Merida has a Temple and I looked before our trip to see about scheduling baptisms for our girls. There were not any available which I was bummed about but it was ok. We had on our schedule to visit the Temple and it would be nice to just walk the grounds. While in Merida Heather Poll mentioned about having the kids do baptisms while at the Temple, we looked and didn't see any openings but we had Brad call since he spoke Spanish and he was able to get us an appointment in the morning. We were so excited! The Temple was close enough to walk so we all walked over in the morning and after we took some pictures outside we were able to go in and watch the kids perform their Baptisms. I was pretty special to be in the Temple and I am so glad it worked out so great for us. The Temple workers were so sweet and accommodating, it was a great experience.
After our Temple trip we changed ours clothes, packed back up into the vans and drove to Progresso Beach for our Beach Day. We had such a good time hanging at the beach and playing in the water. The water was the perfect temperature and I loved it. The waves were a bit choppy and that was not fun, I also did not like the rough dried seaweed on the beach and the first 15 feet or so into the water was really rough and rocky and hurt my feet. Other then that it was all great! I liked the Raptor they had on display I think maybe e this was a spot they found dinosaur bones? I don't know, I don't know the significance for the Raptor but it was cute to see.
We had lunch provided to us, I had chicken fingers and French fries and the chicken fingers were so good, I really liked the spice that was on them. Later Kefford got a cup of fresh mango that someone was selling. He made sure to snag me a piece before Avynlea and Rylee gobbled it all down, it was good mango.
Around dinner time we walked over to a restaurant on the beach that Judy told us about. All we had to do was buy drinks and then they also served us food to snack on. The food just kept coming and it was all good. They had a live band providing entertainment and the girls were going gaga over the singers. I didn't think they were anything special to look at but the girls were dying over them. During one of the songs the band encouraged the girls to come up and dance while they were singing. The girls loved this and had so much fun being taught a dance and dancing during the performance.
It was a good night and I was pretty exhausted by the time we got back to our hotel. Avynlea and Rylee rode in the van with the other girls their age sand then continued their party back at the hotel. They bonded pretty quick with these girls, I only wish they could have been with us the entire week. Some is better then none though.
The next morning just our family and the Ogdens were leaving in the morning. The others had later flights so they were going to church.
We were given a boxed lunch to take with us which we tried to eat on the way to the airport so as not to have to carry it around the airport. It was a sandwich, a muffin, a soda and an apple.
It was a long trip home with two layovers, one in Mexico City and one in Minneapolis. We were so tired and so happy when we finally made it home.