Puerto Vallarta

It’s very scenic there.  This is what you see as you disembark from the ship:

Beauty; unlike anywhere else.

But we didn’t sightsee too much. This is what we did
for most of our Puerto Vallarta visit.

Call us crazy for getting off one boat, only to board another, but we did.  And it was crazy. But also, it was kind of fun.  Kind of. 

This was our view from our seats aboard the Jolly Roger.  Here, we were treated to some first class pirate shows, face painting, singing, and swordfights all on our way to the beautiful Majahuitas Beach. 

During our 90 minute boat ride (yes, it took 90 minutes…EACH WAY), we also went down under the main deck and ate a really authentic Mexican breakfast:

It was delicious.  I totally love Mexican food.

Finally, we made it to the beach.  It was beautiful.  Really.
Once there, you could do snorkeling (but not really as jellyfish were supposedly lurking nearby), beach volleyball, banana boat rides, and kayaking. 

Me, Dave, Ryan, Shane, and Svet opted for the water weenie.  It was my first time riding one out on the ocean, which was kind of a thrill.  And I’m pretty certain, we were the only riders to get dumped on our way back in.

They also provided a treasure hunt for the kids.

Kate listened very intently as they explained how to find the treasure.  She’s gorgeous I think:

After repeated diggings (and dirty hands)
the treasure was found.  Not by Kate, but by another little boy who decided to share the treasure with the rest of the kids.

Kate with her cut of the booty

But aside from all the organized activities, we all really just enjoyed the sun, sand, and water.

Our sweet little Cole Baby napped angelically under an umbrella for most of our time there. I think he liked the beach.
After Majahuitas, we boarded the ship.  We had a chicken cordon bleu lunch with spaghetti and salad (as well as a very refreshing and icy pina colada beverage), all of which I was sure was going to give me a case of the Mexican Poops.  I was fine, my friends, but others of our party were not so lucky:) We had to sit through a little more pirating brouhaha and we were back.  In synopsis: too much time on the boat, not enough time on the beach.

We changed our clothes back on the Disney ship, and then came back out to visit the Mercado, or Market, for the unilingualists.

It was here that we picked up some very important souvenirs:  Kate got her bongo drums; Dave, his Nacho Libre luchador mask; and I (well, I kind of wound up with the loser souvenir)…a magnet, but it was handmade from clay and kind of cute. Kind of.

The Ship

So this was us on Day 1 of the cruise, right after getting on board.  The first day was really pretty crappy.  We had terrible weather leaving L.A., and several of us were seasick and nervous that the ship would be rocking like that the whole time.  Luckily, it didn’t.  And luckily, our seasickness ended (except, of course, until we returned to L.A’s stormy weather the following Sunday).

This was our love nest, Deck 6, room 6004:

They use the term “cabin” for the rooms, which seemed appropriate.  I often think of cabins as a stuffy place where you rough it in the middle of nowhere. These rooms are tiny and not so luxurious all while sailing above the middle of the oceanic abyss…"cabins”, if you will.

These were our servers (L) Gordana from Croatia and (R) Buyani from Botswana:
They were darling.  They screwed up our orders every night and were a tad slow, bless their hearts, but they were sweet.  They, along with the rest of the crew, worked from sun up to sun down and managed to do it with a constant smile on their faces. It was seriously slavery…I don’t know how they did it. 

Speaking of the crew members, we had one go missing on our ship.  I know, right? Crazy, but so sad.  They had to do a mandatory check of all staterooms to try to locate her, all to no avail. When we returned to L.A. after the cruise, her family was there, along with news crews, to meet up with our ship. It makes me sad for her family.

Moving on. The ship had 3 main restaurants (Triton’s, Animator’s Palate, and Parrot Cay), which we rotated through during the week.  There was also the Beach Blanket Buffet and several other poolside food joints, and free room service in case you got the munchies.

The dining room in Animator’s Palate starts out with Black & White sketches on all the walls and picture frames. But throughout the dinner, color starts seeping in and by the time you leave, the pictures and walls are all colored in.

The food on the cruise was alright.  I was enjoying the whole “order an appetizer (or 2), a salad, an entrée, and a dessert” thing, until about Day 4.  By then, I was disgusted by how much I could engorge myself with. Plus, all the food started tasting the same and I was kind of turned off by the food from that point on.

