So, day 2 we ventured to Xel-Ha (pronounced Shell-ha.) I don't think the kids knew what to expect, but then again neither did I! The park is really a very shallow inlet that is great for snorkeling, tubing, rafting, meeting dolphin and manatee, riding ziplines, and bike ziplines, exploring treehouses, going on water slides, cliffjumping and probably like a million other things that we didn't even get to see because the park is so big!
As we entered the park, I am on a quest to splatter every square inch of my children in spf50 sunscreen. We are midwesterners who haven't seen the sun in many months! The kids thought these hammocks were the coolest ever, and by the end of the trip they had logged many hours in hammocks, and we even brought one home for our backyard come summer!
The kid area of Xel-ha was very impressive! Gona and I took the boys there to play on the immense tree-rope house while daddy, baca and kenna went snorkeling out in the lagoon.
Grayson fell in love with this crocodile. It is a large underground tunnel that kids can climb through like they are being eaten. In retrospect a little creepy now that I type it, but he thought it was funny that he would go in the mouth, through the belly and be "pooped" out the back....hmmm...
Zachey quickly discovered this immense treehouse. It was a series of 6 or seven tunnels that each had their own flare. From ropes to wooden tunnels to stepping on elevated bear paws the whole thing was quite impressive and perfect for a 5 year old boy! I think he probably went through it at least 20 times on his own! Halfway through the day I decided to try it out, and discovered there was a photo booth inside, by scanning your bracelet a picture would quickly snap (of course you could purchase these gems for a small fortune as you left - yes we did buy them.) Zachey has at least 50 pictures as he loved to scan his bracelet and pose.
Toward the end of the day we even got daddy, gona and baca to venture up into the trees and got this group photo.
Another feature at the park was this dumping bucket pool. The boys were a little intimidated to go in, but it was just beautiful as you could overlook the lagoon as they played.
Luckily the kids area was in close proximity to the bathroom. I think about 25% of my day was spent taking kids to the bathroom. Here Grayson shows off a treasure he found (bead from one of the chairs) as we are waiting for Zachary to go.
The floating faucet was a huge hit, especially with Zachary as he attempted to figure out how it worked! What I loved about this park is that I would sort of compare it to a Mexican six flags or Disneyworld, but you weren't bombarded with so many rules and regulations. They had life jackets available all over the place, but no one was hounding you to wear one with endless reminders and staff. When we road the tram to the zipline bikes, there was no repeated message to keep your hands in the vehicle, it just started up and you sat down - duh! I really liked that!
Zachary insisted I take pictures of the birds and fish. He was a little intimidated at first, but after Daddy grabbed his hand, both he and Grayson ended up loving the raft and got all the way out to the water feature.
This is the iguana I have dubbed Earl....he sat on that rock ALL day :)
I attempted a panoramic shot...the pictures don't do this place justice - was so lovely!
Toward the latter part of the day, Kenna was super excited to try the zipline bikes. I had faced a couple of little boy meltdowns, so a bike ride in the sky sounded like the perfect break! Again, there were very few rules or suggestions with if Kenna was old enough/heavy enough to ride the bikes, I was a bit nervous. What would happen if she got stuck? You were moved only by your own leg power. But, Josh Kenna and I decided to give it a shot, and gona, baca and the boys headed back down to save us a spot for lunch.
As you can tell from the sky photo I absolutely loved the experience. We got to pedal through a cave and near the water, over gorges and got to see parrots and birds up close. Kenna got increasingly frustrated as we continued because she was having a hard time pedaling up the inclines. I had to talk her through a few scary moments, but she did it! I hope that she remembers the experience as positive...maybe we can try again when she is a little bigger :)
We arrived around 630 and by the time we had unpacked, had a tour of the house and listened to the ocean from our room the kids were spent! Gona had our room perfectly arranged with three comfy cots that the kids jumped right into. Once again, I didn't hear one peep as they all fell asleep instantly! I was happy to have a "base camp" and a place to get settled. Was looking forward to lots of ocean play, kayaking and relaxing!
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