Spring Break Cruise!

I know all these blog posts are documenting older news, but since my blog is our family journal, I can't forget to blog about the cruise Justin and I took with my family during spring break. It was a shorter 4-day cruise from Long Beach and it hit Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. Cruising for me is really all about the company. Mexico is Mexico, no matter which stop you make. It's all the same cheap trinkets and other crapola that I'm not going to buy (save a token cheap trinket for the kids). Catalina Island is a total bore if the weather isn't good and you aren't there to hit the beach (which we weren't because it was cold anyway). The funnest part is just spending time with my parents and siblings. Going places together, eating a two hour dinner together at night and the occasional lunch or breakfast together during the day, playing cards, hitting the late night buffets or shows, Karaoke (though nobody wanted to do it this time), etc., THOSE things are what cruising with family is all about.

Here are a few pics:
Justin and I played A LOT of Hand and Foot with my parents. Almost too much, but we kept losing so Justin kept wanting to play again and again to try and start winning.
 My dad was in a good mood from winning so often...


For the formal dinner night, Justin and I thought it would be fun to go totally retro. He wore this old suit of my dad's (literally it's at least 30-40yrs old) and I found this dress at Saver's. We thought it would be hilarious but then everybody actually liked Justin's suit and didn't think it was as funny as we did. Oh well...



We forgot to take pictures in Catalina, I guess it's because we rode in a golf cart with Duane and Angie and Angie is a photographer so I let her take all the pictures. But just for the record, we all rented golf carts and toured Catalina Island for a few hours. Then I was bored and cold so we got back on the boat.

At Ensenada we all signed up to get couple's massages at this place Justin and I found when we hit Ensenada on our anniversary cruise in December. While the first few people were waiting to go, we went and rented an ATV to go riding on the beach. DJ & Rachele rented a RHINO and Duane and Angie got an ATV too.
 Duane & Angie
 Duane spent $20 on firecrackers that were prohibited on the boat, so he just kept lighting the darn things on the beach...

There was a little sand dune area where the boys couldn't help but jump, Dean even got all four wheels of the RHINO off the ground.
 Justin got the most air, which would probably explain why our engine/transmission was totally acting up all the way back to the rental place...

My mom and Dad were selected out of the audience to be the longest married couple on the Newlywed Show on the boat. It was fun to see them get so embarrassed. The host changed probably 90% of my Dad's answers to make the audience laugh. One of the questions to the wives was "Name and describe your husband's last girlfriend". My Mom wrote the woman's name and said she was nice and pretty. When the host read my Dad's "answer" he said that my Dad wrote that she was "hot n' easy" and that sure got a roar out of everyone. We knew the host was changing my Dad's answers by that point ;)

 All three couples on the stage ended up being LDS, and all of them received a bottle of champagne for their participation, and three lucky suckers in the lounge ended up getting a free bottle of champagne at the end of the show.

So apparently everyone in the world has a twin. Mine was on the cruise ship. My Dad, brother, and Justin all confused this girl and me (my brother even called to her thinking it was me, and when she turned around he went the other way). From behind she really did look just like me. I don't know what it is, maybe our droopy shoulders and our jeans and T-shirt style, but after we all stalked her for a while my mom went up and talked to her and we got a picture of us together (though it's not a clear one). Dean said we shouldn't meet because the universe would implode because we aren't supposed to cross paths with our twins ;)
 From behind she really did look like me. Adaira saw this picture below and wanted to know what little boy I was walking with on the cruise. She said "Is that Brighton?" and I said "No." Then she said "But that is you, who is that boy?" and I told her it wasn't me, and she was confused.
 It's really hard to get a front shot of someone when you are trying to be so discrete about it...

All of us at the comedy show

 Playing ROOK late at night up on LIDO deck

It's always fun to spend time with my brothers and their wives. Just wished Don & Dia could have made it (they didn't want to leave their babies and Dia was out of town on business and didn't get home until the day before we left on the cruise)

Oh yeah, when we were all back on the boat for dinner after our stop in Ensenada, we all got a kick out of this necklace my mom showed us that she had purchased that day. "I thought it looked like a nice fern..." she says, and we all laughed at her since it is clearly a marijuana leaf. Sweet innocent Barbara...



On the way home we stopped for gas and saw this dude/lady? at the drive through of McDonald's on a power chair! There were cars in front of and behind him/her. How funny is that? Totally blogworthy in my opinion.
.


Comments

Robyn said…
I can hardly believe Duane would want anything to do with an explosive. :)
4/05/2011 12:32:00 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Daisy's baptism day

Today Daisy was baptized by her big brother Brighton. My mom and Adaira got to be the witnesses, grandma Joanna gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, and Dale gave the closing prayer (after Dad has to rush during the closing song to help him put back on his tie and button up his shirt. Brighton was the pianist except for Adaira who played "When I am Baptized" for a special musical number. (A set of twins from another family was also baptized and their kids sang and played the violin). Here is what she has to say about her special day: I felt happy and felt the Holy Ghost. The water was a little cold. At first I was nervous but now I'm happy. I was excited to be baptized and I want to be a kind member of the church. My dad, grandpa Dean and grandpa Dale, great Uncle Dale, uncles Trent, Dean, Don, Duane and David confirmed me. Dad blessed me to seek a testimony of Jesus Christ and of Joseph Smith. He asked her to find quiet times in her life away from screens and devices to be...
Read more
Image
  Memorial Day A couple months ago I told Justin that we should take our kids and both sets of grandparents to the Mesa City Cemetery and tell our kids stories about our family members buried there. I thought it would make a good Sunday or Family Home Evening activity.  I want my children to identify with their ancestors and feel like they can learn from them. I especially want them to feel like they can develop some of the same good qualities or avoid some of the poor ones. They had also never been to a cemetery so it would be a new experience for them. Justin and I never got around to organizing it until today. Justin's mom was planning a lunch BBQ and swimming for Memorial Day and told me she was thinking of inviting my parents and asked about time preferences since she was thinking of doing it around dinner time. The idea of the cemetery popped into my head and I mentioned that I thought it would be neat to do the BBQ earlier in the day and then take everyone out to the...
Read more