm was beginning to blow in...

We had a truly fantastic vacation, just fantastic! And y'all are going to die when I tell you this, but it was entirely free. We used airline miles to fly there and our hotel stay was comped by the resort. Since it's an all inclusive, all food and drinks (including top shelf) were taken care of. We are truly blessed with some amazing opportunities and don't take any of them for granted!

Our plan is to go back to this same resort again in January for a long weekend. We tried our hardest to get another couple to go with us this time, but everyone had a valid excuse not to -- work/no vacation days (Renee/Eric, Anna/Brandon), just had a baby (Hollie/Eli), getting married soon (Chris/Candice), surgery (Maran/Joe), etc, etc, etc. Bryan and I are both really hoping that we'll be able to get a couple to go back with us in January. I mean, it's free! Free for us and them!! Why would anyone turn that offer down???