Last Stop: Cozumel, Mexico

I'm feeling sad and missing my family already looking at these last pictures. I was so sad to say goodbye to my family--especially knowing my sister and her hubby would be moving away with two real jobs to Oregon forever. Okay maybe not quite forever--but a long time. I loved waking up and knocking on everybody's door, going to work out with my mom & sister, having almost every meal with the entire family together, eating soft-serve ice cream cones one after another with Bryan. The list goes on and on.... Although we did miss Jason and hope his new job will let him come on the next one!

Anyways, Cozumel was another one of my favorites. Gorgeous beaches and it is MEXICO! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of our topless, red jeep we rented. It was so perfect for cruising the island. Here I am with the kiddos in the back. I put Heather up front with Jared so I could buckle the kids in with me.

We drove to the opposite side of the island to the "unspoiled beaches." They were unreal. We spent a few hours at this one that had rocks building almost a little cove for swimming. It was perfect for the kids.

Heather & Grey getting ready to swim

After that beach, we hopped back in the jeep--and let Grey drive a bit. Yeah we are terrible parents like that. I did it through the desert in Egypt growing up and it was awesome. We went to eat some Mexican food at another beach and then hung out there until it was time to head back.

It was really hard to get back on that boat knowing we were heading back to cold New Orleans then back to real life. But another gorgeous sunset helped a little bit.

Roatan, Honduras

Oh my. This is my favorite place ever! So if I disappear, you know I have packed a suitcase full of bikinis and books and bought a one way ticket here. It is a stunning island.

We knew this would be one of the better days, so we hurried up, ate breakfast, got in our swimsuits and walked out to find this along with pouring rain:

Killing time taking pictures--Bryan, Heather & I

Apparently this ship was wrecked against the coast during a hurricane about 30 years ago. Makes for a pretty picture though!

Luckily it blew right over so we could enjoy a beautiful day swimming in the aqua water and digging our toes into the sand. But first, playing with the toys at the bar:

And moving onto the beach... Look at that water!

Our ship

I took a picture of the beach from a narrow pier we walked out on

The incredible sunset as we pulled away from Roatan. A sad place to leave....

Belize City

Belize City was, well, a hole. I had heard about it being such, so our plan was to take a taxi to a nearby beach. As soon as we got off the boat we found out the beach had been taken out in a hurricane two weeks before. Soooo.... we decided to just wander around the downtown. It reminded me a lot of Cairo--very third world. Always good to see, but hard. They are very, very poor and there are stray dogs and trash everywhere.

We wandered up to pretty much the only historic landmark in the city--the oldest Anglican church (St. Johns' Cathedral) in  Central America built between 1812 and 1824. The red brick was all brought over by boat from Europe.

A tired Grey--there was a lot of walking and it was warm

The fishing boats near the port

After our quick trek around the downtown, we headed back to the boat for some more pool time and yummy BBQ. It was warm enough to actually get in the water this day.

Check out Grey's face

And up-close (haha!) The slides were steep

Costa Maya

The first stop was in Costa Maya, Mexico. Costa Maya had a pool, beach and dolphins right off the ship so we decided to just hang around there and not spend any money to get anywhere else. The pool was awesome and the kids had a blast playing for hours and hours. Jared listened to his books while Heather & I sunned and played.

Leaving New Orleans

The day we got to town, we wandered and spent some time on the Riverfront eating beignets and watching boats. I love, love, love water and the Mississippi River is gorgeous. Our Colorado rivers are pretty pathetic compared to any actual river. Our cruise ship spent about 8 hours cruising on the river before reaching the Gulf.

A bad picture with the buildings' shade, but a gorgeous boat nonetheless

Grandpa, Greyden & Daddy watching boats and making bets on how close they were to the bridge

Heather & Dave as the boat pulled away from the port.

On our way to somewhere warm and sunny!!

Family Cruising

Note the DEN TSA Agent sticker. He was so excited about it.

This year for Christmas my mom & stepdad helped pay for a family cruise. This was our first family vacation all together in YEARS! It was amazing to spend a whole week together, eating, going to shows, relaxing and just hanging out. Our boat left New Orleans, so we spent the night there and of course did the requisite walk down Bourbon Street. I even got some beads---not the way most people do though. I had gone a few years back, but it was Jared's first time. One word: Sleazy.

The boat left on Sunday evening and we had Monday spent at sea. It was still a little cool but we still got in our swimsuits, ate lots and laid by the pool. Grey spent most of the time in the hot tub instead of the freezing kids pool.

It was so much fun to just look out at the expansive water all week long. We even had some dolphins swimming alongside our boat at breakfast the first morning. My favorite though was running on the treadmill or working out while looking out over the water. So relaxing.

More posts coming of our week!

A month?!!

Has it really been over a month since I last blogged? I am officially a slacker. Recap of November is basically pure craziness. I was finalizing Christmas, prepping for our big trip and planning and cooking/baking for Thanksgiving.

This year Thanksgiving was wonderful. Jared & I ran the traditional Turkey Trot at Wash Park (7 years in a row!). We were able to run without kids because my sister and brother-in-law stayed at our house with them. It was amazing. It has been so long since we have been able to run together without an outrageously heavy stroller. Then we had Thanksgiving dinner with my whole family. It was wonderful to spend time all together. We sat and talked for hours and hours. Nothing better than that.

The only picture I took of the day was my cute sissy--I was lazy.

I am looking forward to Christmas next week but wondering where the year went. How can it be so close to the end of December already?

Up next.... A recap of the big family cruise!