Nuevo Vallarta 12/2008

It's only one week away (7 sleeps in Toby's terms). We leave next Sunday and the trip planning is coming along well. This has been quite rushed. It was only 3 weeks ago that I won the trip through my office and it's been mixed emotions ever since.

I was overwhelmed with the love and generosity of family and friends offering to watch the kids while we're gone and came up with a very detailed schedule. Some call me thorough, I call it panic. It's been 3 and a half years since Tim and I took a long vacation. I was pregnant with Natalie when we went to NYC in 2005. Now, leaving both kids for an entire week is frightening, but I know it's good for us to get away and I know they'll be in good hands and having a blast with their friends.

I usually plan my vacations in great detail with months of research and itinerary planning. This is not the case for this trip. I've spent the past 3 weeks learning everything I can about Vallarta. I know nothing about Mexico. It never even entered my mind that Mexico is even on the Pacific Coast. I always tend to think of Cancun and the Gulf area and the usual cruise ship stops. We are staying on the other side, south of California. We're booked for a week at the Mayan Palace hotel, which from the reviews, sounds quite lovely.

Instead of planning a daily itinerary, I'm making a list of things we'd like to do and will see how many we can fit in and still have time to relax at the pool and the beach. At first I was thinking that 7 days was such a long trip, but then realized that 2 days are used for just traveling there and back. So then we're down to 5 days and at least one day, I'd like to do nothing but lay around. (Note: Tim is not good at just laying around, so we'll see how that goes.)

So I'll spend the next week finishing up my trip planning and packing (which is pretty much done...the suitcases are actually by the door) and spending time with the kids before we leave. And then on Sunday, it's adios amigos!

2 days to go. We're finalizing things and getting everything ready. Our bags are mostly packed and will be ready on Saturday so that we can get a good sleep Saturday night for a long travel day on Sunday. I'm getting things ready for the kids too. There are 4 people watching them during the 7 days we're gone, so I'm going to take a bag of clothes and goodies to each person on Saturday so that the kids won't have to travel with much when going to the next house.

I've decided to take one small toy from each kid with us on our trip. I'd like to take pictures of the toy as we go along on our travels...on the airplane, on the beach, at the hotel. I think that the kids might understand, or at least be a little more intersted, in where we were for a week while they were still here.

Tomorrow will be our last full day working and it's technically not even a full day for me. Our office is closing early for the company Christmas party. Tim's party is also tomorrow night at the same time as mine. We're going to go to his party for dinner and then quick hit mine for a post-dinner drink so that he can meet my friends from work.

Getting really excited and can't wait to leave!