Swimming with Dolphins

Ben's mama swam with the dolphins in front of the hotel.

On the Bus

The bus was pretty luxurious, with a table and seats facing each other. They gave us soda and snacks too. It was a good place for sleeping. Liam fell asleep during the lunch stop (after Chichen Itza) and Ben stayed up until after a quick stop at a cenote (where his parents each took a quick dip), then joined Liam for a good sleep on the long ride home.

Getting tired

After a couple hours at chicken pizza, the boys slowed down from running to walking, and finally to being carried.

Exploring Chichen Itza

The boys mostly liked to run, but they also had fun exploring. They liked going up the stairs to the building known as the market (it wasn't actually a market) and running around the columns there. They also liked the ball court, where the snake sculptures were, though they mostly ran there too.

Trees and trains

Ben and Liam loved running from tree to tree. They also liked turning everything into a train, including parts of ancient columns. This was useful, because one way to get them to move in an organized fashion was to hold hands and make a train. If you don't mind going "chugga chugga choo choo" as you walk, it is quite effective.

Carvings

There were some very cool carvings there. Ben was particularly interested in the snake at the ball court.

Chicken Pizza

Actually, Chichen Itza, but somehow Ben translated that into chicken pizza. Ben and Liam and Mariah and Jessica and Andy all took a bus trip to see the Toltec/Maya city of Chichen Itza (Tom was scuba diving that day). It is quite an amazing site, and crammed full not just of tourists, but also of local Mayans selling wooden carvings, embroidered dishtowels, and other tchotchkes. It was a long ride there, and by the time we got there Ben and Liam were both feeling pretty crazy, and a little hungry. We let the tour go on without us, so they could run and run and run. Also we had a snack.