Why, yes. We are spoiled rotten.

As we were walking along the beach, I told Jon how spoiled I think we are. In less than five years, we've been on two cruises PLUS a two week vacation in Hawaii. Don't think we take it for granted--we know how blessed we are to have been able to do all this. But still--we're spoiled.

And so, for those who care, here's a recap of our adventure:

Wednesday April 28th

Seth and I survived a 5 hour flight from Baltimore to Phoenix. It was nothing short of a miracle--our flight was entirely full, with the exception of two seats. And guess who got one of those empty seats? Seth! Between having his own seat and and all my frantic prayers from the month previous, this was easily the best flight I've ever had with Seth. Absolute miracle.

Thursday April 29th--Sunday May 2nd

Seth and I loved spending some time in Tucson with my family. He loves all the toys Grandma spoils him with and all the animals to pester (two dogs, two cats). He's even picked up some new words: cactus, Bruce (one of the dogs), Mojo (cat), Bubba (Aunt Bethany) and lawnmower (Grandpa). Actually, 'lawnmower' isn't a new word, but that is now Grandpa's official name. That's what he gets for mowing the lawn the first day Seth saw him.

Monday May 3rd

My flight left Phoenix at 7:30 am, which meant Mom & I had to be up at 3:30am (flights into/out of Phoenix are much cheaper than Tucson, unfortunately). It was hard to leave Seth. I wasn't worried about him, but I felt guilty for leaving him without a mom and a dad. But I have to confess--flights without children are actually pretty relaxing.

My friend Joe was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and take me to the port. I showed up exactly the same time Jon did. Once we got settled, we headed off to explore the ship.

We've been on one other cruise (honeymoon, with Royal Caribbean). This time, because of cheaper prices and advice from the former cruise ship worker, Warnick, we were going with Celebrity. Warnick told us Celebrity was usually much quieter, with more places to be by yourself. Since Jon and I are anti-social, we liked that idea a lot. On Royal Caribbean there were ALWAYS hoards of people, wherever we went.
Our ship was the Celebrity Century, which is Celebrity's oldest (and smallest) ship. We didn't mind the older ship, and we loved the smaller size. What we didn't love was that we somehow ended up on a geriatric cruise. Okay, not really, but 60-70% of the other cruisers were over 60. And the ship catered to that. Meaning that breakfast started at 7 and that the pools (including the hot tubs) closed at 8pm. Our dinner seating was at 6pm, which meant by the time we got done, we were never able to get in the hot tub. That really ticked me off. Also, the basketballs in the court were totally flat and the ping pong table was broken. Which left shuffleboard, crossword puzzles and Sudoku. I think I read 5 books on this cruise, for lack of anything else to do. But I also realize that had we cruised on a ship with all the amenties (indoor pool, rock climbing wall, etc) we would have been packed in like sardines. So it was probably worth it. Except the hot tubs.

Tuesday May 4th

We were at sea this day, so we entertained ourselves by playing in the ship's gym (I'd never used an elliptical before), trying out the pool, and enjoying the first 'formal night.' I was excited to wear my new dress, and I'm sad we didn't get a good picture of the two of us. We had a woman from our table take some pictures, but she didn't get the full length.
And, my hairspray completely emptied itself all over Jon's luggage, so my hair is less than perfect. Meh.

Wednesday May 5th

First stop: Grand Cayman. Thanks to some insider advice from Warnick, we skipped the ridiculously expensive excursions and headed out on our own. And, thanks to Joe & Amber, we didn't have to pay for snorkeling gear. We have awesome friends.

Like our goggle marks?

Unfortunately, Hanauma Bay has apparently ruined snorkeling for us. After something as incredible as that, average snorkeling just doesn't cut it. But we had a good time just floating around. And I got to see some squid, which was cool (Jon missed them).We also bought Jon some sweet, sweet sunglasses. He forgot his at home. I just borrowed some from a sister (not sure which) since one of my Beehives stole mine.

Thursday May 6th

Second stop: Cozumel, Mexico. Instead of Playa Mia, which Warnick suggested, we went to Paradise Beach. It was cheaper and not as crowded, but for all I know we made a huge mistake and missed out on Playa Mia. I'm sure Warnick will let me know...Regardless, we had a really good time. We paid $12 each for wristbands that gave us unlimited access to kayaks, snorkeling gear, paddle boards, and all these water toys:
Unfortunately the trampolines were in desperate need of replacement, so that was lame. But we had lots of fun on the slides and the climbing wall thing. Oh, and trying to run across the strip between those two trampolines on the left. Very entertaining to watch.

I didn't get any pictures of us on the paddle boards, but here's what it would have looked like:I'm proud to say I never fell off! Jon, on the other hand... But I can't gloat too much--my board was wider and shorter than his, so it was much easier to stay up. This was probably my favorite thing we did that day, even though we were both really sore the next morning.

