Cruise

Steven and I just got back from a cruise getaway! Before this cruise, Steven and I had not been on a vacation together since before Aubrey was born. I had never even left the girls overnight before. We are so blessed that Steven's parents watched the girls so we could have a nice vacation.

We went on a four day cruise from Long Beach to Catalina Island and then Ensenada, Mexico. I read three books, slept in until 7:45 one day (still up early the others), took 3 naps, and ate approximately 8 desserts. Cruises are tough on the self-control :)

The first day was just on the ship and then the next was spent on Catalina Island. We went on a 7 mile hike from our ship, up the Hermit Gulch trail to overlook the whole island. Once we were at the top we could see both sides of the island, and the view was amazing.

We only saw one other couple the entire time we hiked. We thought it was crazy that everybody else from the ship seemed to stay right in the little city of Avalon. There was a whole island to explore!

That night was the cruise formal night, and I love an excuse to get dressed up. 

The next day we stopped in Ensenada, Mexico. First we went horseback riding...

 Steven and I were put at the back of the line. They told me that my horse, Tapatio, liked to bite the other horses. We were pretty dusty by the end. 

 The ride took us up over the cliffs overlooking the ocean. And, all that hiking + horseback riding = I could barely walk the next day. 

After horseback riding we spent the afternoon exploring the the rest of the city. We tried our hand at bartering to buy the girls some souvenirs. They look adorable in those dresses.

They are fixing the main road, but instead of trying to do it a little at a time, they just bulldozed an entire side. Traffic was crazy.

Steven got to eat authentic Mexican food from a food truck. 

And, we made sure to find a Starbucks with free wi-fi so we could call our girls.

The last day was spent at sea. We slept in, ran five miles in the gym, went in the hot tub, basked in the sun, showered, went to brunch, read some books, took a nap.... and then it was only one in the afternoon. The day was relaxing, but pretty long since all the normal cruise distractions (drinking, gambling, etc.) are not really for us.

But, we did play some intense rounds of speed after we bought some cards from the casino.

 We went to the shows each night. Some were great... some were not.

And then, we got off the ship Thursday morning and drove back home to our girls! It was a great trip and really good for us after all the stresses of moving. We have another five weeks here in Las Vegas and then we are off to Canada!

Goodbye California, Hello Las Vegas

The end of March was spent doing all our favorite things and spending time with all our favorite people one last time:

The last couple of weeks were pretty stressful. Our area in Santa Clara is so transient that people move in and out all the time, and so somebody is always needing help moving. I didn't want to bug too many people to help us, so I packed up everything myself with the girls running around, cleaned everything, lived on air mattresses for a couple of days, and then we loaded the truck with just a couple of friends.

On April 4, 2015 we drove away from the Bay Area and closed a chapter of our lives that I have absolutely loved. I'm very excited for our life in Utah, but a part of my heart will always be in California. I'm still a little sad, but we are having a great time here in Las Vegas.

Since we have been in Las Vegas, we have...

Visited splash pads and spent some time in sprinklers. I don't have a picture of it, but Katie and Tyler have an amazing pool, and we have spent quite a few evenings enjoying that. The girls are having a great time being around their cousins.

Put both girls in swimming lessons. Aubrey is a pro, and Cora had her first lesson last week. The first 22 minutes were great. Then she got cold and spent the last 8 minutes screaming, "I want to go in the hot tub." 

We got a pass to the Children's museum and plan on going weekly to get our money's worth.

 We went hiking up at Red Rock this morning. You can't really tell in this picture, but Aubrey climbed up really high for a four-year-old. She was pretty proud.

 Steven's parents have been wonderful to us, and the girls love having their grandparents around.

My little hiking buddy.

And... I guess we can't stay away from California long because after we had been here a week, Steven and I went on a cruise!