Cruisin'

We got home yesterday from our vacation. Before the New Year we had decided that we would skip a big vacation this yera and opt to spend a night or two at the beach in an effort to save money before the new baby arrives. You can understand our excitment when Aaron's parents invited us to go on a cruise with them! It all came about quickly...the invitation was offered, we happily accpeted, and 2 weeks later, we're on our way to Mexico via a "big boat" as Caroline calls it. We had a wonderful time with Opa and Oma, and are so appreciative of them for sharing their vacation with us. The trip was so much fun! The weather was a bit cold at times, and windy, but it was so beautiful and fun! Once we reached Mexico, the sun shone beautifully and we experienced some true warmth! I will give you fair warning...this will be long and have a lot of pictures. I'll try to give a short explanation of the pics as we go along! :)


Aaron loves Sushi and the first night we were on the ship, as we walked around exploring, he discovered a Sushi bar. All the food was included in the price of the trip, so he could have as much as he wanted!



This was our first night at dinner. We had the best wait staff and the food was DELICIOUS! It's hard to see our waiter...Mardani, but he is making a napkin move around like a snake. Caroline loved it and loved him! She would just giggle and talk to him! All the staff loved Caroline..she had quite a few admirers. Mardani was from Indonesia, and he has a wife and 3 children at home. He was very excited because he will be going home to them for 3 months on February 13th, and then he will return to the ship for another 3 months, and then he will be able to retire and be at home with them all the time. It is so hard to imagine being away from your family for so long a time (usually 9 months out of the year), but he was doing it for them, to support them and take care of them in a way he wouldn't have been able to otherwise. He was really great and made each dinner fun for us.

We were given Mardi Gras beads when we board the ship and Caroline loved them!

Here we are on the top deck of the ship. I made sure Caroline stayed in her stroller while up there so there wasn't a risk of her going overboard!




Our second night at dinner was even more enjoyable than the first. Ronald, Mardani's assistant waiter made Caroline a boat out of a Children's menu and she enjoyed that very much. While we sipped coffee and ate dessert, the Wait Staff all sang and danced. Caroline loved it! It's hard to see them, but Mardani and Ronald are dancing and they were right behind Caroline. She really enjoyed clapping and dancing along with them.

On Saturday, we went on a tour of Cozumel, Mexico. This was a parrot who's picture cost $5. People there bring their exotic animals out on the street and charge you to take their picture. Aaron cheated though, and snapped this when the owner wasn't looking.

Here we are standing in the middle of a scale model of a Mayan village.


We posed in front of some more Mayan scale models. Aaron liked this one because it was orange and he blended in...and I'm posing in front of the temple of the Mayan goddess of fertility and childbirth. OK...yes, I realize I already look 6 months pregnant, and no, I'm not really thrilled about it. I've actually lost weight though...even with the cruise, so it's definitely all baby. A small comfort.

At the end of the Mayan scale models was a model of modern day Cozumel...along with an intersection dipicting a car accident. There was no explanation of why it was there, but we had to take a picture.

Mayan temple ruins.

Here is Aaron, contemplating life in a 500 year old Catholic church that reminded him of "Nacho Libre."



Isn't the view gorgeous?

This is what Caroline and Oma were doing while we were out on the beach. The highlight of Oma's day, I think. :)

This might seem like a very random picture, but there is a story behind it. We ate lunch that day at a WONDERFUL little restaurant recommended by our tour guide. We had fish tacos (DELICIOUS) and shrimp quiesadillas (SCRUMPTIOUS). After eating, we had about 15 minutes to look around the shops before having to catch the bus. Oma went on back to the bus, but we looked in the shops. I kept telling Aaron we needed to get going, that the bus was going to leave us, and he insisted his mom wouldn't let that happen. Anyway....we leave the restuarant and there is no bus waiting for us. Oh, I was M-A-D. Aaron went down the street to make sure it wasn't parked at the other entrance and ran into our tour guide, who was checking that no one was left in the shops. It turns out that Oma did tell them we were coming, but the bus had to turn around. We were fine, and I felt foolish for being mad at Aaron. He told the tour guide she had saved our marriage.

Our little rock star.

We had such an amazing trip! It was relaxing and fun, and we truly enjoyed the time with Opa and Oma. So fun! Now for the laundry...