Day 5- Best Day Ever

This afternoon Josh came into our room where I was ordering some stuff on the laptop. (Free shipping for the WIN!) and asked me if Get Away Wednesday was now Get Away Thursday.
 I was like, "Didn't you read last week's post and why I was behind? Why would you say that? Just because I missed one Wednesday?!"
  He was like "whoa whoa I was just saying first last week and then I just went and checked the blog and there isn't anything up today so I thought maybe. ..?" (He ended this with a chuckled at my obvious over reaction) and I was all like, "Today is Wednesday??!?!?!" and then he chuckled again at my second over reaction of the hour, we won't tally all of my over reactions of the day no one wants to know that most of all me....

I knew it was Wednesday.  I had done all my regular Wednesday things.  I took Benjamin to preschool and Samuel to toddler time at the library and knew that Cassidy had dance that night, but about this ONE thing my ridiculous brain was still telling itself that it was Tuesday; that I had another day to write up our 5th day for Get Away Wednesday!  Maybe it's a survival mechanism?  Like survival of the fittest and everything...?  Yes, I like that.  You're all going down and I will rise to the top with you as my minions!!! Mwahahahahaha! Thank you brain; you can be Vice President.

AHHH This was such a big day! Para-sailing, Caves, Beaches,  Music Legend auditions.... Definitely the peak of our week.  Let's hear it for hump day!

 That morning, as soon as we got back to the Cabo shore we hopped on our prepaid Cabo expedition-Para-sailing! We were on the boat with a few other couples and a cute Oriental lady.

  We also met this couple on the para-sailing boat who had a Snowflake, AZ connection (my hometown).  The guy,Tyler, is Michelle Flake's (now Michelle Johnston) cousin and he used to visit his Snowflake aunt and uncle when he was growing up.  There seems to be a Snowflake connection almost anywhere you go in the WORLD and I'm still such a small town girl that I think it's pretty neat-o. 

 There was a photographer on the boat and he made us do this kiss to show our amor.

 Then we did this to show how excited we were to go up with this:

We were the last to get harnessed and go up. So we got to hear all the rules plenty of times and reviews from everyone.

Like where to place our hands and how to place our legs and feet for the smoothest launch and landing.

Josh was so excited that he forgot practically the only rule, thus the most important rule .  Don't hold the carabiners!  They are the only thing keeping us from falling to the ocean (which I'm not gonna lie-I thought it would be kinda cool to free fall into the water from that height. I mean we wouldn't die or anything, unless there was some random hungry shark that made it to us before the boat did.)

Take Off!

 The initial take off felt quite safe and felt pretty cool, but was the biggest thrill of the ride.  I was expecting more of an adrenaline rush, even though everyone before us said it wasn't scary, more calm and peaceful and they were right.  It was very serene and felt pretty secure.   I still kept eying my carabiner though because they weren't hooked up to a completely enclosed ring and at the right ( given it would have to be a very drastic) angle it could slip off.  As I kept glancing at those, my eyesight slid over to Josh's carabiners and that's when I noticed he was HOLDING ONTO HIS!!!  With not wanting to cause a disaster (being devoured by a famished monster of the sea) by startling him with an outburst of concern, I calmly told him to look where he was holding.  He did so and quickly but carefully moved his hand down to the proper holding place.  Whew. We immediately laughed at his "Doh!" moment. I wanted to take in the experience so I forced myself to mostly forget about the  sharks and iffy carabiner hook ups and I was able to relax and just enjoy it.

 So surreal that this is a picture of our feeties over the ocean!!

Look at my white- knuckled grip on the strap. haha!  You are secure enough to be able to let go one hand though so I was able to take some pictures and videos of us.

I did NOT want to come down.  The flight didn't feel too short or anything, I just didn't want it to ever end. Loved it!  We were a bit jealous because we could see other para-sailing boats that weren't sponsored by the cruise line and they were doing dips into the water.  You can hear Josh talking about it in the video and the jealousy in his voice. :D These other groups are sometimes less expensive, but there is not guarantee of your funds or safety, so overall, for our first time we were glad we could sail over the Sea of Cortez worry free.  However, we might go rogue next time and try one of the crazier para-sailing groups.:)

This isn't us.  I just love this shot of the sail with our ship in the back ground.

After flying over the ocean, we were ready to hire a water taxi  to take us over to Lover's Beach. This was by far one of the coolest things we did and one of the most beautiful locations we got to see. We got a glimpse of it the day before on our yellow submarine ride:

We started out looking for a guy we had talked to the day before. We wanted to give him some business, but we couldn't find him so finally we just hired some random dude with a glass bottom boat to take us over and come back in 2 hours to pick us up. Pay half up front and the rest when the return trip was over.  It was one of the crappier glass bottom boats, but it did the job.  He was very insistent that we not catch a ride back with any one else, that he would be back in 2 hours and we could ride back with him.  We said as long as you're here in 2 hours we will ride with you.  I guess it is an issue for people to say they will wait and then change their mind and hitch a ride back with another boat so the first boat looses money.

