Crusin' Home - Mexican Riviera Cruise Days 6 & 7

This cruise has been an absolute blast so far.  We have really enjoyed visiting these beautiful locations in Mexico and spending time in the warm sun.  The last two days we spent time on the cruise ship cruising home.  We worried that we would be bored on these two days at sea but they actually turned out to be some of our funnest days!

I think the reason these last two days were so fun was because we really got involved in the on board game shows.  Stuart was the first one of our group to hit the stage.  We kind of haggled him into  participating but he ended up being great.  The game show he participated in was called "Trivia or Dare."  It was basically like Truth or Dare.  The participants had to answer trivia questions or take part in outrageous dares.  Stuart was great and he really gave the other guys a run for their money.  In fact, he had us rolling on the ground laughing that is until he started explaining the "birds and bees."  Then we all decided we didn't know him at all.  We couldn't stop laughing.

Next Grandma and Jacee got in on the BINGO games.  Jacee won a few prizes for dancing the "Baby Shark" dance during the Bingo game.  Then on the very last Jackpot Bingo game, my mom won Bingo!  She didn't get the Jackpot though because she didn't get the Bingo in 50 calls, but she did win in about 55 calls so she won $275!  That was exciting.

Then, Russell really got into it and participated in the ship's Sexy Leg Contest!

This was the funniest thing ever!  Russell really got into it and did the best dance of all of the guys.  We could not stop laughing at all of the guys during this contest.  There was one old guy that had a signature leg lift move that got the whole crowd laughing.  Russell did a lot of moving and flexing and shaking in order to get the judged to give him the highest score.  He ended up getting a score of 35 which made him tied for second place.  We were definitely disappointed in the guy that won because he was really arrogant and didn't really do anything special.  Russell tied with the old guy with the leg trick and we were wishing one of them would have won.  Oh well it was still so funny and exciting to watch.

That night was another formal night at the dining.  We didn't know there would be two formal dining nights so we were not really prepared.  The girls looked great in their authentic Mexican dresses though.  They loved matching each other.

Charlotte was so tired that she slept right through the formal pictures.  These pictures on the stairs turned out so pretty.  We loved walking up these glass stairs each time we went to the center of the ship.  

Before dinner we went to center ship and got to meet Stanley the Bear.

Stanley is the ship mascot.  He was really friendly to the kids and they loved seeing him.  We even got to have a little dance party with him and the other kids on the ship.  

Finally it was time to head to dinner.  This was a great dinner tonight with steak and lobster!  We loved everything we had at the dining each night but this was probably the best.

The girls love showing off their new dresses and everyone complimented them on how beautiful they looked.

Also during dinner the waiter that took care of us each night loved entertaining the kids with napkin folding.  This night he made these torches and a hat and had the kids wear them.  They looked like the Statue of Liberty.  They loved it. 

After dinner, the kids wanted to head up to the Kid's Discovery place and have some fun in their kid rooms.  That night they were playing Bingo and Minute to Win It games.

When the kids were in their play rooms, the rest of us headed to the Vista Lounge to watch the Marriage Match game show.  This game was just like the Newlywed Game.  Russell and I decided to volunteer on the sign up list to be on the show.  There were probably about 50 other couples signing up as well so we figured we were pretty safe and would not get picked.  Then... when they announced the couples, yep, we were picked!

We could not believe it!  They selected a newlywed couple, a middle of the road couple, and a couple that had been married for a long time.  Well, we were the middle-aged couple I guess you could say.  The first couple had been together 5 years, we have been together 14, and the third couple had been married for about 40 years.  The whole experience was really fun but really embarrassing at the same time.  During the first round Russell was asked questions while I had sound proof headphones on.  These questions were kind of basic but still funny.  First, Russell had to describe what I was wearing while I walked around and modeled for everyone.  Then he had to tell what color my underwear was.  This was an easy one.  In fact, we had people come up to us afterward and say they already knew what color my underwear was because they were members of the church too and had the same underwear!  We just had to laugh.  They also asked other fun questions like where was our first kiss and stuff like that.  We did really good on that round until they came to the question about which person in my family can Russell really not stand.  The funny thing about that was all of my family was watching us in the audience so they kept yelling "Chose wisely!" and "Remember we are here!"  The host really took that and ran with it and made Russell feel even more in the hot seat.  Finally he chose someone that was not on the cruise and the host said that was a good choice.  I had no idea how to answer that even though I had a little thought about who it might be but I just decided to not say anything and get the question wrong.  The host said that was probably a good choice too.  We all laughed.  Then it was my turn to answer questions while Russell was deaf. 

