Disney Cruise - Mexican Riviera


Areeba, areeba.... Hannah, Sadie and Jessica all got the privledge of enjoying a Disney Cruise down the Mexican Riviera. They were all packed and ready to go as Brad and I flew in from Miami,  we swapped our luggage out and picked up the kiddies for the flight to California.
ALL ABOARD the funnest cruise ship on the ocean The Disney Wonder!

Day 1- Set sail and Super Bowl party on the pool deck!!

Day 2- Day at sea.. The girls bounced back and forth from the "Teen Scene" to the out door decks. Every night was a fun show to see in the theatre and dinner in a different themed dining room. Tonights show, 101 Dalmations and dinner at Animators Palette, with all the food you could eat. I wanted nothing for dessert and that's what I got!!

Day 3- Day at sea.. By now we had traveled further South so it was warm enough to go swimming in the pools. All us girls got to enjoy a little pampering at the salon. I had a shampoo and style and the girls enjoyed manicures. Before the Disney show the girls put on a show themselves by doing a little karaoke. Dinner was at Parrot Cay.

Day 4- Arrived at Puerto Vallarta so after breakfast we got off the ship for our excursion. We took a speed boat to Playa Beach. There was a quick stop along the way to do a little snorkeling. Once on the island we did a short little hike to a waterfall. Sadie brought some hair bows she and Maddy had made before the trip. She would pin them in the little girls hair. It was cute to see their smiling faces. I put on my brave face and held a huge iguana!! So much fun was had playing on the beach and in the water. Back on the ship it was Pirate themed night.

Day 5- A day at port in Cabo San Lucas. We took a glass bottom taxi to Lovers Beach. More playing on the beach and soaking up the warm sun. (Back home it's in the frigid 30's) We got in a little shopping back at the Cabo port.. Our entertainment on the boat tonight was Toy Story AND Brad and Doug doing karaoke.

Day 6- Another day in Cabo. The itinerary had us moving on to Mazatlan but because of some danger they had us stay here another day. We didn't mind because we were able to go zip lining!! A final show "The Golden Mickey's" and dinner at Triton's.

Day 7- Back to where it all began, Long Beach. We did have some time to visit the  Aquarium on the Pacific before our flight back home. They had a really cool exhibit, a leafy sea dragon which can only be found in the waters off Australia. Brad and Doug broadcasted the Travel Show while we got a personal tour of the place.

This truly was a magical vacation!!

Miami

Eden Roc Resort

We slept in our bed one night then had a quick trip to Miami. Once again I played while Brad worked. I did join him in a round of golf at the Miami Country Club. We had dinner at the Fountaine Blue, the famous night club of the Rat Pack.

Guatemala

Guatemala

Every other year Maverik takes their employees and spouses on an adventurous vacation. Such places have included Rio, Costa Rica and Mexico to name a few. Brad plans and scouts out these trips in advance with the help of our friend Doug Wren. This year they had the option to choose between Guatemala or Colombia. We went down a few days early to make sure everything was set up and ready for the 300 peeps that would arrive. The guide took us on a quick tour of Guatemala city which included a topiograph of the area. It was great to see the country depicted this way.

                                     Guatemala City

On our tour we drove past the LDS Temple so we asked the tour guide to make a quick stop.

We then traveled north to Tikal, a World Heritage Site. Tikal is one of the sites of  huge ancient Mayan civilization, inhabited from 6th century B.C. to the 10 century A.D.  Archeologists are still working to uncover these ruins today.

Signs on the drive into the entrance to Tikal

Towering above the jungle canopy, the Mayan temples are among the tallest examples reaching 230 feet. The ceremonial centre contains temples, palaces and public squares both magical and spiritual. Remains of dwellings are scattered throughout, some of which are still not uncovered.

The Tree of Life

This tall stately tree is Guatemala's national tree. It's downy fibers are used to this day to stuff pillows and cushions. It's most important role was to shade the main plaza with it's leafy, long-reaching branches. The tree is an ecosystem itself, it's branches are populated with orchids, ferns and cacti.

At night we could hear the howler monkeys making mating calls. They were so loud and scary. It sounded like they were going to jump on us at any moment.


