OOOOOOHHHHHHHH, MEXICO!

Oh, Mexico

It sounds so simple I just got to go

The sun's so hot I forgot to go home

Guess I'll have to go now

~James Taylor

I love Mexico. In some ways, it feels like my home away from home. Typically speaking, the people are super friendly, humble and grateful for your presence (and money). Three things that often we forget as American's. I have been to Mexico now about 30 times. Maybe more. This time, we went with our family and a few neighbors on a cruise with stops in the ports of Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. We didn't get as much out of the trip as we had hoped, but it was still a fun time. Here are about a trillion photos from our trip. The lens on my SLR was tripping out so I had to use the smaller camera. It is new and for some reason most of the pictures turned out blurry, so I was disappointed. I wasn't sure though if it was the camera or me. I had been wearing a patch and the major side effect is blurriness of vision. When I got home I realized it was not me, but the photos. Anyways, enjoy!

This is Leah the week before we left. We had the Ashbys and Mike Shelly (Sherilyn was ill) over to discuss the trip. Leah is wearing my sombrero and being held by Uncle Joe.

The morning we left, we all met at Scott and Cynthia's home. The girls were excited as it was their first real vacation. We loaded up the truck with all the luggage, but ended up being delayed by the cruise ship.

Apparently, the Captain had a heart attack while at sea so they had to turn around and drop him off at Cabo San Lucas, which put them a bit behind. Actually more than a bit. We were supposed to board at 2pm, but ended up not getting on until almost 9pm.

So to kill some time, we toured the Queen Mary. This was pretty cool. I had been on her before, but not the engine room.

We got to explore the entire engine room and see what it was like to live on this ship as it was used in WWII as troop transportation. She was called the Grey Ghost.

Here is Sarah acting as Captain. We never told her it was permanently docked. She thought she was really steering! HEHE.

Hailey, Leah and Mady posing next to the Queen Mary painting.

It got so annoying waiting to get on the ship. The facilities were awful and there was hardly any organization. Carnival can learn a few things from the other cruiseliners.

Mostly it got super tiring to just stand and wait.

They finally started boarding and luckily we were zone 5 out of roughly 20 zones.

Leah was a champ! She hardly fussed the whole night. None the less we were all excited to get into our rooms and crash!

Our first cruise was on a Carnival cruise. It was a 3 day trip to Baja on Carnival's oldest ship. The ship was awful, but the food was good. We must have had a good time because it turned us into "Cruisers", as we have been on six cruises in seven years! This was Carnival's biggest, newest and greatest ships. On a scale of 1-10 I would say it was a 7. Having now been on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, Holland American, and Norwegian, I would rank Carnival last. With that said, we still had a fun time and the price was right, so...

Leah was tired, which means she was funny!

And then out!

We didn't eat a whole lot on the ship. Actually, I lost a pound. I think the biggest benefactor was Leah. Everyone was feeding her what I call "crap"! Stuff that we all eat, but that I would hope Leah could steer clear of. Oh well, she is also on vacation.

My two ladies. I love them like crazy.

We played Bingo several times. It sucked. The games would be over so fast. If they were playing a game that required 5 spots, they would call 5 numbers and someone would have Bingo! Almost every time it was like that. What a waste.

I think I caught Hailey eating pizza at least 4 times. This girl loves to eat! Of course, she is skinny as a rail. Not fair. The food was good, but not great. They did a great job of creating an elegant meal with the perception that it was amazing food, but really it was just okay. We typically eat better when we go out. The good thing was that it was all included in the price. Their best food was their french fries and flour tortilla chips.

We got a suite because we weren't sure how much time we would spend in the room. It turned out to be a great decision. With Leah we always turned in early and there were a couple days where Leah and Sarah were deathly ill. It helped to have a larger bathroom and living space to spread out on those days we were stuck inside.

Leah loved crawling around everywhere. Just like at home, her favorite spots were the bathroom and the closet.

These are our amazing neighbors, Mike and Sherilyn Shelly. This is our second cruise with them. We spent more time with them on the last cruise, but we didn't have Leah or illness. We wish we had been able to spend more time with them this time. What good people. Fantastic examples for us.

The Newlyweds, Scott and Cynthia Trosper

Leah being fed Strawberry Bisque by none other than the Ashbys. I think most of Leah's new food experiences come at the hand of them! NO SODA THOUGH PLEASE! HAHA.

Candace and Elder Tyler Ashby. Tyler recently got his mission call to serve the people of Pittsburgh, PA. He will do a great job.

My wonderful Mom. I call her Mum. Of course, if you read this blog you probably already know that.

This is Dad. I call him D. O. D. or Dear Old Dad.

Hailey, Samantha and Madyson TrosperS

Samantha and Jim Trosper

Sarah loves her sweet tooth. She embraces it. Hence, thousands and thousands of dollars spent at the dentist!

Us and our waiter. I already forgot his name! I am sure someone will remind me. He was a nice older man from Turkey. Quiet, reserved and polite.

We loved our view and our balcony. Here Leah is waking up to the sunlight

This ship had a small waterpark on it. It was fun, but the water was cold.

I am not sure if Leah's face is one of surprise, enjoyment or shock from the cold water. Probably a mix of all three.

Leah especially liked the balcony. She would have been happy spending every minute out there.

Just one of many beautiful sunsets.

Our room steward was Joseph. He was from India. I enjoyed chatting with him about his family and life in India. He seemed happy to talk about them as well. He sure earned his paycheck with us and pukey Sarah and Leah. We tipped him well though.

Samantha and Leah watching the very bad Karaoke singers

The Brothers Trosper

Always goofing off!

