March 1: In Like a Lion

I’m in Iowa. It’s snowing. It’s bitterly cold. I need a tropical vacation, if only a mental one. Care to come along and share this memory with me?

The place? Moon Palace, Cancun. The year? 2006. Thanksgiving. I’m a young mama with a little girl who just turned 3.

Here’s Aria building sand castles on the beach:

I’m vacationing with my soon to be ex-husband and ex-in-laws. The resort is paradise. It is the kind of place where your towels are shaped like swans with flowers in their mouths. Where you don’t shower – you opt for the in-room hot tub. The kind of all-inclusive resort where daiquiris are on tap and somehow always present in your hand, as served by some enticing young man with a sparkling smile who refuses your tip every time. A place where a complimentary massage is provided, along with a mani/pedi. Heaven. It was heaven.

Aria still took a daily nap. This was actually a blessing on this vacation because it gave me much needed alone time and quiet time with her. Our room had a balcony that overlooked the ocean. You could smell the salt and hear the surf hitting the sand. It was warm but not too hot. There was a balcony. On it, my very favorite thing about this resort: a hammock.

Every day for 5 blessed days, I rocked Aria in that hammock. She slept on my chest. I used one foot to keep a smooth flowing motion. We had 2 or 3 hours every day together in that hammock.

I don’t have a photo of this memory, but it’s more deeply ingrained in my heart than any other.

Aria was little bitty. This was her soundtrack back then. It still brings me back to those beaches and that magical hammock when I hear it today. 

The Little Mermaid - Under the Sea