Not many photos involved in this post.  Since I didn’t “work” Catherine’s wedding and rather, enjoyed it for the wonderful day that it was, I’ll only be posting a couple of photos.  For the rest of you guys that were there, check your inboxes soon for a link to the pictures.  I know it’s long overdue…but as you’ve read, I’ve been a bit busy with orientation and Mexico!

Well…that’s it!  For those who attended, links are coming soon with the rest of the pics!  Good luck to everyone starting internship!

So my week of internship orientation at Kaiser is officially over!  Fire training, computer training, hospital tour, team meet and greet, role playing activities, and everything else  that the one-week orientation entailed is now behind me.  Next stop…a fun but challenging year at Kaiser Sunset with some of the coolest and smartest people!  Official start date:  July 1st. Please don’t let me kill anyone!

Time to relearn the ABC’s…elmo style

Clips from Cancun…I wish I was there instead of internship orientation

So the family arrived yesterday, bringing with them a flurry of chaos, babies, and well…more babies.  Imagine…a completely deserted resort (due to swine flu) in all its peacefulness and tranquility, suddenly interrupted by the noise, cries, and screams of children, babies, and 17 Asian adults.  Yes, I’m stereotyping…but the truth is when you travel with SEVENTEEN people, it’s bound to get loud.   REALLY LOUD!  In any case, we still managed to plan out a day of family activities and hit the beach, sipped on some pina coladas, and played at the water park.

Surfer tongue

The water here is soooo blue.  Ethan couldn’t believe it!

Finishing up his castle

Shower time

Splishy splashy at Wet n Wild

Disneyland has Mickey Mouse, Wet n Wild has El luchador (The Mexican Wrestler)

El Luchador with my dad

No tours, no temples, no ruins (not today anyway).  In thinking about what we were going to do today, my brother and I decided that we needed a vacation from our vacation.  So instead of braving the hot Cancun sun (I’ve been told it’s the same sun beating down on my back everywhere…but I still beg to differ) and humidity to explore, we decided to just hang out along the peninsula and do some zip lining and swimming.

Zipping through the sky over some jungle, some muddy brown water, and some dirt

Pedro is ready

Mi hermano, zipping through the sky

Hola! Mi nombre es Samuel

Pedro was a pro at this

The zipping field

Pedro ain’t so good with the kids

Cambria, Han and Linda joined us a day early…when Ethan and Aaron get here tonight, they will DESTROY her (and by destroy…I mean “play”)

The military does not approve of this kind of behavior, Han

Hope you all enjoyed the post by Peter yesterday (I know I didn’t). Anyway, after the long and drawn out day put on by the tour company yesterday, we decided to forego the free tour to Tulum provided by the hotel (a 12-hr trip filled with more shopping most likely) and mapped out the public bus route to explore Tulum on our own time and on our own terms. Needless to say, even though we spent about 30 minutes longer traveling and the bus wasn’t as nice as the coach bus from yesterday, we still managed to travel 90 miles away from Cancun to see the beachfront fort of Tulum.

I was slightly disappointed to discover that like yesterday, we couldn’t enter or step directly on any of the ruins…but the ruins by the beach were still an amazing sight! Definitely a sight to behold….crystal blue waters, green rolling grass, and ancient stone stacked on top of one another to build a defense fortress.  Even though it’s not one of the 7 wonders, I really liked this place a lot better than Chichen Itza. But then again, I had more freedom to explore today and didn’t have to deal with all the shopping that tours make you do….so of course I’m going to like it better!

Taking the public bus on the way to Tulum – 7.5 pesos each way

Small panoramic of the central portion of Tulum

Some exploring at Tulum…they still allow you to step on some of the ruins, but not all

The remains of the fort city of Tulum

Just a breathtaking view

More ruins

Watchtower

Resting after the 2.5hr bus ride and 2 hours of hiking. Hermano

The fortress by the sea

El Castillo

Fire show – caught it from the hotel at the end of the night

Today was yet another exhausting day.  Zip lining tomorrow and probably some snorkeling!