The Mexican Riviera

Chris and I will be married 15 years this September.  If you count going to Zions and St. George then we have been on 2 vacations with no kids in 15 years (both of them were only for 2 days each).  Chris says I like to plan  vacations and then because I tend to be very frugal with money never follow through.  :)  He is right.  But I was determined that this year would be different.  Sooo, cruising seems to be the thing to do these days so we decided to give our sea legs a try.  I don't know if we are addicted to cruising now, like so many people said we would be but we definitely had a great time and had a lot of great experiences.

Our cruise was a 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera which includes Cabo San Lucas for 1 day and Puerto Vallerta for 2 days (but ended up being 3 days because they had to fix our ship...so our 7 day cruise actually turned into an 8 day cruise). Both cities are located on the west coast of Mexico where the weather stays about 75-85 year round and where avocados, coconuts and mangoes grow wild and you can make your own gum from the nearest chicle tree.  These are both beautiful cities with very friendly people...well, friendly people who want your money, of course. ;)

Loading onto the boat...excuse me, ship.  All the employees would immediately say ship if I ever said boat.  haha  :)

This is the adult only pool at the back of the ship with a beautiful view of Long Beach, CA.

The back of the ship at night.

Full steam ahead.

 They have all kinds of activities on board.  This one was an ice carving demonstration where the guy carved a 500 lb. block of ice into something in less than 20 min.  It was pretty cool.

If you can't tell, it is an Indian Chief's head.

They also have miniature gold with an amazing view. 

 Our favorite activity by far, (beside taking naps in the afternoon:)) was the comedy.  There were several comedians and they were hilarious!  We didn't miss a show.  (except for the adult shows...they swear too much...we only attended the family friendly shows) :)

Finally in Cabo San Lucas.

Being tendered off the boat. 

I am not sure why, the driver of the boat said I could drive so I did.  It is kind of crazy because there are tons of little boats and even jet skis all over the place.  This picture is where a jet ski cuts me off and then the boat captain tells me to honk at him so I did.


I didn't realize until after I was done driving that this sign is posted.  But hey, it's Mexico. Everything is legal. :)

Beautiful Cabo San Lucas



This bird kept landing on our boat.  I think it wanted it's picture taken.

We took another boat to Lover's Beach and Divorce Beach.  On one side is amazing beautiful beach water and on the other side there is seriously crazy "ocean is going to kill you" water and the depth of the ocean goes from 0 feet to 15 feet in less than 10 feet.  Does that make sense?  Basically, just don't swim there.  There were all kinds of crazy rock formations there too.  Very different from the California beaches I am used to.  

Seals!

More beautiful sunny Cabo San Lucas.

Later that night, while in the comedy lounge we got us some virgin drinks.  

Next stop is Puerto Vallerta.  Seriously, people live here!  It was amazingly beautiful.  We went on a tour of the city and there are definitely poor areas and the roads (unless it is a high traffic road) are terrible.  But look at all this greenery!  With 75 degree weather year round, I could definitely see myself living here. :)

Coconut Tree

 I would have stolen me some avocados if I could have reached them!

Close up of a mango tree...these are the berries and then as they grow the will thin out.

The Board Walk

Human Statues...people pretending to be statues and than wanting you to tip them.  Since I took a picture of this very uncomfortable looking guy, I thought he deserved a tip.

A cathedral right off the boardwalk.

Yes, they have a walmart!  I thought it was interesting that they have covered parking.

The highlight of our trip was an excursion called "The Rhythms of the Night."  It is an hour long boat ride across the bay to those mountains over on the other side of the picture. While on the boat ride you watch the sunset listen to music and get served all you can drink margaritas and rum punch.  If I was a drinker that would have been awesome. :)

Once across the bay, you are greeted by these people.  (Pictures do NOT do this place justice AT ALL!)  It was beautiful and romantic and seriously amazing!

Then you get served dinner on the beach!  The food was amazing, the scenery was amazing...everything was amazing! Then we went to the show with fire and dancing and yes, it was amazing! :)  (No photography allowed during the show)

On the boat ride home we were entertained by the boat crew.  Chris got to be a part of the show too.  I could try to explain what is happening in these pictures but it just doesn't sound as funny as what it was like in real life.  But it was hilarious!