Cynthia and Scott in Puerto Vallarta

The Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic church

Beautiful architecture

The shoreline had dozens of beautiful statues and artwork. It was a nice town.

Jim and Sam on the seawall.

What is that light spot on the back of my head. Whatever it is, it seems to have spread all over Jim's head.

Jim, Scott and Marque

Sarah went in the morning to swim with dolphins. She joined us later in town for some sightseeing and lunch.

We were going to eat at the Cheeky Monkey because it had a great view and a cool name. NO MEXICAN FOOD! So we left.

The Chinoans in front of the Dragon Chino Restaurant Bar

We finally found this Mexican seafod restaurant on the beach. Good food and drinks.

I always take pictures of signs. Everyone who knows me knows that. Though this sign would not have made my cut by design alone. The name and motto was creative and unique. A bit dirty, but creative and unique none the less.

Sarah and Candace on their way to swim with the dolphins. They had a fun time.

Mexican military at the cruise terminal

Wonderful Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

Sarah wasn't feeling so hot, so I left her on the ship while Leah and I went into town to bargain for wares.

Leah loves Tyler. This took a while to get to this point. She used to not like him at all.

I thought this was a funny pic. Jim was wearing all white and was in a shirt store of all white shirts. Maybe he needs to get a little more bold and add some color! HAHA. Good pic though.

Why is Leah scared to death and screaming in Mexico?

Because of Tyler the Lucha Libra!

Joe enjoyed haggling with the merchants

This store owner looked just like Jim. It was insane! Jim has a Mexican twin!

This is Leah and me on a water taxi in Mazatlan.

DOD, Whimpy and Scooter on the water taxi going to Stone Island

Our cruise ship was the second.

Beautiful Sarah and Mum on the water taxi.

Scott practicing being a Dad. He will do just great.

Sarah on the Mexican vessel, "II Hermanas" or "Two Sisters"

Some El Mariaci singers wandering the shore

We parked our butts in front of a grass shack called Victor's. This was at the suggestion of our friends the Harris' and Jackson's who had gone on this same cruise a month before us. Great suggestion.

You can't tell from the pictures, but the sand was gold. There were literally gold colored flecks in the sand that shimmered in the sunlight. Leah loved the sand.

And of course the water which was quite warm for the Pacific Ocean.

My two beach babes.

My Mum, LaRue from Gidget. She stayed out of the sun so her pasty white Scottish skin didn't fry!

Some of our group went riding up and down the beach. Here is cowgirl, Brenda in her most appropriate riding wear.

Hailey Leilani Trosper ready to go. (She is the rider, not the horse)

Jim and Madyson Nicole Trosper on Trigger.

This is Joe. The horse looks harmless enough, right? It bucked Joe off. His back is still black and blue and hurts like nothing else.

Hailey and Candace

Sarah trying to keep our daughter with the porcelain white skin from burning.

Sarah loves frosty tropical beverages in the sun. Victors served up some fantastic coconut shrimp and garlic shrimp. MMMMMMMMMM!!! Everything tastes better when there is sand between your toes!

My Gremlin and My Cupcake by the Victor's sign.

DOD and Leah. A perfect match. They both like to sleep a lot.

Leah was really sleepy and cuddly this day at the beach. Turns out she was coming down with Montezuma's revenge.

The Old Man and the Sea

Our group, the Shellys, The Trospers, The Trospers, The Danbys, The Ashbys, The Trospers and The Trospers

Our group being silly!

Joe is in his element at the beach. Though I believe this pic was taken before he was bucked off.

Stone Island Harbor

I took this pic because one of my secretaries is named Paloma.

Leah on the balcony. She LOVED it.

Leah's favorite thing to do in the entire world, very well may be looking at herself!

Pulling into Cabo San Lucas

The Cabo Tender service

This day, Jim was sick, so we took the girls off their hands and took them into Cabo San Lucas!

The Huge Carnival Splendor

I bought that Mexican dress for Leah in Puerto Vallarta. Sarah was required to wear a sticker that showed the age of her husband. Weird, eh?

The docks of Cabo

We went to this fish taco restaurant that Scott and Cynthia had discovered on their honeymoon. Tacos Gardenia. Very good.

The girls liked it. They ate as much as their uncle did!

Great suggestion guys.

Here are my two shrimp tacos and my chicharones taco. The Guava daquiri was fantastic!

Bad boy.

What a hot Senorita!

Big Sombrero, Small Sombrero. We had fun shopping with the girls, though they could not find a souvenir out of all the stuff there.

This guy painted himself gold and then rolled around in the sand. He looked like a sand sculpture up close.

After a long day in Cabo, a nap was in order.

Sarah playing Sudoku on the balcony

Los Archos at Lovers Beach

Lovers Beach, Pacific Ocean side.

Again with the looking at herself thing. She spent half of the time in the room doing this.

Beautiful Sarah Kathleen

Leah Caitlin Bliss

Madyson Nicole

DOD

MUM

Cynthia

Hailey Leilani

Brenda

Candace

James David (He made an appearance and quickly went back to the room to be sick)

Samantha

Mike (He went stag this night because Sherilyn was feeling sick)

Joe (Should I be worried about that look he is giving me)

Scott Andrew

The Danbys

Our waiter loved Leah

Leah loved all the towel animals

She especially loved the ice cream!

Mum and DOD watched her a few times so we could see a show or go of the ship. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Mom got dragged up on stage in Kamikaze Karaoke

This is what we came home to. 8 degree weather and snow. Makes me wish I was back in

O Mexico!

It sounds so simple I just got to go back

The sun is so hot I wish I had forgot to go home

I guess I am stuck at home now

Oh well, the day after we got back, we booked and planned our trip to Hawaii in February!!!