No we didn't ride the sex machine or the sex machine too, but I couldn't resist getting a picture. ;)

When they drop you off at this beach you jump or crawl  from the boat into the water.  Awesome right? It's pretty good people watching.   My friend had warned me about locals wanting to get paid for simply helping you off the boat or holding your bags  while you do.  So we tried to avoid needing them, but somehow one of them helped us with our bag or getting of the boat, I can't remember and then started following.  When I realized this I made Josh aware, but I think he wanted to ignore him hoping he would go away.  It wasn't working.  I nagged a bit more and a few strides later, Josh turned around and gave him a tip.Then he left us alone to explore this beautiful location.  There are no amenities here.  Just sand, gentle waves and rock formations.  The sand was super hot though, but the water was perfect!

Josh and I took turns swimming. We were too paranoid to leave our stuff by itself on the beach.

The boats don't move for you.  You move for the boats.  I was sorta scared for his life!

Then we went to check out that magic cave. *wink wink*    There were other people around and we helped each other out by taking pictures for each other, so it didn't end up being magical enough for two to go in and three to come out. Plus, it wasn't a very deep cave as you can see the back wall of it in the picture below.

So I've pretty much decided super modeling isn't my thing.  Sometimes you have to know when to move on, you know?

The we walked through the opening in the rock to the Divorce Beach side.  On the walk there through the incredibly hot sand ( even with sandals on you can still feel how warm it is as it flips up onto your feet) There are several large signs warning humans against swimming on the Divorce side.(wish I would've got a picture of them)  Remember from my last post it is the side that meets the ocean's waves and power.  The difference in the water there from the water at Lover's Beach was ridiculous. It was lighter, cooler and way scarier.  I refused to get too close.  Even as we were there a lady's sandal was ripped off her foot and out to sea. Never recovered. Josh went closer to help her try to get it.  Again, I feared for his life.  Her guy friend ended up giving her his sandal and he had to run back to the other side in that scorching sand.  Poor guy. :)   There were also stories of the Coast Guard being there earlier to help two people who had ignored the signs, got to close and were swept out to sea.  I've been to much calmer ocean beaches.  This is just one of those more dangerous areas.  A place where you don't want to test nature's power.

We thought it was pretty funny that on the walk from Lover's Beach to the Divorce side we got into a "discussion" about something Josh was confused on.   I knew I was right, but for confirmation of my superior knowledge I asked the guy who took our pictures the answer to our "debate".  Which did I mention I was right about? He took the above picture, but we all decided that the first one he took (below) was much more fitting for Divorce Beach. :D

from Love to Dissent

Looking north up Divorce Beach.  A nice, but deceivingly calm moment.

The force of the sand being sucked out from under your feet is unbelievable.  I found a spot that wasn't was strong, It felt cool, but it still made me feel out of control.

Crazy Josh still trying to help get the sandal back.  Nobody would wish having to walk back to the other side without some sort of feet covering on ANYBODY.

When we'd had our fill of the danger zone we trudged back over to the love side, ready for some more swimming.  We hid and covered our stuff, feeling less paranoid and  went swimming together.   A couple maybe in their  50's or 60's were swimming near us and started up a conversation. She said they were on the Millennial X cruise ship (pictured below). She was asking what our cruise ship was like and about the demographics.  We told her there was a really good mix of old and young.   She was visible dissapointed to hear that and about how fun it was and then said, "Ours is just a bunch of old people!"  Then she paused and laughed realizing her contradiction and said, " Well you know, old OLD people." It was a good laugh.

They were also there when I saw Josh jump out of the water faster than I've ever seen him move before!   He had seen something swimming in the water.  The fear of the *Dun Dun Duuuun!* unknown strikes again!  Nobody else saw anything for a  few minutes. I just kinda dismissed Josh as being silly and/or paranoid and kept swimming until I saw them too! A big school of some sort of long skinny fish or eels. Most definitely electricfying, ravinous man-eating eels.  I suddenly felt like it was time to take a little swimming break  too...

So over by where we were swimming there was a curious opening in the rock and we saw somebody crawl through it.  We were done swimming for the time (ya know until those creatures moved on) so we checked it out.  It was pretty much a hole in the rock formation; at chest level; that you had to climb up some slippery rocks to get up to; then squeeze your way through it.  There was an older lady trying to follow her son through and she couldn't make it up to it because it was hurting her knees too badly.  She wanted us to pass the message onto her son that she couldn't make it through.   It was just big enough for Josh and I maneuver our way up and to make it through to the cutest little beach on the other side.  There were only a two people there! The water was kinda crazy and the sand was rockier, so it wasn't as comfy as the beach 2 feet through the rock on the other side.  So weird.  We didn't stay there long.  I think that's why I have no up-close pictures of it.  FAIL! (you can see the area in the beach picture above , the first one right after the para-sailing pics) If any place would've been "magical", It would've been this place.  We wanted to make sure we didn't miss the returning glass-bottom boat that was just for us.
I would argue that Lover's beach is one of the best beaches in the world.  Not taking into account the fact that I have only been to 4.7893% of the worlds beaches.  I hope to return there someday.

