Pirates Take Over the Ship!

Once we got back on board the ship in Cabo, they lifted anchor and set sail into deeper waters, even though we were going to spend another day in Cabo.  Why?  Because Disney Cruise Line is the only cruise line in the world that does fireworks at sea!  (This is kind of a big deal, and something they are very proud of.) They had to get out away from land so that they could safely do the fireworks show, and it had to be Thursday, because Thursday night was the night everyone looked forward to all week - Thursday was Pirate Night!

Everyone on board, and I do mean EVERYONE, was decked out in their pirate digs.  Everyone, that is, except us.  We somehow didn't get the memo to pack our eye patches and hooks.  Too bad, because we have some pretty great pirate stuff at home, as you might imagine.  But we made due.  I tied a scarf around my head, and some of the boys made newspaper hats.

Captain Hook must have thought we looked piratey enough to been seen with us, huh?

What a motley crew!  Scary.

Who needs eye patches and hooks? Chip and Dale showed us how to make our own.

Nathan and his best buddy Chip.

Chip was admiring Nathan's awesome hat when Stitch came over and swiped it off of Nathan's head and put it on his own, then danced around and pretended he was Chip.  Silly Stitch!  The boys and Chip all got a kick out of it.

At dinner in the Animator's Palette there were pirate scarves waiting for all of us, and the kids used crayons to pirate-up their paper hats a bit.

After a visit from Mickey himself during dinner, we were really ready for a magical Pirate Night aboard the Disney Wonder.

The boys were really in the mood!  Sword fights in the halls and pushing the elevator buttons with the tips of their weapons, just like real pirates do - pirates that have elevators on their ships, that is.

Up on deck is where the action was!!!  Everyone loves a party, but a pirate party, well, it doesn't get much better that that!  There was music and dancing, and the boat was rocking!  Everyone was having a heck of a time when all of the sudden...

Captain Hook and his crew of dastardly pirates descended on ropes down onto the stage and announced that they had taken over the ship!

But have no fear!  Suddenly, high over our heads Captain Mickey appeared and swung on a rope from one smoke stack to the other - flying through the air to save the day.  Our hero!

He dropped onto the stage and said, "You came to see a show, and I'm going to give you a show!  Look to the sky!"

Suddenly the black sky above us exploded into bright fireworks!  It was more explosive than any cannon battle!  It was awesome!

Aaargh, mateys!  

Then came the scurvy grub!  One whole side of the deck had been turned into a pirate feast!!!  Never mind that we had all just come from dinner, this was quite a spread.  There was a whole bunch of Caribbean inspired food and fruits and goodies.  There was a made-to-order crepe station, and everyone's favorite, whole turkey legs!  You just can't help but feel like a real pirate when you walk around on a boat gnawing on a turkey leg. We thought we were full, but we just could help but collect some of this here booty!

There were also pirate ice sculptures, and the deserts were beautiful!  No one wanted the party to end, or for their tummy to get full.  

When everything settled down, they showed the Pirates of the Caribbean movie on the giant screen on the deck.  Disney sure knows how to throw a pirate party!

Even when we had had our fill of plundering and looting, as all pirates eventually do, and had gone below deck to our staterooms, we found that magic pirate night was not quite over.  Instead of chocolates on our pillows, there were gold coins, and a towel folded in the shape of a monkey was hanging there playfully.  Shiver me timbers!

¡CABO!

Our second and last port of call on our cruise was Cabo San Lucas!  Wow!  What a beautiful place.  And what beautiful weather!  It was in the 80s and the water was warm enough to swim in comfortably.  Not bad for January.

Cabo is a tiny place and the port is not deep enough for large cruise ships, so they anchored the ship in the middle of the harbor and we used tenders to bring us to the dock.

Of course, the boys loved the idea of a boat ride, but Dennis, who gets sea sick, was a little less enthused. He did fine, though.

The boys loved seeing all the birds and sea lions and boats along our ride.

As soon as we got on land there were lots of guys there offering water taxi rides, which is just what we expected.  Unlike Puerta Vallarta, we did not pre-pay for an excursion in Cabo, but we knew exactly what we wanted to do, and knew Dennis would use his Spanish and negotiating skills to get us just what we wanted.  He loves that kind of thing.

Sure enough, he found us a water taxi, and we were off on our first Cabo adventure.

Since we planned on spending the day at an inaccessible beach, we thought we should stop for some bottled water and sandwiches, so we stopped at this floating store - like a Circle K out on the water.  It was strange to be in what looked like a little convince store but it was moving up and down.  Kind of fun.

