Our Christmas Cruise part 2

I think our favorite part of our trip was our excursion in Ensenada Mexico. We went on a bus ride up to the famous blow hole La Bufadora. Just the experience on the bus tide through Mexico was eye opening, and the coast was beautiful. Our tour guide talked the entire trip up and back from the blow hole. She gave us a lot of interesting facts on the city and my favorite part was when she mentioned that at our last stop at the city center we would get a free margarita and the kids get a Coke. She encouraged all of the parents to please let their kids experience their Coke products because they are better than in the states. All three of our girls looked at me like they had won the lottery and asked if I was really going to let them have some. They acted as if they had never had soda before. Of course we tried the Coke. Micah and I even passed up the margarita for a Coke. It was yummy. 

This is beautiful La Bufadora. The coast was beautiful and I love the smell of the ocean. This blowhole is special because it spray's continually rather than having to wait for it to come. Of course whenever I had my camera up and ready for a big spray we only got little ones, but that's just always my luck.

They had a Mexican singer there with a guitar which was fun to listen to. I was just glad no one had to use the restroom because it was 50 cents per person. They really try on make money any way they can with all the tourists.

After the blow hole we were able to do some shopping. It was so much fun letting the girls try and talk down the seller to get the items they wanted. They had all saved their money and spent most of it on this shopping trip. Aliza was in love with this little ukelele, and we went to several shops to find a blue one.

Abbie fell in love with this puppet named Maria. Avery was very generous and spent her money on necklaces and bracelets for her and her friends.

I love this picture because it shows the street lined with shops we were on. The tour guide was telling us that they had the best churros ever made, and I would have to agree. They were SO good,

I'm not sure how this got so out of order, but Micah was lifting Aliza up to see the blow hole.

They were so thrilled to watch them make a bracelet with their name on them. It was fun to watch how fast they were at making these bracelets. Not bad that they were 3 for $5 also.

Our last stop was at the city center. We were luckily able to use the bathroom for free there, and enjoyed walking around the gardens. There were fountains and statures all around.

Back on the ship Aliza was dying to try on her new dress she purchased. She has been very disappointed that she can't wear it to school. She would wear it everywhere if we would let her.

I didn't get a great shot of our formal night so I bought the expensive picture they take of you during dinner. That will be in the next post. The girls had fun getting all dressed up, and below was Aliza's darling dress she got from her Grammie.

Our last day at sea was extremely windy which meant doing anything up on the decks was pretty much out of the question. But we still know how to have a good time. The wind was so strong that you could hardly walk in front of the boat.

Everyone took turns pretending to be a bug on the windshield.

This is what else you do when it's too windy to go outside.

Nothing like taking a turn getting sandwiched int he roll away bed.

With the high winds our last dinner in the dining room Abbie wasn't feeling well. I think she felt the sea sickness the worst. I think she would have been fine if the weather was better. Aliza was very done with sitting down and eating fancy dinners so I guess it was time to go home. We were seated at dinner with another very nice family from Arizona who happened to be Mormon also. On our first night in the dining room we also noticed another family close to us all in BYU paraphernalia. One day as we were walking through the buffet area a lady approached Micah and said "hello other Mormon family." I thought that it was fun to have others with our same values on the ship and funny that we were seated with one every night for dinner.

Aliza loved being in the kids play area, and they all attended a magic show together. They even took a towel folding class that I'm just waiting to have fancy towels folded all around the house, but it hasn't happened yet. We had a great time together, and I loved spending a few days with my wonderful family.

Our Christmas Cruise part 1

On a Friday morning January 4th we got up early, drove to California and boarded our new home for a few days. The girls were so excited to be by the ocean. Going through all the security checks I could tell was a little intimidating for the girls, but we made it through just fine. They just wanted to get on that ship.

First thing when we got on the ship we headed to the buffet for lunch. After all the best part of a cruise is the food. Right? They really enjoyed just being able to have whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. After lunch we took a tour of all the fun things to do on the ship.

The water was beautiful and everyone was looking for animals in the ocean. Avery and I did see a sea otter but other than that there was just a lot of birds. In fact we tried to eat our lunch outside on the decks but those darn birds were getting a little too close for comfort.

There was a miniature golf couse on the very top of the boat which had these fun heads all over. They all wanted their picture by them. Abbie of course had to throw in a nose pick.

They had fun music playing as we toured the ship. It's amazing how big these cruise ships are. It really is a little city floating on the water.

Aliza was much happier when she was the photographer. She did a pretty good job too.

The stage where they do all the big shows was obviously a big hit.

Abbie loved being in the library (pictured below). There were a few times when she went there to read or we all played games together.

The library totally reminded me of something from a Harry Potter movie.

Our first night they were so excited to have a towel animal and chocolate on their pillows. Our room was squishy with a queen size bed, two over head beads on each side of the room and a roll away bed. We all slept well each night though. When the cruise ship first took off most of us were a little sea sick but we got used to it pretty quickley.

The weather was not the best, but you cant expect Summer weather in the Winter I suppose. The temperature was actually really nice, but the wind blew the entire time. I don't think it mattered the temperature with that cold ocean wind blowing. Brrrrrr So swimming wasn't as fun as we would have hoped, but they got in and tried a few of the water slides.

 I never captured a great picture of all the slides on the back of this boat, but it really was amazing.

To be continued............

New Years Party

The Woodwards, Swint and Church families put on a fun family New Years Party this year. They were very brave to invite several families over for a party. It was a very full house of kids running around, but so much fun. We all met for food, and then headed out for a picture scavenger hunt. Here are a few of our pictures that didn't work out so well, but we had fun running around figuring out the clues. We almost won but the Church family got back first because they didn't even get out of the car. They didn't understand that the family needed to be in the pictures, but that's ok. We know who the real winners were. hehe

The kids ran around together while the adults played a fun game, and then we all counted down to the new year about nine o'clock. Perfect for all the kids.

Sparkling cider, hats and blow horns made it super fun celebration.

Cute, cute friends!

Cheers to the New Year!

They even had a fun backdrop for everyone to take their family picture by. We had a great time, and lets hope 2013 treats us all well.

December Ice Skating

We were able to go to Lake Las Vegas while the kids were on winter break. It was so warm outside that there was a water puddle in the middle of the rink. At first they stayed away from the water, but kids will be kids and they all ended up with wet clothes by the end. It was a cold, wet ride home but hot chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory saved the day.

Micah gets the father of the year award for going out with Aliza. She has had to just watch the other girls skate that past few years because they didn't have ice skates small enough for her. She was ecstatic when she found out that they had her size. It was the smallest size they carry, but they were finally able to fit her.

There was a very good ice skater showing off while we were there. I could tell Abbie and Avery were watching her very closely. Soon they were trying all sorts of twirls and tricks themselves. I was impressed that they tried and did pretty well at them.

At first Aliza was hanging on to the side railing, but it didn't take long for her to catch on and take off on her own.

Nice catch Micah. Notice even falling she had a big grin on her face.

Avery is standing in that lovely puddle in the middle of the rink. The kids were just flying through it and of course all took a turn falling in the cold water. BRRRRR

I don't know if you can see it, but right by Micah's face is a snow ball Aliza is throwing. Since we don't see snow too often anymore it really is a novelty that just was too tempting to gather up and throw.

The girls kept begging and begging to stay longer which leads me to believe that they had a great time. It was a fun day.

We tried a new place to eat called Nacho Daddy before ice skating. It was fun that they have a photo booth in the waiting area. Here are our silly little ladies.