Mexican Riviera

We went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera with 23 people.

Dave’s sister and brother and their families along with us. I wish we had a group picture, but alas, we don’t. Here’s Dave’s brother and sister:
And some of our offspring (they have six kids each):
We had fun on the boat. I mean, four hot tubs and endless soft-serve ice cream cones equal nothing but pure glee for kids…and amongst us we had 17 of them.

And the best thing for me was that we happened to get to be on the one and only boat that had a group of 300 Romanians aboard. Now, I’ll tell you a little about how awesome that is: I served my mission in Romania 17 years ago. Romanians are hard to come by here in the States, or so I thought. I think I’ve randomly run into four or five in all those years. I miss the language. I miss the people.

At first on the cruise I kept thinking I was imagining hearing all these Romanians around me. I always listen into foreign languages just to make sure it’s not Romanian. It rarely is. Finally I really listened and realized, yes, indeed, that was Romanian…true Romanian! It was a church group who actually live here in the desert like an hour away from me. I was in Heaven trying to talk to them…but sad to realize how much I’ve forgotten.

Anyway, once again, I digress. But I do love Romanians. On to the cruise:

Cabo San Lucas was the first stop. We took a couple vans over to a beauty beach where everyone got drenched in the waves, as well as in the rain.
It was gorgeous, especially because of the rain. Something about the mingled colors of those dark clouds, deep blue/green water and golden sand together is just so beautiful to me.Those cousins are SO sweet with Lucy.

Next was Mazatlan.
We shopped for souvenirs.
Max got these sweet glasses that have been pretty much stuck to his face ever since.
Grace chose these ones. That’s my girl.

The boys got buried in the sand and the waves.

Lu took a great beach nap.
We got some braiding done.

The other boys did some serious boogie boarding.

And the girls liked to jump.


I fell in love with Max’s glasses because he was willing to let me take pictures of him since I convinced him it wasn’t really to get a picture of him, but of the reflection in his glasses. Man, I got him duped. But that reflection is the nice little hotel pool we used to rinse off after the beach.

Lu loved her “class” on the boat since it was with Claire and a couple other cousins.

And this picture is to show how much the ice cream was beloved.

And last but not least was Puerto Vallarta
…where we rode the bus to the zipline. (Don’t those guys in the front look delighted I’m taking their picture...again? I think they secretly wished I was in their families so I could record every minute of their lives…or did they just feel super, duper sorry for Dave and my kids because of all the pictures?? I’m thinking the later…)
And had the adventure of our lives zipping through the gorgeous green of the tropics up in the mountains.
I had to be really sneaky with my camera on these. They didn’t want me to take one, but seriously, how can you go on a zipline adventure without a camera?? So these are a little blurry in trying to be incognito. When we were done with all thirteen runs (yeah, tons of them), we got to ride mules back up.
Meanwhile, the little kids had fun with their Mexican babysitter who was darling. Lu had a little nap on the hammock.
We honestly and truthfully fit all 23 of us in this van…multiple times. It was like we were in the circus with how many people we crammed in there.We enjoyed the evening at one last beach.
Lu fell in love with her cousin, Brimley, who took such great care of her.I thought it was so interesting how different the sand was at every beach. Super fine and muddy in one, rocky in another, and pure gold in another.And of course, the customary pool run-through to rinse off all the salt and sand…

Saying goodbye to our boat…through Max’s glasses.
See us in there?
And a quick stop to visit our dear friends in L.A. on our way back home.

What a trip.