Adventures in Erietown: We're baaack

Well, we're back from our cruise around the Mexican Riviera. It was nice to get away, but I must say, it's nicer to be back. Even though we'll be lucky if it gets above freezing this week. It was a good time, but I will say only this: don't go on a cruise with a toddler. Unless, maybe, it's geared specifically towards kids. There just wasn't enough space for Natalie to run around and burn off her boundless energy. And since she couldn't do that, we didn't get much rest and relaxation. But we did have a good time.

I'll break the trip up into a few separate posts so I don't overwhelm anyone. The first days were a bit rocky, just getting adjusted and settled into the new routine. The first day especially was very rough, and Natalie didn't handle it well at all.

We woke up very early to catch our flight.

We did so much traveling that day. When we got to LAX we realized we had left one of our carry-ons, (the one with all of my clothes, and our swimsuits) at the Denver airport. A quick voice mail check confirmed that my mom had been contacted by airport security, (we were borrowing her bag) and would pick up the bag the next day. It was in lockdown.

So we made a family run to Old Navy for some essentials, and then had a little group down time in my aunt and uncle's hotel room before doing some shuttling to the dock.

We were almost to the boat when Natalie, who had been cheerful, if not rested the whole day, proceeded to be sick all over herself. Twice. I don't think I'll ever be able to feed her goldfish crackers again. We kept her distracted for the next fifteen minutes or so to the boat, and then stripped her down, wiped her off, and changed her at the passenger drop off area of the dock. Not fun. There was also the matter of cleaning out the carseat before parking it for a week in the LA sun. That was left for my dear, dear, dear (can I stress this enough?) husband to do.

We checked in, and hurried up to wait to actually board the boat. We had to wait because they would not let my three underage cousins board without their parents, and we weren't about to make them wait alone, no matter how mature they are. But we had some fun in the boat terminal.

So you see what I mean about there being a settling in period.

When we did get settled we had fun exploring our new quarters for the week. The room was very small, with no window, but it was nice and dark for naptime.

Here we are hanging in one of our favorite spots on the boat. Right in front of the icecream stand. Natalie is sporting the latest in Princess Smoothie.

By the second day at sea, we were in the groove for sure. We found some spots to hang out.

But we had the most fun when we were hanging out with Stephanie and Mackenzie and Nick. Natalie loves these kids, and we got a little break when Steph or Nick was willing to play with Natalie in the pool for a while. There were no pools that were shallow, so she had to be held the whole time swimming, and Kenz was just too short.