The Cruise

We are home from sunny Mexico. Now all we have are wonderful memories of the most perfect vacation ever! We were surrounded by fabulous friends (with lots of laughs), way too much food (according to the scale, I packed on 5 lbs...!!) and perfect perfect weather and activities.


Day #1 BOARDING THE SHIP
We arrived at our boat (Vision of the Seas on Royal Caribbean) and met up with our friends who had the joy of being able to take a quick flight from Salt Lake. Of course we couldn't start the cruise off without some food...so we ate....(and we continued to eat and eat the rest of the week. And I am not exaggerating). We did some dancing out on the deck the first afternoon and headed to an opening show. (We hit every show on the boat and loved all of them! It was by far the best entertainment I have ever been to on a cruise ship). That evening we also met our waiter, who soon realized we were not going to be small eaters......

Day #2 FIRST DAY AT SEA
We spent a good majority of the day on beach chairs soaking in the beautiful sun and enjoying some good laughs....Later on in the day we entered a Rock Climbing contest (mind you not one of us have ever rock climbed)! Natalie, Marcy and I took 3r, 2nd and 1st place! (Oh yea, we are the absolute best rock climbers....I won't mention that only 3 girls entered the competition!!!)

That evening was the formal night and we all got dolled-up. Dinner was followed by some Karaoke where Natalie, Leslie and I showed what fabulous singers we are...(or not so fabulous!) It was all in good fun, and luckily we will never see any of those people ever again.

Aren't we lazy....No kids and no work! What a life!
Chad, Randall and TJ show-off their new-found skill of rock climbing....They didn't win medals like us girls!

Oh yea, we 'rock'! Natalie, Marcy and I were the big winners.....!

Formal night (just like prom!) Luckily, I wore this dress the second night...I'm afraid by the end of the cruise it wouldn't have zipped up!

Day #3 CABO SAN LUCAS
We spent the day at Nikki Beach at this fabulous resort. We played in the water, took strolls along the beach and lounged on these awesome beach beds. The best part, we were served delicious Mexican food right to our little cabanas. (I called my kiddies from the beach and I think a little tear was shed. Carsen sounded so old, and didn't miss me a bit!)

All the gals with our cruise ship in the background.

The Olsons (Rachel and TJ) and us in front of the resort we spent the day at. Picture perfect.


Day #4 MAZATLAN
Stop #2 was Mazatlan. We were beached out and knew we had an exciting excursion awaiting us the next day, so we decided to make it a sight-seeing day. We hired an air-conditioned van to take us around the city. Our awesome tour guide showed us the hot spots and told us about the history of Mazatlan. We even saw some cliff divers who dove off like 150 ft. cliffs into the ocean (LOCO!)


When we first got in the van the driver offered us some beverages....coke, beer, water, etc. We told him we don't drink. He instantly said, "You Mormons?" We told him we were and he said, "They're my neighbors." Sure enough, they really were. He drove us by his home near the end of our tour and he lived right across the street from the LDS chapel. Of course it was the most well-kept building we saw our entire stay in Mazatlan.

Us and the Richards on the little train that took us from the cruise ship into Mazatlan.

'This little piggy went to market'....Yes, we went to market and saw this and much more grotesque meat. Oh well, I still eat!

Day #5 PUERTO VILLARTA
What a fabulous place....beautiful and exotic. This was the most fun adventure of all time! (If you ever visit this place, you have got to try this Outdoor Adventure!) Unfortunately, because Collin just had knee surgery 2 weeks prior, he had to sit this adventure out. (He was able to bond on board the ship with the Senior Citizens)!

First we put on this flimsy, orange lifejackets that would never actually save our lives if we were to go overboard, but I suppose we felt safer having them on. We went on this raft-boat zipping across the ocean for about 25 minutes. (That in itself was a thrill!) We arrived at the base of the jungle where this old-school army Jeep hauled us up the mountainside. It was at that point we put on our harnesses and mounted our little Mules. (Oh what fun! Natalie and I were riding the spunky little mules who cruised up the rocky mountainside. I thought I was going to fall off from laughing, but we finally made it safely to the top of the mountain.) From there we zip–lined to and from platforms. We were flying over jungle terrain where if we were to fall it would be the end....After the first zip we all had the hang of it and the fear was long gone. Then we had to rapell down a 100 ft rock wall and then zip-line into freezing cold water! This went on for over an hour....We were all grinning non-stop. We weren't allowed to take cameras on the adventure, so the pic's are limited!

Here we are waiting for our little speed-boat to carry us to our jungle terrain adventure!

The beautiful little beach where the boat dropped us off and we loaded up the Jeep to haul us to the base camp.

Me and Nat looking ever so hot in our gear!

Day #6 AT SEA
Another relaxing day at sea. We needed it after rapelling off rock walls and zipping at unknown speeds with nothing but jungle far below us! We spent the morning lounging by the pool. That afternoon Collin and TJ (I mean Shamu) entered the "Belly Flop Contest." It was a riot! TJ delighted the audience by impersonating the large whale Shamu.....he was then known around the boat as 'Shamu.'

Natalie, Rachel and I waiting for another evening show!

Day #7 LAST DAY AT SEA

Our last day aboard the ship was actually quite chilly. We were getting closer to California, and it was windy. We didn't mind. We were tired of the sun and wanted to hang-out indoors. We played some Bingo (Yes, Bingo!)...and none of us won, but we sure got excited at times! We also went and learned some magic tricks from a Magician and just enjoyed our last moments without kids and 'real life.'

We were sad to be having our last dinner together, so we made the most of it. I personally enjoyed 3 starters and 3 desserts! (Yum!) That evening we went and cheered on our new Utah friend (Nate) who was in the Karaoke contest. He and his wife Laci and her family sat behind us every night at dinner, so we were able to get to know them. Nate won!

Sunday morning Chad and I were one of the first ones off the boat. We started our drive towards our kids! (At this point I was so anxious and excited to see them!) They were so cute when we got to Vegas, and I swear Myka sprouted more hair! Carsen was excited to show us how well he could ride his new bike all over the patio! It was great to be back with our kids!

That was one vacation that will go down in the books as "the best ever." We couldn't have asked for things to go more smoothly! First off, it never would have happened if it weren't for my parents and their willingness to watch Carsen and Myka for an entire week! You will never know how much that meant to us-- Another shout out to our wonderful friends for being such good company and never allowing for a dull moment! When are we going again?