Additional benefits: AMAZING beef burrito and free Internet. Oh, and here's Jon in his new suit:
Friday May 7th

Third port: Playa del Carmen, Mexico. This was literally just a few miles from Cozumel (Cozumel is an island, Playa del Carmen is on the mainland). Absolutely the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. They were long, shallow, warm, and the water was gorgeous:

Our ship from the beach

And here's us, all ready to take a swim:

Yep. After spending all day in the sun at Cozumel, our sunburned skin (despite repeat applications) needed a break. But you'd better believe I regretted that decision as soon as I saw the beach. Next time (wishful thinking) I will save my skin for Playa del Carmen.

Instead, we used this day to shop.
Blech. That's how we both felt about it. Neither of us are big shoppers, so the constant hounding from EVERY store we passed was really irritating. So was the feeling that we got really ripped off, despite getting a price that was 1/6 the "original" price. But I was excited to find a little carved elephant for Seth. My parents got me one when they took me and my sister to Tijuana as babies (an experience that still gives my mother the jibblies).

Basically, it was hot, humid and we spent more money than I wanted to. And we didn't get in the water. Not my favorite day of the cruise.

Saturday May 8th

Sea day! More Sudoku and crossword puzzles. And, of course, formal night #2. Which also meant Baked Alaska and roses for all the women (for Mother's Day):

Same black dress, different sweater...

Jon's really into this Latin thing. You should have seen the accompanying dance.

Another self-portrait

By this point we realized we're pretty rotten vacationers. We were tired of just relaxing and having nothing to do. I knew I would regret feeling that way as soon as I got back to reality, but still. If you don't drink or gamble, there's not that much to do on a cruise ship while it's at sea...

Sunday May 9th

Thanks to Warnick (again!) we had directions to the Branch on Key West. After a week on a cruise ship (Jon called it a "floating great and spacious building") we were dying for something spiritual. There ended up being two other LDS couples there from our ship, both from Utah of course. ;) We even stayed for all three hours, but only because we all wanted to share a van back to the ship. Had it been up to me we would have left after sacrament meeting, but I'm glad it wasn't up to me. I needed to be at church much more than I needed to be at the beach.

And that's exactly what happened. After church, the ride back to the ship, and lunch, we were running short on time. We grabbed our stuff and headed for the beach, only to find out that we had to pay to get in. We had no cash on us and there wasn't time to go back to get it. So no Key West beach for us.

A good summation of my feelings about missing the beach.

We went to the ship's pool instead, but it was a poor substitute. I was disappointed that we missed the beach on our last day of cruising.

Monday May 10th

After a final breakfast onboard, we got off the ship in Miami. We were supposed to meet up with Joe & Amber for lunch as a thank-you for all their chauffeuring, but Amber had some serious studying to do and couldn't make it (I'm still sad about that). Instead, Joe dropped us off at Miami Beach. We got to spend several hours there before our flights left. I was thrilled! Jon said it was my blessing for going to church the day before. It was a lovely beach day. We just relaxed in the water and walked around. Besides the part where I almost lost my wedding ring, it was perfect.

Jon on Miami Beach. And he really was excited to be there, I swear!

Of course, it wasn't until I got on the airplane that I realized I was roasted. Being a red-head is awesome sometimes.

Aunt Kay was sweet enough to pick me up from the Phoenix airport and entertain me until my mom could get there. Kay and her husband, Wes, are the Mesa Temple directors. It was good to see them--I don't think I've seen them since our wedding in 2005.

Seth was pretty shocked to see me the next morning. When I went in to get him he just stared at me. But then he spent the rest of the day being clingy and whiny. Poor kid. He finally gets used to the idea of his parents ditching him and then we come back! I was so happy to see him again. I missed my Monster Man!

I only had one full day in Tucson before we had to leave. My poor mom made so many trips to the Phoenix airport--I hope we were worth it, Mom! I paid her off in new blinds for her kitchen and bathroom, but that definitely wasn't enough. Thank you for being such a good Grandma! We'll spend lots of time on Skype so Seth won't forget you!

The flight home was decent. He didn't have his own seat or sleep at ALL (he had one 20 minute nap the entire day) but he was remarkably good. All the same, I was glad to get off that plane. Seth was more excited than I was--about 5 minutes before the plane landed he starting saying, "Daddy? Go. Daddy." He was so excited to see Jon.
And so we're back to real life now. It was the perfect vacation, and I'm glad we had the chance to do it.

PS--Should you see me in the hallway on Sunday and notice a slight pooch in my belly, let me assure you that it is NOT a baby. It is, in fact, the creme brulee and lobster bisque that I had EVERY NIGHT for dinner while on the cruise. You'd better believe I ate everything I wanted to--it's not like we'll be eating like that again!