Cabo family vacation

At the end of February, we had the chance to take a family vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico! Sean and I have been to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta before, but this was our first time to Cabo. Last time we were in Mexico we talked about how much fun it would be to bring the kids, and it really was! We had such an amazing time together and the kids were such a blast. It seems we really lucked out with our timing because right after getting home, everything with the corona virus erupted, and not long after, the US-Mexico border was closed. I am SO glad it worked out that we were able to take this trip.

On our flight and ready to go! The kids were excited to ride in the airplane since it had been quite awhile for them.

As soon as we got into Mexico we had to wait for what seemed like forever to get through customs. Eventually we made it through and headed to our hotel. We stayed at the Hard Rock Los Cabos, which is about an hour away from the airport. We loved our hotel! It was such a beautiful spot and had a huge, wide beach that was almost always empty. We piggy backed with Vivint for this trip (Sean and I were paid for and we paid to have the kids join us). We had two big rooms and more than enough room for all of us. As we were checking in, we were trying to explain the concept of what "all-inclusive" means to the kids. There was a gelato/snacks cafe right by check in and the kids' minds were blown when we told them they can just walk over and get whatever they wanted. We made daily trips to that little snack area for gelato, popcorn, and other treats!

View from one of our rooms 

We spent the majority of our time at the different pools all around the hotel. The kids quickly learned how to order their food and drinks by the pool and we kept the servers busy! Virgin mango tangos, Miami vices, chunky monkeys, and mojitos on repeat all day.

We loved checking out all of the different pools. There was a big main area with music and a more upbeat atmosphere, which is where we spent most of the first day.

The beach the resort sits on is so beautiful. The kids liked playing in the surf, but we didn't swim in the ocean because the waves break right on the shore there. We loved going and playing at the beach and watching for whales. There were SO many whales! It was incredible how many we saw. Some of them were crazy close to the beach, where you could just be sitting at the pool and look out and see one spouting right next to the shore. 

We ate most of our meals at the resort. We actually didn't love the restaurant we went to the first night, but on our second night we went to the Mexican restaurant and the whole experience was incredible! We got there just as the sun was setting and it made for one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen. It just kept getting better and better. The food was also amazing!

The next day we moved from the main area to another area just below with another big pool, but closer to the beach and waterslides. We also ventured to the other side of the resort to check out the "red pool" that the kids were excited to see after seeing photos online. The ended up having the red pool all to themselves!

Hanging out in the giant hot tub!

That night we hired a driver to take us into town to try out a restaurant my sister and her family recommended. It was definitely an adventure! haha the food was awesome and we had fun, but I think if we were to go again, we'd keep it to lunch or earlier dinner. It was getting pretty wild by the time we left! Lots of very, very drunk people. Definitely provided for some good people watching and entertainment.

While we waited for our table, we walked down to the beach and the kids all picked out some small souvenirs from the vendors. It was a beautiful night!

On our final full day in Cabo, we headed back into town in the morning for a snorkeling tour. We met in the marina and checked out some souvenir shops before boarding the boat. The kids were excited when we spotted a puffer fish and other tropical fish in the harbor.  The tour was on a catamaran and it was so much fun. The kids loved sitting over the mesh and bouncing up and down.

We were all impressed by this huge yacht we saw at dinner the night before and got a closer look as we were leaving the harbor. 

We went right by the famous Cabo Arch, Lovers Beach, etc. It was beautiful!

On our way to the cove where we were going snorkeling, we saw a few whales and one of them was really close and super active. It was so cool to watch! We had had a hard time deciding between the snorkeling tour and the whale watching tour, and ended up going with snorkeling in the hopes we'd get lucky and whales while we were out. It worked out perfectly!

The snorkeling was a lot of fun, though the only kid who really loved it was Jackson. Bode was nervous for some reason being out in the water (probably the whales or fear of getting left behind or something). We all got in the water and saw the fish, but most of the kids didn't last very long and went back to the boat and ate lunch. Jackson ended up loving the snorkeling and stayed out with Sean for a really long time. They swam over near the rocks and saw some really cool fish. Sean was able to hear the whales under the water also and even caught some of it on our GoPro.

Cruising back!

After snorkeling, we spent the rest of the afternoon poolside. The whole family went on the water slides multiple times and we had a contest to see who could skip across the water on their back the furthest. Jackson was the clear winner!

Molly and Davis taking a bath out on the balcony before heading to dinner. They thought this outdoor tub was pretty cool.

I'd like to take a bath with this view every day!

As we were walking to dinner we were treated with another incredible sunset. We ran down to the beach for a few minutes before heading to the restaurant.

This Italian restaurant was SO good. The kids were excited to get pizza and we ordered a few extra entrees to try. This was one of my favorite meals of the trip.

Every night after dinner, we made it a tradition to head to the arcade at the resort. The kids loved it and it was a fun way to end each day. We got pretty good at the Jurassic Park game and had fun racing each other on the motorcycles.

Our beloved treat stop for gelato and popcorn. We discovered hot sauce on popcorn this trip and have continued eating it this way since being home!

The next day we had about half a day at the resort before we had to leave and catch our flight home. Jackson and I took a walk down on the beach at sunrise to whale watch. We really maximized our time and hung out at the pool until the very last few minutes before catching our car.  

As the boys and I were lounging right here, knowing we only had a few minutes left, we talked about "soaking it all in" before heading home and how much fun we'd had together that week. We had no idea what was coming when we got home! We feel so lucky to have been able to take this vacation right before everything changed and being home bound for the next several weeks (and who knows how many more). Grateful for an amazing week together!