Ahoy Mateys! Mexican Riviera Cruise Nov 2009!

San Diego, November 11, 2009
Our ship left port from San Diego, CA in blue skies and cool temps. Jacket weather. We were all so excited, especially Owen and Wesley.

In Our Cabin
I shared a cabin with Wesley and Owen. Unfortunately, Steve couldn't get the time off work, so we had to leave him home. We really missed Daddy! Next time, I hope he'll come. We had so much fun in our cabin. Every night when we were ready to turn in, we came back to the cabin, showered, got in our jammies and watched Looney Tunes until we fell asleep. It's funny how the very trivial things can mean the most.

Formal Night
Formal nights were great. I dressed the boys up in 3-piece suits so we could all look our best. They were so handsome. Everywhere we went on the ship, people stopped us to tell us how nice they looked and how well behaved they were. And they were! I was so proud to be the mom of these amazing little gentlemen. They were so good. Everywhere we went, they were right with me, and they minded so well.




Days at Sea
Our days at sea were nice and relaxing for the most part. The boys did a little swimming. I did a little sun-avoidance. (80% of our skins' premature aging process is due to sun exposure. Come see me at Clinique and I'll show you how to repair it! Bonus Time starts March 22 and presell starts now!) There was a giant chess board and the boys had a great time with that. We also played a little mini golf on the upper deck, but it was so windy! I thought I might lose Weser over the side!
Acapulco
Acapulco was very big! We did a little shopping, a little sight-seeing and a little swimming at the beach. We saw the cliff divers. That was amazing! They jump off this incredibly tall ledge into an impossibly small trench in the ocean. It's crazy! It was the Mexican equivalent of Labor Day that weekend, so it was very crowded with people from Mexico City. The city is not what i thought it would be like, but I'm not sure what I thought it should be.
Zihuatenejo
This was my favorite port. I loved the land, the beach and the people. We took a van with a tour guide and he took us all over the city and the country side. We saw the coconut plantations and a crocodile reserve. And we ended our day at the beach. My dad bought me lunch at a little cantina on the beach. The water was warm and calm. Loved it! The first picture is the house we're making an offer on.
Manzanillo
We got a van in Manzanillo, too, with a driver that knew absolutely EVERYTHING there was to know about the whole area. He took us on a 6 hour tour through Manzanillo, Colima and the small towns around. He was great! He drove us out to Cuyutlan. It's a little town that is right on the coast. It was hit by a tsunami called "The Green Wave" or "La Ola Verde". It's a small quiet village with beautiful beaches. They have salt factories where they pack salt into bags. That was cool to see. I want to go back and stay there for a week or two.
The Tortugario is a sea turtle sanctuary just outside of Cuyutlan. They farm sea turtles from the time they are eggs until they are a couple of days old and then they release them out into the ocean. Sea turtles are endangered, so this is one way to help grow the population since only 1 in 100 makes it to the sea after it is hatched without protection. Our guide took us to see the mature turtles in the pools. Then he took us out to the beach to release our own turtles into the ocean. This was such an amazing experience. I can't think of anything that I've ever done like this. The boys got to name and release their own, so now there are two turtles out in the ocean somewhere named Wesley and Owen.
After the turtle sanctuary, we went to Colima. This city was very pretty and very clean. We walked around the square for a while. There was a gorgeous Cathedral there.

After we left Colima, we went to a set of ruins that was just discovered 8 years ago while the city was excavating to build a housing development. They are still finding more buildings and ruins from this people that they know nothing about. Pretty cool.

I'll shop there!

Yesterday, Wesley (3 1/2 years old) said that he was going to get something from his new store.
"You own a store?" I asked him
"Yes."
"What is it called?"
"Cyber Riders."
"What do you sell?"
"Space rockets."
He's going to be a millionaire.

Seasons

I was in the car last night driving 3 years old Wesley and Owen home from my Mom's house. It was about 5:00 and dusk was falling. Owen said, "It sure does get dark early now."
To which Wesley replied, "Yeah. It's already getting dark so early."
Then a long sigh from Owen and, "Winter time makes me yawn."
This will be the title of my next book.

