VACATION DETAILS...

Ok, so it's been a long time (3 weeks) since we've been home and I haven't had 2 minutes to catch my breath and blog details about our trip! Man, what a blast, where to I start. Our first "pit stop" was in LA. Our cruise docked out of LA but we had a night there so we stayed with a dear, dear friend of mine! ERIN DEBLANDER! Oh my word, how fun! Erin was a college friend of mine and 5 years later, I love her just as much if not more. She and her husband have followed the Lord's leading and moved to LA to hopefully get Josh's (her husband and a college friend of mine) acting career started. What a tremendous act of faithfulness... to up and move and be so confident of God's call.
Another amazingly wonderful college friend is pictured with us and also lives in LA. She came to hang out with us and out to eat with us that night. Jen Norris is a PR guru and LA couldn't be a better fit for her. She's a natural. It was wonderful to see them both. I"m so blessed with such amazing friends. Ok, so vacation... holy cow, the ship was beautiful. This ship was a tad smaller than other cruise ships we've been on but nice none the less. The first day on the boat was a day at sea. IT was chilly and I was quite dissapointed. THe second day we awoke to the stillness of the boat. We had docked at Cabo San Lucas!!! I must say that I was a tad shocked with Cabo. It wasn't at all what I expected. I was expecting to the see the endless beauty of the city and it was far dirtier than hoped. People left and right asked us if we "wanted to get high". We were able to find cheap parasailing and had a blast! This picture is Melina taking off. We were told that we were 600 feet above water at our highest point. What a rush. Melina and Johnny is the couple that we travelled with. It was great to have friends vacationing with you. It allowed for "girl shopping" time and "male deep sea fishing" time. I'm so thankful I didn't have to go fishing!!! what a bore. The next two ports were Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. We were much more pleased with these ports. We found some cool resorts that allowed "cruisers" for the day to spend some extra time. Mazatlan was a very pretty, older city. We were able to tour the old part of town and we saw a beautiful cathedral. We also walked though a town market and about got sick to our stomachs. They had meat sitting on counters and it smelled as if it had been there for days. The afternoon was spent at an amazing resort. It had a swim up bar, a water slide, volleyball court, and several pools. One had a cliff to jump off of and they entertained us for quite awhile. Puerto Vallarta was our favorite city. It was beautiful, well-maintained, and certainly accustomed to many tourists. Melina and I spent the first half of the day shopping in quaint little city shops. We then found a resort and spent the afternoon there. The last two days of our trip were spent at sea. I have yet to mention the food on board. Dare I say that I've saved the best til last. Quite possibly. The food was amazing and the quanities were scary. Anything longer than a 7 day cruise and I'd be in serious trouble. My birthday was Friday, the 5th day of the cruise... It was a lovely formal night and the wait staff greeted me with a cake and a song after dinner! It just so happened that it was "Steak and Lobster" night! uh... yum! I don't do steak, but I had my fair share of lobster. I had 2 tails that night... doesn't hold a candle to Johnny's selection. He had 3 appetizers, steak and fries, chicken, 3 lobster tails, and 4 desserts!!!! All you can eat everything all week. I did well and only gained 2 lbs. Johnny and Tony, on the other hand, may have gained more :) The week was wonderful. I loved every minute but was so glad to see Brayden. I missed him dearly. I wouldn't, however, trade the priceless "alone-sans-kid" time that I was able to spend with Tony. These are the little things that you take for granted once you have a child. It was wonderful to be able to sleep in and take naps, and enjoy each others company. A true joy! Until next year....

(I was unable to post anymore pics to this particular blog due to space but I will post additional pics in another post!)