We just spent an amazing 7 days with Tony's family (minus Russ and Pam) on a fantastic Princess cruise to Mexico. It was a wonderful gift from Tony's parents and allowed us time to make memories together and have some space from the hard stuff at our house.
We left Friday night and caravaned with Deb and Rand to Lori and Blake's house. Saturday we all piled in Chris and Cynthia's Sprinter van and had the most wonderful session of conference driving to LA. It was like a living room on wheels and we were so grateful to be together and to be able to watch conference. We boarded the ship and the eating marathon began! It truly was one delicious meal after another. The fun part of every day was coming for dinner and choosing from all the delicious foods on the menu: fancy chilled soups, creative salads, seafood, beef and lamb and of course the desserts! We all agreed that the salted caramel custard was one of the very best. On the ship we enjoyed the musical shows and especially the outdoor movie (sometimes we eve had popcorn out under the stars!) We played games like cover your assets and scrabble, made good use of the fitness room, enjoyed the buffets and restaurants and spent a lot of time exploring the ship. One of our favorite meals was the lobster roll, the pizza restaurant and apple apricot tart and the noodle bar.
On our first night, Deb had a totally unexpected reaction to shrimp, so she was careful not to eat any afterward, a big disappointment for a true seafood lover. One night Mom surprised us when she got very over not being served right away at the table she wanted with the waiter she wanted. It made me realize how important it is to mom to have her voice heard, probably a product of her upbringing.
Our excursion in Cabo San Lucas was a private pontoon boat out to snorkel. The highlight of this trip was seeing the mama and baby whale breaching in the ocean, swimming and snorkeling and enjoying some delicious chips and salsa on board.
In Mazatlan we took a private tour to some of the famous spots in Mazatlan and did a little shopping in the market. We had a crazy good shrimp lunch-best coconut shrimp ever! Tony and I got to spend a little time together walking around the city. We stopped at a corner store and Tony got a Coke in a bottle. It was the best part of the day for him.
In Puerto Rico we went on a ziplining adventure. Mom got pretty upset again, but in the end loved the adventure. I wish a could relax and enjoy things like this, but for me it is just a matter of getting through it without ruining it for everyone else. The surprise of the day came when we loaded up on burros to take us back up the hill. I had a particularly slow burro despacio. We loved driving through the neighborhoods of Puerto Vallarta. It was pretty similar to Tijuana and made us feel a little sad not to be with Brad and Kim this week.
Our last two days were at sea and revolved around our delicious meals and going to the gym to work it off. Here is a list of everyones favorite cruise memory:
Lori-The Zip line instructor's commentary to mom about "lifting her sexy leg, just like she did last night."
Blake-The burro ride after the zip line
Tony- Mom's reaction to the Tom Jones song
Kelly-The whales and seeing Tony's reaction to his Coke in a bottle
Deb- The Giant Shrimp cocktail in Mazatlan and watching Mom and Dad Zumba
Rand- Deb's shopping happiness!
Mom- All the animals we saw throughout the trip and Deb's face when she was applying the brakes on the zipline
Dad-Getting a great deal on the cruise!