Furry Costumes and Sticky Kids

So, I always thought my Mom loved Halloween as much as I did. This has always been one of my favorite holidays, if not my most favorite. I love candy, decorations, and scary stories. You can almost at any time find a scary movie on TV throughout the month of October. Now, if you know me well, you know that this is bliss for me! My amazing mother, without so much as a whimper or groan, always made the most fantastic costumes for us, from Princesses and Genies, to Babies and Ladybugs. We were always allowed to trick-or-treat, and we were always allowed to eat all of our candy. Now that I'm a Mom, I'm starting to think that maybe she didn't love it as much as she lead on. I think she may very well be nominated for an Academy Award for 18 years for a pretty convincing performance.
Anything that breaks routine around the Wright household can create a bit of stress for the mom and the kids. Don't get me wrong, I love to see the boys in their costumes and love all of their excitement. Wouldn't trade it for anything. But this year, I thought to myself, "If there had never been Halloween, they wouldn't know the difference." Today was their Halloween Costume Party at school. This morning, was a little rough. In all of their excitement, Wesley and Owen decided that they would make breakfast time not-so-successful. French Toast! Who doesn't want French Toast?! I was lucky to shove 4 bites down each of their gullets. And the costumes...the costumes. So we get buckled in the car and on our way to school. Wesley's hat was having a hard time staying on. At one point while we were on the freeway, it fell behind his head, leaving the elastic strap still lassoed around his neck. Then he pulled it around and twisted it. In an attempt to save him from asphyxiating himself, I took a sharp right onto the 1600 North exit, effectively propelling the Ford Escape into the ditch. Yea Mom! I'll be accepting my "Mother of the Year" award later on today... However, we did make it to school for the Halloween party, and on time for that matter! The boys, unaware of their mother's desperate need for a Zanex, had a great time at the party and even got to bring home a few treats...
It's not even Saturday, yet...

Pumpkin Patch!

For our annual Pumpkin Carving Activity, we went to the Wright Farms and found our pumpkins at their bountiful pumpkin patch. Okay, so it was our own garden. And we only grew three pumpkins. And only 1 was big enough to carve, but we were really excited! The other two were decorated with markers. The boys had a great time and we can say, "We grew our own pumpkins to carve!!" (Apparently I'm yelling it, hence the double exclamation points.)

T & A

That's right. T & A as the hospital refers to it. Wesley had a Tonsilectomy and Adenoidectomy. This has been a great stress to this family. Poor little guy just keeps getting sick. Plus, he snores and doesn't get a good night sleep. So we, along with Dr. Grimmer from Primary Childrens' Hospital, made the decision to have them taken out. I am excited for Wesley to start feeling better. Recovery is rough, but I know it will be worth it. We got to Primary's at 11:00 am to get ready and do all the pre-op stuff. He got to play in the waiting room with all the great toys while we waited for the Dr to come and get him. He went in at 1:00 and was out by 1:30. When I went into the post-op room after his surgery, he was just coming out of his anesthesia. He was hysterical. They said that that is a common reaction coming off the anesthesia. He started to calm down when he saw me. We took him right into the recovery room where Dad joined us. He wouldn't lie down in the hospital bed, so I had to hold him while he slept off the rest of the medicine. That was rough. Wait..no...no it wasn't. He's not typically a cuddly kid, so I ate up every second of holding him! His sats dropped alot while he was sleeping so he had to have some o2 blowing on him to keep them up. As he became more coherent his sats normalized. Got him dressed and we were out of there by 4:15. The doctor said he was great and had no problems at all. Even going into the operating room without us, he was a champ. That's our tough little guy. Now that we're home, we're just taking it easy. He is a little drowsy from the pain meds. His voice is totally different. It's high and really quiet. I wonder if it will go back to normal. All in all, he did great! What an amazing kid.

2009 Teamsters' Labor Day Celebration at Lagoon

For the Teamsters' Labor day Celebration, we went to Lagoon. It was so fun! The boys had a great time. While we waited for the park to open, we let the boys play in the fountains. Thank goodness we brought a change of clothes. Wesley was all over it! He was soaked to the bone. Owen got wet, but was a bit more leery of the spraying water. After that, it was off the the rides. They went on everything they could go on for their size. Even the log ride, which was my personal favorite. We didn't really get to do any of the big rides, so Steve and I went a couple of weeks later, just the two of us. That was a blast too.