On our way to California to take our family vacation we stopped in Grand Junction and had lunch with our good friends Kim and Andy Weber. The park we met at was really fun. They had this zip line seat that the kids enjoyed zooming on. We didn't get a picture together with the Webers and their cute blonde girls, but we had a really good visit with them and enjoyed seeing them.
Dallin the dare-devil stood on the swing, he needed a little more excitement. That night we stopped at another friends house - the Nelsons (Sarah and Andy) and visited while the kids played together. Sarah is expecting twins, her 8th and 9th children! And I am expecting #5, it was fun to share in that excitement together. She is a great mentor to me, of what a Mom should be.
The kids did pretty good on the long drive....and we finally arrived in California. We, from Colorado, thought the weather was perfect at 4:00 in the afternoon in October. So what did we do, we headed to the beach. Amazingly we pretty much had it to ourselves, I guess the Californians thought it was cold or something. We had such a blast.
There is a good looking Man with a big smile on his face because he is at the beach!
Look Alyssa found a seashell...actually found a TON of seashells and wanted to bring them all home!
The waves were huge and it didn't take much to get pounded by them. Alyssa learned pretty fast, that the sand was much better than that salty water that through you around, but Jackie and Dallin had fun diving into the waves with Dad.
There is something about the sun and sand and water that just makes you happy!
Brea and Alyssa dug and dug in the sand making all kinds of holes, tunnels, and castles. They both found a bunch of neat seashells as well.
Sunday morning we got ready and headed to church. Our plan was to attend sacrament meeting and then Jeff would drop of Jackie, Dallin and myself at the cruise ship while he went with Brea and Alyssa to get Grandma and Grandpa Pirtle from the airport, and then they would join us on the ship. Well....plans changed. While in sacrament meeting, enjoying very much having Dad sit next to us. Jeff was planing with Alyssa hair as she sat on his lap, and low and behold he found a little critter, actually more than one little critter. When he showed me I knew exactly what it was - LICE! So we immediately left and headed to a quick care to get a QUICK treatment. I was so worried about getting on the Cruise ship with Lice. Turns out that the quick care was not so quick, there was a two hour wait. The receptionist was very nice and told us to just got to CVS and get an over-the-counter treatment and treat it and go on the cruise. So that is what we did. Luckily we had not checked out of the motel yet, which was a blessing. We went to the motel and I stayed with the girls and treated all of our hair while Jeff took Dallin to the airport to pick up Grandma and Grandpa. It was a tedious process of waiting and fine-tooth combing. Luckily Jackie, Brea and I did not really have anything in our hair (I had sprayed Jeff and Dallin before they went just in case as well). But poor Alyssa, she had a lot of eggs. Every comb through I would pull some out. But I went through it all, and got those buggers out of there. We miraculously made it to the ship in time. It was actually good timing to find the lice, despite the stress of being away and having a deadline, because the motel and cruise ship was all clean sheets, pillowcases. I knew if I got them all out, they would not be lingering around. We were able to do a wash of clothes at the motel as well. Then we left everything in our van for 5 days (which was long enough to kill any remaining lice) and headed to the port. Whew!
The line was not too bad when we got there, LATE. But there was still a bit of line to check in so Alyssa enjoyed a piggy back ride on Dad.
We made it! And we found Grandma and Grandpa! They had been dropped off earlier by Jeff so they were on the ship before us. Alyssa was so excited to see Grandpa, and he was pretty excited too. Let the Cruisin begin!
I was amazed at how much was on the ship. It was more than I even thought it would be. Here is the mini golf course which we only played the first day. There were just too many fun things to do.
Here is our cruise ship. It was BIG and had everything on it from tons of yummy food to a track to run around (which Jeff and I did everyday), a weight room, three slides, a pool, two hot tubs, a large stage and seating, casino (which we did not use), and fun kids center, arcade room, and of course our cabins which were fun because they had bunks that were in the walls and would be lowered down each evening to sleep. They also left cute towel animals on our beds each evening.
The whole crew heading to Catalina Island. In order to get there we had to take a little boat from the cruise ship to the mainland. I guess the cruise ship was to large to pull into the port. We didn't mind, it was all part of the adventure. You can see our ship behind us. Oh and you can see my belly starting to poke out. I am due on April 9th, 2016 and we are very excited (I was about 14-15 weeks on this trip).
Dallin enjoying the small boat ride over to Catalina Island.
