Puerto Vallarta

This post is only about a month or so late, but in fairness we have been really busy, and, as you are about to see, I had about 3,000 pictures to post.  Kidding.  Kind of.

One of Brian's good friends from growing up, who has since become a friend of mine as well, is getting married in June.  Adam and Bonnie are the perfect couple and we are so excited for them and honored to share in their special day.  Brian was asked to be a groomsman and in celebration of their upcoming nuptials the entire wedding party headed down to Puerto Vallarta for a long weekend of getting to known everyone, relaxation, laughter and fun!

We started our trip early on a Thursday morning.  Mimi and Papa arrived before we left to take charge of the boys for the weekend and shortly after our friends dropped by to head to the airport together.  We made good time to LAX and then had our flight delayed for an hour plus.  Not that big of a deal especially considering our gate was near a bar that had bloody marys flowing, but when you are ready to go on vacation you are ready to G-O.

Before we knew it we were landing in Mexico and headed to the resort.  It was dusk when we got there and we were greeted with cucumber margaritas and warm fajitas and the familiar faces of our friends who were on the non-delayed flight....so basically we arrived in paradise.

See what I mean....

After a quick snack  drink we headed up to our rooms to unpack and get ready for dinner.  We all shared several suites which was so much fun, it almost felt like being in college again, only with way nicer accommodations!

This cute little guy was on the counter...you probably can't see to well but the little leave tag says "Bonnie".....awwwwe!

And leave it to this guy to test out the tub first thing...

That night we had dinner on the property and it did not disappoint.  And after every one had a chance to get cleaned up it was definitely time for some group pictures. (Here is where I apologize for the rest of the post....Loads of pictures, maybe some are redundant, but I just don't want to leave anything out not to mention I want to be able to look back and relive the weekend over and over, definitely suffering from a little post vacation blues over here!!)

The Bride and Groom <3 aren="" cutest="" nbsp="" p="" t="" the="" they="">

Me and my honey - thanks to Greg who grabbed this picture and so many others throughout the weekend...most of these are from him, all I had was my phone...whoops.

It was also a weekend of birthdays starting with Bonnie's, so basically it was just an excuse to eat dessert every night : )

Friday morning the boys were up and at em early for a fishing trip.  Brian had been dreading this moment since we first got the itinerary for the trip months ago.  He and I are not so great with boats on the ocean, or boats anywhere, or planes, trains or automobiles.  We are basically the worst couple when it comes to motion sickness.  But Brian was a trooper and dosed up on dramamine before the got on water at 6am.  I was not jealous of them at all while I slept in and waited for our breakfast and spa morning....but this view of the harbor at sunrise was something...

From what I hear, Brian spent the duration of the fishing excursion passed out at the front of the boat. But the rest of the guys caught tons of fish and had a great time.

Manuel + tuna(?)

While the boys were away the girls enjoyed coffee and breakfast on the balcony and then hit the spa for what was probably the best massage and pedicure EVER.  Bonnie and I even got teamed up for a couples massage somehow....how romantic! ; )

The view from our balcony in the morning: 

After the spa we headed down to the beach to wait on the boys....and I would have just waited there all day.....amazing!

Grabbed this cute shot of sweet girlfriends enjoying each other and our beautiful location! Awe!

And of course this "bromance".... no words...

Heaven ya'll....

We stayed down until almost sunset then headed up to get changed for dinner (but I snuck out to watch the sunset from the balcony):

Dinner that night was in one of the penthouses on the property, and amazing in an understatement.

Did I mention we started with a tequila tasting......

A few years ago (like 5, before being either pregnant or nursing for 4 years) I discovered I enjoy tequila (Thanks Jimmy and Lynette!) but I never really knew what I liked or how I liked it....enter our Mexican vacay and let's just say now I know!  I even found a favorite that we purchased when we got home (Happy birthday to me! Thanks babe!)

And of course being ready for dinner means more group photos:

This one is silly, but one of my favorites, so many smiles and so much laughter! Happy to be in the company of old and new friends!

Please excuse our sunburns.  

We dined on the fish the boys caught earlier than morning - thanks guys!  It was delicious, as was everything else they served but more than the delicious food that night dinner was filled such wonderful conversation and laughter.  Everyone told stories about the bride and groom and my face hurt so much from laughing so hard!

Sardine style heading back up to our rooms for game night:

After we all changed into our comfies we played the werewolf game (I think its called "the village" or "le village" and I'm told its similar to mafia).  Ok seriously the most fun I have had ever!  Its HILARIOUS!

Basically everyone gets assigned either a villager or a werewolf but nobody knows who you are and then the villagers have to try to kill off the werewolves and vice versa.  I'm not doing it justice and I was definitely a novice (most everyone else had been playing for years).

Basically its a game of lying - but it could not be more fun!

I was a werewolf this round, and for the record the werewolves WON!  Wooohoo!

The next day we decided to get off the property for a bit so a bunch of us headed out for a hike.  We were told that it was very easy and that going in bathing suits and flip flops was "OK".  Then our hotel guide showed up in cargo pants, hiking books, a back pack and walkie talkies.....(he's in the bottom left of this picture in the light blue shirt).....so to say we were underprepared is probably an understatement.  Thankfully we had already had some birthday drinks for Natalie's birthday so we were all very confident ; )

The lovely Vilma rocking the "ropes course".   

Not even kidding we had to repel down part of this "easy walk" - in flip flops.   With poisonous ants on the trail.  SO much excitement.

We made it to the top though and it was worth it!

Bride and Groom : )

Sardine style getting from the hotel to the beginning of the trail

Cooling off at the bottom

We were happy to get back to the resort for some lunch and a swim in the ocean (for me at least, I had been dying to get it and it was absolute perfection, Brian swam too but lost his sunglasses so maybe less perfection for him)

Birthday "Palomas" with Natalie!

That night we went into town for dinner and had the most delicious Mexican food EVERRRRR!  Complete with cricket tacos - I tried them, not too bad, there was one really crunchy bite I could have done without but other than that I think I could totally hang on fear factor now.

Then we went out dancing and had so much fun!

The Bride and Groom on our last night...

Most of our club pictures turned out like this, and/or were embarrassing so I'm not posting them.

Just know we danced and caused a ruckus until the wee hours...

Sunday morning it was time for one last breakfast on the balcony and to say goodbye.  

 So sad to see our weekend come to an end but by then we were missing the boys like crazy and we couldn't wait to get back to them!

Thanks to Mimi and Papa for staying with the boys and spoiling them while we were away, it made for a worry free vacation.  And thanks to our wonderful friends for a truly amazing weekend!  Can't wait for the wedding....