Mexican Riviera Cruise

 This is a line up of our kids with our friend's kids when we were dropped off at Long Beach Port.

 5 person selfie. We decided we wanted to be on top when the ship launched. This is us on the 9th deck at the bow.

 Our friend John surprised us with a gift of strawberries and sparkling cider when we arrived in our stateroom. We found some fun stuff at the shops too because of him. Thanks John!

 This is the Mad Hatter's room. We went to some shows in this room like the comedians and the kids also did their talent show in here where Derrick sang "I wish I were a Cowboy" that was a hit, and just about everyone sang along with the chorus as he went through the verses! People came up and told him he did a great job! He learned the song a couple years ago in school.

 This is our formal night. Since we didn't plan on purchasing pictures, we took a 10 second timer in the stateroom. We look ready for a formal dinner! Check out the sparkly jewelry on the girls we got on the trip!

 The kids really enjoyed the activities for their age groups. At first it was rough figuring out how to get them where they needed to be and do what we wanted, and we walked the ship a lot! By the end we figured it out and everyone had a great time. KayDee loved the pirate activity so much that this is how she looked for dinner too!

 We were able to go to the beach twice. Our boat was headed right for Hurricane Vance and to our first port Puerto Vallarta. Of course our port changed and we so we went to La Paz instead. When we arrived on the beach KayDee started picking up shells immediately. Derrick and Sam jumped into the ocean. Derrick and I built a sand castle which KayDee decorated with some of her shells. Samantha snorkeled a lot. Kevin went on a round trip bus ride so he could grab the camera and get the boogie boards. We learned what we should take for the next port. He did enjoy the sights as he rode.

 The next port we went to was Cabo San Lucas. This was one of our planned ports but we went to it a couple days after schedule. The weather calmed down and we were able to tender to shore. It was beautiful. We ended up going on a tour in a glass bottom boat and saw fish and the other fun rock formations and beaches. Our tour guide did a great job and we got a great price! When we were done, he dropped us off on the beach and we decided to walk back to the harbor and shops.

 That's our cruise ship, the Carnival Miracle.

KayDee's sand castle that almost wasn't. The sand was so course because there was a Hurricane a few months ago that blew all the fine sand away. We smashed the wettest sand into our red building brick and were able to make a wall.
 Derrick is floating and enjoying the tide with our ship behind him.

 Sam enjoying her goggles and flippers.

KayDee was loving the tide bringing her in on the boogie board.

Kevin wanted a picture with the guard mostly because of his gun.