Sunday, November 27

Fly Day!

Because Alexander and I splurged and upgraded to first class (Air Transat calls it Club Class) we had a separate check in line at the airport and we decided that we didn’t need to be at the airport the recommended 3 hours earlier so we got to sleep in a little bit.  Although I didn’t really get much sleep, I woke up at 4am wide awake and didn’t start falling back to sleep until the alarm went off at 6am.  We got up, got ready and rushed around packing last minutes things and weighing out suitcases to see if they were over the limit.  Because we upgraded we got more luggage weight allowance but we didn’t know if each suitcase could only be a max weight so we tried to keep each bag (we had 3) at around 40lbs.  You should have seen us try to get our 3 bags of luggage and our carry on out the door and in the elevator.  We also brought out the garbage to throw away.  Good thing it was so early in the morning and everyone was still sleeping so only Morna and her dad, who drove us to the airport, saw our clown act *grin*

We got to the airport and Jill and Ben, my parents and Alexander's parents were already checked in and waiting for us.  Check in was a breeze and then we headed over to security.  Since Ben was the tallest in the group he had the great privilege to carry my dress so I wouldn’t have to fold it.  He got a lot of comments from people in line and the staff.  Once we made it through security we found where everyone else had bunkered down and I left them in charge of babysitting my dress while Jill, Ben, Morna, Alexander and myself went to grad a quick breakfast.

Before we knew it it was time to board the plane!  When we found our seats we had a blanket in a pouch that was ours to keep and a choice of champagne, orange juice or a combination of them both to drink.  They walked around the cabin offering free headsets, blow up neck pillows, eye mask, and ear plugs.  Alexander took one of each *grin*  Soon we were up up and away!  Take off was a bit bumpy and we flew low most of the flight.  Once in the air they came around for drinks and we got free booze!  I didn’t realize it and I really didn’t use it either.  They played Harry Potter for the in-flight movie.  I didn’t watch it.  Jill brought along some People magazines so I caught up on my celebrity gossip and I read a book I brought along, Echo Park by Michael Connelly.  We got to choose which lunch option we wanted a month prior and I chose the Braised Beef and Alexander had General Tao Chicken.  I’m so used to a little dinky drink and crappy snacks on flights that a real meal (some would debate the realness of it) served with sides with real utensils was a thrill for me!

They brought out a salad and our dessert.  The salad came with a mini cute bottle of salad dressing.  The dessert, Key Lime Pie, was really good!  Ben ate his before his real meal came out and Morna sat next to an old man who didn’t want his dessert so she ate it.

My Braised Beef.  It was really good!!!!!s

Alexander’s Chicken

A little mini after dinner drink.

A short 5.5 hours later we were in Mexico!  A month before the wedding we mailed out/dropped off to everyone a little brochure I made in Publisher and a luggage tag.  The brochure had information about what to wear, plans for an excursion to a zip line park, information about the wedding, and idea on what to pack.  I remembered to bring a copy with us so it came in handy when we had to fill out our travel cards and what city and hotel we were staying at so we could leave the airport.  Everyones luggage arrived safe and sound and no one had to get searched leaving the airport.  We found our bus relatively easily and since we had more than 12 people flying from Edmonton we got our own private bus to take us to the resort.  It was about 1.5 hour ride (I’m not sure, I dozed off a bit) to the resort.  By the time we got in it was dark but walking into the lobby the resort looked beautiful! 

Side note: Alexander and I picked the resort without ever actually gone there.  We got a big book of resorts information for Travel Agent Lisa and I went through the book and ripped out resorts in the location we wanted, that looked nice and allowed kids (just in case someone wanted to bring one along).  Then we narrowed it down to 3 or 4 resorts and did a lot of looking online at different reviews and pictures of wedding sites.  We knew for sure we wanted a beach wedding but we didn’t want pool chairs and gawkers near by.  We also asked Lisa about her thoughts on the resort and if she heard anything good or bad.  Of course price played a factor too.  I originally wanted to go the Riu Palace resort we went to back in 2009 for Ryan and Lisa’s wedding but it was a tad pricey and with a not so reputable company.  Anyways, I hadn’t looked at pictures of the resort or thought about it much since we had decided on it so I was very happy that it looked amazing and it was amazing.   

