Go Back

I wanna go back on my cruise!!!  I just want to escape!!!  I am feeling really overwhelmed and very emotional right now.  It seems as though when I landed in Calgary that my life became really complicated, very busy and I just can't keep up and I can't get control over my emotions.  I feel as though I am failing in everything and I don't know how to fix it.
- My kids are all really sick
- Some friends of mine gave birth to a baby girl who passed away that same day
- Because of this baby, I have been thrown back into all of my emotions surrounding Robin's birth
- I forced Abby to take her cello exam even though she has been really sick and I am quite sure that she won't get a good score because she was still so sick
- I came home to a house that I haven't been able to clean since Otto lost his job
- I have had several scheduling conflicts which have resulted in me not living up to my responsibilities which is a really hard thing for me to deal with
- I just want to cry all of the time and I can't handle any conflict because I am just so overwhelmed
- I am getting pressure to get things done that are beyond my control and I can't do anything until someone else does their part

So, that's me.  If I look terrible, this is why.  I feel like I just want to escape back to Mexico. . . good thing Otto is working again so that if I decide to go, we will at least have the money!!!!

Last Day

What do you do on the last day of your cruise????
Well, I don't know what your answer to this question is, but this is what I did today:
- Slept In (VERY IMPORTANT!!!)
- Went to disembarkation briefing
- Missed breakfast (because of sleeping in)
- Went to Mexican Fiesta cooking demonstration
- Went to try and sun tan but it was too cold so
- ate lunch
- sun tanned (braved the cold wind and everything!!!  We are diehards!!!)
- watched traditional Indonesian dance (HILARIOUS!!)
- Watched towel folding demonstration and got a book
- Ate dinner (with a special performance from our servers)
- toured the boat one last time
- watched farewell variety show
- visited piano bar
- visited dance club (tried to get mom to dance but she didn't like the music because there was no ABBA)
- chatted with my honey on facebook
- wrote this post
There was packing done in there somewhere too, but I don't really count that as an activity. . . . more a necessity.
So, it's back to the cold white north tomorrow!  I am dreading the snow, but I am so excited to see my Big Guy and our 5 babies!!!!!

Mexican Outback

What did we do in Cabo San Lucas today????  Well we went on a "Mexican Outback Adventure".
What does that entail????  Well, you get to ride in an open air vehicle, take a walk through the desert forest (it has an official name which I couldn't understand), ride on camels, make your own tortillas for a mexican feast and then get dropped off in the middle of Cabo San Lucas.
That's what a Mexian outback adventure basically is!  It was fun, it was windy and Kristin thinks that it was the best excursion that we went on.  My favorite excursion was the whale watching and snorkeling, but they have all been great excursions!
Tonight was also our last formal night on the ship and so after getting our afternoon nap squeezed in, we got all fancied up to go out for a night of eating, show watching, live game shows, dessert buffet extravaganzas, daring camera shots and dancing.  It was fun!  We made lots of memories!!!  I now have some GREAT blackmail photos of Kristin, and it was a good way to spend our second last evening on board the ship.
I do miss my family at home, and I can't wait to see them in 2 more sleeps, but I am also really enjoying being here with my mom and sister!!!
Viva La Mexico!!!

Mazatlan

Today was our excursion to Mazatlan.  It was an educational tour.  We started off on a bus ride through "Old Town Mazatlan" (read the slums) and it didn't leave that good of an impression to us on the cleanliness and beauty of the city.  After we left "Old Town", we stopped at a traditional Adobe brick makers place to see how the handmade Adobe bricks are done the old fashioned way.  The adobe bricks were neat and it was cool learning how they are made (by slinging mud into a mould and drying them in the sun for 10 days) but sad because we saw children running around there all covered in dirt.
Our next stop was to a pottery and furniture "factory".  I put factory into quotations because they were all being made by hand.  Let me just say that the carvings in the furniture were AMAZING!!!!  It is too bad that they don't export their furniture because it is BEAUTIFUL!!!!  And the detail work in the carvings were unbelieveable!!!
We then stopped at a town called Concordia which was this small town of about 12,000 people and it had a beautiful church that was built in the 1700's!!!  The carvings on the church were AMAZING!!!  The only thing that I didn't like was that the town had a really creepy vibe to it and it was really hard to get past that!  I wasn't sad to leave that place.
After Concordia was a town called Cada and it was a beautiful little town of 3,000 people and it was in the Sierra Modre mountains and it was SO Beautiful!!!  I really enjoyed the town and it had these cobblestone type streets and it was just beautiful!  Our lunch was held there at a restaurant and the food was actually quite good!
Finally we took the long bus trip back to the port and we went shopping!  My favorite part was that I was able to buy all sorts of great presents for my kiddies!!!  They are going to be so excited by what I got for them!  I got a little something something for myself too (not just vanilla, though I certainly got some of that too!!!).
So it was a good day, an educational day and I will sleep well tonight!!!
On to Cabo San Lucas tomorrow!!!!