Moving to the southern part of Guatemala is another World Heritage Site, the ancient capital of Guatemala, Antigua. The city was destroyed several times by earthquakes and Volcanos. We stayed at the incredibly charming Casa Santa Domingo a former monastery. Each night they light over 1,000 candles.

They had this cute display out to greet the Maverik crew when they arrived.

Saint Joseph Cathedral

In the villages women dress in their traditional outfit. Each village is depicted in a different way on the blouses they make. When they make tortillas, a few times each day, it sounds like they are clapping because they are so fast at patting the dough out. I gave it a whirl and was not so good!!


These colonial towns are all laid out pretty much the same. The houses are right on the street with a courtyard in the center. They are so charming inside some have elaborate gardens and fountains.

We did a few activities while in Antigua. I went on a zip line through the mountains of coffee groves while Brad biked around a volcano.

At the end of the trip they had a farewell dinner with a roasted pig. A group of orphan children came to sing. They were so cute and loving I couldn't help but hug them all!! We lit lanterns and sent them sailing into the sky as the dinner concluded.

Nicaragua

Because we had gone down a few days early and in true Brad style we jumped on over to Nicaragua. This is such a poor country with living conditions that are hard to see. We did a 4 day tour in 2. Some of the highlights included stopping by churches, villages, an active volcano, swimming in a crater lake and visiting by boat the exotic islands of lake Nicaragua. We stayed in the old colonial town of Granada.

Granada

A little history about the colonial town of Granada. It was once the first European city in America. It was registered in the kingdom of Spain. The city has been victim to many battles with invasions from English, French and Dutch pirates trying to take control of Nicaragua. But one of the most devastating was when an American man, William Walker, attempted to take control as a ruling monarch. One of Walker's generals set the city ablaze before escaping, destroying much of the ancient city. So what remains today are burned buildings that have not been torn down or rebuilt. This was once the Hospital.

This church was so different from the usual old churches. It was bright and white with the paintings inside in more of a shaker style than the renaissance style.

We moved on to a few other towns in the area. One of them was Diria. This little witch town has a crazy tradition every year. On a specific day the towns people are allowed to beat each other up with a type of sword made out of wood. A monument at the entrance of the city depicts this fun little tradition!!

Next town was Oriente. We stopped by one of the locals home where they made and sold pottery. We got a demonstration of the process from beginning to end. We bought a few pieces and had them shipped but only one made it.

We stopped at a Lagoon, Apoyo, created by a Volcano that had erupted twenty thousand years ago!! Brad couldn't resist jumping in after our lunch. Next stop was an active Volcano Masya.

We finished Nicaragua off with a boat tour on Lake Nicaragua. There is a little community out on the lake with little "islands" where houses are built. It's very serene and beautiful. We had a surprise visitor jump into our boat when we pulled up to one of the islets!! This was such a fun side trip from our Guatemala trip.

Spa Day

I was inspired after our trip to zihuatanejo to have a sorta "healthy" day with the kids. So the first "no school" day we invited our friends Kennedy, London and Holly over for a day of exercise, pampering and of course eating.. We started the day off with yoga and when they finished I put the little aromatic towel on their eyes. Yeah for Reagan being the only boy amongst the pack of girls. 

I had just bought a blendtec and was excited to use it so I made them smoothies to enjoy after such a hard workout!! The pampering came next. We used Sadie and Derek's rooms as massage areas and had pedicures and manicures. They paired up and worked on each other. Derek even got into a little mani pedi! To keep true with our healthy day I used the blender to make a delicious chicken tortilla soup. It was cool putting in all kinds of un cut veggies and adding warm water then pushing the "soup" button and having it produce a warm fresh soup for us to enjoy. 

No party is complete with out a little sweet something. So once again I used the blender to make Oreo ice cream for our treat. Fun was had by all that joined in.

Zihuatanejo

Every January Brad has a planning meeting with NACS and they seem to go to warm exotic places. This year was no exception. Zihuatanejo, in the southern part of Mexico, was the destination.

I want to preface this post with the understanding that I do feel some guilt as Brad has to sit in meetings while I get to play. 

