Our Anniversary Adventure 2015: Mexico!

We got to go on the funnest Anniversary trip this year! We used some of our tax refund and booked a CRUISE to Catalina Island and Ensenada Mexico! It was really really really really really really really really (add a few more here for good measure) hard for me to leave Brynlee, but I am so grateful for  all of the wonderful people who helped us with her while we were gone! Mostly to my grandma who took over full time mom duty for a few days! She is the best! By the time I got back Brynlee called for me in the mornings by yelling "Grandma!" haha. We left on a Sunday morning super early and headed to California. It was weird because it POURED rain the whole way there...not exactly cruise weather but...ya know...what do you do? It finally cleared up when we got close to the boat...but it was still FREEZING cold. Strange. We were definitely glad that we brought our jackets.

This was us at a gas pit stop! Just two love birds road trippin it!

We had to stand in line for quite a while before we could get on the boat and we were so cold...

 Once we finally boarded the boat we went to our rooms that they said would be ready...only it wasn't. So we had to carry our luggage around the boat with us for a while. SO lame. But we went and got some lunch because we were starving and it was free!

It was so cold. 

And windy.

But we still love each other! Plus it gave us lots of time to cuddle ;)

 We did our emergency training which was absolutely freezing and got inside as quick as we could. We signed up for any time dining so once in was in the dinner hour we decided to go get dinner! It was such a fancy restaurant! I ended up getting lasagna and it was gross. But this chocolate melting cake was delicious! We got one just about every night :)

When we got back from dinner we found this little guy on our bed!

 We were supposed to get to Catalina Island the next day and we planned to bike ride around and see what there was to see. Unfortunately, when we got there the water was too rough and they couldn't get us to shore safely so we ended up having to cancel that day. Don't worry though...they gave us back $7 each for docking fees and what not. Totally worth the missed experiences :/ I didn't think it would be a big deal, but I ended up being really sad by the end because we ended up having two full days at sea and there just wasn't really that much fun stuff to do. We spent some time on the top deck though because it was FINALLY warm enough to be outside. We watched the birds and we actually saw a dolphin swimming by the boat! We sat on the benches inside by the window and colored and took 2-3 naps...I can't remember exactly. It was relaxing...but boring. The only fun part of that day was that we met some friends at dinner. They were seated so close to us that we couldn't help but talk to each other! It turns out it was two LDS couples from Utah! We instantly hit it off with them and arranged to meet for breakfast the next morning together! We also decided to always eat breakfast in the dining room because they had the MOST DELICIOUS HASH BROWNS I HAVE EVER EATEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. Every morning I asked the waiter to bring me at least 3 servings because they only gave you two tiny ones.

Finally warm enough to be outside! And plus my husband is dang cute.

So it wasn't actually warm enough to take off your coat...but it was close enough!

The water at night was so beautiful! We stood here for at least 20 minutes all by ourselves just staring.

That night was fancy night and we got to see a show! They did a show called Divas and it was the most amazing show. I was blown away by the talent and even Spencer liked it! We are super duper huge fans of theirs!

And what is up with this scandalous...koala bear?

 The next day was MEXICO!!! Spencer was so excited! We decided to go see la boufadora (Sp) aka the blow hole and when we were on the bus to the little station area, they told us that if we bought excursion tickets from them it was super duper cheap! So we decided to go horseback riding on the beach and then go see the blow hole. Best. Decision. Ever.  It was seriously a blast. The water was beautiful and we had a little mexican boy helping us that Spencer talked to. I would totally do it again.

Us getting ready to conquer Mexico

I mean...really...we went horseback riding on the BEACH. 

 We got on the bus again and headed towards la boufadora. That was some of the prettiest views I have ever seen. I took all of these pictures with my phone... There was just something about this place that I could sit and stare at all day. And we kinda did.

Spencer in front of the blowhole

We kinda looked fantastic

We ate lunch at this place called the Habana Banana. The food wasn't that good, but we got a view of the ocean and a place to sit down!

Oh yeah. And the most delicious virgin pina colada ever. We actually refilled it because we just couldn't get enough. And it was out of a REAL pineapple. We actually got it originally so we could get some cash (our conversion in our minds wasn't quite right we had no money. It was wonderful). We shopped a little, haggled a lot, and came home with two little dolls for Brynlee.

This was our bus driver and tour guide and she was hilarious. She made the whole day more fun.

 Once we got back to the bus station (we barely made it too...we almost missed our bus) we sat down because my feet were KILLING me and I needed a rest. Spencer let me know that he was kind of disappointed in the day because he had hoped it wouldn't have been so touristy and that he could actually experience real Mexico and talk to people. I told him I was so sorry and that we could still go walk around if he wanted. So we walked and found their big strip of stores and decided to just look a little more. Spencer wanted a marionette so we kept our eyes open and eventually found one. He loves it. We also got Brynlee a little Mexican dress that she only wore once because the guy gave me the wrong size but Spencer didn't want to go back and my feet hurt.

The little orange sign cracked us up: "If you break it, you have to pay ok"

Walking the streets of Mexico...

There was this really creepy clown head in back of the bus station. 

 We decided to call it a day a little early and go back and take a nap because I was just about as warn out as I could be. That night was a show called Epic Rock and it was good, but not as amazing as Divas. We also saw the Love Game Show that night and laughed SO HARD. We slept like babies that night and listened to some terrible piano playing/singing that we avoided for the rest of the trip.

 The next morning was our day at sea so we decided to sleep in and get in some good old fashioned snuggle time! I love my sweet husband. We had some warm weather again for the WHOLE day that next day and we spent some good time up on the top deck. We played mini golf, listened to the music, laid on the beach chairs, and just spent some time together. That night was the fancy dinner night and we met up with our cruise friends (at this point we still didn't know their names!). We decided to go the the Hasbro the Game Show that afternoon and had a ton of fun with our cruise friends! We decided that night to go see Divas again because they hadn't seen it and we liked it THAT MUCH.  It was a fun day.

Our cruise friends Sam and Tyler on our left and Meagan and Colby on our right

I think some of my days and adventures might have gotten mixed up but I got all of the important stuff! We went to the comedy club a couple of nights, we had yummy food, and we really loved spending 5 whole days with nothing to do but be with each other and be best friends. I would do it again once a month if we were filthy rich, let me tell ya. I was SO HAPPY to get back to my baby girl and she was super happy to see me which made it even better! I don't know when I will leave her like that again, but it made the trip more fun not having to worry about her at all. Happy 3 year anniversary to us!!!