See the area of the rock right in between Josh's shoulder and ear?  Right about there is where the hole to get to the secluded beach is located.

Back at the main port/shopping area.  I had a major headache probably because we hadn't eaten since breakfast and all the sun. and fun. So we set off to find not food, but a pharmacy.  LOL! ridic.  Got some Advil.  OMG, I swear the Advil there is coated in sweeter coating. Mmmm. I loved it. and I still have some . Mwahaha!  I was feeling better and we knew we were going to be heading back to the ship soon, so we didn't get a meal, but some ice cream and Josh got a Coke instead.  We listened to a fun little band outside in the shade.   We hadn't bought any souvenirs so we hit up the main shop.  Got some mugs, magnets, shirts, instruments and games for the kiddos back home. You thought I'd forgot about them, didn't you?  I also got some little bongo drums. #love  The store gave away a free bag/tote or a hat with purchase over a certain amount.  I thought and still think that is completely awesome.

  So after picking out a super cute tote, we walked 2 steps out of the store and some how in an exchange of bags we dropped one.  We knew it was the bag with the fragile things in it because of the shattering sound it made as it hit the rock sidewalk.  *enter sick feeling in stomach*  Sure enough as we unwrapped the brown paper around the fragile purchases several things were broken.  I went back into the store (Josh was still calming down outside) and repurchased the broken mug. We figured we could glue the magnet back together. #wesocheap  We decided since we still had some time left to walk down the boardwalk and find the para-sailing photographer's booth and check out our pictures.  It was a nice walk and we did end up buying the cd of pictures.  Don't regret it either. :)

That ended our experience in the lovely Cabo San Lucas.  We headed back to our room with sand in every part of our being and clothing.   There was no way around it- our room and mostly bathroom became covered in Cabo sand.  We felt super bad for our super amazing room stewardess.  He brushed it off like it was no problem.  I mean I bet he sees it ALL the time.  So we and he cleaned up and got ready for the night.

 I was extremely excited for the night's festivities.  It was the night of Carnival Legends Karaoke competition.  Anyone could compete for a chance to be in the final show of the cruise on Saturday night performing as one of music's biggest legends..  Yeah, I am so there.  Upon arriving I found out you had to pick a legend to audition for and then sing one of their songs for the audience who would then vote with their applause for their favorite contestant.  Men could choose from James Brown, Garth Brooks, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Elvis, or Ricky Martin.  Women could choose from Madonna, Britney Spears, Gloria Estefan, or Aretha Franklin.  With all my 80's experience I naturally signed up for Madonna and was the first one up.  I sang Material Girl.  Went over really well. There were quite a few ladies competing, so I wasn't too confident. Especially because there was this one older lady that just stood out in the crowd the entire cruise.  You know, one of those people everyone notices  because they are out going, loud, fun and participates in everything?  Yeah that type.  I had heard her sing on a previous night and she had the coolest smokey tone.  I loved it. Then she showed up to the competition in a costume featuring a feather boa and sparkly hat and glasses!  I pretty much figured she would take it because, heck, I wanted to vote for her!   Then she staggered up on stage and was too drunk to sing.  It was pathetic. I felt really bad for her.  You could tell she really wanted it and she even mumbled/sang something like," I know I can't sing right now, but I'll be way better at the shoooww...".  I think everyone was pretty much disgusted as her sweet husband drug her off the stage. (I'm not exaggerating either.)

Some crowds might cheer for such a display, but she was so bad off that she didn't get  much applause at all. I just remembered, it was even her birthday! So, in the voting for who would portray Madonna in the final show it came down to me and another girl who sang "Like A Prayer".  A much better song choice and I wish I would've thought of it because she ended up winning.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but I sat down with a smile; happy for her.   I'm thinking my chance is over, but then Mr. Ashley snuck his way over to me and mentioned that I could audition for another person.  DID NOT KNOW THAT! so yay!   I went back over to the sign up sheets and I knew I didn't want to do Aretha Franklin.  There were some beautiful, belting, black ladies here.  Not even gonna go there!  Maybe Brittany, but I just wasn't feeling it. (aka I was feeling too old for her)  I looked at Gloria's and there is only 1 other person signed up. Bingo! Gloria it is!
When the other girl on the Gloria sign-up sheet gets up to sing and I'm like "Oh snap....."  She was Latino, a bunch of people/family cheer for her when she gets up, she has several roses that she hands out and one she keeps as a prop.  My hopes for getting in the show plummet.

