Monarch of the Seas

We are back from Cruising the pacific ocean! I was pretty sad to leave the beautiful weather but Austin was very excited to come home to all of this snow so he can ski. I told Austin that next time we are going to do a 10 or 14 day cruise because the time goes by way too quickly when it's only a week! I think that hardest adjustment about being home is 1. the weather is about 50 degrees cooler and 2. our food intake is a lot smaller now (I think Austin ordered 2 dinners every night as well as between the two of us we eat 3 or more desserts each night). We had a splendid time cruising the seas on the "Monarch of the Seas". (thank you Austin for the wonderful anniversary gift). The ship we were on was a little bit older ship than the one we stayed on during our honeymoon cruise but we had a nice, big room with a big window (the only thing we were missing was the balcony we enjoyed so much on our honeymoon cruise). I totally recommend Royal Caribbean. Austin's been on a bunch of different cruise lines and Royal Caribbean is his favorite but I think next time we want to try Celebrity or Costa (an Italian cruise line so I am sure the food is amazing...that's my italian heritage speaking) just to compare.
On to the cruise adventure: this cruise we spent a lot more time actually doing things on the stops---last cruise we lounged at the beach all day, got massages, played in the water and soaked up the sun. Part of the reason we didn't just "relax" this trip is because we had so many people with us. Including us, we had 12 family members on this cruise!!! It was great fun! I guess what happened is when Austin told his mom of his plans to take me on a cruise for our anniversary she wanted to join in the fun. Scott (my father-in-law) took Austin and Jordan to Canada for a ski trip for christmas so Malinda wanted to take the girls on a trip too. Well as soon as Malinda and the 2 girls decided to go some more of the family wanted to go. So gran and grandpa; Aunt Becky and Uncle Matt and their 3 adorable kids; and Malinda and the girls went cruising with us! Our rooms were all spread out but we did get to sit with each other at dinner each night. It was so nice to get to spend time with some of our family members (but we did miss you Scott and Jordan).
Some of our fun adventures included visiting the USS Midway, site seeing, a bus tour, horseback riding on the beach, visiting one of the worlds 3 natural blowholes, and shopping (Our purchases included: mexican vanilla for me, a coconut and some mangoes for Austin and all of the kids bought a "nacho libre" mask).In Ensenada, Mexico we got to see the "Black Pearl" from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. I took some pictures but they didn't turn out because of the rain and fog. On the ship we enjoyed the pool and hot tubs, the sunsets, the dance clubs, the dinner shows, the quarter slots, and the comedy clubs. One of Austin's favorite things on the cruise was the midnight chocolate buffet. I am not a fan of chocolate but he LOVES it.
 Unfortunately Austin got quite sick on the cruise so we had to bum out on a couple of the late night things so he could lay in bed and rest. But we ended up watching a lot of movies into the wee hours of the night (or morning)...but we didn't get to sleep in because some of our family members are "early birds" and wanted to start the day at the crack of dawn. The bright side of being up early was we got to enjoy breakfast in the dining room (so much better than the breakfast buffet)! After the cruise Austin flew home but I stayed with the rest of the family in L.A for a couple of days. Highlights were: shopping in the fashion district, eating at in-n-out, and visiting family in Santa Barbara that I had never met. I was hoping to meet Kathy Ireland (she is married to Austin's cousin) but we missed her by minutes...but it was still a wonderful visit.