Day Five Mexico Immersion: Tweens rule the world...

How many parents can relate to tweens ruling the world? They are going through so many hormonal changes, life revolves around them and to be perfectly frank, I HATE THIS AGE as much as they do.

I was wrong, though. They do not rule the world Ixchel does!

Right on the Mexican Caribbean, on the south part (the place I am calling home for one week, but secretly wishing I could have my own home here forever), you can find a sculptural park that keeps an ancient temple to the goddess Ixchel. She is a Mayan deity worshiped for centuries by its people. Honestly, she is still worshiped by many and she is painted throughout this island.

She embodies many things. Her story and all she symbolizes is what makes Isla Mujeres a magical place to be. Adding the whole solo momma thing, made it more of a place to want to be. Women are worshipped and cared for on this island. It's seen within the people and the culture. Ixchel, goddess of love, fertility, water, and the moon, you are worshiped! You can find several temples dedicated to her throughout the old Maya territory; from Cancun to Merida, she is revered. Fittingly, one of her temples is located in Isla Mujeres.

What did we do on day five?

We started our day at a sea turtle sanctuary before we headed over to the most breathtaking views and beauty one has ever seen before on the island: the temple and sanctuary of Ixchel. Here I am mesmerized by the beauty of the sea surrounding the rock structures and passages that people took as they came to bring offerings to Ixchel. I come empty handed, but with words in my heart that need to be shared. As I take a deep breath, I am in awe as the sound of the waves reverberates through me as they crash into the cliffs of island, how the hot sun caresses my face as the misty salt water tickles my nose.

Instead of saying a few words to Ixchel for some guidance, I am confronted with a huge salt water slap to the face... a big ol' Gia mini meltdown! I could paint ya'll rainbows like this is the best vacation ever and Gia just loves every moment, but that wouldn't be the real and raw story that I am sharing. What I wanted to do and what actually happened today are two very different things. I'm often left to wonder what life would look like if I was in someone else's shoes. Honestly, this was a really difficult day. I just wanted to sit in this beautiful place, stacking rocks, contemplating life's journey and take in this amazing place.

The middle finger at the end of a tantrum

Here I was sweating between my ass cheeks and telling my child to step away from the rock ledge so we can continue on with the journey, one of which she was refusing to do.

Ixchel, I ask you to bring me the ability to see past today, and allow for her to have a beautiful future. But like right now, please!

From there we took our cart, oh yea, I rented a golf cart for the day to get us everywhere.

So we took that all the way down the Caribbean Sea and we just enjoyed the view.

After that we dropped our amazing tour guide and wonderful photographer off at work we kept on moving (He also happens to be our Air BNB host and you can find his Air BNB place here)! We went back to the hidden beach he showed us. Gia got some amazing shells and we went on about our day snorkeling in the clear sea with the gear we got from yesterday's excursion.

One thing I hate is asking for help. But I've found it's become easier. I rang the bell at a local hotel to find out if there was a place I could park the golf cart or get assistance in finding public access to where we went swimming. So I asked, "Can I but a drink and park my cart and go swimming?" The gentleman let me know I can move my cart to the other side of the street and access the beach for free. He also let me know if I need to get a drink or use their facilities there was a charge, but but I didn't have to pay to use the beach! If I never asked, I wouldn't have known and we probably would have turned around because fear would have driven us away! Also, this experience reassured me that people are kind and helpful and not always looking to take advantage.

After that we went back to the studio apartment, showered up and went back to the magical Mayan land. I may have needed to bribe Gia with food to make that happen, but she allowed me to snap a nice picture.

I'll also let you know that we have a practice that I started. I take a ton of posed pictures that involve emotions. I started this when Gia was just a little girl to teach her emotions and what they look like on my face and hers. Since she is on the spectrum this was one of the first things I learned to help her understand facial expressions, emotions and how they go hand in hand.

So after we snapped some more pictures we cruised again down the coastline, and really you can't cruise down this place enough! You see something different and beautiful each time. Like the cemetery. I can't tell you how colorful and beautiful it was. However, out of respect for those who have passed and their loved ones, we drove by without taking pictures after saying little blessing. I will always remember how wonderful it was.

We finished the evening by dropping off our golf cart and grabbing some dinner. I got an extremely strong margarita on the rocks and Gia got PASTA! What in the Italian girl in Mexico are you doing? I have to be honest, she didn't love it. I on the other hand went with some more tacos. I've officially lost track of my taco consumption.

This was the one evening I threw on some workout clothing and ran three miles while in. It was an amazingly wonderful evening run around the laguna from the front steps of my door!