We stayed at the Tides resort which was right on the beach. Everyday they would decorate our pillows with new pictures made from flower pedals. So cute I say!  Another cool things is that each night we got a gift that informed us of the next days activities.

One of the days the chef from the resort took us into town so we could buy the food needed to prepare a dish for dinner that night. Oh my was that an experience, winding our way through the narrow smelly markets and by the time we were done I wasn't sure I wanted to eat anything after that little excursion. During December and January is when sea turtles make their way to land so they can lay their eggs. We were lucky enough one night to see this. Although she didn't lay her eggs because apparently she didn't like the sand. She did give it a good try though.

Oh how I don't love to get up early and for exercising, even worse. But who could resist yoga on the beach each morning as the cool ocean breeze gently blows across you? Not even me! The instructor was awesome, at the end of class she would lay a cool aromatic towel over your eyes as you lay their relaxing and then give a little massage, heavenly. I even got Brad to go a few mornings, he was such a good sport especially since he is so not flexible and she would have to help him with the positions. It made for a good laugh thanks hon.

While walking the beautiful grounds of this resort I rounded the corner to run into this!! Yes I did let out a yelp.

Brad was able to go swim with the dolphins with us one of the days and boy am I glad. I'm not the greatest with water activities as it is BUT I almost got put over the edge with this one. We had just gotten in the water and were starting this scary experience when an arm comes flying over the edge of the pool and the trainer is yelling for someone to hand him the "beating" pole. I immediately think this is safe? I don't think so and I want out. The trainer then jumps out of the pool and I can see his leg is bleeding!! Yup the dolphin decided to bite him. Nice, kind, gentle animal NOT.  My name then gets called to ride the dolphin, I'm not so sure about this as you can imagine. With some assurance from Brad I stuck it out and am glad I did. Two dolphins put their noses on our feet and pushed usout of the water and across the pool. It was a lot of fun!!

It's always nice to lay on the beach and soak up the warm sun especially when leaving the cold winter days in Utah. It was even better when the servers would show up around noon and make fresh guacamole for us to enjoy! Yummmy.

Wedding/Honeymoon

GREECE

Our first stop in Greece was Athens. Our guide took us to the touristy spots like the Parthenon and the Acropolis.

Next stop... Santorini

We had a few items of business to take care of before the wedding like meeting the mayor and answering questions and signing documents. Amid all the wedding preparations, we did manage to find some time to fit in a tour of the towns Oia and Fira. When looking at the isle from the Suites of the Gods it appears as though the cliffs are snow covered but the houses dotting the cliffs are white and built on top and side by side of each other. We were in Oia for the beautiful sunset over the Mediterranean Sea and on the walk back the moon appeared over the caldera with incredible effect.

It is very traditional for the bride to ride a donkey to the ceremony, so Brad thought this would be a fun "surprise" for me!! Although he did have a hard time convincing me that is what I would be doing!!

The Mayor of Santorini married us.

The Wedding Party

The Honeymoon

In true Brad style we were off to a new place Turkey!!

Our honeymoon was a cruise on a gullet (a traditional Turkish wooden sailing vessel) through the Mediterranean Sea called the GEM. We had a crew of seven that took care of our every whim. They did a fabulous job even though none of them spoke English. A Turkish delight indeed!!

We ventured over to Turtle bay on a little boat then wound our way through tall grasses to a spot that where Cleopatra  took mineral baths.. I see why she bathed there, after washing all the mud off your skin it was so soft.

Along the boat ride we caught glimpses of these ancient tombs built in the mountain side.

Calls to Prayer are sounded from the many minarets five times a day. We were able to see this first hand while visiting the Blue Mosque.



The Topkapi Palace has been the official and primary residence of the Ottoman Empire for approximately 400 years beginning in 1465.  The Sultans had thousands of wives living in the palace.

The last couple of days in Turkey we spent in Istanbul. We shopped at the Grand Bizarre and for most of us, it did us in.. It was such an overwhelming experience. Much fun was had by all.

Once we got back home we held a reception in Salt Lake for all our friends and family. Walter from Cucina Toscana provided the food and ambiance.

The Reception was held at Cucina Nassi.