The questions they asked me were much more personal and I knew my face was red the whole time.  I was definitely in shock about revealing some of our secrets.  I will spare you the details and let your imagination take it from there.  Once again, I was embarrassed that my whole family was here listening!  One question I can reveal was about what Russell's most annoying habit was.  I told them that his most annoying habit was that he leaves his clothes laying around everywhere.  I said I never know if they are clean or dirty and neither does Russell so he just wears them over and over.  On man they really took that and ran with it saying he never changed his underwear and was trying to save on laundry soap and oh man it was so funny.  I think that was the only question we got right on that round.  By the end, everyone in that room knew more about us than we really wanted to share.  They also knew that we had a great family with four kids and that we loved having a good time.  We did not win with the most points but we did win with the most laughs I felt like. One thing I think we did show about ourselves on this show was that we were clean and sober.  I felt like we did set a good example for ourselves, family, and religion.  On the table in front of us were some glasses of champagne.  The other two couples were just drinking that stuff like no other especially the older couple (well I think they were drunk before the game started...).  But Russell and I did not take one sip even though at the peak of embarrassment, we were tempted to.  (Okay not really.)  Our stories were definitely not as risque as the other two either. In the end, it was all in fun and we were glad we got to be a part of it.  As a prize for participating, we got some jewelry and a bottle of champagne.

When the show was over, we walked down off the stage feeling happy, relieved, and thoroughly embarrassed!  Then the people started coming up to us and talking to us about how they already knew the color of my underwear and other funny things.  One couple came up to us and asked us what we were going to do with our champagne.  We told them they could have it and then the lady said, "Oh we don't want it, we're from Utah too!"  We had a good laugh at that.  Everyone that talked to us though said they really enjoyed us up there on stage and though we should have won.

All that night and the next day, anytime anyone would see us in the elevator, walking around on the deck, at the buffet, or anywhere, they would stop us and say "Weren't you the couple on the Marriage Match game?  We loved watching you!"  We became instance celebrities on board the ship because everyone seemed to know us after that.  We didn't know whether to take in all the attention or to be embarrasses all over again.  I was definitely having oversharing anxiety but I got over it.

The next afternoon, Clint was in the spotlight.  He participated in a Survivor sort of game.

This game was kind of like Minute to Win It and you had to complete tasks and answer questions in order to advance to a new level.  When they introduced the contestants, when they got to Clint, the host asked him if he was related to the Marriage Match couple from last night.  Russell and I cheered and Clint just said yes.  See I told you we were famous.  Clint's group ended up winning because the old guy with the sexy legs (remember him) was a pro at Minute to Win It.

After Clint's game, we all went up on the deck for our daily ice cream and fries.

While we were up there, we got to see these guys sculpt these ice blocks into ice sculptures.  This was so amazing!  They did it so fast too.  The ice sculptures turned out to be a fish and a rooster.  It was so cool!  

Before heading to our final dining of the cruise, Russell and I decided to take some fun pictures with our champagne.

Hey, what happens on the cruise ship, stays on the cruise ship, right?!

Since basically all of us participated in the game shows, we all won champagne bottles so we all got some funny pictures.

These guys were really fun to hang out with and they really made the cruise fun.  It was nice to just let go and have fun with everyone.  Clint, Haley, Stuart, and Jacee also had a great time hanging out together.  They are really good friends and get along really well.  Their favorite phrase during the trip was "DINK."  This stands for double income no kids.  These two couples just had fun with no worries.  #Dinks!  Russell and I were glad to be included with the dinks in these pictures and in the other fun activities on the cruise.

The final day at the dining was also really good. 

For dessert we had Baked Alaska and the servers put on a parade as they served the Baked Alaska.  Charlotte was really surprised by the size of the Baked Alaska.  Logan, on the other hand, was really tired and decided to take a nap instead.