Because Alexander and I were the bride and groom we got upgraded to Club Premium which just meant we got to check in in a different room and got a different coloured bracelet that got us free internet and a discount at the Spa and shopping at the resorts.  Also if we needed to make reservations at the restaurants we would go see them instead of the person in the lobby.  It was quick and painless and we met up with Morna, Pam and the bell boy to go to our rooms.  They took us along a path that kinda goes around the resort and it seemed like we walked forever.  We finally got to our room and everybody in our group was in the same wing of rooms so that was nice.  It was a bit muggy/hot in the room but the room was gorgeous!  Two showers, two closets, a huge bed, and a huge sitting area.  Our balcony faced onto the pool.  It was amazing!  We dropped off our luggage, took a few photos of the room before we destroyed it and freshened up a bit before heading back up to the lobby to meet everyone for dinner.   

Two showers!  One a rain shower!

We don’t even have two sinks at home!

We all met up in the lobby and found our way to the buffet.  It was huge!  Lots and lots of choices!  It was kinda overwhelming!  After filling our bellies we went back up to the lobby to book restaurants as Jill told us she had spoken to someone and they were filling up quickly.  Alexander and I went into our special room and booked dinner for all the nights at the resort, we ate dinner with a different group of people each night!

Monday: Dinner with Edmonton Folk (minus the partiers Jill, Ben, Ryan aka Bieber, and Shauna)
Tuesday: Dinner with Alexander's parents, my parents, and Alexander Uncle Chris and Aunt Doreen
Wednesday: Dinner with my parents and my Uncle Robert and Cousin Ian
Thursday: Wedding!  Everyone!
Friday: Dinner with my parents, Aunt Elaine, Cousin Joanna and her fiancée Paul, Aunt Jeannie and Cousin Erin (my Uncle Robert and Cousin Ian ended up sneaking in on the reservations too the last minute)
Saturday: Was supposed to be a romantic meal for two but we ate with Darcy, Ee and Pam, so a romantic dinner for five *grin*   

Look at the cute cauliflower sheep!

After we all headed to the lobby bar and just relaxed and chatted and had a great time!  We hung around until the Toronto people arrived so Alexander and I could welcome them.  I hadn’t seen my Ontario family for 10+years (well except for my Uncle Robert who came out to visit a few summers ago)!  It was really wonderful that they all came out to celebrate with Alexander and I.  After this it won’t be 10+ years in between visits for sure!  After we greeted them and saw them off to their rooms Alexander and I called it a night.  With all the stress from the previous week and little sleep and being travel dirty it was time to hit the hay and enjoy our enormous sized bed! 

Side note: Happy Birthday to Me!  Getting into bed I removed a pillow and underneath the pillow there was a package wrapped in happy birthday paper.  I asked if it was for me (who else would it be for silly?) and Alexander said it was an early birthday gift and I could open it then or wait until my real birthday.  He knows me well because I don’t like not knowing and I would not have been able to wait until February to open it.  It turns out I got a brand new PINK Canon camera!  My old Canon (bought back in 2006 before my New York trip) still worked but with technology advancing so fast it was the age of an 89 year old man and it was chunky monkey! *grin*  I wanted a new camera especially since we had been trying out different cameras for Alexander's dads birthday gift.  It was a really nice surprise!  Way better pixels and nice and light.  He even bought a case for it!  I’ve never had a camera case before!  The only down side, and it wasn’t that bad, is that Alexander kept wanting to see the camera and play with the settings.

My first drink at the resort.  It was a coconut drink.  I can’t remember the exact name of it but I re-named it Coconut Sun Dream.  Doesn’t it sound lovely?  It tasted pretty lovely too!  *grin*  Oh!  The lobby bar had a popcorn machine and popcorn was pretty dang good!  And later in the evening they brought out snacks like some fruit tarts and mini sandwiches.  Yummy!

Morna has more pictures of all of us at the lobby bar on the first night (some pretty hilarious pictures of me too!).  We basically took over this one section of the bar and we were really loud introducing everyone and getting to know everyone (well, I knew everyone but not everyone knew everyone else!).  I was just really glad that it was finally Mexico time after all the months of planning