Ok REALLY the last pic from the cruise!

I didn't realize it until Mark just sent me this but we got a digital copy of the one group picture we took of everyone in our family on the cruise.  I think the final count was 53!  Isn't that amazing? That's a whole lotta family but VERY wonderful to meet everyone.  It makes me think of the saying "all because (those two cute grandparents in front) fell in love!"

the last of the cruise...all random shots...

Nacho made an appearance.  

Hard at work removing the "getting on the boat" stickers from our bag to replace them with the "getting off the boat" stickers.

I like him

This is how Taj spent A LOT of time on the cruise that was not very friendly to his age.  We watched "Surf's Up" on my ipod with our smuggled bag of corn pops about 2 dozen times in one week.

This is the traffic in Mexico.  It may not seem so crazy from the picture but it was.  It was nuts.  Good thing we drove around in it in a full size van with no car seat and our son hopping around.  Safety first.  That's how the Snavelys roll when in Mexico.  This area was fun to see too because Mark said it was A LOT like Ecuador where he served his mission so I got to get a little taste of that. 

This was made out of sand.  Cool no?

Again...I really like him.

So Tim/Nacho from above is a photograher film guy professionally and he was showing us how to use the flower button on our camera.  If you click on this pic of Mark's eyeball you can see all of us in the reflection.

This is Grandma Snavely!  I need to track down a better picture than this from someone because this is the best on I've got!  And that's Aunt Dora with her.  That's right Taj has a real life Aunt D-d-d-d-ora!  Jealous?

This is Grand Dad Snavely with Karen!  I also don't think we got any pics of Mark's brother Dave.  What's up with that?

And this is Sarah, a niece...who is very cute!

And this is Hector.  The guy who walked up to us on this super scary look out and said if we paid him $10 he would jump off the side.  And we said "ok!"

Puerto Vallarta

And then last day was at Puerto Vallarta and we had our biggest group yet but another super fun day.  These pics are out of order but I am too lazy to switch them around! :)  So just try and keep up.  You guys are smart.  You will be fine.

Mark was excited to take a picture with the Marine holding a machine gun.  It was  little weird to have lots of  guys around with machine guns but that is sort of a common thing down there.  This guy wasn't sure it would be ok to take a pic but finally agreed!

This is the last place we went this day.  It is a restaurant built around a waterfall in the jungle and also the location that they shot the movie Predator!  It was closed when we got there but we paid off the old guard surrounded by scary dogs and he let us go explore for a few minutes. 

Here we all are!  This day we ended up renting a full size van and a suburban to tote us all around town!  Mark took this pic which is why he is not in it!

After some scenic drives around the multi-million dollar homes we spent most of the day at this lovely beach where we had lunch and played.  Mark and I rented a kayak for $15 for an hour and went to sea!  Taj wasn't too keen on this game though so we only stayed out about 15 min then came back and took other nieces and nephews out for quick trips!

Impressive.  I know.

That's our group sitting around the table in the background.  They served us lunch right there and all the kids could just play and eat.  You are also constantly surrounded by people trying to sale you things.   My bro-in-law Jer said he felt like he was living the home shopping network.  

This is Mark's Dad and Mom, Aunt Joan and his sister Barb and her hubs Timothy.  

Family resemblance much?

Us.  Me in all my 6 month pregnant glory.  This was Taj's hardest day ashore but it was also his third day in a row with no nap and going to bed super late.  He's still cute though.

This is Mark's sister Barb and her family!

And then his sister Karen and her crew!  She is two weeks farther along than me with her 7th!  She is most impressive.  But look how cute their kids turn out?

Mazatlan, Mexico

Our second port was Mazatlan.  Cathy and I both agree that this was our favorite stop of the trip.

This is a small island next to the port.  This photo was taken on the deck of our ship before we got off that morning.  Somebody must have been burning something.  I learned one time "where there's smoke there's fire."  

This photo is looking off the other side of the ship at the port where we docked with Mazatlan in the background.  Our taxi tour took us over near the tall hill by the ocean and up the coast.

We stopped and went inside this Cathedral and listened to part of a Mass service (in spanish).  It was pretty fancy inside.  I think they said this Cathedral has been around since the 1930's and they have just continually upgraded it with towers and stuff.

