Lights On at The Grand

We decided that since Greg had 5 (yes, FIVE) days off in a row for the Thanksgiving holiday that we needed to do something with the kids. So, we packed up for the night and headed down to Little America Hotel and got our Christmas kick-off on. We got a beautiful tower room with a king sized bed and made a plan. We would head over to the Grand America for their Lights On celebration and then we would go back to the room have a little dinner (we ended up with Cafe Rio) and watch a movie all snuggled up on the bed. Hence the king size bed. It was a lot of fun. The Grand had a crowd but was not super packed and we got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus (see our picture below), wander through the hotel while we filled out our scavenger hunt card which told the story of helping Maurice the penguin find the missing Christmas star. And when we were done, the kids got yummy shortbread cookies at the La BonneVe store. Nathan could spend all day at the new toy store JouJou at The Grand, it was a lot of fun. I bought our Christmas tree ornaments for this year there...........really cute glass robots. And, probably the kids favorite part, Greg (the Daddy who hates to swim) took them swimming while I went to go get dinner. Capped off the night watching The Smurf's movie snuggled on the bed. Alex crashed before the movie was over, and because I love my children, but have no desire to sleep in the same bed with them (pretty sure I would wake bloody) I moved them to the air mattress we had brought with us. I felt a little weird about packing in an air mattress, but it worked out so well! Then Nate ended the movie and moved to sleep with his sister. This was brilliant, and even more so when they both climbed into bed with us at 6 am (ya, we had a nap when we got home). I am a sucker for a good breakfast buffet and the one at Little America is one of my favorites. A perfect end to a quick get away. As we drove away Alex said she wanted to go back, and Nathan said next time we should stay at the Grand America. Maybe this summer we can make that happen. They have an awesome outdoor pool.
(A little blurry, I took a picture of our picture to post it here)

Cruisin' part 2

The weather this year has been a little bit crazy. Our cruise was the second week of Sept. So I anticipated it would be warm, but not so hot and humid that my hair would need it's own cabin. I was WRONG. Once we made it past the tip of Baja, it got hot and muggy. Cabo San Lucas was truly miserable. It was 90* plus with at least 90% humidity. Not being big on the costly ship excursions, we just decided to go ashore and see what happened. We found a water taxi that took the 5 (us plus Grandpa) of us out to Lover's Beach and the Arch and Divorce Beach for $40 US. The ship wanted $40 per person. So we go a little tour, the dropped us at the beach and we hung out for a while. It was not a bad visit, but so hot and we didn't have life jackets for the kids, so we dared not go to far out in the ocean, as there was a bit of a shelf and an under toe. I think we were all happy to get back on the ship and peel our stick clothing off ourselves. The second day in Cabo, the kids stayed on the big ship with the Grandparents and Greg and I got off and wandered around. It was still too hot to be comfortable, so we ambled along and found Cabo Wabo (hello, we were in Cabo!) and at 10 a.m. I had a daiquiri and it was awesome. We sat there for a bit and then meandered down the road for a little bit longer, but ultimately just decided to take a water taxi back over to the pier and grab some lunch and a coke (oh, Mexi-coke how I LOVE you) before we got back on board the ship. Cabo is not bad, and maybe if we had gotten more into town it would have been even better, but it was so freaking hot and humid I had a hard time wanting to do anything!
Our second (third? after two days in one location) stop was by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Puerto Vallerta was green and lush and ohlala. I was smitten for the moment I saw it. Gorgeous. We had decide to splurge and give the kids one big adventure, so we booked the Pirate Ship adventure for the majority of the day. Ohmygosh! It was great. You have your own personal pirate for your party who takes care of everything from serving your food to bringing you drinks, to helping you with water sports. We had an awesome pirate, who was so good with the kids. We loved this because it was kind-of an all inclusive excursion. It included breakfast and lunch and drinks. The food was pretty good. And truly we had a ball. We got on board, had breakfast, got seated, watched an awesome little action packed show, which included the pirates jumping overboard while we were cruising along the ocean and shooting at each other. Nathan LOVED it. He was all over the place trying to watch everything. Alex enjoyed it too. We then got to spend 2 hours on a private beach. It was so nice. There were drinks. Some water sports, Nathan loved the boogie boards. And even a chance to go snorkeling and kayaking. Greg, Mike, and Steph got to go snorkeling, I got to be mom and hang with the kids, mostly because I didn't think it was fair to just ditch them on Grandpa, though I know he would have happily taken them. Alex, of that girl, she was happy as a clam to just float in the ocean. Literally. Once the snorkelers came back, she and Aunt Stephy went out up to Stephy's neck and stayed there until it was time to get back on board the pirate ship. We loved that adventure, I can safely say it was worth all the bucks I spent on it.
Our last 2 days were sea days and they got a little stormy, but we still had fun. The kids discovered that the loved the stage shows that went on every night. Nathan was in awe, Alex made it half way through and then crashed hard, and slept on mine or Greg's lap for the remainder of the show. We quickly learned to just put her in her PJ's before we went to the theater. We swan in the swimming pools, soaked in the hot tub, and lest I forget the water slide, which Alex rode all by herself. That child is fearless!
Mostly this trip was a great way to reconnect, not only with the 3 most important people in my life, but also with Greg's family. I am so lucky to have such great in-laws. Both his parents and his brother and sister-in-law. I love that we can spend a week together and not be miserable. So here it to our next adventure, where ever it may lead!