Cozumel - Part 2

Another stop on our tour with Alex was the Mayan Ruins.  It was very intriguing to walk amongst the rock dwellings. 

It was fun and interesting to drive down the city streets.

 

 

After our tour, we headed to Poncho's Backyard for some authentic mexican food and margaritas.

 

Lance went with the famous fish tacos and really liked them.

These were the best chicken enchiladas I've ever eaten!

sunrise

sunset

We definitely take Iowa's sunrises and sunsets for granted. 
They are much more beautiful than anything we saw in the Caribbean. 

Cozumel - Part 1

Cozumel was our favorite port.  We found an excursion online called Hire a Driver.  Alex was our personal tour guide for 4 hours.  He drove us around in his brand new BMW.

 

We had lots to see at our first stop at Punta Sur.  White sand and blue water.  Ahhhh.

This video is a little bumpy since it was taken in a moving car.

We could see several crocodiles in this area.

The iguanas blend in so well.  I didn't see the one below but screamed as it made a sudden movement to get out of my path!

 

 We made our way to that lighthouse in the distance. 

a breathtaking view from the top

 

the light in the lighthouse

We definitely got a workout climbing these stairs to the top!

There were dozens of snails on these rocks.

This was taken as we were driving down the road. 

Why not set up shop with a bull riding service on the side of the road?

We didn't allow our husbands to attempt the 8 seconds. 

 

Formal Night

We had one formal night on the cruise.  We got all dressed up, listened to some live music and enjoyed a delicious dinner. 

 

 

 

The Show Band, our favorite band on the ship

 Curtis enjoys dancing.  So why not dance during dinner, right?  Michelle did accept the offer, but her cheeks were a pretty shade of red!

Guys, please don't hate me for posting this video!  I think it's adorable!

What's there to do on a cruise ship?  Eat, eat, eat and have a drink or two.  The food was amazing!

For breakfast, you could choose from the omelet station, the hot buffet, pastries and fruit bar, and cold breakfast choices.  Lance's favorite were the omelets.  I also enjoyed the omelets and the chocolate muffins.  We were on vacation, so chocolate muffins were acceptable for breakfast of course. 

For lunch, you could choose from pizza, the deli, the grill, salad bar, All American food, and there was always a station with food from a different country each day.  And, of course, the dessert bar.  We ate in the dining room every evening where there were at least 10 different appetizer and main dish choices every night.  There was also a separate dessert menu.  Everyone ventured out and tried a new dessert each night, but not me.  I had THE BEST dessert the first night and couldn't imagine anything better.  So, I ate it EVERY evening for dessert.  More on the WARM CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE to come.  It definitely deserves its own blog post!

My favorite was the lasagna. 

 

Now I thought Mara LOVED ice cream, but Lance ate more than his share of ice cream cones.  The ice cream machine was available 24 hours a day.  So...  He had one for breakfast one morning.  He occasionally had more than one after lunch.  You know, one while we were still sitting and one "to go."  And yes, he even ate them for a midnight snack.  He is having withdrawals, so we had to stop for ice cream in Adel after the park the other night. 

My drink of choice was a Strawberry Daiquiri.

 

 

 

Thankful Thursday

Being away from my kids, my home, and my normal routine for almost a week has really impacted my priorities, my thoughts, and my attitude.  I take too many things for granted.  I am too demanding at times, and I lose my patience way too quickly.  Each day goes by so fast.  My kids have gotten extra hugs and kisses this week.  My weekly Thankful Thursday lists are really too short, but I guess it's a start to helping me reflect on the small things that I usually take for granted. 

1.  cousin play dates
2.  baking with Mara
3.  phone call from a concerned friend
4.   my mother-in-law's cinnamon rolls
5.  friends and family who are praying for us
6.  a massage
7.  my washer and dryer - lots of laundry to do after we returned!
8.  happy kids
9.  Lance has been hanging around home a little longer in the mornings this week
10.  a one tooth grin
11.  double stroller
12.  garage sales

Grand Cayman

Since a certain little one wouldn't stay asleep in his crib but zonked out on mom's shoulder, I had some extra time to work on a second blog post today. 

 

Our first port of call was Grand Cayman. 

We did a water/land tour excursion while we were there.  First, we hopped aboard a semi-submersible submarine.  I don't enjoy snorkeling, so this was the next best thing for me.  Lance snorkeled when we went to Jamaica, but this was my first experience seeing first hand under the surface of the water.

the submarine

 We got to see two different ship wrecks.

 These pictures are a little cloudy because they were taken through the windows of the submarine.

Can you find the diver in this picture? 

You can see the blue fin on his foot towards the top of the picture.

He jumped in to hand feed the fish, and they just swarmed him!  They apparently are the same fish that they feed every time because they definitely knew what was coming!

 

 Press the play button for a video of the diver feeding the fish.

 

After we exited the submarine, we headed to a few places on land.  One of them being Hell.  The area was named this because of the unique rock formations that are there.  You could send postcards from the gift shop that were actually postmarked from Hell. 

 

 

We headed to the largest turtle farm in the world.  This was very interesting and fun to see.

The turtles lay their eggs in this nesting sand area.  The eggs are collected and put into an incubator.

 

Press the play button to see the turtle video.

 We also stopped at a rum company where we sampled rum cake.