To put it mildly, Sloan was a little disappointed that she couldn’t come with Sid and me to Cancun. We tried to explain to our daughter that it was an anniversary trip and that we were staying at an adults-only resort.

However, although kids weren’t permitted at the Sun Palace, toy ducks were.

A couple months ago I mentioned that Sloan has an eccentric personality. One such eccentricity is her love for tiny toy ducks. Trust me, my sister didn’t get Sloan an “Just A Girl Who Loves Ducks” sign for nothing.

Sloan is a girl who loves ducks,

So as a way to kind of bridge both the physical gap (3,000+ miles between Spokane and Cancun) and the emotional gap, we brought one of Sloan’s favorite “friends” with us.

My dear readers, please meet Banana Pudding.

Let me introduce you to Banana Pudding. She truly was a “lucky duck” as she joined us in Cancun for our anniversary vacation.

Banana Pudding is one of Sloan’s approximately 60 miniature ducks she keeps on her night stand (yeah, she has names for them all). This lucky duck was randomly chosen by yours truly and placed in my wallet to accompany my wife and me to Cancun. Once at our destination, I included Banana Pudding in a variety of our activities and documented it. I would then send Sloan the photos at the end of each day. I thought I would share some of Banana Pudding’s adventures with you…

Playing ping pong was one of our favorite activities on our vacation and it was one of Banana Pudding’s too.

Ducks love to swim so we let Banana Pudding take a dip…

Banana Pudding in the refreshing pool at Sun Palace.

She caught some rays with Sid…

Sid invited Banana Pudding to sun bathe with her.

In the interest of public safety, she assumed the role of life guard…

Making sure that Sidney doesn’t drown, Banana Pudding was a great life guard.

Banana Pudding admired the view from our balcony…

What duck doesn’t love a view?

She took a mandatory selfie with me…

I think Banana Pudding liked Sidney more, but she still tolerated a selfie with me.

Cheers! The duck tried to get a drink at the bar…

It was tough for Banana Pudding to get the bartender’s attention at the Sun Palace bar.

A dip in our jacuzzi was too hard to pass up…

Just like with the pool, ducks tend to gravitate toward water so our jacuzzi was a natural spot.

And some people-watching in the hotel lobby was a must…

Banana Pudding loved the energy of the hotel lobby.

Finally, she even comforted us on the plane when we had to depart Cancun…

We gave Banana Pudding a window seat on the plane.

Needless to say, Banana Pudding had a tan when we released her back to Sloan. Better yet, the duck had a faint smell of our resort’s signature scent. Thanks to good behavior and the patience displayed for all the photos we took, Banana Pudding now has a seat of honor in our daughter’s room. Don’t Blink.