Oooooh Mexico!!

Yeah, I know I disappeared - but look where I've been:LOML and I (along with my mom, step-dad, nieces, and Mardi Gras Sisters) went on a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. The cruise was ALMOST typical (I'll get to that later), but Mexico was the BEST EVAHHHH!!
Our excursion was to the Nachi Cocom Beach Club (the site has music and doesn't offer much), but here are other pictures through TripAdvisor. There was a pool and hot tub next to the beach, our food and all drinks were included (we tipped as we left), hammocks, and you could pay to do a variety of activities (banana boat rides, wave runner rentals, parasailing, etc.) I didn't partake in any of those - I just relaxed and soaked in all in. The water was warm, the margaritas were EXCELLENT, the food was to-die-for and THIS was my view -
Sooooo will you forgive me? It's such a good excuse.
And I had a LOT of fun . . .



We had some serious laughs that I HAVE to share at my youngest niece's expense.
The first night at dinner was a riot!!
She ordered a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (really . . .I know) and it came on toasted bread. When it was placed before her, she looked at it and then at me . . .and said accusingly, tears almost welling up "It's cooked!?" I had to hold back laughter to explain just the bread was just toasted, and the pb&j were still raw.
Almost as soon as she had recovered from the great cooked PB&J incident of 2009, her JELL-O got to the table (in a small, round ramekin.) Dear GOD, don't the cruise people know how to cook for kids? She quickly made it obvious that this was Jello of a different sort and exclaimed, "This is NOT in squares. " I assured her it was indeed still jello and encouraged her to try it. She recovered and soon began poking around in the dish only to discover (OMG!) "There's SOMETHING in it!!" As I replied that it was probably fruit, she dug out and devoured a blackberry. At least she's trying new things. Round Jello with fruit. Who'd a thunk it?

It got tougher to laugh at the little things. Especially when we awoke Monday morning to disembark, only to discover that we were fogged in. Announcements were soon made that the Port of Mobile was closed due to ZERO visibility, and we would make the THREE hour cruise up the channel just as soon as the port re-opened. Which, apparently, was not until sometime VERY EARLY Tuesday morning, almost 24 hours later. LOML and I awoke in port at 5am and when my step-father called at 6:30 to tell us he could see people getting off the ship from his side of the boat, we grabbed our luggage and hauled butt OFF. Yes, I KNOW we got an extra day of vacation; but I was internet-starved, hungry to see my cat, and dying for some REAL home-cooked food.

So, even though I had to leave this behind
LOML and I plan that our next trip to Mexico will be more beach and less travel. We'll just fly in!!

*by the way, I did personally take all of the above pictures, with the exception of the one of LOML and me. I think my oldest niece snapped that one.

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