There was, however, an adults-only restaurant, Palo, that you could book (if you were able to get a reservation), which we did.  That food I DID NOT get sick of.  It was awesome, and cooked on-spot (none of that premade food, like everywhere else). They served several courses, and my lobster ravioli deserves a shout-out.  Not to be neglected of mention, it was also pretty romantical watching the sunset with my Baby too.

On board, we saw several plays and movies (hence Kate’s 3D glasses),

played Bingo and lost,
admired ice sculptures,

checked out the sites,

as well as the architecture,

lounged,

met up with millions of characters,

got dressed up for formal night and failed to take a family picture.  Luckily, we got one of Cole Bear.

We celebrated Pirate Night, by dressing up and going to a pirate party on the top deck, complete with characters, fireworks and all.

Afterwards, Kate commented, “Mickey Mouse sure knows how to throw a party!” Yes, he does, Kate.
Another hot ticket event, was the Disney Friends Tea Party.  It’s normally an impossible event to get tickets to, but Dave overheard someone in the hallway giving theirs away, and managed to score them.
I’m not so sure what all the hullabaloo was about.  I mean, they taught you the correct way to drink tea, aka, apple juice (with pinkies up) and eat cookies (slowly, with small bites), and we got to learn the Do-si-do with Snow White, but really, not that neat.
We did enjoy our time at Mickey’s pool and waterslide.  Between excursions and such, we didn’t get as much pool and sunshine as I would have liked, but we got the idea.
The only thing Kate loved more than the pool, was the Oceaneer’s Club, which is where you can take the kids to play free of charge, for as long and often as you or your kid wants. Seriously, kiddie paradise.  They always had crafts, activities, and events at every moment of the day.  They gave her pillow cases, a t-shirt, and multiple crafts.  She won prizes from dance parties, and played with characters in there.  She loved it.  In fact, Kate frequently refused to leave “her class”  when we came to pick her up.

On the last day, the kids could perform in a show on the Walt Disney Theatre Stage.  If you know our child, that was right up her alley. It was mostly just dancing up on stage, but Kate (and her parents and grandparents) ate it up.

Heading to the stage

Dave and I managed to hit the spa a few times for some lovely treatments, so that was pretty much our paradise.  I’m glad we managed to get some adult time.

And in case I haven’t said much about Cole, here he is sporting his captain’s hat souvenir.  Thoughtful Dave decided Cole should get at least 1 souvenir and bought this for him. Seriously, people.  This kid came from heaven.  He’s that perfect.
And last, this is what took place after the announcement that the vacation was almost over:

After 7 days on a boat, the parents were quite ready for home, but apparently, this one could have used a few more days.

~Prizes (or at least props) to anyone who read this post in its entirety.

All Things Disney

It might be safe to say that we’ve checked out every entity Disney has to offer.  Yep.  Pretty sure.  We just got back from our 7-night Disney Cruise to the Mexican Riviera.  The trip was originally set for my brother's family and their friends.  But Dave and I very quickly invited ourselves (we're nice like that).  Soon after, my little brother did the same.  And last, my parents signed up too.  So pretty much it turned into a Nelson Family Event.

I’m never sure where to start when blogging about vacations (there’s just too many details, making it a little too cumbersome to both write and read about).  But I’m thinking I’ll just tackle it in 4 parts: Disneyland, The Ship, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas.

Disneyland:
Before our adventure on the boat, we hit Disneyland. We stayed right across the street at the Carousel, enabling us to wake bright and early for a full day of Disneyland fun.  Most of my family was there, too, making the the trip especially enjoyable. 

A few highlights:
Kate was tall enough to ride Thunder Mountain Railroad for the very first time, which is now her favorite.

Kate also got herself the new Rapunzel dress, and a little face painting done.  She was sure she was the prettiest girl at the park.
***A funny note: after getting her face painted, a black guy came over to her and was saying how much he liked her face paint.  As soon as he walked away, Kate whispered, “Mom, that guy looks like Usher.”  Actually, he kind of did.

Cole:
I’m sorry, but look at him.  He has a perma-smile, even after a long day at Disneyland.  What a darling, darling baby.  I swear to you, he did not give us ANY trouble during our entire trip; he’s just that easy.We had dinner at Mim's, outside of the park. I had an appetizer trio as my entree, and it was an absolutely unforgettable memory of my trip---seriously, so good for just little old Mimi's.

