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.