Beds, Beach & Burns

First things first, sleeping arrangements.  Our unit included 1 master bedroom and a living room with a pull out couch.  We ordered a rollaway bed.  Tyler has seniority so he got to pick and he of course picked the rollaway bed.  Bryce is nothing if not persistent and probably argued for switching beds no fewer than five times each day (he finally got the rollaway on day 4).  Poor kid, at 13, to have such an “aching back”.  At one point he slipped into our bed, thinking we might not see him…

Off to the beach, he drowned his sorrows in super nachos…

Note that the kids are fully shaded while Jeff and I (I was sitting in the chair on the left) were in the sun.  You’d think we’d know how our pale bods will react in the sun after 40+ years, but no, we end up with this:

and burns in other miscellaneous spaces on my body.  I looked polka dotted.  My feet were so bad that they swelled up the rest of the week.  Hideous burning totally cancels out the cute toes I had to have before we left.  Jeff also burned, more of an all over burn, but the kids were fine.

Oh, and we learned a very important cultural lesson this day.  In Mexico, it is considered rude to bring you the check before you ask for it.  We just thought they knew our room number so it would just be taken care of—how nice that they don’t hover for a tip (although he totally deserved it—bringing the food all the way down to the beach!).  Nope.  We apparently dined and ditched.  We were on the beach for a couple of hours after the food and the waiter would ask us if we needed anything else, not realizing by “else” that he actually meant, “do you want your check”?  Never fear, 10 minutes after we returned to the room, they tracked us down.  Tyler went to go sign for it but he didn’t leave a tip.  (I was in the shower, so was unavailable to give my usually explicit and detailed instructions!)

I’ve had guilt ever since.