Day 3: Tulum

 On day 3 of our cruise adventure, we made our first stop in Cozumel, Mexico.  Cody and I were itching to visit the ruins of Tulum.  We had been there once before on our honeymoon and loved it!  Our tour guide, Helaman, was fantastic and so we tracked him down to set up a private tour for our family... a.k.a. the Cutler Cruisers!:)  Gotta love the matching Ts!

(We were sad to find that Cody's little sister, Karlee, woke up feeling very sick that morning.  She made every effort to join us on our excursion, but ended up staying back on the ship with Mom C.)

After a walk through town, taxi for 12 of us, ferry, shuttle, and tram ride... we finally arrived at the ruins.  Can't say we weren't tempted to take a dip in the gorgeous waters on our way there!;)

Everything about Tulum was just incredible.  Dating as far back as 500 A.D.  It was interesting to learn about the various signs and symbols on the buildings/temple that indicate how their beliefs coincide with the Book of Mormon.  A few things were skewed though, which led me to think that maybe the ruins were built years after Christ's death when the church was in apostasy.  This would make 500 A.D. a reasonable estimate.

 Helaman was so knowledgeable and taught us a lot about the people of that era.

Check out those voladores!  They are doing a ceremonial ritual first started in Veracruz where Cody served his mission.  So fun to watch!

:some family pictures overlooking the ruins:

:the couples:

Check out the view of the Caribbean!

 It was really neat for Cody and I to relive some moments from our honeymoon.  It brought back such fond memories!

:then and now:

Needless to say, we were all exhausted by the end of the day!  Jaden was out 2 seconds into our taxi ride home.

 

We returned to the ship with news that Karlee had become ill enough to recieve medical attention from a local hospital.  Dad C. packed their things and joined them.  After some testing, they found she had a stomach infection of some kind.  She felt much better by the end of the week.  From this point on, it was just the older of the siblings cruisin' the Caribbean.  It was hard to see them go, but we stayed back, missed them like crazy, and tried to make the best of it!