We just got back from our first visit to Temptations in Cancun last night, and we had such a FANTASTIC time that I just had to write about it. Forgive me if this ends up sounding like an advertisement, as it not intended as such.

As anyone who's been following my blog knows, my hubby had been on a travel assignment for almost five months. This trip was his “get out of jail free” card, in addition to a celebration of our upcoming 15th anniversary. So we really needed to get away just the two of us.

Day One (Wed): We left the house at 0615, dropped the kids at the bus stop/daycare, and got to the airport (Newark) and through security with 1.5 hours to spare. Our plane arrived late, and we had to run across the Houston (Bush) airport to make our connection--only to have our passports questioned. (The paper was peeling off the cover from when they got wet on our cruise excursion to Dunn’s River Falls five years ago.) Thankfully, they held the plane and the Immigration official gave us the green light. Needless to say, we’ll be replacing our passports when we return.

Once in Cancun, we had to wait to get through Immigration and Customs, which was mildly annoying. But it was really frustrating to find out that when Expedia changed our flight information (the airline cancelled our original flight), they didn’t update the transport company, so we had to wait for almost an hour to get spots on a van to get to the resort.

We made some new friends on the ride to the resort—and they just happened to be staying at Temptations, too (though I had an inkling). We were too anxious to get to our rooms and find food to exchange room information with them, though.

Upon arrival, we got unpacked and cleaned up, then headed to the buffet for dinner. Afterward, we went to the Nice Shoes night club for the strip shows. We didn’t meet anyone new there, and were pretty much on our own (which is NOT a complaint, mind you). After the show, we decided to go back to the room and relax.

Day Two (Thurs): We got up early, as advised by our friends, and went out to put our towels on the beach chairs by the sexy pool. (This resort has two other pools--a "sports" pool, and a "quiet" pool, and all are aptly named). We did the timeshare presentation after breakfast, but only because they were offering a $50 gift certificate at the spa, and we were planning to get massages there during the week anyway. They were nice, and surprisingly not pushy. I think it helped that we told them no right off.

Then it was off to the pool, and it wasn’t long before Amy (one of the entertainment staff) found us and asked Chris if he would compete in the Belly Flop contest. He agreed (with a little coaxing), and he won! One of the prizes was a 25 minute, too! Amy then hit us up to be judges in the Cocktail Contest, which was interesting. Most of the drinks were awful, but watching the contestants was entertaining. The winner was the young lady who let us do body shots off her.

We also had to make time to book our dinners at the two premiere restaurants at the resort. I get that they do this to avoid over crowding and keep the service running smoothly without making you feel rushed. But the process of making a reservation is rather silly. You have to go to the seafood restaurant (which does not require a reservation) between 10AM and 12PM, and there is often a line. We met a fun couple in line,though, as we kvetched about the process that appeared like we were applying for a loan.

We returned to the pool area, and were tagged to play beer pong. We lost, but it was still fun to watch the others. Not long after that, it started to rain, so we went back to the room and hopped into the jacuzzi. Our room was on the ground floor and the jacuzzi was on the little patio to the room. It was oh-so-relaxing to just sit there and watch the rain fall that way. Once the sun came out, we headed back to the pool, but it was somewhat chilly and the sun didn’t stay out long.

We went back to our room for nap until it was time for changed for lingerie/casino night. Chris did pretty well at the Blackjack table, but he didn’t win anything at the auction. We hung out and danced a bit after that, and met new friends from our area. We decided to go change and wander out to Paty O’s (the outdoor lounge area), where we hung out for the rest of the evening.

Day Three (Friday): We headed back out to the sexy pool, and it wasn't long before my bikini top hit the floor. And sure enough, Amy found us right away. This time she asked us to play the Dating game. We got all but one question right and won a lobster dinner on the beach! We had lots of people congratulating us afterward, so we made some more friends. We tried the couple’s erotic massage, which was very nice. Not only did we get naughty in the jacuzzi there while we waited for our appointments, they leave you alone in the massage room together after the massage, so . . . We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the seafood place before going back to our room to get gussied up (it was white night) before heading out to the party at Paty O’s.

I have to say that Daniel (one of the bartenders) was AWESOME! Not only did he remember our drink orders, he kept ‘em coming w/o being asked. He also did this Jim Belushi eyebrow waggle that had me in stitches. We also finally met some of the Cancun forum I've been hanging out on. We danced and hung out all evening—until I dragged my hubby off to abuse him.

Day Four (Sat): Again, we hung out by the pool—more specifically I was trying to hide at the swim-up bar (Pedro rocks!!), and this time it was I who got roped into a contest. It was the U.S.A. versus the rest of the world. They needed one more gal for the beer drinking contest. I tried to decline, but then the U.S. team would have been disqualified. I couldn’t have that on my conscience! Of course, I had to go head to head with a gal who was frighteningly fast at chugging, and failed miserably. But the USA won, and one of our friends took first prize for the ladies. We made friends with the winner of the Men’s division, too.

That night was our lobster dinner on the beach, which was FANTASTIC!! I mean, how often do you get to eat lobster dinner (all you can eat) on the beach? Then we headed over to the sexy pool for the pool party. The bartenders at Diego’s were a hoot, donning wigs and fake mustaches. We chatted with another couple who happen to live out our way until I got stolen by the beer drinking champ for a dance or three. Eventually, my friends helped me to drag Chris out on the dance “floor”.

Day Five (Sun): It was a bit harder to drag our butts out of bed, but we knew we had our massages (the ones we had gift certificates for) to look forward to. We did the Cardio Splash, which turned into a dance contest after the workout—sneaky move, Stacey (another of the entertainment staff)! We didn’t win, but we had fun, and worked off at a little of the excess alcohol.

And Chinos (the main man in Temptations) insisted that Chris help with the Iron Woman contest, but that turned out to be a boon for my hubby. Every guy at that pool wanted to be him. Why, do you ask? Well, it was a relay race, during which the ladies had to get into a 69 position with my honey and drink the glass of soda that was sitting between his legs (through a straw). Did I take pictures? You betcha!

Day Six (Mon): We spent our last full day hanging at the pool (of course), and had every intention of just relaxing and staying out of “trouble”. But trouble (aka Chinos) came looking for my hubby. He wanted Chris to do the Mr. Temptation contest, which was HILARIOUS. My hubby won, and we ended up with free passes to Coco Bongo. We’d been trying to decide whether to go, since the outing was on the night before we had to leave. But we took that as a sign that we needed to go.

It was an awesome show, and rivaled some of the Vegas shows we’ve seen. But I do wish I’d chosen comfort over cute in regards to my footwear (I confess to being a shoe whore, and was rather proud of myself for only bringing 5 pairs). Between the stairs, worrying about getting knocked over, and my very sore feet, I didn’t get to fully enjoy the experience (as in getting up and dancing).

Day Seven (Tue): Our alarm went off all too soon. But since we packed the day before, we ended up with enough time to grab breakfast and say goodbye to some of our friends. We had a direct flight home, so the trip went fairly smoothly, and we even landed a bit early. Chris’ phone almost blew up from all the missed calls and emails on it, though.

While we didn't "hook up" with anyone, the opportunities were there, and we had the chance to just totally let go and have FUN. This trip was proof that a vacation is what you make of it.

Alas, now it's back to reality . . .

=)