Cabo is a colorful place.

The boat had a glass bottom so we could see all the pretty fish under the water.  The kids loved this!

Not only was there cool stuff to see under the water...

But there was equally great stuff to see above.

Cabo is known for it's beautiful rock formations. The one above right is called Scooby Doo rock.  Can you see why?
  We saw of whole pile of moving rocks, and when we got closer could see that they that they were sea lions.

Cabo is located at the very southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, and this rock is that tip.  On one side is the Gulf of California, and on the other the Pacific Ocean.

These rock formations and arch are quite famous and used in lots of pirate movies.  They are really beautiful, and our water taxi took is right up close.

Then he took us around to the Pacific Ocean side where the water is much more choppy, just for a look.  We didn't stay long.

Truly beautiful!

Then he took us back to the calm side of the peninsula and dropped us off at Pelican Beach.  The only way to get to this beach is by boat, so we asked him to come back several hours later so we could have time to PLAY!

Once on land, Caleb lost no time climbing up the rocks.

The twins went straight into the warm water.  Happily, we brought our snorkel gear with us.  Cute, Dylan.

Derek looks good too.

Luke had a great time playing in the sea foam and running on the shore.

They call this Pelican Beach because there are a few big rocks right off shore that are usually covered with pelicans and other sea birds.  We watched lots of little crabs as well.

We noticed this big guy hanging around.  He had a fishing weight caught in his beak.  Poor thing.  Wonder how long that has been there?
The boys swimming in the clear water with the ship in the distance.

One of the funnest beaches we have ever been to! 

But for the big boys, (including Dad) the best part was the big rock off shore that the boys had a blast jumping off of.  Don't worry, the water was VERY deep.  I snorkeled around the base of this rock, and it is that amazing the part of the rock sticking out of the water is much shorter than the part underneath.

Alex takes the plunge!

Dylan goes for it.

Go Derek!

For the record, I did it twice, and both times it did not feel very good, but I could not let those boys get away with calling me a chicken, now could I?

Caleb and I had a great time snorkeling together and playing with an overpriced underwater disposable camera we got at the floating store.  These are the only pics that came out halfway decent. I wish I could have captured how pretty it all is down there.  I love snorkeling!

What a GREAT day!

These chipmunks were everywhere!  Luke was a little stressed out when he wanted to eat his lunch because the chipmunks descended on him from every direction.  Look at that little guy sneaking up behind Luke as he keeps watch.

After playing in the water we all decided to go exploring in the caves and crevices of the rocks.

Further down from Pelican Beach is Lovers Beach which is really cool because it is a two sided beach between two giant rock formations.  On the east side is the Gulf of California and on the west the Pacific Ocean.

Because of big waves and strong currents, there is no swimming at all allowed on the Pacific Ocean side, but it is really beautiful and peaceful since there are not many people there and all you can see is the ocean to the horizon.

The rocks looked like something from the moon and the boys loved climbing on them.

We worked our way back to the side of Lovers Beach that you could swim in.  No, Luke is not in the sea lion trash can, but on the other side of it.  Cute pic, though.  

The sand here was just fantastic!  Not too fine, not too course.  It felt like cornmeal, and apparently invited Dennis to take Nathan on in a wrestling match.  The others soon followed and turned it into a dog pile.  Poor Nate.

Pretty!

Every little boy should have a big brother like Nathan.

Ah.  My cute boys.

We had to climb through this hole in the rock to get to this small, very private beach that is just about as far south as you can get on the peninsula.

It was just spectacular and would have been quite romantic if Dennis could have gotten through the hole and all those boys weren't with us.

More caves to explore.

Just look at those colors, all made more vibrant in the bright Mexican sun!

A few more pics I love.

In the late afternoon, just when it began to get a bit chilly, our boat arrived to take us back to the dock.

I love taking pictures at boat docks!

We didn't take the boys walking through Cabo.  They were tired and hungry, and we didn't want to buy food on shore when there was more than enough good eats on board for free, so we sent the boys back on the next tender and Dennis and I had a bit of quiet time walking together to go find the Hard Rock Cafe so we could get Nathan a few pins for his collection.  But that was it.  We were both tired and wanted to get back to the ship ASAP.

Besides, we had to get back to the ship because Thursday night, as everyone knows, is Pirate Night.  Is that a pirate ship I see out there?  Hope we are not too late.