After dinner we had to get a picture with our great servers.  These two really took care of us each night.  They looked forward to seeing us and knew exactly what we wanted and how we liked everything.  They were so good with the kids and the kids loved them too.  We decided to give them one of our champagne bottles and thank you notes from each of us at the end.

That night, the kids had a fun pajama party in their Kid's room.  They loved going to this area and hanging out with other kids.  Throughout the week, they played fun games, watched movies, and made a lot of fun crafts.  They even made a few friends that they liked seeing at other areas on the ship like the pool and buffet. 

While the kids were at their Kid's areas, Russell and I packed everything and got ready for departure the next day.  We had a great time on the cruise and we were sad it was over.  Before heading to bed, we had to stop in for one last ice cream.

The next morning, we got up really early and had breakfast.  We were back in Los Angeles, CA.  By 8:00 we were on our way off the ship and heading to our van.  We left our second champagne bottle for our room attendant.  He really took care of us too.  This was such a great trip.  We loved every minute.  The kids have been talking about this cruise every minute of everyday since then.  Charlotte especially loved it and asks us everyday when we are going on another cruise.  She remembers details of the cruise and tells us all about it whenever we talk.  I am so glad we were able to go on this cruise.  I was really worried about it before we left but everything turned out just fine and we had an absolute blast.  So now to plan our next cruise!

Puerto Vallarta - Mexican Riviera Cruise Day 5

Our next stop and our last port of the cruise was Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  This was such a fun day and one I think we will remember always.  

Here we are in front of the famous Puerto Vallarta sign on the boardwalk.  We really had to be quick in taking these pictures because the Mexican police were very strict about no one parking along this street.  We literally had to jump out of our van, take a couple of pictures, and then jump back into the van all while our driver was slowly driving down the road so that he wouldn't get yelled at by the police.  We totally need the Puerto Vallarta police monitoring the school drop off zone at the elementary!  There would never be any back ups or annoying parents that will not pull forward!

Anyway, the first thing we did when we got off the ship on this morning was go and find our driver.  Last year, Klint and Lacie hired this driver for their tour around Puerto Vallarta and they were really impressed with him so they called him back to see if he was available to drive us around this trip.  Luck for us, he was available and was willing to drive our crazy bunch around for the whole day.

We all piled into Alfonzo's van and we were off to explore the city of Puerto Vallarta.  The first place he took us was the boardwalk where, like I explained above, we had to rush through.  That was okay though because that sign was really all we wanted to see there.  Then he drove us through the streets of the old part of Puerto Vallarta.  This was definitely a different experience than driving in the US.  The streets in this city were basically one lane roads but with two-way traffic.  I knew we were going to hit the cars going the opposite way.  Also on these narrow roads, there were cars parked randomly on the sides of the roads.  So we were basically dodging parked cars and oncoming traffic throughout the city.  The other scary thing about driving in this part of the city was that there were no street signs like stop signs.  Alfonzo said that you just have to make really good eye contact with the cars coming from different directions in order to decide who will stop or slow down.  It was so crazy!!  I was glad he was driving and not me.

After driving through the down town, Alfonzo took us to some more open areas with better streets.  From here he took us to some nice overlooks that gave us a good view of the city and the ocean.

Along the way, we got to stop and see the famous Puerto Vallarta iguana!  This "Iguana Man" hangs out at the Banderas Bay and lets sucker tourists like us hold his iguanas for like 50 cents.  I am sure he make a lot of money doing this.  Yes, we were sucker tourists and had to hold his huge iguana.

The kids thought this was the greatest thing ever!  They liked the baby iguana better than the big one just because it was more their size and they could hold it.  It was so funny to watch their faces light up as they held this little lizard. 

Emily was brave enough to wrap the big iguana around her neck.  This thing was huge.  When you held it, you had to really cradle it like a baby because it was so heavy.  This was definitely a once in a lifetime thing because where else are we going to be able to hold a huge iguana?!  These lizards were so tame because I am sure they get man handled all day everyday.  The crazy thing about it was that they even seemed to know to look at the camera for a picture!  The owner would hand you the big iguana and then while your hands were busy, he would just set the little one on your shoulder or shirt and the lizards would just sit there and pose.  We loved it!  It was definitely worth our $5. 