Have you ever wondered?

Have you ever wondered if the Manta Rays that they show you at Sea World are REALLY found in the wild????  I have.  And today, I got my answer!  The answer is YES!!!  Oh my goodness!!!  We saw the HUGEST (is that a word??) Manta Ray swimming along side our boat on our shore excursion today!!!  It was almost as wide as our boat and it was right at the surface of the water just long enough that we could see it, but not long enough for us to take a picture of it. . . . so, I am probably sure that the size of it will increase the more times I tell this story!
Have you ever wondered if you would actually need a sweater in Mexico???  Well, today we had to wear them as we were on the catamaran that took us to this island that reminded me of the pictures that I have seen of the Galapogus (sp??) Islands.  It was quite cold this morning and I was glad that we brought those sweaters!!
Our shore excursion was called Whales, Dolphins and Snorkeling.  When Kristin and I were talking about the excursion earlier on our trip she told me that whenever they say that you will see those kinds of wildlife, she usually doesn't and it was really good of her to say that to me because I didn't really expect to see anything.  But I always wondered. . . . why do they say that you will see these animals then???  Well, I got my answer today!  I saw 3 whales!!!  The first two were on our way to the island and they were feeding, so we would see them about every 7 - 10 minutes or so.  Our tour guide was great and he told us a lot about the whales.  The ones that we saw were humpback whales and it was cool to be close enough to actually see the humpback on them. . . . Suzanne, you would have DIED!!!!
Then, we arrived at the island that has been declaired a bird sanctuary and there where HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of birds on it.  We saw this really cool rare bird that is usually only spotted on the Galapogus Islands and it has blue feet!  My mom got some pretty cool pictures of it (which I downloaded, of course)!  We then went snorkeling around the island where the coral grows, and the water wasn't really clear, but we saw some cool florescent blue and yellow zebra looking fish, a school of yellow tailed fish that swam all around me, purple coral, the brain looking coral, some vibrant blue fish, a sand fish, we got to touch a puffer fish and we saw all sorts of cool fish there.
We then got to spend about 45 minutes at a beach before we had lunch.  It was great and relaxing and the perfect little rest from the swimming.  Then we headed back to the city. . . .
. . .. and that is when the highlight of the tour happened!!!
Have you ever wondered if the whales at Sea World really act the same in the wild with the tails flipping and them jumping and clapping and stuff????  Well today there was this male whale and he was having a grand old time out in the ocean.  He kept clapping his tail, jumping, bridging and even rolled on his back and was clapping his fins and it looked as though he was waving at us.  The bad news is that my mom's water camera had a dead battery, so we couldn't use it to take pictures. . . .. . but Kristin's camera was working perfectly and I got some AMAZING shots of that whale!!!!  I'll have to get her permission to post those when I get home!
So it was a day of wondering and of getting answers!  It was fun!  It was beautiful (about 29 degrees) and it was a day that I will never forget!!!
Tomorrow we are on an educational tour into the mountains!  I'll fill you in tomorrow night!
I love you all!

Fun in the Sun

So, what do you get when you get three Lee girls together under the sun????
Well. . . . a day FULL of suntanning!!!
Yep, other than watch a gorgeous sunrise, some flower arranging, eat, and watch a gorgeous sunset, we pretty much spent the day suntanning!
We didn't JUST suntan though, we read books, drank pina coladas, saw some whales, ate ice cream cones and suntanned some more. . . .there was just nothing else that we wanted to do!
So, tomorrow we are in Puerto Vallarta and we will be snorkling and seeing dolphins and whales.
Until then!
Good night!

