vacation adventure: part 5

One of our favorite parts of the trip, and one of the reasons we brought the kids to Cancun, was our day at Xel-Ha.  It's a natural water park with snorkeling, cliff-jumping, and a lazy river.  

On the bus. 

Mike and the three oldest rode bikes to the start of the lazy river.

They saw lots of creatures on their ride.

My mom, Jessi and I floated on tubes, the others snorkeled down the river.

Jessi was a little nervous to snorkel, but once Mike got her warmed up, she loved it.

Andrew jumping off a cliff.

The boys climbing to the top and Bev getting ready to jump.

Christian was so independent, he just took off with the big kids.

My mom is such a good sport, getting right in the action.

At the end of the lazy river, the kids did a rope walk and zipline over the water.  The lazy river leads into a big bay where we snorkeled.

The gang, minus Grandma, who took the picture.  My parents both stayed in the water for a long time.

When Jessi announced she was cold (she gets cold easy) Grandma took her to the shore where she searched for coral and shells.

I went to shore, but I wanted to catch up to Mike and the three kids, so I conquered my fears and headed out to find them.  I had to cross the entire bay to find them.  (I get a little freaked out sometimes when I am in the ocean.  I hear Jaws playing in my head, and I have to go to my happy place.)  As I was on my journey, I swam from group to group.  As I approached one group, I heard them excitedly saying that they had seen a barracuda.  I went the other way.

 I am so glad I caught up to them because as I did we saw a family of stingrays.

Mike and the kids had gone into a cave where this picture was taken.

I only got one great shot with the water camera.

My mom.

My dad.

My mom got this shot of the bay.  It was great having two of us taking pictures--she got a lot that I would not have.