It was such a bitter/sweet trip!
It about killed me to sail off without Devin! It is a good thing that I didn't realize when we had to leave him behind to "wait" for us to get his passport that we would sail off without him, there is NO way I would have ever left him!!!! I laid on my bed in my stateroom and cried for 2 hours after loosing my cool and yelling at some stupid ladies! I can't go into it again, I ended up crying about it all over again on Monday... if you want to find out more go HERE to read about.
This is probably our favorite place to hang out on the ship! We would get all the food we wanted and always picked a window seat and would sit in the window and chat and chat... as you know, I love the water!
The Mariner of the Sea is a great ship for boys! The whole top of the ship is a huge sports deck that includes, a rock wall, a full court basketball court and they would change to "indoor" soccer/volleyball/dodge ball... there was also a miniature golf course, in line skating, ping pong, a track to walk on which I really enjoyed and much more!
Here is Chad getting ready to climb the rock wall, it was HIGH above the water!
The boys playing basketball...
Bubba
Chad playing ping pong with a "friend" he made on the ship...
Hanging out in our room...
Cabo was soooooooooooooooooo beautiful!!!! The water was SO clear!!!
When we got off the ship there were a couple of women there handing the kids their iguana to hold! Devin had an iguana for a pet when he was about 10 yrs old!
She placed it on Chad's head!
We had a guy take us over to "Lover's Beach", it was absolutely gorgeous!
Me and my sister in law, Ellen.
Me and my man, I love you Brad!
Derek and Brittany had been here before, they came here on their honeymoon...
The water was so clear!
We saw a whale!!! I am hoping my SIL got a better pic than I did! :(
Chad LOVES to climb... him and his cousins!
The boys went snorkeling and were gone about 3 hours! They went around the cliffs and then out to a small cliff/island and dove off... they had a great time but they were sure tired swimming all the way back against the current!
Chad enjoyed snorkeling too!
Brittany played with Whitney and Abby in the waves!
HAHA, when the boys finally got back they had to rest!
Back on the ship...
They had lots of contests... the boys competed in a soccer shootout, Derek got a medal!
Dallin and Brittany getting ready to climb the rock wall!
Almost to the top!
We had a guy take us to the Beach, it is very common to have a "taxi" in the back of a pickup truck.
We pretended that Devin and Diana were with us all the time! Someone would always say, I guess Devin already ate (when we were in the dining room) coz I don't see him anywhere.... It was really sad but we decided the easiest way to cope with it was just to pretend he was there! So, here they are... Devin and Diana!
Some of us decided to parasail! Brad didn't think Chad would want to so he asked him and was very surprised to find out that he REALLY wanted to... so, here he goes!
Up, up and away!
Brittany...
Here is Blake and Abby watching everyone!
And, then it was MY turn! I LOVED IT! It was one of the most fun things I have EVER done!
Back on the ship... We loved the jacuzzi...
and the ice cream...
and the beautiful sunsets!
The midnight buffet!
We loved Puerto Vallarta! The first thing we did was just take a walk and explore some of the city. Then we stopped in the grocery store, that was fun, here is Derek with some of the little banana's that he loved in Brasil!
Chad... look at the prices, haha....
Here is a picture of our ship, right off the ship is a lot of little shops (like a swap meet) and a little place to get drinks... we sat there and enjoyed the warmth and watched the people...
Dallin and Brittany had a Mexican Coka Cola... Derek went to look at the shops. He bought Devin a Laker's poncho! What a thoughtful brother!
Brad talked to a guy who took us in his Yukon out to the jungle! On the way he showed us lots of cool things... downtown, and a house that the Mexican government had given to Nixon, (it was up for sale now) he stoppped and let us take pics along the way...
Our driver took us out to El Eden, this is where Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger was filmed. The movie people built roads up there and afterwards the guy who owned the land built zip lines, a restaurant, waterfalls, a lagoon, a spa.... you are safe to say he is now VERY wealthy! It was a beautiful place! We drove thru a little Indian village on the way up... very cool!
Here are some pics of the kids jumping off the rope into the water!
Blake doing a flip, of course!
A slide...
THE boys... as you can see Derek has his arm around Devin in this picture!
When we were taking pics the owner came out and told us they were filming a commercial and he asked Brittany if she would be in it!!! So, here she is.... Derek filmed them filming her! She got a free massage, lucky girl!