Family Day

Today, being Sunday, made me think about my family!  I miss them. . . I miss my hubby, kids, dad, and brother and sisters!  All day I have thought about them and whenever I have seen or done something cool, I immediately have thought about my family.
This morning we started off the day with a walk around the prominade. . . . I thought about Suzanne because she is always giving us health tips and she would have loved to have the ocean breeze go through her hair as she did laps around the ship like we did.
After that, we got to take a tour of the kitchens on the ship. . . . ummm. . . . this will probably be one of the highlights of my trip, and the whole time I kept on thinking about my dad and how much he would have LOVED it!!!  My mom took TONS of pictures for him so that he can see what they are doing in there. . . . watch out dad. . . . she took TONS of pictures for you!!!
Then we saw a boring lecture/sales pitch for some detox stuff, and it made me think of Jason and reminded me of when we went to the Donald Trump seminar. . . . it was the same type of lecture.
After that, we went and saw a demonstration on how they make edible flowers.  I already knew how to make most of them, but there were a few new ones that I can't wait to try out at home!!!  This made me remember my time at the Silver Springs Golf Course when I used to have to make edible flowers every day and it reminded me of being a newly wed and I thought about my Big Guy alot!
After that, we laid in the sun and it made me think about how my sisters, Amanda and Jenna would have loved it. . . . there really is no better suntanning buddies than my sisters!  I missed you guys!  As I walked by the family pool and saw all of the families swimming and spashing around, I missed my kiddies!  I hope that they are having fun at home and I can't wait to see them again!!!
Kristin and I ended up playing a game of chess (I won!) and then we got ready and went for dinner.  It was a formal night, so we were all gussied up. . . . bling and all!
Dinner was fantastic and then we saw an amazing show!  Our show had songs from mostly the 50's to the 80's.  It was amazing!
Finally, we played some cards (I won) and then we looked at stars.  It just wouldn't be a vacation with Kristin if we didn't look at the stars at some point.  And then we finally made it to bed.
My internet is really sketchy here and it takes a really long time to post photos, so I will forgo that for tonight, but I will try and post some tomorrow.
I love you all!
Good-night!

Day of Waiting

Today was the perfect vacation day!  We pretty much spent the day doing nothing!  Yep, that's right. . . . NOTHING!!  I enjoyed every minute of it!!
Today was load the boat day and so after we woke up and spent time at the hotel we waited for our bags to be picked up and for use to be taken to the port.  We had fun going on a little walk and just hanging out until it was time to leave.
As veteran cruisers, we knew to pack a swimming suit in our carry-ons and so once we boarded the ship, we spent the afternoon suntanning on the deck as we waited for our bags to arrive in our rooms.  It was a great afternoon!
That was followed by some eating, exploring, unpacking, eating and a show.
So. . . . what did I do today while I was waiting around???   ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!

And I loved every minute of it!!!

Sunny San Diego

I know I haven't posted for a long time and there are many things that I SHOULD be writing about, but instead I am on vacation, and I promised my family that I would write every night so that they could take a peek at what I have been doing down here.
It all started with -23 degree weather in Calgary this morning. . . . . it made it really easy to board the plane and fly down to Sunny San Diego!  Seriously, it was about 24 degrees down here and BEAUTIFUL!!!
We landed around noon and got to our hotel at 1.  It is a beautiful hotel and after we got settled, my Great-Aunt Jolene picked my Mom, Kristin and I up and spent the day taking us to 3 of the places that we wanted to see the most!
First we became honorary members of the Mormon Battalion, learned about its history, panned for gold and pretty much introduced Kristin to every sister missionary we could see because she will be joining them in March.
The next stop was to the Mormon temple where we had so much fun hearing stories about how it was built from my Aunt Jolene and taking pictures of what I consider one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen!
Our last stop (before dinner) was La Jolla Cove where we gawked at the seals, gathered seashells for my babies, put our feet in the ocean and watched the sun set.  I have never seen the sun set so quickly and it was amazing to see that happen tonight.
We finished off the evening with some dinner at a fabulous seafood mexican restaurant and are now just getting ready to try and sleep before we embark on our cruise tomorrow!!!
So, we are here, we are safe, and we are excited to board the MS OOSTERDAM and cruise down the Mexican Riviera.
I wish you all the best in the freezing cold up north!  I will be thinking of you tomorrow as I suntan on the ship with a virgin pina colada in my hand whilst I laze by the pool!
Until tomorrow!!!