Of course, the Lundgreens can never be involved in anything unless there are animals present.  It took ten minutes for my dad to pry my siblings away from a stray kitty to see the ruins; Eric bellowed "BIIIIIG BOOOOYYYY!" every time he encountered an iguana, and then this mama Coati and her baby waddled right up to us!

Family trips never go as planned, of course, and though we hoped to visit Tulum early so that we could visit a cenote and another set of ruins... they were closed by the time we arrived.  Poor Mom and all her planning.  The honest truth is that glammed-up pictures tend to hide all the grumpy moments that happen even -- or especially -- on vacations {myself being one of the grumpy ones}. But regardless, only the best of memories are made in the most unexpected ways, and I will never forget Liv giving that cat the massage of its life nor the gorgeous ruins so much bigger than we thought!