Jacee, on the other hand, did not think it was that great.  She had worked up enough courage to hold the big guy but was not sure about the little one.  While she was holding the big one, the guy put the little one on her head without her knowing.  As soon as she felt the little one on her head, she started freaking out!  "Get it off! Get it off!" she kept saying until the guy took it off her head.  We were all laughing at her but she did not think it was very funny.  

After leaving the Iguana Man, we continued our way up into the Mexican Jungle.  Well, it is technically not a jungle but a tropical forest.  So we made our way up into the Mexican Tropical Forest.  We stopped at Edenva, an Ecotourism Park. 

This place was amazing.  There were trees and flowers everywhere.  As we walked into the park, there was this beautiful stream and wading pool with hammocks.  It was like a little oasis in the jungle.  But this stream and pond was not the reason we were here.  We were here to do something crazy, Extreme Zip-lining! 

The first thing we had to do was get suited up. We needed helmets, the right climbing gear, and our own pulley handle to ride on.  Then it was time for safety training.  The guides were so cool.  They made us laugh the whole time we were there.  Their personalities really added to the experience.  I was really impressed with how smart they were too.  The guides were fluent in Spanish and English and could switch back and forth so quickly that they wouldn't even miss a breath.  He was explaining all of the safety and procedures to us in both English and Spanish (for some other guests) and I was so amazed at how well he could speak and how quickly he could speak.  It really made me feel kind of inadequate like I needed to learn another language too. 

Anyway, after the safety lesson, it was time to hit the ropes.  Russell and I didn't really know how Colby and Logan were going to do.  We knew Emily was big enough to be fine but we worried the boys would be too small.  Well the guides told us they were just the right size and that they would love it.  We trusted them and let the boys come along.  Charlotte, of course, was too small so she got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa and play in the stream.  They got to watch us soar over their heads as we zipped down the lines.

When we got to the first line, I was getting worried that the kids would be scared.  I mean these zip lines are not your typical zip line in the park, these lines were many feet in the area with nothing below you except trees.  Well we didn't have to worry about the kids getting too scared because the guides didn't give them that chance.  They just strapped them in and pushed them off the cliff!  And away they went, screaming the whole way.

When we got to the other side, we asked the kids what they thought and they said they loved it!  They wanted to go again and again!  It was so fun to hear their excitement.  So we did, we went again and again.  We when on 11 different zip lines.  On one of the zip lines, Russell got to let go and hang upside down.  He said it was surreal!  He loved every minute.  I was too chicken to try it upside down but even hanging on up right was pretty amazing!

To get to each of the zip lines, we had to hike though the tropical forest.  Despite how green and shady the trail was, it was still pretty hot and humid.  One of our guides told us that when he first started working there, he lost a bunch of weight because he had to hike up and down this trail multiple times a day in the heat.  The scenery was spectacular though.  We could not believe how green and lush it was.  In fact, it was so thick that our guides kept hiding in the trees and then jumping out to scare us.  I won't lie, we did think something was coming out of the jungle to eat us a few times.  The trail also took us near some old ruins.  I don't know what the ruins were originally built for.  This area was used to film the movie "Terminator" so the ruins were used as places to hold cameras and equipment during that time.

Throughout the hike, we did get to stop and rest for a few minutes.  We had an absolute blast zip lining.  The kids said this was their favorite part of the day and probably their favorite part of the whole cruise.  I am so glad we decided to let them do it.  They didn't even seem to care that they had to hike in the heat. 

At the end, the guides found out that Logan's birthday was coming up in a week so they decided to have all of us sing Happy Birthday to him before we went on our last zip line.  Logan was kind of embarrassed to have everyone sing to him but at the same time, he was trying not to love being the center of attention.  The guide told Logan to save him a piece of birthday cake.

On the last zip line, we got to race with another person to the end.  This line dropped us off where we started.  We took off all of our gear and then headed to the stream to find Grandma, Grandpa, and Charlotte.  The kids told them all about how fun it was and how it wasn't even scary!  Then they saw the stream and begged to go wading to cool off.  How could we say no because we wanted to do the same. 

