Four Year Fly By

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today, 'The Hubs' and I celebrate 4 years of marriage. That's right. It has been four years since all you crazy kids partied with us at Pala Mesa Resort and can I just say, it was one hell of a party.

The two of us are having one hell of a ride. In four years we have lived in 3 places, had 1 gorgeous little boy, adopted 2 animals (neither of which live with us any longer) traveled to 2 foreign countries, suffered a heartbreaking loss, enjoyed 6 trips to Vegas and 1 to Laughlin, partied on 3 cruises, had many laughs, a few tears, and drank our way through more red wine than I can count.

We have had our ups and downs but we get through it all, side by side. I am so lucky to be able to share this life with my very best friend. I can't wait to spend another forty years with my man. Love you, babe.

The third and final day of our cruise was such a bummer. I woke up with 'The Boy's' head cold, 'The Boy' woke up a maniac thanks to amoxicillin, and 'The Hubs' didn't wake up until noon and when he did it was with a ginormous hangover. (Apparently, he drank the bar the night before.)

Toddler on antibiotics=crazy!

I took 'The Boy' to breakfast, which was nearly impossible as it was a buffet and I am only one person with two hands. Something I'd like to take up with God in the future. He ate Cheerios and I tried to keep from resting my head on the table. Then I took him on a mission to find a cold capsule. It was a mission, indeed. The gift shop only had Dristan cold which made me

s-l-e-e-p-y!

Took a mini nap back in the cabin and then forced 'The Hubs' out of bed. I went and played some three card poker while the boys went for a stroll on the pool deck.

They stopped at the pool bar for a drink. 'The Boy', trying to order a drink.

Pina Coladas (both virgin). 'The Boy' is going to be bummed when he finds out that this i the last one for the whole summer.
We met back at the room where the boys took another nap and I drowsily watched Slum Dog Millionaire. It was such a great movie even on the tiny TV. I'll have to watch it again when we get home.

We had a nice dinner with the family and watched our servers dance to Jai Ho. Ironic since I had just watched the movie hours earlier. The boys went back to the room to sleep and I headed out to play a little more three card with Michael. We should have stayed in. We did end up calling it an early night because we had to be off the boat very early the next morning.

We had such a great time on our final summer vacation. I can't believe that it's already over. We are already planning Alaska for next March but that just seems so. far. away.

Ensenada

We spent Saturday in beautiful Ensenada. I say this without the hint of sarcasm I would usually throw in here. I have been to Ensenada at least a dozen times and once you have been, there's not much left to see. Or so I thought.

Ensenada from our ship

Michael and I

'The Boy' and 'The Hubs'

Previously, I have shopped in downtown, danced at Papa's and Beer, visited La Bufadora, and once 'The Hubs' and I step off the boat just to eat tacos at our favorite hole in the wall. Ensenada is a poor fishing village in baja and it is not the cleanest tourist spot I have ever been.

On this visit, we had no idea what to do with 'The Boy', so Lynda suggested that we visit the Estero Beach Resort. I will never go anywhere in Ensenada again.

Once we departed to ship, we made our ritual pit stop at the closest tequila stand for a shot of Patron. My Dad wasn't a big drinker but he always had a shot of tequila before heading out on the town.

View of our ship from the tequila stand

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor! Actually, just one tequila-I do have a child to take care of.

Lynda worked her magic (you know what kind) and chartered a private shuttle (not as fancy as it sounds-Mexico, remember ?) and in about 20 minutes, we were out of the crud. We walked along the shoreline and watched a few guys fishing. Of course 'The Hubs' was into this.

We had a nice lunch and a few maggies at the resort restaurant. 'The Boy' consumed close to an entire jar of maraschino cherries and a box of fruit loops for lunch. We didn't stay long but it was a perfect day trip to get us off the ship without worrying about 'The Boy's' safety.

Working up his sugar high

Lynda and Brenda

'The Boy' and Uncle Michael

Not quite Turks and Caicos but still beautiful

We stopped for a little shopping back at the port before heading back on board. We took a little nap before getting ready for the nights festivities.

That evening was the captain's ball. Sounds fancy, huh? The more cruises that I go on, the less exciting this is. We all got dressed up, we shook the captain's hand, took a picture and tried to keep our toddler in line.

My handsome man dressed in a suit for the very first time.

Trying to take a nice family picture. Trying.

Our dinner seating wasn't until 8:15 and we got there late that night. He fell asleep before you could say chicken nugget! Yes, he is eating his buh-buh. This is how he falls asleep every night.

After dinner, I went back to the room with 'The Boy' and let 'The Hubs' go out gamblin' with the twins. Farewell, Ensenada. Until we meet again-next year.

Won't You Let Me Take You on a Sea Cruise?

