Lovely Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

How tempting does this look? It was wonderful. Pure paradise. A dream vacation.

It finally happened- I left the United States of America for the first time in my life! Yahoo! Finally got that first stamp on my passport that's been sitting lonely in our cupboard, waiting for an adventure. Sad it had to miss Israel, wondering why I don't get away more often. It's one of those "seasons" of life things, I guess.

Justin has some good perks to his job. Required to get continuing education each year turns out to be a pretty good perk- especially when there's always so many fun places to choose from. This time we chose Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico (about 15 minutes from Puerto Vallarta). We spent a few fabulous days there back in October. {Pardon the picture quality- it's a picture of a picture we got at the resort}

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort called Vallarta Palace. And a palace it was...total VIP treatment and completely relaxing! When we arrived, they handed us a moist towel to relieve ourselves from the heat. Then they handed me a flower and gave us both a refreshing drink. I've never had such a warm greeting. :)When Jus was slaving away in classes, I got to sit poolside, reading my gossip magazines and books, completely uninteruppted, soaking in the sun and sucking up all of my new-found freedom. Loved every minute.

Especially when the pool waiter would come around and offer me a drink or one of these yummy fruit cups. It's nice to be waited on for a change. I don't know my way around drinks, but a friend had recommended I try a Miami Vice (virgin, of course) and turns out, they are pretty darn good. But...nothing beats ice water and sunshine!

Each night, the resort would host some type of show or activity. One night we attended this Mexican Circus, which was based around Halloween (since it was the week of Halloween). It had acrobats and a contortionist and this guy (who was a Mexican clown apparently) who did this bazar act with this puppet lady. A little unusual, yet pretty entertaining.

There were 5 different resaurants at the resort that you could choose to eat at. It was all-inclusive, so basically you could have whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted it. Although hard to not over-indulge, I loved the concept. Funny how cost or fear of not liking something that you paid for holds you back from trying new things sometimes. I liked trying stuff that I never had before because I had nothing to loose, if I didn't like it, I could always order somehing else. Fun to be so uninhibited.

Look how cute some of the meals (or dessert in this case) were prepared. It hardly makes you want to eat it. Of course, we spent some time on the beautiful beach. I love the Ocean- so soothing. We also spent some time in Puerto Vallarta. Loved seeing the culture and art there. Love all the bright colors And of course the shopping. "How much you want to pay?" "It's nice, isn't it." I'm not one for knick-knacks, but we found some fun stuff for the kids and a hammock that I'm so excited to put in my yard this summer. There were like 8 year old little kids working in these shops!Although we were spoiled enough at the resort, we did venture off for some real adventure as well. The zip line was a blast. Beautiful view from the top of the jungle.
Our guides were so fun and let Justin do some fun stuff- like Superman and going upside down! Ahhh- he was screaming like a girl the whole way across. So glad we got to do this.

Another adventure was going to this water park and experiencing Mexican water slides. Let's just say...they don't meet U.S regulations. Oh my goodness. This one behind us was made of pure concrete and was a total death ride. Such a thrill though. Jus & I were having so much fun and laughed the whole way down. They had this one slide that was like a toilet bowl- Justin came out with a completely scratched up back and I felt like I was going to drown when I got "flushed."

Probably a once in a lifetime experience, but we also got to swim with the Dolphins. I liked the double feet push one the best. The Dophins would come from behind and push your feet and you'd stand up like you were water-skiing on Dolphins. Here I am giving him a little shake.

Oh...and a sweet kiss for Justin. Our kids can't get enough of this picture- they think it's so funny.

We had such a great time! It's one of those vacations that are going to be hard to top. So glad we had the chance to go.