My son and his family live only 3 miles from us. We really enjoy being so close to our three grandchildren especially since our older two moved with their parents to Germany.
They were the reason we moved to Colorado in the first place and their temporary move turned into a more permanent one.
As they were leaving we had a nice family camping trip to the Grand Canyon and my son’s wife was impressed by how their son immediately loved his grandpa. They had been looking for a home in California with no luck. All houses no matter how old and small were at or over a million dollars. So they decided to move to Colorado to be closer to us! I took six months off from working on our house to update their new house before they moved in.
There are countless benefits to living close. We eat together at least once a week. We have the older kids overnight and can go camping together. We also take longer trips together. It’s easier with four adults to care for three little ones and also be able to relax.
Since my son loves white sand beaches and water activities we took a vacation to an all inclusive resort in Cozumel for the week after Christmas. We really had a wonderful time playing with the kids at the beach, swimming in the pools, and having no chores or obligations for a week. Every meal was cooked for us, we had a choice of four restaurants and two snack bars. It was very relaxing.
We stayed at the Grand Park Royale in Cozumel. It was built to be long and skinny so almost every room faced the sea.
My grandson was so impressed with the view he took the first photo from our balcony.
Although the beach was small it was not overcrowded. Probably due to Covid. We all wore masks except at the beach and in the pools.
When the family ventured to the beach early in the morning they caught sight of many unusual fish in the waters. We also saw a pelican at this beach one day. And one day we arranged to go snorkeling. We had to wait until a less windy day as the coast guard closes the reef areas under strong winds.
Our trip included life jackets and snorkel gear but I also brought our snorkel gear. My goggles are magnified since my sight needs correction to see anything. We stopped at the beach for lunch and had it almost to ourselves.
Hanging out around the pools we saw some cool looking lizards that hung around the trees in the shade. Since we also saw a cat we figured these creatures were for pest control.
It was a week in paradise as they put it. And it’s true that all work and no play make Jack a dull boy.