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Bet you didn't know I have my own street on Catalina Island!

Cruise Craziness

 

Here are some of our silly shots. The workers on the boat are mostly all from other countries. We had some awesome waiters, Eduardo from Brazil and Erich from the Phillipines. They were so funny! They had a couple nights where all the waiters danced around the restaurant for everyone. They liked pulling Daniel and Erin up to dance with them. Good times! The maids put a different "towel" animal and chocolate on your bed each night. The kids had fun with that. They had all kinds of classes and kid clubs on the ship, but we mostly just hung out together, mini golfing, eating, swimming and more eating, and just having a good ol' time! Remember, just double click on the collage to see a bigger version.

I thought this was a cute picture of Marlee - maybe even good enough for her facebook profile! LOL

Shots from around the ship. The first day they have a mandatory life jacket training where they show you how to put on your life jacket. The jackets have a light and whistle too! And for those of you who've seen Titanic, they actually do have enough little life boats for everyone nowadays! ;)

La Bufadora

 

We got off the ship in Ensenada and took a bus tour to the blowhole, La Bufadora!

La Bufadora is a marine geyser, or Blowhole, located on the Punta Banda Peninsula in Baja California, Mexico. The spout of marine water (occurring every minute or so to varying degrees of height) is created when ocean waves and air are drawn into an underwater cave located in the cliffside, and the trapped air and water then explode upwards. This interaction not only creates the upward-shooting spout, but a thunderous noise as well. La Bufadora is the second largest blowhole in the world, and can shoot upwards as high as 80 feet above sea level.

Probably the most fun thing about Ensenada was right there where the ship docked, a whole herd of seals were just hanging out. We never would have noticed them if they hadn't been barking away at each other. . . I bet they're bickering just like our kids!

Catalina Island!

 

At Catalina Island we had to be "tendered" off the boat, which I found out just means put in a smaller boat and taken to the island. I guess the big boat couldn't get close enough to shore or to the dock. We rented a little golf cart and drove up around the hills. It was so fun! All the streets were tiny and mostly had only golf carts on them. It was like a mini town! We had fun shopping and watching windsurfers and parasailers.

 

This is "formal night," which for us means "church clothes." The ship designates one night as formal night and everyone gets gussied up to go to the dining room for dinner. It was fun seeing how some folks define formal night in their sequins and diamonds. Maybe someday I will buy a fancy dress for such occasions!

Cruise

We busted out and did it! Our kids still hadn't forgotten that they didn't get to go on a vacation over the summer so we had planned on heading to Disneyland, but got to adding it all up and realized that it was about the same price as taking a cruise (what with all the good deals going right now). So we took all the kids on a 4-day cruise from San Diego to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico! It was great!