This picture shows you how beautifully rocky and cliffy the ocean is arounf Mazatlan.  If you look close you'll spot our friend Hector who we met and paid $10 to dive off the cliff.  He has pretty good form (and timing).  He did survive this dive FYI without a scratch.  I asked him for a discount if his cliff dive was unsuccessful, so I think he had extra incentive not to die.

This is us hanging out in hotel pool that is friendly to cruise passengers.  Our taxi tour driver Carlos knew about this place and hooked us up.  Taj loved the pool, and so did Nickel.

The pool had a cool water slide which Taj loved (but made him a little nervous).  Taj preferred to hug on to me going down the slide but agreed to face forward for this photo.

This is Carlos.  He is the main reason Mazatlan was our favorite spot.  He was really fun and interesting tour guide and knew all the cool local spots to show us.  If you ever visit, make sure you ask for Carlos as your tour guide.  And be sure to ask him to take you to get some Suaves (marshmallow candies covered in roasted coconut shavings).

Taj and his cousins.  Taj put on this sombrero and decided to start getting down to the latin street music being played.  He really had some impressive moves and poses.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

The first port we stopped at was Cabo.  

View from the cruise ship.

This is us in the morning about to get off the ship.  Taj is hiding behind his banana.

The big ship on the right is ours.  Taj loved playing in the shore break.  

Taj really liked the sand.  He might have got a little too sandy here for his liking.

When he started eating the sand we decided it might be time for lunch.

So we found a little taco hut with decorative whale ribs and vertebra on the wall.  The owner's name is Marty and he moved to Cabo from AZ.  He was super friendly and hooked us up with some great grub (better than eating sand for sure).

Towel Friends

On the cruise people come and clean your room for you twice a day.  Typically in the morning when you leave for breakfast and then again while you're at dinner.  The evening cleaning included a fun towel creation waiting to welcome you home each night.  

Olliphant

Poochie

Duck

Swanny.

Holy Cow!

Mon-chi-chi

Journey to San Pedro, CA

We drove down to San Pedro to begin our cruise.  Here are some of things we did getting to the ship.

First things first, as soon as we enter the state of California we must find a Chick-fil-a to eat at.  Taj is a bit tired but he is excited for his chicken.

We stayed with our friends John and Kristen and there son Dylan (who is only a week younger than Mr. Mahal) who live in Irvine.  We got some lunch at a place called Wahoo's Fish Tacos.  Taj ate an inordinate amount of rice, beans and pork.  It was sweet!

This is a picture while we waited to board the ship.  Its a big boat.

Taj marveling at the grandeur of the scene (with his Thomas the Train luggage).

Adios Amigos!

So tomorrow we are off on to LA to begin a 7-day cruise (starting Sunday) to the Mexican Riviera!  Jealous? :)  This has been almost 2 years in the making/planning so it seems surreal that it is finally here!  Mark's Dad's Parents (or as most normal people would say Mark's grandparents!) will be celebrating their 65 wedding anniversary!  They have 10 children, so their kids will be there as well as all their kid's kids!  Basically Snavelys are going to populate most of the ship!  I am really happy because I have never met most of this extended family (although I hope some sort of name-tags are involved!)  And I am trying hard not to stress too much about Taj climbing overboard or never napping or trying to play with a shark or any such nonsense!  It WILL be fun and relaxing.  I am DETERMINED!

Very Terry Fun

So growing up in Florida Mark's family had some GREAT friends (in fact they still do) named the Goodiers.  Well one of their daughters who is all grown up now with a family of her own was coming through Vegas on Tuesday and we were more than happy to host them for the evening.  This was just a pit stop for them.  They are headed up to Utah for a sister's wedding.  But we had fun while it lasted.  They have two little girls and their older one is approximately one week younger than Taj!  They hit it off.  Here are some pics of their one night of crazy baby fun!

Look at this blonde!  This is Jane and she could impressively hold her own with Taj as far as jumping off of things go!

Taj's dismount!  Note they are all in PJ's.  This is how we reverently get ready for bed.

Kevin (the dad) would hold the baby Alice and chase the other two around.  Taj found this to be hysterical!

And a little bubble blowing never hurt.

Thanks for coming Terry Family!  It was fun to have you even if it was a quick trip!