So this is love...

:: May 23rd-30th ::

We had an absolute blast in Mexico! Beginning to end we just had the most amazing time! We were able to do so many fun and adventurous things but also took plenty of time to just relax and be lazy! It was the perfect vacation.

We started it off with the Amigo ATV Tour. Oh my gosh, so much fun! It was definitely one of our favorite excursions we've ever done. We were out for about 5 hours and we loved every second of it. Mexico is the place to do it cause the rules and regulations kinda go out the window down there! Haha. No restrictions on how fast we could go or anything like that! Awesome sauce.

The cacti, the dirt, the heat. I loved it all! Felt like I was home in St. George.

A little piece of paradise in the desert! There is a stream that runs down through this canyon so there are patches of lush green and palm trees.

We headed into the little town of La Candelaria. There were a few shacks, a little church, and a small school. The kids were all out playing soccer on the dirt road.

We stopped at this little house in town. This is their kitchen. They had a little store set up and they were selling little candies and drinks and things. For 10 pesos they let us use their "bathroom." No running water in the town so it was basically just a little hole in the ground. Neither of use could really understand the other but it was fun to interact with them a little bit.

From there we headed to the beach! Our tour guide said to just take off and have fun! We spent a 1/2 hour going as fast as we could along the beach. It was so much fun!

Look at that water! It was weird to come over the hill from the desert to see this beautiful beach! This tour is something we definitely want to go back and do again. Preferably sooner rather than later!

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We couldn't possibly go to Mexico without checking out their Costco. Duh!

And we definitely wouldn't think of leaving without testing out the food court first..

Check out the view from the Costco parking lot. Talk about prime real estate! Views of the famous arch and Lovers beach.

And when we were walking to dinner that night, we ran into a Terminix truck. Geez, can't escape work even on vacation!

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The next day we headed to Chileno Bay for some snorkeling! This beach was sooo gorgeous! We hung out here all day long. Snorkeling..laying on the beach...snorkeling...laying on the beach...snor...you get the idea!

Seriously, these beautiful waters and white sandy beaches are pretty hard to beat!

We saw lots of fish, thanks to the frozen pea trick we picked up in Hawaii!

Oh heyyyyyy humans.

The other side of Chileno.

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Haha, this face sums up how we felt while riding the bus! We rode it pretty much everywhere we went. We heard from many people not to rent a car in Mexico. Crazy drivers, cops that pull you over for no reason and then make you give them money in exchange for no ticket, not to mention it's crazy expensive! The bus travels along the main highway all day long taking you anywhere you need to go. It was a fun way to get around...minus the crazy drivers! The people down there seriously have no regard for rules, regulations, or speed limits! But other than that we felt pretty safe most of the time. The people there are really nice and friendly.

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For dinner that night we headed to Las Guacamayas. We had heard from a few locals that this was the place to get the good authentic Mexican food. Oh my it was good! Their guacamole was the most heavenly thing I have ever tasted in my life. We ate there twice while we were down and would take a trip back solely to eat there again. Yeah, it was that good.

Chicken tacos with fresh pico de gallo and homemade guacamole. Enough said.

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The next day, it was para sailing time!

The views we had of the arch and Lovers beach were pretty dang sweet! We even saw a whale while we were up there. It was definitely past whale season but I don't blame the dude for hanging around, I didn't want to leave either!

After para sailing we took a water taxi to Lovers beach. Our driver took us on a tour around the arch so we could take pictures.

This beach is on the side of the Pacific ocean (they call it Divorce beach). You can't swim here because the tide is too strong and the water is really rough.

This picture taken before a big wave almost took us out! Geeez...let's head over to Lovers beach now.

The two beaches are connected. On the other side is the Gulf of Mexico. The waters are calm and warm.

Erich diving off Pelican rock!

The water taxi took us back to the marina where we did some shopping and got some dinner after a fun day in the sun!

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This day we will never ever EVER forget. It wasn't something that we were even planning on doing but ended up booking at the last second. The main reason we weren't going to is because it was quite a drive (about 2 hours) from our resort and we just didn't know if we wanted to waste 4 hours in a car while we were on vacation. But, we are so so glad we did! Plus the ride ended up being a lot of fun because we got to see a lot of the "real" Mexico.

Snorkeling in Pulmo...

I'm bummed that I didn't get a better picture (I'm looking for a higher quality under water camera stat since we seem to do so many water activities!) but we swam with a WHALE SHARK. Holy crap, it was awesome...and terrifying...and just so many things!! We were actually headed out to a different location to snorkel at a reef but the boat driver got word on his radio that there was a whale shark not too far from where we were. He changed directions and took off towards it. We get there, mind you, we are in the MIDDLE of the OPEN OCEAN...NO LAND in sight (just so we're clear) and the guy says - okay, jump in! Ummmm...do what now??! You want me to jump into the open ocean and chase a whale shark? Um yeah...I've seen Jaws, no thank you! Haha, that's what I was thinking in my head at least! Next thing I know I look over and Erich is off the side of the boat and in the water! The man has no fear. Well there was just no way I was going to let this opportunity pass me by so I got my dang butt in the water. I was going to be able to swim with a whale shark, that doesn't really happen every day! So swim I did and it was pretty much the coolest thing ever! I even managed to only freak out a little bit when I looked up at one point and realized that the boat was way far away from us! (Seriously dude, you couldn't have stayed A LITTLE close to us to give me a false sense of security?) Anyway, we followed the thing for a good 20 minutes. It was just slowly cruising along and we were following right on top of it! And no sightings of Jaws so heck yes! Honestly, I look back and still can't believe I did this. The open ocean is one of my biggest fears! But I'm so glad I did!

Aaand just as I was thinking that our day couldn't possibly get any better, we go and do this...

We headed over to the sea lion colony and...wait for it...

SWAM WITH WILD SEA LIONS!! It's official...best day of my life! They were swimming all around us, checking us out. They were playing with each other under the water, two of them even kissed as they were passing each other! Aww, cute little lover sea lions.

They're curious little fellas!

All good things must come to an end I suppose. I didn't want to leave!

And that was the end of our fun filled adventure at Pulmo.

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Ahhhh...the life. Starting our mornings with breakfast on the balcony!

Here are some pictures of our resort. It was so nice to be out all day doing fun things and then come back to hang out by the pool, play miniature golf and tennis, and just chillax!

The beach our resort was on.

I loved all the bush animals! They were all over the resort. Landscaper gots skills.

Enjoying dinner at our resorts restaurant on the beach. I wish I could end every day like this!

Tried octopus for the first time. Yeah...not a fan!

We ended pretty much every night with walks on the beach as the sun was setting. That's my favorite time of the day, especially when I'm on a beach! Sitting in the sand with the cool breeze and the sound of the ocean. That plus a really cute date. It just doesn't get much better than that folks!