Then she opens her mouth and SLAUGHTERS "Rhythm is Gonna Get You".   I think she'd been drinking a bit too...  I felt bad for her and I felt bad that I was happy that she had bombed.   I got  over my guilt pretty quickly and proceeded to nail my performance of the song.   Another girl who had tried for Brittany had realized she had another shot, so she signed up for Gloria at the last minute too, but didn't get as much applause as I and suddenly I had made it into the Carnival Legends Finale Show!!!  I was so excited!  After all of the performers had been selected Mr. Ashley gave us lyrics and had us sign our lives away as insurance for the cheap, ancient mp3 players he gave us with the song we were to memorize by Saturday night and info about a rehearsal on Friday morning.

Went back to our room after one of the BEST DAYS EVER and kissed my prince charming.

I was super elated in this picture because I made it into the final show!!

and in case I've confused you today is Thursday.  Unless you are reading this after the day it posted. In that case, sorry, but you are on your own.


*update* If you are rereading this post and notice some of the stories have been changed that is because I got some memories confused (This was over 6 months ago.) and Josh helped me remember what ACTUALLY happened.  kthanksbai.

P.S. Love you. Yes you.

More Discoveries

 Benjamin's preschool class went to the Discovery Gateway Children's museum.   It was a great day to go because it was kinda snowy out and not as many people were there.  I almost didn't go either.  I had the hardest time getting out of bed and seriously the main reason I did was because I knew my sister, Jessica, was expecting me to be there.  We also got to go in an hour before it opened to the public.  This was so great!  Less children to dodge and less stress trying to keep up with the ones you're responsible for.  This place can get crazy fast, or maybe that's just me.

He got to be there with his best friend, M, his little bro,  AND his cousin Tysen.

When I got here I was all verbal to some people and announced, "No way am I taking pictures! I don't need more pictures of this place." However, I was weak and there were some Kodak moments I just couldn't resist getting my camera out to capture.  See what a great shot I got of all of them in the car? 

At one point Benjamin was all the way to the top. He jumped down before  could get a pic though. (Okay so I missed the perfect moment on the rock climbing wall- so sue me!)

We braved the snowfall and I got a picture of all the BFF boys on the helicopter outside.   I'm glad the weather wasn't too bad because Benjamin's little heart would've broken if he didn't get to go out on the helicopter.  It is his favorite part of the museum.  He also loved the weatherman station and the construction zone.  Samuel seemed pretty content to just ride around on the pink little horsey with wheels.  eh, what can you do?

 By eleven o'clock, I wasn't as brain-drained as I expected, but we still left soon after that.  I get anxious in these types of places if I stay too long.  I know that's horrible, but I start to get bored and I have a hard time not thinking of everything I need to get done at home.  It happens to me when I'm at home too.  I literally time the amount of time I spend playing with my kids. "Well, the 15 minutes I told you I'd play with you is up. Catch you later."   Don't beat me up about it though. I already feel guilty enough and I'm working on changing my thought process about it because it's not the type of mom I envisioned being at all. kthanksbai.

Long Lost Library

It had been awhile since I had been to the library.  I knew I had some fees (under $20) and I just got out of the habit.  A few months ago, a friend had the idea of taking our little ones over to toddler time at the library while our other children were in preschool and that reminded me that I needed to get my kids back over there.

We made a point of visiting this past time the kids were off track.  We went when Benjamin was in preschool and I left Samuel home with Daddy.  So glad I did.  I was back and forth helping my older kids find what they were looking for and having to watch after little ones at the same time would have been too much for me.  It was nice to have time with these older kiddos anyway.

We looked up specific books on the computer and put holds on the ones that were checked out. Tyler wanted to find a Pokemon evolution book and Danielle wanted an adventure novel and a Dork Diaries that she hadn't already read.  Cassidy was less picky and quickly filled up my library tote with various books that caught her eye. 

We wandered around looking for computer games and found these cool hand chairs. We found out they don't have computer games there anymore!  They did still have movies and we check out a few of those. "Music Man" (1962 version, duh) and "Oklahoma".  Also, picked up some Batman cartoons for the little one at home.

I made sure Tyler knew about the newts there.

They had BABY newts too!  So stinking cute!  They have to keep them out of the water until they are older.  It kinda made me want to own newts; I'm not gonna lie.  They are easy, inexpensive and not smelly.  Definitely a pet to look into for the future.

BABIES!!!!

Danielle already had her own card, so we got Cassidy and Tyler their very own cards too!  They were super excited about it.  And by these pictures you can tell it made them feel super grown up too.

What a nice, free off track activity. Go me.