Los Cabos 2014

Our very first trip without the kids had me in tears at least once a week for the month prior to. I was so incredibly panicked about Layla coping without me since she's never spent the night ANYWHERE but with me, but guess what? She was better behaved and more pleasant for my mother than she's EVER been for me! I made sure everyone downloaded the app Vibur, which lets you call via wifi, as well as send pictures and texts if you're not using iMessage. I highly recommend it if you're traveling internationally soon! 

Y'all have seen how I packed, now onto the trip! Some of these pics are repeats shown on Instagram, but now all in one place!

The team:

Chance and I were joined by my cousin April and BFF4L Heather, who we haven't seen in AGES because she's currently living in Tennessee. 

Heather flew into DFW on Sunday evening so we picked her up and stayed in a hotel, achieving a whole 2 hours of sleep before popping up for our 6am flight. 

Chance made it a LONG time before he sacked out. Notice the window view. 

Landing in Cabo was so cool, because it's a small airport, surprisingly. Check Heather out looking 1950's fab strutting off of the plane. 

We stayed at Melia Cabo Real and loved it. (We booked through CheapCarribbean.com for the second time and loved it just as much as our experience with them when we booked our Riviera Maya trip! Check them out and save THOUSANDS!)

The food was amazing, the weather couldn't have been better, and the drinks? PLENTIFUL! I'll be 100% honest on the beach: the sand left a hell of a lot to be desired, and for beach girls like April and me, that was a big deal. It was like tiny shards of gravel. Yikes! 

But the view of the cove? Breath taking. 

A few highlights. Please enjoy a fun game of Where's Waldo when you get to the garden view. You'll know it when you see it. 

The moment we landed in Houston, before boarding for DFW to head home, I was sick over Heather going back to Tennessee! The good news was that our original 4 hour layover was stretched to 6 due to inclement weather. Ever had an extended layover mean good news? Then you don't love your friends like I do! Ha! Until we meet again, Mexico!

Xoxo

Lauren

Packing for Mexico

 

We're leaving tonight, heading to Los Cabos for our very first vacation that doesn't revolve around all of the kiddos since our honeymoon! 

We'll be there Monday-Thursday evening, plus this evening in Dallas since our flight is at 6:45 and....come on now. 🙈

Packing for a family of six has become a real game for me, so packing for two is a downright Olympic event. When we went on our honeymoon Chance borrowed a military backpack from my brother-in-law and it was incredibly efficient. I also carried the largest carry-on I could get away with, and almost busted the zipper. NOT THIS TIME! 

Here's what I've decided we're going to pack in:

My speedy 40 (I carry it every day, yes it's luggage, but *shrug*), the military back pack, and a handful of ziplock bags. 

These are the only things I bought specifically for travel

These are the only toothbrushes I ever buy for myself. This entire pack of SIX is only .98 at walmart. Nuts! Our resort will have shampoo, so I skipped it. Our toiletries consist of: a comb, volumizing gel, a curling iron, bar of soap, lotion, toothpaste, deodorant, tweezers, BB cream for me (bought some. Y'all KNOW I make my own but it has to be under 4 ounces, so I had to slum it with Olay. Ha!), CC cream for Chance (metro man), water proof mascara, wrinkle cream, and bronzer. 

I know I over packed Chance, but he's working on the farm today so I'll give him a few options, and I'm packing a lot of mix and match items for myself.

Chance's items:

3 pairs of trunks

1 pair of shorts

5 tank tops

2 v-necks

2 pairs of flip flops. 

My items:

5 swimsuits

1 pair of shorts

4 tank tops

A skirt

A maxi dress

3 kimonos

2 head scarfs

2 pairs of flat sandals. (STRESSING about wearing flats all week. I may slip a pair of wedges in there and eat crow after telling April and Heather I wouldn't dare.)

2 hats

After laying it all out just to show what a huge mass of cotton I've selected, I crammed it all into the air-tight bags. 

All of my swimsuits and kimonos fit into two, for reference to condensing. 

With everything sealed up, you're left with this:

As you can see, all of the sealed bags take up less space than the outfits we're wearing to travel!

I really out-did myself. All but one bag fit into the back pack

So the only thing in my bag is our toiletry bag!

I was so high on my new way of packing that I re-packed Layla's bag that Chesney put together for my mother's house, and downsized to a smaller bag!

Now we're off! 

Viva La Mexico!

Xoxo

Lauren 

Pinterest WIN!

While falling down the rabbit hole that is Pinterest, I stumbled upon this picture of bacon wrapped hot dogs and HAD to send it to Chance! 

That very night, guess what "the kids" requested for dinner? We had a plethora of options, some with turkey bacon, some with regular, some jalapeño cheddar dogs, a few all beef franks, a couple of turkey dogs...every one of them delicious! We're ruined when it comes to hot dogs now!! 

Xoxo

Lauren