Da Cruise Pictures-Part 2 Cozumel

We spent approximately 8 hours in Cozumel.  Only about 5 of that was on the land though.  The rest of that time was spent on the Holiday.

The view from the ship:

Two other cruise ships docked close to us:

The gorgeous blue water:

On the island, we visited "Discover Mexico" where they had all of these really neat scaled down models of the various ruins throughout the country.

Then some colonial models:

And modern day architecture:

Then some evil mystery bug bit/stung Thomas:

But he was brave and let an iguana sit on his shoulders in spite of his injury.

Then we went to Chankanaab park to eat lunch and swim.  (Had to look at the picture to spell it!)

The "lagoon"

Complete with cool coral formations:

Before swimming, we ate lunch:

And complained about the heat

And enjoyed the view

And listened to the local musicians serenade Gloria

Then we went SWIMMING!

Daniel, Michael, and Thomas all went swimming, too, but we didn’t have enough hands to hold everyone and a camera at the same time!

Then we went back to the ship and crashed!

Da Cruise Pictures-Part 1 on the Ship

Five days and four nights of nonstop eating, sleeping, swimming, sliding, and ponytail dancing head bobbing music!

We "set sail" from Mobile, AL on Carnival’s Holiday.  I think it’s the smallest one they have.  Here are some pictures from the Mobile docks:

The marine police munched on pizza from the galley while they waited for us to get under way.

The view of the bow with all the interesting winches, pulleys, and lines.

The view down the stairwell through the hanging sculpture.

Thomas’ favorite place on the ship was the big water slide.

Here he is going down it.  He’s the little dark spot at the bottom of the slide.

Gloria liked the pool ok, but really enjoyed the music of our steel drum player:

There was a little play set next to the kiddie pool.  Gloria loved her "house"

and spent a ridiculous amount of time sliding.

She also enjoyed playing by the pool.  She took many showers

and hopped around like a frog.

Meanwhile, Thomas went trolling for little bits of trash using his trusty swim goggles.

He managed to find numerous pieces of paper which looked to be a shredded twenty dollar bill.

He tried to get Gloria into it,

but she preferred to play chase with him in the pool.

Daddy and Daniel catching the wind in their hair:

Down in the shade.

We did so much more, but I am not a shutterbug and prefer dong the action rather than hanging out behind the camera photographing it.

A Cute Toddler in a Cute Outfit

Yup.  Gratuitous Gloria shots.  Outfit by Grandma.  Smiles complements of smarties.

It’s amazing how a camera shy girl can become a super model as soon as candy comes into play!

The Day After

So this morning, the day after the party, Thomas got up at 6am, got fully dressed and then came to snuggle in the bed with us.  At about 7:30 this is what my bed looked like.

The boys were sound asleep and Gloria was saying, “Please, wake up, Thomas, please.  Pretty please.”

Daniel is One!

Ok.  So he’s BEEN one, but I’m catching up after being sucked into facebook.  It’s worse than going to Walmart!

The day he turned one we snapped a few cute photos of him in his high chair enjoying an Oreo.

Such a sweet face 

This Oreo is pretty good!

Cheese!

Camera ham!

Sunday afternoon/evening we had a family celebration.  Kane and Valerie and DeNiece came over from Georgia to participate.  Michael and Gilah also came.  Thomas was at his father’s and managed to get there after the cake and midway through the presents.

We had a yummy spaghetti dinner that Daniel obviously enjoyed.

The cake.  Makes me think of Pinnochio.

He was a little unsure of how to eat the cake at first.

But decided it tasted pretty good.

And then got down to the business of SQUISHING it.

And stuffing his face.

And trying to figure out how to get it off his fingers.  (Thank goodness he didn’t decide to flap!)

And hamming it up for the camera.

By the time he was done the yellow and blue cake had turned into teal mush.  (Michael has a good picture of this.)

We then spent some time helping him to open his gifts.  (All of these pictures are on Michael’s camera.  Hint, hint, Michael.)

It’s hard to believe my babiest boy is one already.  He takes a few unassisted steps here and there, but prefers the security of a push walker so that he can go, go, go!  He talks a lot and likes to smile at us on purpose.  He whispers "hi" and grins, says "diap’n" for diaper, says "bye" right after we’ve left, and gives some of the best hugs and kisses these days.  He’s night weaned from 11pm-5am.  Sometimes he even makes it longer with minimal fussing.  He has a strong temper and a loud scream to go with it.  He wants to do everything Gloria does, much to her dismay.  I find the urge to buy 2 of everything to minimize the noisy disagreements that happen, but I don’t really think Daniel needs his own Tinkerbell doll and My Little Ponies!

This last year has been amazing to watch Daniel grow and become part of the family.  His older siblings love him to pieces in spite of all their spats.  He and Thomas have special games they play where they fall down together.  Gloria and Daniel go racing around the house with their push walkers hollering and laughing. 

Life in the Blue House is good!