It snowed a lot this winter, but it didn't stop us from having our New Year's fire. Cheers to a new year! 

With all the cold and snow, I had to look for the positives like how pretty it was outside on calm days: 

And how cozy it was inside dreaming of spring: 

But even better was a little getaway that Chris and I took to Mexico for my birthday in late January ~ 

We arrived in Cancun and took a taxi from the airport to a charming, little fishing village called Puerto Morelis, where we spent the first couple of days, wandering the beach and streets in awe at the change of scenery.

One my favourite things to do when I'm near the ocean is to go for dinner where the floor is made of sand and the waves are the music. Puerto Morelis had several beachfront restaurants to enjoy.

On the day of my birthday, Chris and I made our way down to Playa del Carmen. We spent the whole day at a beach resort where I swam in the ocean, ate chips and guacamole and enjoyed margaritas in the sun. This was our sandy slice of heaven.

We also stopped into a Cuban bar for a cigar and mojito. It took us back to our last trip in 2018 to Cuba.

The next day was a little cool out, so we went on an ATV ride through the jungle with a stop at a Mayan village and a cenote, which is a cave pool.

From Playa del Carmen, we took an "economy van" aka crammed bus all the way up to Chiquila, a couple hours north, where we took a ferry over to Isla Holbox, a cool, little island that's just starting to be devoloped for tourists, but still has dirt roads and a small town vibe. Oh, and the beaches!  

We checked in to the Ensueno Hotel and Beach Club, the only place we stayed on the trip that I would recommend. They have a lovely salt water pool and views from the rooftop that were beautiful, especially at sunset. They also have a beach club with comfy lounge chairs, discounts drinks for hotel patrons and delicious food. Though the hotel is about a 25 minute walk from the main square, there were a couple of restaurants nearby and a sweet little grocery store across the street, so you had all the comforts that you needed. 

You could also walk along the beach and have a sundowner at one of the many small beach bars nearby.

After our stay in Isla Holbox, we ferried back to Chiquila and took a taxi to Cancun to get on another ferry to Isla Mujeres, another beautiful place north of Cancun, where we stayed for a few more nights.

Our taxi driver, who took us to Cancun, is also a Botanist and the Shaman of Chiquila. He stopped several times to grab local flowers for us to smell, while explaining all their healing properties: 

In Isla Mujeres, we rented a golf cart and drove around the island (several times). We went to the most Eastern point to check out the ancient Maya shrine to the Goddess of childbirth and medicine. 

And I know this is going to sound super dorky, but a major highlight for me on Isla Mujeres was the opportunity to FINALLY offload this "trackable" geocache, a toy we found in Victoria, while geocaching, 6 years ago that we were supposed to relocate to another area of the world. I have brought it with us on every trip since and either couldn't find a geocache that was big enough to leave it, didn't have time to geocache, or totally forgot to in every situation until we got to the Mango Cafe in Isla Mujeres, which is where I stashed it. A few days later, I checked the geocache online data site and somebody had picked it up and was taking it to another geocache in California. High five! It felt awesome to finally complete that mission!

On the North end of the island, the beaches were postcard perfect: 

We spent more time swiming in the ocean and dinners on the beach, but soon it was time to head back to Cancun to fly home.

And that was okay, because even if it was like this ~

At home there was still... well, you know ~

And in March, my neice had her first baby! Here's Grandpa Bruce with little Kane:

Now to wait out the cold with sweet dreams of warmer days ahead.