Sunday, April 22, 2012

Baja California Cruise, Part 2

Wednesday:
This day we stopped in Ensenada, Mexico.  Once we got off the ship in the morning we just wandered around the shops and then ate some lunch.
Michelle, Mom at lunch

Michelle and I shared a "Super Burrito" it was really big, that is only Michelle's half on that plate.  We were excited to get to taste some real Mexican food, but I'm not sure we picked the right place because there were hamburger's on the menu :)  The food was good, but nothing spectacular.

Mom, Michelle
Ensenada

The town wasn't at all like I expected.  It's pretty run down.   It definitely made me realize why the Mexicans want out of Mexico so badly.

Michelle, Mom, Me (in case you couldn't tell us twins apart ;)
This was a professional picture we purchased.  I took a picture of the picture to put on the computer  :)


The ship

Michelle
We goofed around a bit walking back to the ship to get on the bus for an excursion


Pose
Me
Pose

Michelle pretending trying to lift this huge anchor. 
After lunch, we had booked an excursion to a place called "La Bufadora" or "the blow hole". It was a place on the coast where when the tide came up it would create a bit of a geyser.  It was a beautiful area on the coast, but honestly not that spectacular.  However, I think we were just grateful to get away from Ensenada.  All there is to do in the town was hit the shops, and it seemed like most shops were selling pretty much the same stuff, and they are desperate for business, so all the shop owners are practically begging for you to come in their store.
The geyser behind us



Me, Michelle

Michelle
Pose

Me
Pose

Me

Geyser

That's where the water sprays up

Mom, Me

Beautiful coast
After the trip to La Bufadora we just headed back to the ship.  It wasn't supposed to leave port till 9pm, but we'd pretty much seen all there was.  We had dinner then wandered around a little bit, but we were pretty beat, so we crashed pretty early.

This was another professional picture taken on the ship.  We thought it was pretty funny.
Thursday:
Michelle, Me.
Reading on the deck.
This day was completely spent at sea.  So we had big plans to hit the deck, and relax with a book.  That pretty much went off with out a hitch, except Michelle and I got hit with a bit of sea sickness.  We hunted down some medicine, and that kept the nausea to a minimum.  We did manage another trip to the gym.  This time it wasn't busy, so I settled onto the treadmill and busted out some of the speediest miles.  It was SO much easier running at sea level as apposed to the altitude I'm used to.

That night after dinner, we saw another comedy show, and another dance/singing show.  They were so-so, but honestly we were just having so much fun spending time together, I think we could have been watching paint dry and still had an enjoyable time :)

Friday:
We had to be out of our room by 8:30am, so it was an early morning.  We ate breakfast than disembarked, went through customs, and headed to the airport.  We had no idea when we would be kicked off the ship, so we had booked our flights for the late afternoon.  However, we arrived at the airport at 10am, I got on an earlier flight, so I only had to wait 3 hours at the airport.  Mom and Michelle I think were hanging around the airport for like 5 hours cause it was too expensive to change flights.
Michelle
On the bus to the airport.  I don't know why she's so happy ;) 

Me
Much sadder having to say good-bye :)

It was nice to be home, and it appears as though Cam had everything under control with the kids while I was gone.
This is the dress I bought Lexi in Mexico.  They wanted to try the dreesses on as soon as they saw them.
She's also getting to be pretty photogenic too.  Here is her pose.

Abby's dress

Lexi just walked up to Abby and gave her a big hug.  She has been on a hugging frenzy lately, giving her hugs pretty freely :)

This was the shirt I bought Colton.
This trip was such a blast.  I'm so glad we went.  I would totally go on another cruise, but I definitely think I'll stay clear of any cruise going to Mexico, unless you like sea food, or getting drunk, there just isn't much to do.  The employees that work on the cruises are SO unbelievably nice and friendly.  They work hard to remember your names, and are helpful and smiling, that made the trip so much more enjoyable.  It was kind of a bummer going back to the real world and people aren't nearly as friendly (cough, cough, the airport, for example).

P.S I tried to put who's who in the captions.  Although I have no problem telling Me and my sister apart, I do realize we look very similar in most pictures.  We got asked constantly if we were twins the whole trip.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Baja California Cruise, Part 1

This last week, my sister Michelle, my Mom and I all went on a cruise.  It was so much fun!  We all had a blast and really enjoyed spending time together.  It was also a great chance to unplug (no TV, and very little cell service) for a week.  There are tons of pictures and tons to talk about, so I'll probably break it up into a couple of posts.

Monday:
This was the first day, which was mostly traveling.  I flew to LA and met Mom and Michelle there cause they flew in earlier from Denver.  Then we boarded the shuttle and headed to the ship.

We ate some lunch once we were aboard, and did some exploring till our room was ready.
The view from our balcony.
Our balcony/room is right behind the orange life boat.  At least we felt secure in knowing we'd have first dibs on a life boat in case of an emergency :)

Michelle didn't waste any time getting comfortable
This is our suite.  We stayed in a suite and it wasn't all that big, so I'd hate to see the size of a regular room :)
Each night there would be a different towel animal left on the bed
That night after dinner we wandered around some more till we stumbled upon some karaoke.  Although none of us had any intention of singing, it was pretty entertaining just to watch.
Michelle and Mom on the deck of the ship

Me and Mom

Tuesday:
Our first stop was Catalina Island just off California.  First thing in the morning, Michelle and I hit up the gym, which was packed.  After a little time in there, I went up to do a few laps on the jogging track.
The view from the track
Then we ate breakfast and got on the boat that took us from the ship to the island.
Me, Michelle
On the little boat headed to the island
The view of the ship from the boat

The view of the island from the boat
 On the island, we just looked around, checked out the beach, and did some shopping.
We saw this Armstrong restaurant and had to get a picture of Mom in front of it because her maiden name is Armstrong

Me, Michelle
The beach.  Michelle and I got to be really good at posing for the camera ;)  We took some tips from Abby and her awesome abilities.

Mom, Michelle

The city was so cool and pretty
Me
Shopping.  Doesn't this hat look so good on me ;) I decided against that purchase though.

There was a lady who would paint a name using animals or whatever you wanted so I got one for Colton's room.  I think it is super cute.
We had to be back on the ship by 4:30 that afternoon, so we just did some more relaxing and reading back on the ship.  In the middle of our relaxing we saw a huge group of dolphins swim right by the ship.  It was really cool.
The dolphins
That night we saw a comedy act, then caught a Latin dance show.  The comedy act was hilarious, but the dance show was a little long and repetitive, but we still had fun.

Michelle gets married


pictures stolen from Michelle :)
Easter weekend, Michelle married Ryan Davis.  He has 4 kids, and so together they now have 5.  We are so glad to have them join the family.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Easter weekend

Last weekend my sister Michelle and her daughter Kenna came to visit.  When they came over on Thursday we decorated some sugar cookies.
Kenna, Abby, Lexi (Michelle's new step-daughter), and Lexi
Lexi didn't see much need for the cookie.  The frosting usually went straight from the bowl to her mouth.


Doesn't that cookie look delicious ;)

It looks like Kenna is already on a bit of a sugar rush


Saturday night Kenna spent the night and then went to church with us on Sunday.  I tried to get a picture of the girls in their Easter dresses.  Colton was sick so he didn't get dressed up to go to church, Cam stayed home with him.


Goofing around with the camera

The other day, I was trying to get some pictures of the kids, and they decided to be silly.

Jump!

Lexi trying to jump