Last weekend, we gathered together with my step-mom, Lynda, brother, Michael, and Aunt Brenda and Uncle Melvin to celebrate my Dad's former birthday. My step-mom and Dad celebrate their birthday on July 2nd and 10th, respectively. Every year, the two of them would take a short cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. Shortly after my Dad passed away, my family decided to take this cruise together, on his birthday, to celebrate his life.

Carnival, Paradise

Friday morning, we (including a very sick boy) packed up the 'Merc' and headed out. We stopped at Forrest Lawn cemetery in Cypress to pay respects to my Dad at his graveside. Then we parked our car in Long Beach and hopped in a limo for our short ride to the port.

Our ride

Lynda and Michael

Just Johnson's in a limo

We boarded the ship around 3pm and went to the Paris Cafe for lunch. It was a good thing 'The Boy' was as sick as he was because a 3 o'clock lunch time normally would not fly.

We went to the pool deck to participate in the Muster Drill before the ship set sail. Apparently nothing gets you out of this. Not even a screaming, exhausted toddler. My apologies to all of the other passengers sequestered in Muster station F.

'The Hubs' and 'The Boy' enjoying the view from our cabin

We went back to our stateroom after the drill and for the very first time, stayed there during send off. 'The Boy' took a much needed nap while we unpacked.

That evening, we had dinner and "celebrated" my Dad's birthday. Lynda presented Michael and I each with a clock with an engraved picture of my dad on it. We had cake and enjoyed sharing memories of my Dad.
'The Hubs' stayed in the cabin the first night with 'The Boy' while I had a fun evening of three card poker with the rest of the fam. More to Come...Ensenada tomorrow.

Happy 4th of July- Better Late than Never

We have been so busy and sick in the last few week, I hardly have had time to get on here and blog. Posting priority went to our vacation and that took forever. So finally I am getting around to posting about our Fourth of July.

We had planned to go to Costa Mesa to Auntie Moni's for a BBQ but decided that taking a sick toddler to a party full of non-parents wouldn't get us any invites back for next year. So we stayed in town and had a BBQ at Grammie and Pop's and celebrated my step-brother, Mikey's birthday which is actually the 5th of July.
It was fairly low key- a far cry from our Balboa days. Grammie and Pop bought 'The Boy' a fun water splash pool to play in.

He wasn't too sure what to think of it. The water was much colder that in Turks and Caicos.




He finally warmed up (get it-I'm such a dork) and had a blast.

I changed his diaper and he took off to the water. This one is for future blackmail.

'The Boy' and Grammie

After we got some clothes on 'The Boy' and ended splash time, we ate some yummy BBQ. Thanks Pop!

'The Boy' eating his first corn on the cob. He loved it!

I mad an American flag cake for Mikey's birthday. 'The Boy' was very excited because it had "strawbee's" and "bluebee's" on it.

Happy Birthday Uncle Mikey.

Helping Uncle Mikey open "pressies".

Once we had our cake and Mikey opened presents, we headed out to our hill to watch fireworks. This is the second year we have gone to this particular hill in Temecula to see the show. Next year we will probably go somewhere closer but 'The Boy' still sleeps right through them. We could see the Temecula fireworks as well as the Pechanga show. It was really cool to see that many fireworks such a short distance form one another.

We hope that next year the city of Menifee will have their fireworks on the 4th instead of the weekend before.

We hope you all had a good holiday!

Day 7- Our Days Are Numbered

On our last full day in Turks and Caicos, I decided to torture my family by treating them to a family portrait session in the sweltering heat. You're welcome, boys. Aside from sweating it out on the beach in clothing and trying to keep 'The Boy' from running into the ocean with his clothes on, we got some pretty good shots.

'The Boy' in one of the beautiful gardens

Way up high!

Mommy's Boy

After my family forgave me, we spent the remainder of the morning on the beach and headed to the water park just before lunch where. We ate hot dogs by the pool and took 'The Boy' down the water slide "again, again,again".

One more lap around the lazy river

We took 'The Boy' to Camp for his nap and went to our favorite pool to relax for a bit. We drank a few more coconut coolers and lounged in the sun long enough to get our first sunburns of the trip.

We went to the beach for a bit and swam in the water and chatted with a few other guests. We found that many people were on their 3rd or 4th return visit and bring their families here every year.

We picked up 'The Boy' and took him for one last swim at the Italian Village Pool. He stood at the swim up bar and had a virgin pina colada. Someone is going to be a little bummed that there is no "special juice" at home.

We took 'The Boy' to Giuseppe's for dinner before dropping him off at Camp for the night. Then, 'The Hubs' and I had one final walk on the beach and watched one final perfect sunset.

'The Hubs' in a hammock

On the pier for the sunset


We had sushi for dinner and ended our night at, you guessed it, Turtles. We picked up 'The Boy', who was fast asleep, and went back to the room to pack.

We loved Beaches so much! We talked about it the whole way home and can't wait to go back. We are planning for spring 2011. Everything about this vacation exceeded our expectations and we highly recommend it to our friends and family with children.