Okay, so I have been trying to get something posted on here about our wonderful, exciting, fun, relaxing, enjoyable, excellent ect vacation and I just haven't got it done.
One day I sat down and thought about uploading some pictures but decided it would take too long and then I decided I could do a smilebox slide show. One thing lead to another and it has taken me this long to final get it posted. So, hope you enjoy the pictures and I am adding a travel log here at the bottom.
We flew out on Thursday which way exciting and stressing. We had to drop Wynter off to leave her with some friends here in town for a couple of days, then they were taking her up to the grandparents for the next week. This was very stressing because we weren't going to see her for 10 days. Looking back, and knowing it before we left that she was way better off staying home still didn't make it any easier. (By the way, she did great, even hugged and loved us after we got home.) Thanks to everyone who took care of her while we were gone.
We flew from SLC to Long Beach and my kids, who had never been on a plane, LOVED every minute of it. Jet Blue is the way to fly, individual TV's and great snacks. Once we landed there we got a rental car and headed down to San Diego. We got to Aunt Tauna's late on Thursday but stayed up late visiting.
On Friday, we headed up to Legoland for the day. We had a total blast. Derringer loved that he could ride everything and all in all it was a great day. Legoland has now opened and Aquarium which we loved. There a quite a few pictures from there. We rode most everything there and really enjoyed it. If you ever get a chance to go there, definitely worth it. Only bad part of the day is when we went to the Bob the Builder show in 4D it wouldn't work. Kinda bummed about that. Derringer got to meet Bob, but was very annoyed when he turned his hat around.
On Saturday, we just wanted a laid back day so we did a couple things in San Diego. My kids really wanted to go to the news station so we went to Aunt Tauna's work. My anchors had their picture taken then stood in the green screen. From there we headed to a beach in San Diego where the kids got to really play in the ocean for the first time. Sakoya, Saige and I stood out in the big ones and had a blast. I only got knocked down once but it was fun. After that we head back to my Aunt's house, had dinner then went swimming in her pool. The pool sits on a hill that overlooks San Diego and you can see the Mexican border. Way cool!!
Sunday morning we got up and headed back to Long Beach to board the ship. We finally got on board about 2:30 PM and then the fun began.
Things I love about cruises:
1. The food is absolutely AMAZING. For breakfast and lunch we just ate on the Lido deck but they have so many things to choose from it was never hard to find something. I personally tried a little bit of everything. Dinner is the best!!!! I made the kids order from the adult menu and they tried out a bunch of new things. Favorites from there appetizer: black tail cocktail shrimp (we had a least 2-3 of these per night) entree: the kids Flat Iron Steak and Dessert: the best thing ever Warm Chocolate Melting Cake.
2. The pools were a blast, they put salt water in the big pools so you can just float on the water. We also loved the water slide and went down it numerous times per day. I personally enjoyed sunning by the pools with my book while the kids played.
3. Camp Carnival. The kids spent time here most ever day. They have so many activities for kids it was fun for them to get away and go play with others their same age. Saige made a friend there and she had a little sister named Faith who Derringer was in love with. She even played in the pool with us one afternoon.
4. Althought the rooms were tiny, it was nice to have someone come in a clean up after us and we always looked forward to the mints at night and our towel animals on the bed.
5. It is somewhat stressful when you get in ports to get to the beach but we loved the time we spent on the beaches in each port. The girls and I went into PV and they all got their hair braided there. That was fun!!
Puerto Vallarta's beach had the softest, finest sand and we loved playing there. This is beach we also found the most shells at. I found a way cool double shell thing here. Koya dove in the water to get it for me.
Mazatalan was pretty and we loved the waves that we played in here. The beach we were at was a little rocky but we still had fun. We had amazing views from this beach.
Cabo San Lucas, what can I say but it is georgous there. We took a water taxi out to the see the arch and the rocks there. Got to see some fish in the glass bottom boat and it was cool. We then went to beach to play in the water there. The water in Cabo is sooooo blue and pretty. Loved this port.
6. A cruise is a great way to relax. I loved that there was time on the ship to just hangout. No need to rush anywhere, no trying to come up with where and what to eat and how much it will cost.
7. The SUN. We got lots of that and it felt so good to just sit in it.
8. Fun activities. They had a family scavenger hunt which was a blast. Pictures from every floor, doing crazy things, ect. Because it was Halloween we dressed up for dinner one night, went trick or treating on the ship, had a family costume party, way fun!!! We also watched movies on a big screen on the Lido deck, had an ice cream eating contest, cookie decorating ect.
9. In order to avoid gaining too much weight, I tried to take the stairs most of the time wherever we went and got up every morning to run on the treadmill. One morning while I was running I saw a whole bunch of dolphins swimming by the ship. Workouts with a view, really cool.
10. The opportunity to go someplace and see new things. My opinion is every one needs a cruise in their life. I am already trying to think how to save money so that we can do this again. It was definitely an experience we will never forget and we enjoyed every minute of it. When Sunday came I didn't want to get off the ship.
Well, that about covers it. We had a blast and would go back in a heartbeat if we could. I could probably go on forever about how much fun we had but I would just bore you all to death.
Bottom Line: Absolutely Wonderful Vacation!!!
