Out to Sea

Have I lost all of you? My apologies! We've been perpetually sick in our household for nearly two months, so I've been a little behind the eight ball. But, it looks like things are looking better and hopefully we'll stay well for a long while.

In May, we had the fortunate pleasure to go on a real vacation, complete with delicious food, lots of rest, some sunshine, good company and no two-year-old girl informing us every second what want or need that pops into her little head! Wow. It was a nice change of pace for a few days...even though we did miss the little runt like crazy.

Thanks to these wonderful grandparents...

(THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!)

who watched this little lady...

and these awesome folks who drove us to Long Beach...

...We were able to hop on a boat for a four-day cruise that took us to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico! The last time I was on a cruise boat was ten years ago for my senior trip - which just happened to be the exact same cruise. Awesome, I know. It was like a ten-year reunion with my past and a whole new experience with my hubs.

I bet you can't wait to see pictures. 'Cause we're hot, huh?

So, without further adieu, here's some pics from the trip!

this was our last morning on the boat, so we decided to watch the sunrise. We're so suave like that.

Too bad there were so many clouds! Oh, well. It was still pretty!

My handsome hubs on top deck.

Every night after coming back to our room from dinner, our room stewards left our towels in some fantastic formations. Thursday night's special? A Heart. Can I get an, "awwwww..."?

Here is our dinner crew. We were paired with two couples, ironically both from Utah, so it was always good company nightly. One of the husbands (back left) was described as a guy from a suburb of Tooele. Nice, cowboy! Our waiter, Santiago, was so awesome. He was from Columbia and he made us laugh lots. AND the food? One word: DELICIOUS.

Pic of us and the back of the ship.

Gotta love vacationing by yourselves - most of the pictures look like this...taken with the arm-in-front-of-you-trying-to-aim method.

...or this, because your significant other doesn't take pictures of you unless a big stink is made.

My cute hubby - lovin' those eyes, babe!

We're hot and my puckered lips look ridiculous.

Here's a picture of our room - small, but surprisingly comfortable. We even had a real window! We're so big time!

Another towel creature...and human creature...?

Our first stop was Catalina - here's J on the taxi boat from the cruise ship to the island.

That's our cruise ship in the outer harbor - a view from the windy road on Catalina.

One of our timer shots...I think it turned out!

We rented a golf cart and drove up to the top for the views. We saw lots of amazing houses built into the sides of the mountain. Which slightly freaked me out...I mean, they do live in California. Earthquake is the word that comes to my mind. And falling into the ocean.

High rollas in our tricked out golf cart.

And Jason insisted on renting a speed boat, so we did.

And we saw lots of seals out playing in the water! They are fun to watch.

And of course we got a pic of our home away from home. Just for the record: Our room was one of the very last rooms on the bottom level, back of ship (which is the right side of this picture) - it is called the Riviera Deck.

Here's us in our rented boat. Man, those seats were HARD. Nice gesture with those lame excuses for "cushions" they give you! Still fun, though.

Here's the huge flag of Mexico in the Ensenada port.

It may look small in this picture, but it was GINORMOUS!

In Ensanada, we rented a Rhino four wheeler and drove the 50 minutes up to the main attraction called La Bufadora, which is this over-hyped blow hole. (But we got to see beautiful vistas like this one!)

Jason was not very impressed.

I was insistent on a picture with the blow hole since we had driven like an hour to see it. Happy smiles, everyone!

And here we are in front our boat before getting back on in Ensenada.

And that's that. Our first real vacation in five years.

I think we'll be cruising again soon. Do you like to cruise? Where should we go next?

My, How Time Flies.

Today, two years ago, Lois Ada Wright entered our lives! Can you believe she's already two? Well, I can't. Today, she is more lively than ever, expressing every "want" that might come to her little mind. She's active, bright, cheery, smart, loving and so much more and we're so glad she's ours! We're so lucky.

Lois has been up to a lot lately. Aside from her every day toddler-ing, she spent a full week with her Grandma & Grandpa Wright while her mom and dad went on a little vacation. (More to come on that.) She also got to spend lots of time with her cousin Stella, or as she says, "Stayah" whom she absolutely adores - well, until Stella has something she thinks should be hers! Ha! There were some heated moments, but all in all, they played really well together. She really does love her cousins and asks for Stella and Phoebe on a daily basis since returning to Arizona. Over a short two week span, she's turned into a little chatter box. Half of the time we can't understand her, the other half is as clear as a whistle. She loves her babies, Elmo, Gabba (as in Yo, Gabba, Gabba!) and loves anything with the word "cake" in it. She's gotten down all her "c's"...you know, cake, candy, cookie, cupcake, chips, etc., which leads me to believe that I'm a total stellar parent (catch my sarcasm?) that only feeds her child junk food. She, of course, doesn't eat junk food all the time...but she sure loves it! I guess you'd be hard pressed to find a kid who doesn't!

Today, since daddy is at the hospital all day and night, Lois and I went on a little birthday date. She got to pick out a toy from this darling shop called Mildred & Dildred. She picked out a "potty doll" which goes potty in a toilet and drinks real water. So exciting! We also got a cupcake at a little bakery which she devoured the frosting and nothing else. Gotta love spending $3 for frosting! :) Then, we made a trip to the park, got to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa Wright (who sang the most lovely birthday song with Kazoos, I might add) and now we are headed to the bath and then off to bed! We're going to have a party next week sometime to celebrate her birthday when Jason has the day off. I'm sure she'll forgive us for not doing it on her actual birthday, right? I hope we don't scar her too badly. :)

And a very happy birthday to my little brother, Mack - who was born 22 years ago on this very day! It will be fun for Lois to always share her birthday with her Uncle Mackie! We love you!

And here are some pictures from today with her some of her birthday loot.

Loving her potty doll!

She's making the same face as the doll. She's a genius!

It took me five shots to get one of her smiling. That little stinker. She totally knew I was frustrated that she wouldn't smile.

A picture from her first birthday party! Cupcake! YUM!

June 5, 2009 on the morning of her first birthday.

And of course, June 5, 2008 - one of the best days of my life! Welcome to the world, Lois!

We can't wait to see what this next year will bring. I'm sure we'll experience lots of tantrums, lots of loves and joy, lots of potty clean-ups and much, much more! Bring it on!

Happy Birthday, Lady Lois! We love you.