¡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.

Back on Board

The Seven Amigos! 

Mucho guapo, fellas!

Getting goofy with Senior Goofy.

After our fun and exhausting canopy zip lining adventure in Mexico, we came back and spent the rest of the day enjoying life on the ship.  Donald and Goofy kept the spirit of the fiesta alive with their Mexican costumes and sombreros.  We couldn't help but do a little cha cha with them.

Luke had fun looking at the city through the porthole windows and watching the window washers hang a hundred feet above the ocean.  He also managed to eat several ice cream cones, of course.

And then hang our by the pool while Dad snoozed in the warm Mexican sun.

Caleb had a great time swimming as well.


As evening approached, the ship set sail again.

But we didn't notice when we shipped off again, because we were back at the Theater watching one of the best shows on the trip, Toy Story the Musical!  It was so, so terrific.  Really Broadway quality.  The whole production was so extreamely creative - from the amazing costumes to the staging and transitions!  It was really quite magical.

Mr. Potato Head's parts moved and popped in and out as required, Slink Dog was played by two people connected by a giant spring, and T-Rex was inflated and his feet were spring loaded so he literally bounced all over the stage.

And of course Buzz was just so... so... Buzz!  And the music and dance were just as creative and impressive!  Such talent!

I loved "the Claw"and all the aliens were great.  One actor was 3 aliens (their head was one, and each of their hands were too) and there was a whole line of dummy aliens along the front giving the illusion of a whole stage full of aliens.  And yes, the Claw really did come down and grab Buzz and pull him up into the air!

Some of the coolest costumes were the mutated toys in Sid's room.  They even had the baby doll head on spider legs that walked around the stage.  That was very cool!  And at the end, of course, Buzz and Woody come flying across the stage into the moving truck.

They said that this show took 3 years to create.  I can see why.  It was really awesome.  Worth the cost of the cruise tickets just to see that.  Seriously.  Great entertainment!


But maybe Dennis was inspired by the show because right after the show, and right before dinner, he became quite the entertainer himself.

Believe it or not, we went to a family hypnotist show, and Dennis actually volunteered to go up on stage and be hypnotized!  Now, if you know Dennis, you'd know that he is just not the type to want to go on stage and do such a thing.  So what convinced him to get on that stage?  It wasn't the desire for fame, or giving in to his children begging him to go for it.  He did it because the hypnotist promised that when you are hypnotized you feel afterwards as if you have had a full 8 hours rest, and that sounded just too good to Dennis who had been partying a bit too hard on this cruise and was in desperate need of a full night's sleep.

Dennis was GREAT!  He zonked right out on cue and when he woke up he was really, truly under.

First, the hypnotist showed everyone a stack of ordinary cocktail napkins and told them that they were $100 bills.  Dennis must have believed him, because he was anxious to get his hand on those napkins, and was even stuffing them into his shirt so nobody could take them from him.  Hilarious.  One guy was even stuffing them in his wallet.

Later he told everyone that they were Hannah Montana, and Dennis rocked it up there with his invisible microphone and imaginary long flowing hair.  The boys were CRACKING UP at their dad!

Then he told them that when he shook their hands they would forget how to talk.  When he called Dennis up, Dennis was clear and completely lucid in answering his questions, until he shook Dennis' hand, and suddenly Dennis was talking in gibberish!  So funny.  And as soon as he let go of his hand he was talking normally again.  Wild.

I think Dennis was one of the hypnotist's favorites because when Dennis was under, he told him that after the show was over and everyone was getting ready to leave, Dennis would jump up an yell "HI-HO!" and then the rest of the audience would reply "Hi-Ho!" and then Dennis would start marching out of the room singing the 7 Dwarf's song. "Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go!"

Oh my goodness.  I did NOT think Dennis would do that.  It is so NOT like him to ever sing anything, especially in front of a crowd.  

But guess what?

He did it!  Sure enough, as soon as it was over he jumped up and hollered "Hi-Ho!" and proceeded to march out of the room singing like a Dwarf and everyone followed him like the pied piper.  It was classic!  As soon as he walked through the door he suddenly woke up and remembered all he had done.  And yes, he felt completely rested and ready to party all night long!

He became sort of a celebrity on board and for the rest of the trip he kept hearing strangers holler "hi-ho" out to him or say "hey, it's the hi-ho guy."

That night was had a wonderful dinner at Triton's, the great seafood dining room.  The entire back wall is a gorgeous tile mosaic from The Little Mermaid.

Luke didn't get much dinner.  He had just played too hard I guess, because there was nothing that Carlo or any of us could do to wake him for dinner.  At one point he simply slipped down under the table.  Poor kid.  Disney cruises are tough.

Maybe it was a good thing that Luke slept through the escargot.  Yep.  Snails.

They boys were abnormally excited when they saw snails on the menu.  They are adventurous eaters, to say the least.  I have never had much trouble trying to get them to try something new.

They liked the snails, and convinced me to give them a try.  Now I am pretty open minded, I think, about new foods, but I have usually drawn the line at insects, bugs, and yes, snails.  Even when we went to France, I had decided it best to abstain.  So maybe it was the salt air or the pixie dust or something, but I decided not to look like a wimp in front of my boys, so I tried one.  Just one.

 And what did I think?  Well, it didn't taste like chicken, that's for sure! It tasted like, well, a snail.  Chewy, earthy, and, frankly, not anything I want to eat again.

Poor Caleb.  Dennis convinced him to try just one too, and he did, but the look on his face above tells you just how he felt about this delicacy.  There were some bitter feelings from that boy toward his father for quite a while after dinner.