Hola Cabo!

 The realization that a tropical vacation with 2 kids and a baby would be challenging and no fun suddenly hit me, so I decided the Koplans needed to squeeze in a vacation before Baby Girl #3 arrived.  While our usual go-to vacation spot is Maui, we decided it was time for a change of scene and picked sunny Cabo.  While winter weather really just started settling over Moraga, when Gwen saw me packing her bathing suits the night before we left, she let out a big squeal and cried out "I'm so excited!!".

We stayed at the beautiful Villa Del Arco, which was perfect for us.  We had a great 1 bedroom suite with full kitchen and a murphy bed in the living room, which was much more comfortable than a sofa bed.  The resort had several pools to choose from, several tailored for little ones, and more importantly (for me), some were bath water warm!

The view from our balcony.

One of the pools had a big pirate ship in the middle, where Gwen
acted out The Little Mermaid maybe 100 times over the course of the
vacation.  

The beach was literally steps away which was nice for a change of scene.  Gwen loved the ocean and the girls played in the sand, running back and forth to scoop buckets of water from the ocean.  

Baby bump shot

The beach also provided us access to water taxis, which took us to local attractions like the arch shaped rocks, the marina and downtown cabo.  

The marina area was bustling with boats, shops, restaurants (i.e. Senor Frogs), flea markets and various tourist attractions.  The girls even got to swim with dolphins and hold a baby lion.

At the marina

Cute picture of Whitney pouting because the man
handed the lion to Gwen first.

But of course, she got her turn.

Cabo Dolphins!

Whitney getting ready for the  Dolphin Encounter
with mommy (no need to see a photo of a pregnant
woman in a wet suit!)

Daddy and Gwen got to swim with the Dolphins-
Gwen did a great job holding on while it zipped
her around the pool.

And, the final animal adventure of the trip was a horse back riding excursion.  And in Mexico, they don't make you wear helmets... or shoes... or even pants apparently.  

One exciting part of the trip was the Whitney started swimming!  We made her wear her floaty most of the time in the pool (to her dismay).  She loved putting her head in the water, though, and laying on her stomach, kicking around, looking at the bottom of the pool through her goggles.  She kept saying she was trying to find a 'banana fish'.   But on the last day, she insisted on taking off the floaty and started swimming.  She could push off, keep her face in the water and kick, but hasn't yet learned out to take a breath.  I'm thinking we'll have a little Mini Marlin this coming summer though (if they'll take someone who will still be 2 during the evaluations!).

Whitney kept insisting on going under water - here is Adam taking
her under for the millionth time.

Starting to swim!

Swimming to Daddy

So, Maui vs. Cabo?  Tough call.  Cabo:  shorter flight - plus, cheaper flight- plus, guaranteed sunny- plus, everything accessible at resort or via fun water taxi - plus, super heated pools - plus, baby lions available for putting on the side of the street - plus.  Catching a 24-hour stomach virus - minus, resort food - minus, realizing a week before your trip that your kids need passports - minus, can't use phones or blackberry - seems like a minus but was actually probably a plus!