#VivaLaSandmeier2016

It's hard to believe that Brandon and I said our "I do's" three whole years ago! It doesn't seem like it has been that long, yet at the same time it feels like we've been married forever. (Just to clarify, I don't mean that in a snarky way -- I mean it as "How has it only been 3 years when we've lived in 4 different places, have a toddler, different jobs, taken so many vacations, etc.) Anyway, to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary, we decided to take a trip to Cancun for 4 glorious nights of all-inclusive heaven!

We ate (and ate and ate and ate).

We drank (and drank and drank and drank).

We napped.

We slept in.

We laid by the beach and tanned/read.

It was absolutely GLORIOUS!

This was actually my first trip out of the country, so I wasn't sure what to expect... Customs in Mexico was a bit of a pain (loooooooong lines), but everything else was absolutely perfect. We stayed at the Sun Palace and I cannot recommend it enough. Not only is it all-inclusive, but it's also adult and couples only, which made the experience so much quieter and calmer. And the staff? Nicest. people. ever.

Anyway, I have so many memories and stories I want to document, so please bear with me and my photo/story dump:

Our room... If I had to live there, I wouldn't be mad...

The view from our balcony... we slept with the door open every night so we could hear the ocean. 

On our first night, we were just plain tired and went to our room after dinner at the Mexican restaurant, ordered room service, and watched the Avs game (which ironically was the only thing we could find in English!).

Enjoying the beach on our anniversary :)

Brandon and I both gained at least 5 lbs. in 4 days... no joke. I have been on a major sugar detox since arriving home.

Couples massage at the spa = unreal. 

I had a few too many fruity drinks and vaguely remember this picture or this show. 

When we walked onto the beach Wednesday morning, we were waved over by a man in a tent asking us if we'd like to go parasailing (which in hindsight was probably a huge red flag, but we didn't think much of it). Since we didn't go on any tours, we decided "why not?" and handed our money to the gentleman -- it all went downhill from there. I naively thought I could bring my phone with me (so the men on the boat could take pictures for us), but realized that was a huge mistake as soon as we got on the jet ski and felt the waves crashing angrily against us. I asked the man we gave our money to if he wouldn't mind holding my phone (jet ski guy was in a hurry and wasn't about to let us off) and panicked when I saw him take it and set it on another jet ski. I tried not to think too much about it and just enjoy the experience, which worked... until the jet ski flipped over and sent Brandon, the driver, and me into the ocean. (I was probably under water for 4 seconds, but all I could think about was how the jet ski was probably floating right over us and how we wouldn't be able to come up for air and would drown, leaving poor Jackson without his parents. Overly dramatic? Nah.) Thanks to our somewhat trusty life vests, we weren't underwater for too long and were quickly pulled onto the speedboat. As we sat on the boat drying off and awaiting our turn, I began feeling nauseous... I typically don't get any sort of motion sickness, but I was DEFINITELY feeling it today. It was finally our turn to get strapped in and shoved out, so I said a quick prayer and off we went. It was a very beautiful view and felt surreal to actually be parasailing in Mexico... but as I gazed down at the crashing waves below us, I felt more and more sick. What was supposed to be this romantic moment with my husband quickly came to an end as I began gagging/heaving over the Gulf of Mexico. After (what felt like) 4 hours, we were finally brought back to the boat and our parasailing adventure came to an end. Fortunately the jet ski ride back to the beach went a lot more smoothly and we were greeted by our shoes and my perfectly dry, perfectly working phone. #neveragain

This is how our evenings were spent -- massive amounts of room service and Netflix.

Friday evening.

This was definitely one of the most fun, relaxing, and memorable trips I have ever been on and I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to do this with my husband. But as much fun as the trip was, it sure felt good to get home to this little cutie (who spent the week with his awesome grandparents and Uncle Joe -- thank you guys again for everything you did!!!):