Cruise (part 2)

Our trip to Mexico, part 2:

Our ferry ride to Stone Island (Mazatlan).

Some cool caves we saw on our way.





Showing us who is the boss.


Stone Island and the coconut grove.

The kids body boarding.
Playing in the sand.
Sydney went on her first horseback ride with Jay. They loved it.


We had a very nice lunch while on the island and spent some time in the water and at the beach.
Sydney is all tuckered out after a long day in the sun.
The city of Mazatlan as we were setting sail. This is all we saw of downtown. I guess we'll have to go back some time soon.



Arriving in Cabo:
We all pose by a boat named Karen.
We boarded a catamaran and went whale watching.
Jay pretending to captain his own ship.

The coolest place for the kids to hang out. Every once in a while, we hit a big wave and the kids got soaked.

Karen and David looking pretty relaxed (at least for now). Both Justin and Lauren would get pretty sea sick later on. We were happy to find out that both of our kids do just fine on a boat for an extended period of time.
The famous arch.


Whales. We got pretty close but catching them on film was a little tricky. I was hoping one would actually jump out of the water like you see on t.v. all the time. It didn't happen but they were still pretty cool.


Lauren, Sydney, Collin and Justin checking out the lobster tank.
Sydney in her little Mexican get-up.
Back on the boat:

The kids get in a little water slide and jacuzzi time. Since a storm was moving into Cabo, the wind was blowing and it got a little cold.

Cruise 2010 (our last for a while?)

We went to California in January to board a ship called the Carnival Splendor. It took us on a 7 day adventure down into Cabo San Lucas and into a couple of cities we had never seen before: Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta.

One of the kids' favorite parts of their trips is seeing what the towel animal will be every night. Here Collin poses with a dinosaur(?). He had just lost one of his front teeth and you can see the other one is not going to hang on much longer either.

Exploring the cool ship:

This ship was unique from the ones we had been on before. It was the largest so far and had a retractable roof over the lido deck so that the deck and pool area would be protected from inclement weather. Though we enjoyed incredible weather most of the seven days, the last couple of days were a little stormy but we were still able to sit on the deck and watch the huge jumbo screen.

Looking out on the pool/deck area:

Swimming with Mom and Dad:

Hanging out with Justin and Lauren at the pool:

Playing miniature golf on the Sports Deck. It would have been better if the wind hadn't been blowing so hard (see Syd's hair).

Ice Cream Eating Contest with Camp Carnival kids:

Decorating our cookies first: Collin and Sydney piled theirs high with frosting, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, carmel syrup and M&Ms, .

Ready, set, eat!!!

"Iggy Wiggy I'm a Piggy!!!" Sydney didn't win, but it was a close contest.

Another highlight: the International Chocolate Festival. The kids tried a little of almost everything: chocolate-covered fruit, donuts, truffles cake, etc.

This is the BEST!

The kids are finally old enough to enjoy relaxing with a book - for an hour, thanks to Diary of a Whimpy Kid volumes 1-4. I love it!!!

Limbo on the Lido:

The kids from Camp Carnival enjoyed a little limbo contest. Collin did really well and in my opinion was the true champ but with a minor technicality was eliminated in the final round.

Collin's Tooth (Teeth):

Collin had had a loose front tooth for weeks and weeks. I hate loose teeth and so does he. It grosses us all out especially Jay. He didn't dare wiggle it very much and it was so loose by the cruise that all he needed was someone to give it a good twist or pull. And that is exactly what he had a kid at Camp Carnival do. When we went to pick him up, this is what he looked like.

This was worse than we expected, however, because the tooth next to it was loose also and had been held in place by the other tooth. So now our little boy had only one front tooth that stuck out pretty good. I think this grossed out Jay more than anything!