Eden loved the playsets they had on-site. Eden is addicted to swings. And she keeps trying to climb up to the monkey bars. She asks me for help. But I can’t give it to her, because then she’ll just be more overconfident than she already is. So I just stand guard under her where I could cushion a fall, and she stands on the top ladder rung and reaches up and hangs from the bar. The resort really had a great program for little kids. We were even able to put Alden down for a few naps in their daycare center.

It was fun to drag Eden around the pool on a floaty. Or wade with her around the shallows. One of my very favorite times was in the morning before we flew home to Salt Lake. We went down to the beach and got to play together. Eden and I drew pictures in the sand. Chad and I started burying my legs and then Eden would find them. Then we buried Eden. First her legs, then her torso then her arms, then she asked for her neck. We tracked disgusting amounts of sand into the room most days.

When we planned this vacation we knew we would be traveling somewhere where I could go ziplining in the jungle. With the kiddos it looked like it might be difficult to arrange. I told Chad that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if it didn’t happen. Thankfully he knew how I really felt even when I didn’t.

When we started making arrangements with my dad and brother I realized that even if no one else was going I WAS! I could not wait. I was so exited to go.

We traveled about 40 minutes outside of town to Los Veranos. The drive alone was a sight. My dad was fantastic and hung out with Eden and Alden while Daniel, Chad and I went flying. It was relaxing, exhilarating, amazing! The guys running the lines were so fun and made it even more of a blast. I cannot wait to do it again.

The company had a little zoo at the bottom. I took Eden into the monkey cage. They licked some food off our fingers. Then we petted some rabbits. Finally we held on to a boa constrictor. I carried Eden while the snake was draped around our shoulders. Eden complained a little bit, but not about what you might think: “Eden hold it.” So I took the snake off my shoulders and put it all around her. After we were done, she came back twice for more turns. She also bragged about the big spider that she found on the wall.

We hired a guy out on the beach to take us out on the water. Everyone kept trying to sell us hours of boating to go whale watching or fishing or whatever. What they didn’t understand was that a baby and a toddler (and frequently we) have short attention spans. So we asked for a short trip 30 minutes to an hour and we had no expectations beside going out on the water with the kids for a bit.

Boating is so relaxing. The sun, the rocking, the ocean smell and spray. The kids did fantastic. We watched planes take off from the airport and pelicans glide close to the water looking for dinner. We waved at locals in their boats and got splashed by bigger boats’ wakes. Little miss Eden got to wear a life jacket like Dora the Explorer. It was the first thing she asked for when we told her about the boat.

The guy driving the boat put some lines in the water. Eden got some beginner’s luck! A fish got on one of the lines and right as Chad and Eden were reeling it into the boat it got away. Only minutes later Eden was helping reel another, bigger fish in!

She could not get enough of touching that fish. She stroked its scales and poked its eyes. The girl is not afraid.