Cruise Time....Woot Woot!

It's always been a dream of mine to skip the traditional Christmas gift giving and go on vacation instead. AND be gone on Christmas Day. This was the year that dream came true for me. It's been a tough year in many ways but in the end we are moving in the right direction. So that is improvement enough and all I really need. Justin thought the idea of a cruise was great and so I jumped when he gave me the okay. 

Leaving Ella at home was hard, but I know she is in great hands with her Grammys to care for her. Plus all her cousins are on break so she will have plenty of playmates. 

Santa showed up Thursday morning and Friday mid day we left for the drive to LA. We boarded our cruise ship, the Carnival Miracle, on Christmas Eve day. 

Oh did we have some excited kids!!!

 

I figured the cruise would be super fun but I had no idea our kids would love every aspect of it. They loved it all!!!

I always wondered why people took their kids on cruises. But now I know. The cruise ships have great kids clubs and day care for the younger kiddos. Our kids really enjoyed having their own clubs they could be apart of when we weren't doing anything as a family or when we wanted to go some show they didn't care for. 

Now I totally see why people take their little kids on cruises. You can have a great family trip but still have alone time with ease. Super cool!  I see more cruises in our future. Next time when Ella is a good age to join us! 

 

I love this guy right here! 

We don't have a perfect life but it is amazing how loving someone gets you through some really hard things!  I am glad he loves me back! 

 

I enjoyed a few strawberry daiquiris, poolside on this cruise. I even read two books during the trip. With grad school starting up soon I probably won't be reading anything for leisure for awhile. 

 

Might seem like a silly picture of strangers doing Zumba but look closer. My boys are up on the hot tub level dancing right along with everyone else. I had at least 5 people tell me through out the cruise how awesome my boys were at dancing. One lady even told me she had videoed them so she could show her grandkids back home!  

 

Thanks to Hunter I got to go on stage and participate in a game. I had a box with ping pong balls inside, strapped to my waste and had to bounce all the balls out. I went up against another mom from the audience. 

Let's just say I went hog wild and totally won!  Bahahaha.....Justin said watching me do that was worth the whole cruise. Lol! My kids all said, "Wow mom you can really shake your stuff!  HAHAHA!
You do what you gotta do to win!  The other mom only had like 2 balls come out of her box.  
It was funny!

Hunter and Logan each had fun playing in the competition. 

 

Grant was thrilled to loose a tooth while on the cruise. That vacation tooth fairy is rich. Grant got $10 for his tooth and he spend every penny! 

 

The last day at sea the boys got to go to the build a bear workshop on the cruise ship. Hunter was so nice to make a bunny for Ella Jane. She loves stuffed animals! 

 

We had WAY too many ice cream cones in this vacation!  The kids could not believe they were allowed to get ice cream any time they wanted. I figured why not?

I am not a big ice cream lover but I did enjoy a few frozen yogurts through out the week. 

 

Drinks in silly cups are all part of the cruise experience. But I hate those stupid cups once you get home. So I kept telling the kids "no" to getting them. But this cute coconut is a bank so I agreed we could get it. 

 

The ice sculpting is pretty cool to watch. It is amazing at what they can sculpted in such a short amount of time. 

 

Ended up being an Indian chief. It was done by one guy in 22 minutes. 

 

We all loved the towel creations that we found each day in our rooms. 

 

Oh my gosh a chocolate fondue buffet. Ummm yes please!  So yummy!  I had just gone to the gym before I went to the chocolate buffet. So it totally canceled out any good I did in the gym. Oh well that's what the new year is for right?!? 

 

The delicious food is all part of the main reasons to take a cruise. Our kids loved the fancy dinners!  They loved that they could order more than one thing and that they got dessert every night. 

 

Hunter was our adventurous kid!

He tried something new every chance he got. He tried escargot and like it!  He tried clams and mussels and wasn't a fan. That's the picture of him and just the smell wasn't agreeing with him. I might or might not have had a laughing attack right there at the dinner table!  I honestly did. I don't know why I have laughing attacks every now and then. But Justin gets quite a kick out of them. So at least someone thinks they are funny! 

Hunter also had ox tongue, octopus, and frog legs. 

The whole cruise was a fabulous experience!!!  

It wasn't a super fancy or extra large ship but for a first cruise it was perfect! Our kids absolutely loved it. I can't count the times Kiersten wanted to talk about how amazing it is that so much happens on the ship. From the Laundry service to all the food to the entertainment. It is impressive. 

So grateful for the time we had together to make such great memories! 

Tequila Sunrise

So the boys ended up getting more then they bargained for at dinner one night. Logan ordered an orange juice one night and I happen to taste it before he did. 

Oh it wasn't just any orange juice. It was a tequila sunrise!!  Thank goodness I tasted it first. 

 

A second night, Logan orders an orange juice at dinner again. This time both Hunter and Logan drink some before I do. Once again it isn't just any orange juice. It's a TEQUILA SUNRISE!!!

What the heck?

So guess the cruise was wilder then I'd have expected. Two of our boys tasted alcohol for the first time. (And hopefully the last time....Logan thought it was disgusting but Hunter loved it.  Guess we will have to keep an eye one that boy!) 

This picture is of course of Hunter drink the regular orange juice. I wouldn't have him taste more alcohol just for a picture. I am not that cool of a mom. 

Both times the waiters felt horrible about our kids getting an alcoholic drink.  

Crazy cruise!!!

Porta Vallarta, Mexico

I have to say Porta Vallarta was my favorite port on our cruise!  It's so mountainie and ful of vegetation. Absolutely gorgeous!!

 

This is a shot of where we ate lunch!  It was breath taking! 

 

We spend the day playing George of the Jungle! All the kids LOVED zip lining! 