On our way home...you can see us passing Cabo San Lucas  in the background.

Everyone meet Hugo.  He was our waiter in the dining hall almost every night during the cruise.  He was awesome!  He's from the Philippians where he has a wife and 2 children.  He is away from them about 8 months out of the year just so that he can support them.  He didn't really say that but we can read between the lines.  He was much too happy and positive to say anything negative.

Here is one of the cool towel animals that were left in our room.  They leave a different one each day.  We also got to take a class on how to make some of our own at home!  (You could probably you tube it.) :)

I know this seems like a lot of pictures but there were still so many that I wanted to include.
   

Christmas

I know it is almost February but we have been busy.  I was finally going through pictures of the last couple of months and thought I would post some of our Christmas activities. 

Abigail lost her first tooth at the beginning of December.  She then lost her 2nd tooth, the one right next to it, on Christmas day.  She was very excited about her first visit from the tooth fairy. 

Making Gingerbread men
I have always wanted to make my own gingerbread for either a ginger bread house or men but there are so many things that I want to do during the holidays that it continues to get pushed to next year.  This year was no different.  Plus I saw this cute gingerbread men kit at Costco and since it had 4 "men" in it, it seemed like it was too perfect to pass up.  I think the kids liked the gingerbread men better than the house anyway so hopefully I can continue to find this every year.  

Even Asher got in on the fun and was able to do most of his by himself. LOVE that! And so does he since he  is very independent.  **See that large scrape/bump on his head.  He was throwing a fit about leaving somewhere and I had to be to a meeting so I threw him over my shoulder and started to head to the car.  I found a patch of ice and fell with him, my ipad, and several other things I was trying to carry in my hands right on my butt!  The worst part was that we fell so hard that Asher's head smacked into the pavement.   I tried to hold him so he wouldn't hit but it was so fast.  He seemed to do OK after awhile but when people asked him what happened to his head he kept telling people that I did it to him!! The little stinker forgot that I was carrying him because he was throwing a fit and wouldn't listen!!! :) Plus I was sore for a few days afterwards as well...old people falling is not a good thing.  Even though his looks worse, I think I felt mine longer.

And of course, eating while making them is one of the best parts.  

The Heber Polar Express

Every year Chris's work party is in Salt Lake City so we decided to bring the kids this year and take them to the Polar Express.  We also took their two cousins with us.  Everyone asks us how we liked it and if it was worth the high price.  Before I give you that answer lets take a look at the pictures.  

Here is the train car we were in.  And all the kids are ready in their pajamas to go!

Here is one of the elves. A couple of them sat and talked with my kids for quite awhile which made my kids so happy but I wonder how some of the other people felt. : /

Asher drinking his Hot Chocolate.  They give all the kids name tags at the beginning.  You can see where Asher's ended up.

Dancing in the isles.

Santa finally comes!

He gives a bell to each of the children.

Mrs. Claus hands out her favorite Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. 

OK the verdict.  I hate being negative about it because I think it really depends on your children.  My kids LOVE make believe, they have huge imaginations and they are very outgoing and social (yes, I know they are nothing like Chris or I, I don't know where they get it). :) And my girls are especially positive about life.  So with that being said, they loved it because they usually make the best of things.  Austin was a little old for it and so he didn't love it as much as the three younger ones.  Chris and I on the other hand basically thought "we PAID how much for this?!?!" :)  I won't tell you all the negatives about it because if you do try it, you should go with a positive outlook.  When my kids got off the train, Allison said, "Mom, that was so awesome, we really got to meet Santa's elves and his wife.  We are so lucky!"  That was enough to make it worth it in my book. :)  


Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve we spent with Chris's family because most of Christmas day was spent with my family.  We decorated sugar cookies for Santa and the kids put on a nativity.  Allison drew the part of Mary and Asher drew the part of Joseph. I am not sure what is in the jacket?? But it is supposed to be the baby Jesus and by the look of Allison she is taking her part very seriously. :)

Abigail drew the part of the Angel.

Here are the three wise men...don't they look so wise?