Mexico Recap: Our First Trip As a Family of Four

I can’t believe it’s already been a month since we got back from our trip to Mexico! You may have seen a few sneak peeks from our travels on Instagram (you can check them out on the “Mexico highlight” on my profile) but I can’t wait to recap (or should I say relive) our time there now that we’re back in Brooklyn. I also got a bunch of questions about traveling with a toddler and an infant, so I am working on a blog post with some tips and tricks for vacationing with young kids. But let’s get to the fun stuff and transport ourselves back to Mexico!

This was our first vacation as a family of 4 and before we left, I definitely questioned our decision to travel with both girls. Would we have any downtime to actually relax, or would it just feel really stressful the whole time? I’m happy to say that we had such a great time and I’m so glad we took the plunge and did this trip when we did. Noa was 3 months old and Adina was 27 months old. We stayed at the Grand Residences Riviera Cancun all-inclusive resort and were so happy with our experience there. While Michael and I love global adventures and sight-seeing in different parts of the world, we decided to save that kind of trip for when the girls are older and opted for a warm getaway in a sunny location. Having all of our meals, activities, and and areas to relax in one place made it so easy to balance everyone’s needs, especially with a toddler and baby in tow.

This resort was incredibly family friendly! I have never seen a hotel as accommodating to babies and toddlers as this one! They provided a crib, a Mexican baby doll, baby bath tub, baby body wash, a high chair, and even a diaper genie in our room. There was a terrific kids club with tons of activities and toys. Although Adina was too young to be left in the kids club without a parent (I think they offered that option to children ages 4+), we went there together a few times and did some art projects and played with their toys, which was a nice break from all of the time Adina was spending in the sun the rest of the day. The resort activities desk also provided us with beach and pool toys for Adina - one less thing that we had to pack with us.

On our first night, we stayed in a room that didn’t have much of a view. The view from the room is certainly not the most important thing, but it definitely can make a big difference in your experience. At first, I wondered if it would be worth the effort to try and switch rooms - all of our stuff was already unpacked and it wasn’t really *that* bad. But we didn’t travel all the way to Mexico to wake up and look out onto an empty lot everyday, so Michael decided to talk to the front desk to request a change. Thankfully they were able to move us to a room with an ocean view for the remainder of our stay and let me tell you, it made a huge difference! Every morning, Adina would wake up between 6-6:30 am, so we got to go out on the balcony together and watch the magnificent sunrise over the water. I never thought I’d be happy about having such an early riser until now! We also got to enjoy our breakfasts (and some lunches) on the balcony and the view was better than any seat we could’ve had in the restaurants.

The food and service was outstanding! On our first full day there, we ate breakfast in the restaurant, but it was a little tricky for Michael and I to enjoy our meal at the same time since one of us would go up to the buffet, while the other watched the kids and then we would switch. For the remaining days, we decided to order room service for breakfast and eat in the room - a much more relaxed experience! I highly recommend doing this if you have the option. Grand Residences has two restaurants where we had dinner each night and a poolside grill where we’d eat lunch. It is not a huge resort with dozens of dining options, so I was worried that we might get tired/bored of eating at the same places every day. But I was pleasantly surprised by the vast variety of options and the quality of the food at each place! The restaurants also had themed nights with special menus and we got to try a lot of different dishes each day. I loved not having to think about meals while we were there. Mamas, this seriously makes life so much easier!

Like Michael, Adina is a water lover! Everyday after eating breakfast in the room, we’d head downstairs for some pool time. There was an adult-only infinity pool with a swim-up bar on one side and another pool with a shallow end for kids on the other side. Adina and Michael spent HOURS in the water and she’d come out to show me her shriveled up fingers - “Mama, my fingers are pruney!” I’m so grateful that my husband loves the water as much as he does, because I was happy to sit in the shade, sipping a smoothie with Noa most of the time. That said, Noa still got to enjoy a taste of the water while we were away…I wore her in my new favorite, waterproof baby carrier, the Bitybean. I love how lightweight and compact the Bitybean baby carrier is! And with the built-in sunshade, it was the perfect baby carrier for our trip! There was also a smaller whirlpool and the beach not too far away, so when we wanted to switch things up, we just rotated between those. The only downside of where we stayed was that the beach was pretty rocky and had lots of seaweed, but it didn’t bother us because spent most of the time swimming in the pool. My sister was already traveling in Mexico so the timing worked out perfectly for her to meet us. It was such a treat for the girls to spend some quality time with their aunt and it gave Michael and I some much-needed time to ourselves.  

Since I was only 3 months postpartum, my size was still fluctuating and I didn’t want to buy new items that I wouldn’t necessarily wear after vacation. I decided to try Rent The Runway Unlimited to help me pack smart and light for the trip and I was pleasantly surprised by the selection of cute options for vacation. I’ll link the items that I rented at the bottom of this post. I also had fun matching with the girls during our trip! I got us matching swimsuits and it was even more fun than I imagined to twin with my mini-me’s. The banana print and palm tree print bikinis were the perfect vibe for Mexico and super affordable! The high waisted bottoms made me feel comfortable in a two-piece. It was Noa’s first time in a warm-weather climate and I had a great time dressing her up in beach attire. Adina also rocked some adorable new looks that I can’t wait for her to wear again throughout the summer.

Overall, Mexico was amazing! Largely due in part to Grand Residences. All of the fears and concerns I had about traveling with a toddler and an infant were put to rest once we got there. I’m so happy that we chose a reasonably-sized all-inclusive resort. Michael and I love to travel and want to pass that passion on to our children. I know that when the kids are older, we’ll do some more ambitious trips with excursions and sightseeing. But for the season we’re in now, this was perfect! Are you taking any vacations in the next few months? Send me your travel suggestions for our next family trip!

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