 

If you ever find yourself in Porta Vallarta I recommend going to the Canopy River. Awesome zip lining, RZR rides and a delicious restraunt in the tree tops. 

 

Justin had a great time zip lining!  He felt good pretty much the whole trip and it was so nice to see his depression lift for awhile. Guess we just need more vacation time....hahaha!  

The last zip line you had the choice to get wet or not. I chose getting wet of course!!

It was so much fun!  

 

We didn't know that after we were done zip lining we got to ride mules up the mountain side to get back to the top. It was so steep and super fun. Those mules know exactly what they are suppose to do. 

 

I love zip lining!!!!

 

This would be Hunter going upside down....crazy boy!

Logan is actually upside down in the back of the guide. You can see his legs above Hunter in this pic. 

 

This is Logan upside down!  He loved it and went upside down on many of the zips. There were 11 zips in all. 

 

This would be Grant upside down. It was crazy to me that our little Grant could just be sent off zip lining all by himself. He wasn't scared at all but it did freak his momma out a little but I have to say!  

 

Then after zip lining we are lunch. It was such a gorgeous view!  Then we drove RZR through the mountain side!  It was a blast! 

 

Canopy River is an awesome facility!  The people were all so fun and nice. They were great with our kids!

 

Look at how pretty it is there! 

 

We got filthy but had a blast!  I am 100% sure of what Justin and I should get for our 40th birthdays coming up this summer....

A 2 seater RZR!!!

 

Look how dirty we are!!  They kids all swam and Justin and I just enjoyed the views. 

Porta Vallarta was a beautiful and fun place!! 

Mazatlan

Today we took a very sketchy boat ride over to Deer Island to do some snorkeling. 

 

I sure love this family of mine!

It was a beautiful warm day on the beach. The kids were all excited to explore the water and beach. So grateful to have this time away as a family! 

 Since the plant is shut down for the holidays it makes Justin's stress level much lower. So that has been super nice!  He has a hard time being away when things are going on back at the office. But he is always such a good sport and he is learning they leave the problems for him to fix when he gets back anyway. So he is working harder at enjoying the moments. He was feeling good the whole week. It was a very nice break! 

 

Someone is FLIPPIN' happy to be here!!!

 

I sure love this guy right here. Depression and all, he amazes me and he works so hard for his family. Thanks for taking us on this trip! 

 

These studs right here came over and gave me a rock massage. They found super smooth rocks they thought would have the perfect stones to massage my back with. They did not disappoint!  Love these handsome boys! 

 

While Justin took his nap, the kids and I explored the island. We had a great time! 

 

The kids found some cool star fish and lots of cool little shells. Man how we love exploring tidepools!!! 

 

Then we made our way back to the mainland and decided why not risk our lives and parasail off the beach in Mazatlan. 

 

It was exhilarating for sure!

This is Kiersten and me. It was surprisingly scarier then I had thought it would be. I think that had to do with the crappy boat that was pulling us and possibly the idea that we had to land on a crowded beach. But what the heck?  You gotta live a little right?!?

 

It ended up that because of the wind, Justin and I had to go with each kid. They couldn't go together. So that meant I got to go twice. YIPPEE!!

 The second time wasn't as scary. At least I knew I could land without killing us. Parasailing was cool and I am so glad we did it, but it wasn't something I will crave doing. 

 

Hunter found not just one but TWO puffy sand dollars. There is most likely a more precise name for them, but I don't know of one. He was so excited with his treasures. Now if we can get them home without them breaking it will be a miracle. 

 

Took a taxi to grab some lunch. It consisted of riding in the back of a small Nissan truck. It was cool!  Our driver played some good American music. So we jammed out and of course the kids loved that. 

I have some fun kids!  Don't get me wrong, they can fight, drive me insane and make me question my abilities as a mother, but dang they are fun! 

 

We had a delicious lunch at El Muchacho Alegre, which was recommended by a local. Yummy seafood. 

 

I really miss Ella Jane!  She would have loved the beach today. And being the wild child that she is, she would have loved parasailing if she had been allowed to do it. 

 

I love a good Restraunt right on the beach!  Little chilly but such a gorgeous view. 

It was a fun filled day in Mazatlan!  

What a GREAT day in Cabo San Lucas

So the day started out not looking like we were going to have the best of luck today. This was the only port on the cruise that we have to use a tender at. Because of this and the fact that we got the okay from the Mexican officials about and hour later than we should, we ended up only having 5 hours to spend in Cabo. 

We had scheduled to go parasailing but we were an hour late to get to our scheduled time. When we did get there they had just canceled the boat for the day because of wind. We were bummed! 

So we decided to take a fishing boat out to fish and whale watch for a few hours. 

 

Look at this beautiful shot I got!!!

 

We were all bummed to not be going parasailing. But I figure we can probably do that at one of our other ports to make up for missing today. 

 

The kids all love seeing the sea lions and pelicans. 

 

We were thrilled to actually get to see some WHALES!!!  Whoa it was awesome!

 

It ended up being a chilly day. We saw a shark, dolphins, whales and a marlin fish. 

Then the craziest thing happened....

 

Our bad luck day turned in to a day we will all never forget!!!  You know the marlin fish we saw. Oh yeah we caught it!!!!

It was insane!  It was extremely hard to reel in. We each took turned working to reel it in. Oscar, our captain, was awesome and made sure each kid had several turns. 

 

It ended up taking over 30 minutes to get the Striped marlin on to the boat. Wow talk about a work out!!! 

 

It was such a high!! 

We ended the crazy day catching an 

8 foot, 130 pound Striped Marlin! 

How's that for luck huh?!?

I would gladly do this day over again!!