On the way back to the ship we told our driver that we want some REAL Mexican taco's! So, he took us to Pepe's! I have to tell you they were THE best taco's I have EVER had!!!! Have you ever heard of putting a thin slice of pineapple on a taco??!!! Oh, honey, it was SOOOOOO good!!!
When we got back to the ship we went down to the beach and stayed in the water till the sun went down! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOO warm!!! The water was 78°!!! LOVED IT! DIDNT WANT TO LEAVE!
Back on the ship.... HAD to finish the Laker game before going to dinner!
On the elevator.... going down to dinner...
Dirk (brother), Mom, and me... THANK YOU MOM, this was the best Christmas EVER!
Blake ordered escargot, and yes, I tried it too!
The head waiter cutting Dallin's duck off the bone...
Yep, the ship had ice skating too!
This was Friday night on the way back to L.A. There were storms and HUGE waves! The water in the pool would slosh from one end to the other, it would go up into a 4" wave and splash out of the pool!!! It was so crazy to watch!
A little chilly headed back to L.A.
I have to say that a cruise is the way to go! You can't pay for a hotel, meals, and entertainment for 50-60 bucks a day!!! I vote we do this every year!!!
On the way back to the ship we told our driver that we want some REAL Mexican taco's! So, he took us to Pepe's! I have to tell you they were THE best taco's I have EVER had!!!! Have you ever heard of putting a thin slice of pineapple on a taco??!!! Oh, honey, it was SOOOOOO good!!!
When we got back to the ship we went down to the beach and stayed in the water till the sun went down! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOO warm!!! The water was 78°!!! LOVED IT! DIDNT WANT TO LEAVE!
Back on the ship.... HAD to finish the Laker game before going to dinner!
On the elevator.... going down to dinner...
Dirk (brother), Mom, and me... THANK YOU MOM, this was the best Christmas EVER!
Blake ordered escargot, and yes, I tried it too!
The head waiter cutting Dallin's duck off the bone...
Yep, the ship had ice skating too!
This was Friday night on the way back to L.A. There were storms and HUGE waves! The water in the pool would slosh from one end to the other, it would go up into a 4" wave and splash out of the pool!!! It was so crazy to watch!
A little chilly headed back to L.A.
The last night at dinner... our waiter was so cute, he had some kind of a puzzle every night for us...
I have to say that a cruise is the way to go! You can't pay for a hotel, meals, and entertainment for 50-60 bucks a day!!! I vote we do this every year!!!
12 comments:
What an awesome vacation! You're right, cruising is the way to go. We've been lucky enough to travel a little bit and my kids love cruising the best.
Cabo is my favorite of the 3 places you visited. The water is just unreal.
Man does that look like a blast. I still feel sad about the son left behind. GOSH !! But other than that, what a great trip!
"after loosing my cool and yelling at some stupid ladies!"
forgive me, but, that made me laugh...just a little.
i loved the pictures...looks like you and your family did it up right and had so much fun!
i would love to para sail! my kids did it on a cruise we went on- but i didn't try it- i should have!
oh, the water the food- it all looks so divine!
you are blessed with a beautiful and FUN family!
so glad you enjoyed---
so sorry about the passport thing, though- that really is terrible!
i would have cried too!
That's it! I'm going on a cruise!
I'm with Tammy. MAN that looks fun! What a great experience to share as a family.
So fun to read about your trip! I also agree that cruising is the only way to go, it's just hard to step back into reality and not be waited on hand and foot! :)
Loved all the great pictures! I feel so bad for your sweet son. Sounds like something that would happen to our family..ha! Maybe next year ya'll can all make it on the boat;)
xoxo Susie
That looked like so much fun. I met a few people that know you at my moms work. She works at the Bishops storehouse. The funny thing is I asked if they knew Shaila Da Berg...lol I didn't realize that wasn't your last name. Now I know.
That looks so fun!! I love all your pictures. What a cool boys cruise ship. My kids would love it! Glad you guys had a great time..
how fun, sad, fun, etc. lol we should have done the same thing for Christmas this year! What a gret idea to make it different since it is all so different without our loved ones! Glad you guys had fun!!
WOW!!!!!!! That looks SO awesome! And para sailing--incredible!!! I'm so glad you had a good time. What fun memories!
Sorry I've been absent from your blog for so long! WOW, what an amazing vacation! You make me want to go on a cruise, right now! I wish even more now that I was a member of your fun family. :)
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