Jackie is almost as tall as me! But not yet, she is still my little girl.
We were able to go snorkeling on Catalina Island and it was so fun. The water was a bit chilly, but with the wet suites it wasn't bad at all. The kids loved seeing so many fish swimming all around them. Except Alyssa, she had experienced salt water on the beach in California and wanted nothing to do with it.
Brea and DAllin coming out. Dallin almost became a fish, he did not want to stop, he really enjoyed it. Brea was hesitant at first, but once she figured out how easy it was to float in salt water and how neat it was to be able to breath through the snorkel, she loved it!
Alyssa pouting....it wasn't always peaches and cream. But she did have a fun time, at other times, on the trip.
This is where we snorkeled, it was really rocky on the edge, not a beach at all. You could see our cruise ship right behind us. It was amazing how much was going on inside the water that we had no idea until we could see it ourselves.
After snorkeling we were all pretty hungry so we grabbed some food and took at seat looking out at the beautiful ocean in Catalina Island.
Grandma and Grandpa even venture out into the water for a picture.
This picture is great. A wave is coming in and Grandma, Dad and Dallin our just standing right in front of it, but Brea and Alyssa see it and run fast screaming. They did not want to get knocked over.
It was fun to see Jeff and his Mom interacting together. They both stayed out in the water visiting, a fun place to converse.
Our kids had their own money for souvenirs on the trip. This was Brea's big purchase - a Ukulele. She even learned how to play "Hot Cross Buns" on it.
Our 2nd stop - Ensenada, MEXICO. Alyssa got a little Mexican doll and played with her right on the ground.
We took a bus out to a place that had a huge zip line - 5 zip lines actually, and suspension bridges. Jeff took Alyssa, Jackie and Dallin on those while Brea and I rode a horse all around the property. We ended at the canyon and our tour guide took our picture.
Here was our nice horse and tour guide. He didn't speak any English so it was interesting to try and communicate with him while on our hour ride .
Brea and I rode a horse together and our guide rode a horse right next to us.
The zipliners are coming in! They had a blast. I think the regulations are a little more lenient in Mexico than they are in the US. They kept them safe, but were able to so a lot.
Look at that cute and brave 5 year old, she is not afraid of much.
Here is the crew all geared up and ready to zip!
Jackie and Dallin coming back on the suspension bridges. There were tunnels, and tiny balance beams, it was really an adventure.
The Blow Hole! There is this area where the waves come into a cave and water just shoots up into the sky, it was pretty fascinating, at least to Jeff and I. In order to get there we walked though a little market, and since the kids had their own money and had heard how cheap things are in Mexico, they just wanted to shop. The kept begging us to leave the blow hole. Eventually we did and our first purchase was a delicious pina colada made inside an actually pineapple- it was Delicious!
Dallin made a good purchase, he bought a hammock chair/swing. It is already set up in his room and he uses it often. We were commenting that we should have bought one for us, but he said we could use his whenever we wanted. It is really comfy.
Hanging out in Ensanada. There were so many sights and sounds to take in. It was a different place then what we are used to.
We had to get some authentic Mexican tacos. They were delicious.
Brea and Dallin get into the culture. Jackie really wanted to buy one of these hats, but her budget did not allow for it. She would barter with the sellers and tell them how much she had, they always said, "Ask your Dad for some more money" to which she would respond, "He won't give me any, I have to pay for it myself". That is Right! We have taught her well.
Coming back to the cruise ship from Ensanda we saw this flock of sea lions just hanging out on the side of the ocean. Those were the only "wildlife" we saw, but it was neat.
Back to the fun on the ship. They had a Hasbro game show two different days. The first day we got there right before if started and sat down in the very back. They did a gestures game and got two teams of four up on the stage for a game. Four of those got to stay as the winners and then they did some trivia to get some more contestants. When the asked, "On Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory what did the girl that chewed gum turn into?" Dallin shot his hand up. Remember, we were in the back of an audience of a couple hundred of people. But the host saw Dallin and came up to hear his answer. Right before he answered Jeff whispered, it was a plum Dallin. Dallin, with confidence, spoke into the microphone "a Blueberry"! He was right! He knew the answer and was not fooled by Dad. He was beaming as he went on the stage with 7 other contestants. They played this large operation game where they had to roll a ball up to the appropriate body part. Amazingly his team of 4 WON! He got to go with them and the other 4 contestants that won the other game. They all picked a large plastic $$$ card and got to place it into an ATM machine to see how much money was one it. The one with the highest number, was the winner, and got to go home with a stack of Hasbro Games. We watched in anticipation as each contestant went up. Dallin was about 3rd and with $13,000 he won the two in front of him. as each of the next 5 contestants went up we waited to see what their number was. It got down to the last person, and he was still the highest....and then the last person placed their card in the slot, and.....Dallin was still the highest, he WON! We were shocked. Hey invited on the stage and money came out of the machine. Then they sat down with us to give us the prize. Instead of sending a bunch of games home with travelers they gave Dallin a $150 gift card to use at Hasbro.com. He was so excited! It was a fun game to watch.
