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Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Our final port day was in the oldest of the three cities, 

Puerto Vallarta.  It was the most tropical, and probably had the most charm.  I know the picture below is not the best quality, but I thought it would be worth including.  First of all, check out the warriors to our left and right.  I'm only 5'3", so that gives you an idea of their size.  Second of all, look at Caedmon's face (if you click on the picture, it should enlarge).  As Ryan and I like to say, he was all "funned" out that morning!

As we got off the ship that day, there was a woman with a beautiful tropical bird.  Below are Nikolai, Gavin and Liam holding the bird.

So then we loaded on a bus and headed to a beach resort for the day.  At this point in the trip we had dubbed these three below, the "Little Rascals", and you can see why. They spent most of their time together wrestling, hugging, screaming (just to test how loud they could be), giggling, growling (it seems to be fun for them), running in circles chasing each other, and talking to each other in 2 year old language. 
Driving through Puerto Vallerta on our way to the beach.

The little rascals again.  Ryan says this is just minutes before they starting fighting over buckets and shovels.  So once again, I caught them in a good moment.

The boys waiting to get harnessed up for the trampoline.

Beautiful!!






The pool was beautiful and it's coolest feature was a waterside bar.  Here's Gavin enjoying a Pepsi.
Uncle Kevin and Caleb

Mazatlan, Mexico

A mariachi band greets us as we leave the ship and head into town.

We first went to a Mexican Folklorica, which is like a show with traditional Mexican dances, costumes, and customs.  I don't have any pictures to show of the neat costumes.  I do have a picture of Delaney's new braided hairdo that she got while we were watching the show.  You should have seen how fast these young Mexican girls were braiding her hair!  The highlight of the show was when the Mexican "Flyers" climbed up this really tall pole and then danced at the top before swinging down gracefully.  Kristi told me that Nikolai wants to pack up and go live in Mexico now and he wants to be a Mexican "flyer" when he grows up!  If you go to You Tube and type in  Mexican Flyer you can see a video of their incredible act.

Caedmon getting messy on the beach! No, mommy doesn't want to hold you now!

The kids loved the ocean.  Uncle Yuri rented a boogie board and they got to learn how to ride it.  We're ready to try out body boarding here on our own beaches now! It was really fun.

This picture is for those of you who have seen the SpongeBob Squarepants Movie.  We saw this sign and laughed that we had found Shell City!

Our cool taxi ride back to the ship.


These two just couldn't make it back to bed.  They crashed right on me as soon as the taxi got moving.   And we were really moving!  Kids can sleep anywhere.
Delaney got to ride up front.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Our first day in port was at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  It is at the very tip of Baja California, which is not California, but Mexico (kind of confusing).  It was nice and hot out and we got to "tender to shore", which is the way you get from the ship to the shore when the port is too shallow.  So we took a short boat ride to the dock and then walked right over and got on a catamaran.  This was a fun excursion for those in the group who enjoy boating, and not for those who get sea-sick!  It took us up along the coast to some beautiful rock formations.  We also tried on authentic Mexican sombreros for a picture.  I couldn't believe the little ones sat and let the photographer put a gigantic hat on their heads.  The kids were excited because they got to drink Coke, especially Caedmon.  After the boat ride, we took a van  to a beautiful seaside hotel where we ate lunch (drank more soda ) and took pictures out on a seaside veranda.  It was beautiful, but all of the moms and dads spent most of the time telling the kids to please keep away from the edge, or please don't climb up on the rocks!  It was nice to get back to the ship, lay the little ones down for a nap, and get some soft serve ice cream!  Yes, they have a machine out all day long!  Yes, real life is not that cool.

Getting on the catamaran.
Grandma Joni and Grandpa Chris
Anneliese and Nikolai

Hola!
Someone in this picture didn't like the sombrero hat.

Getting comfortable...

The boys getting comfortable in our room and checking out our port hole.

Dinner time!  Our group was too large for one table so we split up into two.  Here's Delilah looking cute during dinner.  

About 45 minutes into dinner, the boys would get restless and escape from their chairs to see the beautiful views of the ocean.

...and it would quickly degenerate into this!  

Gavin and his trusty "Seapass card" on his cool Adventure Ocean lanyard.  He got to enjoy the benefits of being 10 years old, the oldest grandchild.  He had a small amount of money put on his card and he could use it at the kids arcade.  For a 10 year old, this is as adult as you get!

Mexican Cruise

Day One- 

We drove down to L.A. on Saturday and got on the ship Sunday afternoon.  It was pretty crazy dropping off 4 families and LOTS of luggage at the curb in front of the cruise terminal.  Grandma Joni and the moms had the responsibility of corralling 10 kids away from the street and all sorts of other mischief they like to get in.  We were really excited to get on the ship and we made it through all the necessary lines to finally get to our rooms without too many meltdowns.  My nephew Caleb and Caedmon spent most  of the time on the ground wrestling and the other part of the time being told to get up and please stop.  If I haven't mentioned before, we went on this family cruise as a gift from Ryan's parents.  Our party included, Grandpa Chris and Grandma Joni, Uncle Spencer, Uncle Yuri and Auntie Kristi and Nikolai (5), Aleksei (4), Anneliese (2) and Mikhail (1), as well as Uncle Kevin and Auntie Lacee and Caleb (2) and Delilah (9 months).  Our family rounded out the gang with Ryan and I and Gavin (10), Delaney (8), Liam (5) and Caedmon (2).  So that's 19 people total!  Even better is that the kids outnumbered the adults by one AND 8 of them are 5 and under!  And no, those smiles weren't forced, we were actually having a great time.

Ok, say cheese, and we can get on this ship- CHEESE!

Waiting to get on the ship. 


Outside the cruise terminal- it was cold that day!

T-Ball Tales

Liam has been really enjoying his first t-ball season.  His team is the Indians and he loves putting on all the gear for each game and carrying his bat bag.  He's slowly learning some skills and hit his first ball from the coach(and not the tee) a few games ago.  He's also learning those very important lessons about being a "good sport" when he feels frustrated (which can be often for Liam).  His first lesson was- don't throw your glove down when you're angry or coach will put you at the end of the lineup. Aren't sports fun?