Kid Swap

We've started a kid swap with Ryan and Dren; they get our kids one Friday night, we get their's the next. Not sure why we didn't think of this sooner because it's awesome. Truth be told, Dave and I have always done a lot of date nights and babysitters.  But ever since Cole came along, it's been hard for us to trust our little nieces with a baby.  Needless to say, this arrangement has resolved our issue. Here's our agenda from the past few weekends:

1st kids night (babysitting):
Dinner at Arby's and mini-golf at Trafalga.  Not the most fun night for the Mom and Dad, but the kids had a pee-in-your pants good time (literally...our kid, not theirs).

1st date night:
The movie, "Just Go With It."  We really liked it.  And it was super refreshing to finally see a movie made for grown-ups (and not for kids aged 3 and under). Being pressed for time, we had a quick bite at JCW's. Yuck. I hate that place.  Everything about it seriously makes me sick.  But a person's got to eat and when you're in Lehi, Utah there's not a lot of options.

2nd kids night:
Dinner at the Mayan, aka "The Indiana Jones Restaurant." We had THE BEST table in the joint.  Every time the divers jumped off I was sure they were going to land right on top of my greasy chimichanga* and fried icecream**.  I will say, the food is better; still not perfected, but better. The kids (and the Mom and Dad) truthfully enjoyed themselves.

*don't judge me
**I hear fried foods help with body sculpting?

2nd date night:
The Copper Onion Restaurant. Had never been there before, but it tickled our tastebuds.  We started with the antipasto platter because cheese, salami, and crusty bread always makes for a heavenly night.  For entrees, I ordered the cheeseburger and Dave got the beef stroganoff, and then we shared.  Oh, geez.  Would you all just go there and eat it for yourselves?  I am serious!  It was so beyond good.  And be sure to sit at the Communal Table (like we did). That's an experience. 

Sadly, we had to skip the dessert.  Dave was not happy about this, and would have preferred to skip our next activity.  But it was 7:00 darn it, and time for Samba dance lessons.  Yes, you read correctly, and, yes, I planned it, and, yes, it was freaking awesome.  We were the only couple in our class, along with some solo dude that frequents the place and (I'm pretty sure) had the hots for, Mandy, our teacher. 

Oddly, I was NOT good.  Ask Dave.  He wanted to "see my high school transcripts," claiming that there was no way I could have been a Cavette. RUDE. I, on the other hand, think YOUR moves were crazy sexy, Dave;) You can all vomit now. But it was dang fun! My apologies to the ballroomers in high school; turns out, they knew what was cool after all!

Can't wait to see what's in store for our next night on the town.  Suggestions on amazing restaurants or activities are appreciated.  It's Dave's turn to plan the next one:)

The Renaissance

It’s been over 10 years since I took AP Art History, so many things are foggy in my mind when it comes to art. That being said, I do remember the great Michelangelo’s sculpting process of "taking away” and “freeing” the figure from his mind from the confines of a marble block.

Well, for 6 whole weeks I, too, have been practicing this process of sculpting. I have this image in my mind of what actually lies within this thickened block of cream of mine. It’s beautiful. Trust me. I’ve got the “imagining” part down. The problem is the “freeing.” After many workouts and sore muscles, this is what we’re still left with, people:

How long must I do this before the captive Me can be released?

I think Dave has successfully liberated his sculpture. He looks great; all of his co-workers are wanting to know his secrets. NO ONE wants mine. I’m apparently no Michelangelo.

Now wait…that’s not true. I did create this darling boy without much effort:

Let’s talk about him for a minute. He’s huge. He’s four months old now and wears 12 month pants. His height matches his weight at the 97th percentile. So apparently we’ve got a football player in the works.

He continues to sprinkle his sunshine all around the home. I’ve said it before, but his easy-going, happy attitude makes me think I’m the best mom ever.

And here’s my other sweet baby. She released her ladybugs today. She didn’t seem to care much about the departure of her bugs, as she was much more concerned about collecting sticks.

I, on the other hand, was very concerned about her bugs. They were behaving very strangely at the time of departure.

So that’s it.