He even got to throw some fake $100 bills in the air.
Oh and I forgot about the huge chess game on board the ship. Dallin tried to play both Brea and Dallin, but they didn't last to the end.
I got to go to a fancy and fun breakfast with Brea and Alyssa. It was a Dr. Seuss Breakfast. Here is Betty-Sue aka Brea Cramer donning her napkin as a hair bow. Side note, notice her dangly earrings. No, she does not have her ears pierced, but she makes some fancy clip-ons. She is counting down until she is 10 and can get her ears pierced, but until then she dons hose clip-ons every day.
Out came Thing 1 and Thing 2!
The menu was really cute, shaped like a book with lots of yummy rhyming dished you could choose. Of course they had Green Eggs and Ham. Alyssa ordered it, but decided she didn't want it when it came, so she switched with Brea who ordered silly waffles. That was a good trade. Brea really liked Green Eggs and Ham and told me I needed to get the recipe. I explained that is was simply a matter of adding green food coloring to the eggs, which she promptly responded, "I don't think so Mom, I usually don't like eggs, and I really like these eggs, so I think it is a different recipe". Hmmm, maybe it is the way I make them. I think I might just trying adding the green food coloring and see what happens.
Of course you can't have a Dr. Seuss breakfast without The Cat in the Hat. He was welcomed with shrills of delight from all the kiddos.
The cruise ship had many neat food designs sculptures, which I didn't get many pictures of. But here is an example. This is an ice sculpture of the Cat in the Hat, with two cute girls next to it. One day the kids were able to watch a man sculpt ice right there on the deck of the ship, that was pretty neat.
The pool was a favorite spot of our kids. Dallin met other boys and played King of the Mountain with them on this wooden platform between the two pools. There were lounge chairs all around so we could watch and relax at the same time. Although, the kids liked having their Dad in the water with them.
Our four crazy kiddos on the last day of our wonderful cruise.
The last day they had another Hasbro game show. This time Grandma and Grandpa came with us, in fact they got there early and got a front row seat for us. That was exciting. I told the kids that, since Dallin won last time, they probably wouldn't pick our family again. But of course they still tried. The very first round they played scattegories and the letter was S the question was, "What is in an Airport". Brea stood up with her hand in the air and the same host came up to her and let her answer, "Seats". That is a winner! She was escorted onto the stage. This time they played Connect 4 and had to throw a ball into a huge Connect 4 game and get 4 in a row before the other team. She had a hard time getting her ball that high, but she had a good team and they WON! She was one of 8 that got a big plastic $$$ card to place in the machine. She was right in the middle 4 or 8. She placed it in and it showed $30,0000 which was the highest number so far! She went over to the winner spot and waited for the last four to go. I thought there is no way she is going to win, after Dallin won last time. But, I was wrong, all four went and one got within $500 of her, but she WON! She was jumping up a down. We got invited up, the money came out, she threw it int he air and was presented with a $150 gift card as well. I could not believe it. I think she just wanted it so bad, it is all she thought about. And she got it.
We only got to see one sunset, usually it was too cloudy or there were ships/buildings in the way. But this one was worth it. Oh the sunset in the ocean is amazing and beautiful. God created an amazing place for us to dwell.
Our last day! We got one last group picture. It was so fun to be there with Grandma and Grandpa and share in those memories with them. The kids all got shirts from their kids clubs which they really enjoyed and spent most of their evenings at. We were able to eat at fancy restaurants and visit as adults, while the kids had a blast in their clubs. Fun, fun time and neat experience.
As we were leaving Alyssa was sad that she would not see her friends or teacher from kids club, so we stopped in and said goodbye!
In line to check out they had a bunch of towel animals on a table to wish us a farewell. It was a nice little touch, they really made our day seeing them on our beds each evening.
