The cruise was amazing - it was a wonderful week and we enjoyed every minute of our time without kids. By Thursday, I was missing them quite a bit though, so it was a long two days at sea at the end of the week. But...somehow I (we) still managed to suck it up and have a good time. :-)
We set sail from Los Angeles and the first full day was at sea...that was Super Bowl Sunday! Thank God we were able to watch from the ship - I made Scot call the cruise line and verify this right after the NFC Championship game. It was unfortunate that we couldn't watch with our Packer fan friends back home, but again, I somehow managed to enjoy it anyway. Especially the outcome! Wow - what an amazing game. GO PACKERS!
Our first sunset on the ship as we were departing L.A.
After that we had 3 days in a row of port calls - first Cabo San Lucas, then Mazatlan, then Puerto Vallarta. Cabo was beautiful - we got off the ship and hiked to a beach nearby. The boys did some swimming while Julie and I did some sunbathing (the ocean was FREEZING). We hung out there for a few hours, then took a water taxi back in and grabbed some chow and drinks at Senor Frog's, before heading back onto the ship.
Mazatlan was bittersweet. Julie went through the necessary hoops ahead of time to bring Di and Gardy's ashes on the plane and then on the ship. We decided to all head down to the beach area once we docked in Mazatlan so we could spread their ashes there. Di and Gardy loved Mazatlan - they had probably been there 20 times over the years, usually going twice each winter. They talked a lot about getting a winter place down there, though I think Diane started to resist this a bit once Ava came along - she had a hard time imagining letting those months slip by without seeing her baby! It's truly a shame that the couldn't spend more of their retirement years down there...so we thought it only fitting that they be laid to rest there for forever. We found this beautiful, serene spot for their new home. I really don't think there's any other place they'd rather be.
After that, we grabbed some lunch at a beach restaurant and then Scot and I spent the rest of the afternoon out at the El Cid pool - a fancy hotel with delectable pina coladas. Hit it right at the Two for One Happy Hour even ;-)
Day 4 was our stop in Puerto Vallarta - Scot and I booked a shore excursion in advance to go out on a catamaran with 2 stops for snorkeling/sea kayaking and waterfall hiking/beachtime. It was a great way to spend the day - we found some other Minnesotans to chat with, the weather was great, the food and drinks were free...we definitely got our money's worth out of this one.
And, as I said - the last 2 days we were at sea on our way back to L.A. Spent a lot of time reading poolside and enjoying the last few days of true freedom. We had a wonderful time and it was a great way to spend time with Scot's family. Two thumbs up!
And while the girls did technically survive while we were gone, their bangs did not. This was what we came home to, courtesy of the older one. This one also had my mom believing for 2 full days that Vicki did this and vice versa. Sigh.
1 comment:
Oh no! Emma had her hair cut by a friend at daycare, although it didn't end up as short or crooked as your poor little girls! What a memory, eh? Definitely something to laugh about eventually. It sounds like you had a great, yet sentimental trip. Hope to see you soon!
Post a Comment