I did tell them to just wade and not get totally wet because we didn't have any other clothes.  Well that lasted all of about five minutes when they tried to climb in the hammocks and got dumped out into the water...  Oh well it was fun. 

There was also this cool swing near a bridge and waterfall.  This was Emily's favorite spot.

The kids loved these hammocks.  They were so relaxing Colby told me.  Well this was the last picture I took with my DSLR Camera...  Unfortunately, cameras and water do not mix...  I am usually really sure on my feet especially when I have my camera, well this was not one of those days.  I was trying to get a picture of Emily on the swing so I thought if I stepped on this rock in the stream, I could get a better angle.  Well the rock was a little more slippery than I expected and as soon as I stepped on it, I went down.  Down and under the water, camera and all.  In fact, I went down so fast that no one even saw me!  No one even noticed until I came sputtering out of the water holding my camera up in the air.  I yelled to Russell to come get it and try and dry it out.  We dried it out as best we could with a towel but it was pretty much soaked and gone.  We hoped once it fully dried, it would be okay but we didn't know.  I was so sad because I love this camera.  

This was a great topper to another unfortunate even that happened on the cruise.  Yesterday, Russell took the kids swimming on the ship.  When he jumped in the pool with them, he realized a little too late that he had his phone in his pocket.  So not only did my camera go for a swim, Russell's phone did as well. Yeah we are winning with electronics

Well, anyway, after I got soaked, I had no excuse to not let the kids get wet too.  As I was standing on the edge of the stream, Charlotte walked toward me in the water and said "Mom, I need to go potty!" She looked down as she said this and she had peed her pants.  I said, well lets go for a swim...  So I took her out and dunked her in the water.  She thought that was pretty great.  We were definitely having a great end of the zip-lining experience.  Don't get me wrong, it was still a great day! 

Before we left, we had to get a group photo on this awesome bridge.  Thankfully everyone else had their cameras and I still had my phone to take pictures with.  We were still able to capture memories.

As we were leaving Edenva and driving back toward town, we stopped at a roadside stand of a guy selling coconuts.

For $3 this guy would carve open a coconut for us and let us drink the coconut milk.  Then he chopped up the coconut into pieces so we could eat the flesh.  During the ride down, Charlotte fell asleep so I stayed in the van with her.  Russell took the other kids so they could experience a fresh coconut.  We thought the coconut milk was pretty good but the coconut flesh was a little hard.  I don't think our coconut was quite ripe.  Oh well the kids still thought it was okay so we kept it to eat throughout the day. 

As we got back to the ship port, we still had an hour or so before we had to be back on the ship. We decided to use this time to check out another flea market for souvenirs.  Logan and Charlotte wanted to go back on the ship with Grandma so it was just Emily and Colby with us.  This was another fun experience for the kids to experience the culture and barter.  We were able to get some fun things including authentic dresses for the girls, t-shirts, and big sun hats.  Then Colby was a smooth negotiator and got a marble chess set for a really good price.  The kids have loved learning how to play chess this week.  Before heading to the ship, the guys got together and haggled for these huge sombrero hats.

Don't ask me what they are doing in this picture but whatever it is does not look right...  Anyway they all had a good time sporting their huge hats all through dinner and the rest of the night.  They thought they were so cool. 

While the adults enjoyed some of the fun game shows in the Princess Live!, the kids had a great time at the Kid's Discovery place.  This night they had a pirate night and got to learn about and pretend to be pirates.  They loved getting their pirate hats, eye patches, treasure, and face painted.

After picking the kids up from the Kids Zone, we headed to the upper deck for the Mexican Fiesta deck party.

We all had a good time dancing the the Macarena and other songs along with the rest of the people.  It was really fun just letting lose and enjoying the party.  Russell and Emily really got into the dancing.  Colby secretively did the Macarena on the side lines.  Charlotte and Logan just loved dancing where ever they could find room.  Then Russell pulled me onto the floor and we danced for a while too while the kids laughed at us.

This was such a fun and eventful day.  We loved zip lining and visiting Puerto Vallarta.  We could not believe how fast this cruise was going by.  After leaving the Puerto Vallarta port, we started our journey back home.  We were sad about that but still made the most of our time on the boat.