from the desk of tara hope…

here is one of my favorite memories from our christmas cruise:

in costa maya the whole family(minus mom :() went on the mini rhino excursion through the jungles and beaches of costa maya! we took an open air bus to get to the site and i really loved the drive there , because we got to see “real” mexico and the little houses and farms along the way

when we pulled up the little restaurant on the beach where we would pick up our rhinos, it was absolutely gorgeous!

we got suited up to drive the rhinos, which meant helmets, sunglasses and bandanas! we were stylin!

then it was time to jump in and drive! we started off 4-wheeling through the jungle. matt got so crazy that we actually popped a tire, which kind of slowed us down a little bit 🙂

after the jungle, and a new tire we drove along the beach. i drove for that part since it was a much smoother ride!

after the drive we went back to the restaurant on the beach for some snacks in the sun

homemade pico de gallo! delicious!

we spent the next hour or so just enjoying the beautiful view and walking on the beach…

iguana!

i think this guys name was Yaya….or something like that! he was quite the character!

on the way back to the cruise ship we drove through downtown costa maya. it was so rundown, but still so colorful and sweet. i enjoyed seeing it, and it also made me very thankful!

when we got back to the port we walked around the shopping center with the boys for a little bit…

i love all the color in mexico! with pink buildings and turquoise water…its my kind of place!