Port #2: Mazatlan

In Mazatlan we took a water taxi out to stone island, which is BEAUTIFUL...here we got to ride horses on the beach...yes, I rode a horse!

I simply stood on the beach for hours mesmerized by the waves
coming in and the beauty of it all.
The pictures simply do not do it justice.
It was the most beautiful beach I've ever seen.

Lost in the beauty of it all, I forgot to put sunscreen on,
and suffered the consequence of a very bad sunburn!

As you might have guessed we were surrounded
by many very friendly Mexicans. And so we
did a bit of shopping here as well.

Bryan scoping out the Coconut farm

Yes, believe it or not, this is ME on a horse. I was scared to death, and somehow I ended up on horse that is going blind, notice the patch on his eye. I know that dear horse could sense my
fear, which only made things worse. All the other horses seemed to follow the guide, but my horse had a mind of it's own and kept wondering off, and me with my lack of horse know-how had no idea what to do. Bryan conversed with our guide in Spanish and explained that I didn't understand what to do--I think that helped a little. We ended up going on the little horse excursion twice. The second time the guide gave me a nicer horse and
actually some instruction on how to guide the horse.

Mindy and our horse guide.

What a RELAXING day on the beach--thanks Mazatlan!

Our first port--Cabbo San Lucas

Cabbo--here we come!

Apparently, Cabbo is known for it's rough waves. And I woke up to a bit of sea-sickness, not feeling so good went to REALLY not feeling so good and then I threw-up...and after that I felt much better :)

At this port, we got to ride little boats out to the dock,
they were a bit rocky to say the least--at least I didn't have any food left in me.
Due to rough waves, our excursion to go kayaking and snorkeling got canceled--so we spent the day at the beach instead, which turned out to be WONDERFUL!

Yes! I'm on the Beach.
The beach was so nice and WARM and beautiful,
I loved it!

We had a lot of fun riding the waves.

Yep, That's our boat!--The Norwegian Star.

(Mindy, Bryan)

We stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe to dry off,
and show off our first souvenir, that sweet looking hat I'm wearing
--it's for Sam.

Goodbye Cabbo! Thanks for the great swim!

I thought the morning waves at Cabbo were rough--they were nothing compared to the rocky waves we got that night. You could literally watch the boat rock back and forth and everyone on board looked sick. Bryan and I finally took some motion sickness pills and went to bed. But that was the worst of it...it was smooth sailing from then on.

CRUISING

Yes! Bryan and I had the WONDERFUL opportunity of going on a vacation with just the two of us for SEVEN days!! This being made possible by my parents for being so willing to watch our kids for us--what an incredibly nice thing for my parents to do. We went on a 7-day Mexican Riveria Cruise and it was simply Heaven! And yes, our kid free cruise was WONDERFUL, FABULOUS...much needed, much appreciated...LOVED IT! Thanks so much to my mom and dad for watching our kids!!

We're actually here, on a cruise, just the two of us!
What a dream!

We're cruising now!
(Mindy)

The first 2 days were complete relaxation on the ship.
Games, movies, shows, and the best food!
This is the way to travel!

Shuffle board was fun--even though Bryan won most the time.
(Mindy)

Ahh, the sunsets and sunrises were AMAZING,
one of my favorite parts.
This was the first sunset.


Our room was GREAT! Every night they'd leave
folded towels in the shapes of animals on our bed.
Our first night we got a bunny--must have been
in honor of Oreo, Kelsi's bunny.

Welcome Fall!

Surprise!

Bryan surprised me and installed the sink in our laundry room! It was BIG SURPRISE...something I thought I might get in like 5+years. I do a double take when I walk in the laundry room 'cause I can't believe it's there...it looks great!

We got Kelsi moved and settled into her new room and she loves it! Oreo can visit and has a favorite blanket. The kids are busy with school and playing with Oreo...he is loved by all!...very popular.

Karissa and Kelsi have been sewing clothes for their American Girl dolls...super cute clothes and they've been having a lot of fun making them. They are doing it all by themselves because I don't sew!--they must have got that talent gene from someone else! Jacob wanted to join in the fun, so he sewed a bean bag...Sam and I played with play dough:)

BUSY

Well, last week was like a marathon week. Ended up painting another coat in Kelsi's room--thanks to mom's encouragement and support :) And then Bryan and I painted Jacob's room and bottled peaches, and Bryan laid the floor in Kelsi's room and I had back to school night at the preschool on Wed. and it was Fabulous Friday for Enrichment--that I was partly in charge of as well...needless to say the housework has been neglected, and we are utterly worn out!

Jacob and Kelsi are excited--both of the rooms look great. Jacob is pretty much moved in and settled. Kelsi's belongings are still in the family room--we're almost ready to move her in.

What do you DREAM?

I had just finished reading a bedtime story "Chimps don't wear Sunglasses" to Sam. And he asked me, "Mom, what do you dream?" Of course I told him the dream I've been hoping for years: to be sitting on a beach in Hawaii. Then I asked him what his dream was, and he said, "HUGGING JESUS IN HEAVEN." My heart melted, and I felt humbled by a child, and suddenly my dream of going to Hawaii seemed so frivolous.