High Speed.... Photos Finally

We know we look like sisters!


Well I have ALL DAY in LAX and I decided to see if I can get some of our pictures up so probably many new posts to come. Bear with me, o.k. It was so painful to not show our pictures, so indulge me for a bit here. I have nothing else to do today!

Here you go, here he is, Disneys Finest! My Son, Michael. He makes a mom so proud! That is me in the rocket behind him (o:





O.K.

We thought this was a funny photo. Read the sign in front of the girl. Then scroll down to the following photo to see what it is she is looking at!



The really sad part was she kept trying to get people to NOT park there. It was hopeless!
Oh Mickey....

Article

Real quick I wanted to add. There was an article in the Bend Bulletin either today or yesterday thatis an interview with Bill. He is to shy to say... I just wanted you guys to be able to read it. I am so proud of him.

Media stuff is always really hard for him because they rarely publish what he actually says. Anyway I thought you may enjoy it and give him a 'way to go.'

The link is:

http://bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070913/BIZ0102/709130394/1011/BIZ01&nav_category=BIZ01

Love Leila
xoxo

O.K. I am officially out of Internet minutes! It is SO SLOW out here in the ocean, so I gotta go!

Sailing the Seas…

Today was our day at sea, while I may have been a little concerned that we would get bored I am now rushing to try and get a blog typed while we rush off to our last activities of the day. It has been another relaxing, fun-filled, and much a perfect day.

We started our day by sleeping in for the first time on the trip. Woke up to the brilliant blue sea with the sun shining brightly creating an amazing crystallizing affect. There is something truly amazing about starting your day with breakfast over looking the ocean.

Today we decided we wanted to partake in as many of the planned ship activities as we could. This led to a busy and very fun and quite corny at times day! First we took a towel-animal making class! We learned how to make two of the adorable towel animals that the stewards leave in our cabin each night.



We then listened to the all important talk that explains the debarkation process to us. While we felt this was a necessary evil our cruise director, Darcy, is quite entertaining and made even this an enjoyable experience.

Then of course we headed to the deck to lounge in the sun and take in the spectacular view of the Pacific as we floated slowly along. Lunch on the deck and enough sun to make me feel like I look like I have been on a cruise!!


We then headed to the theater area for a hilarious rendition of the Newlywed and Not so Newlywed game. It was so funny with three couples one married 13 years, one for four days! And one for 44 years!

After napping and packing we dressed for the early show and our late dinner seating. First we headed to the deck to watch the sun set into the ocean. Watching that ball drop off into the horizon is always an incredible experience. Tonight was no exception. The experience was made all the more enjoyable when we realized that the ship is doing donuts in the ocean in order to make what is actually a short trip from Ensenada back to Long Beach last as long as the cruise is scheduled for. We found this to be quite hilarious as we continually moved our lawn chairs around the deck of the ship in order to catch the sunset. We started out on the Port side of the ship and ended up on the very Aft with the sun clearly dropping to the Starboard side.

We rushed to the show, which again was amazing. How the dancers can have the energy to keep moving, like they do, get through the costume changes that quickly and still look amazing is so awesome!

Dinner was excellent, as it has been every night. We had so much fun with our table mates and we all toasted to being thankful that we ended up with such fun people, who were interesting to talk with each night.

We have our bags packed and ready to set out to be taken ashore for us in the morning. We found if difficult to cram everything back in, especially with the additions we made. If only we hadn’t brought all those pesky work out clothes and workout shoes we would have so much more room! They were truly wasted space!! But alas we did take the stairs each and every time (ok, ok, twice we took the elevator) but still considering how low in the ship our cabin is we felt quite good about the amount of exercise we got each day tromping up and down them over and over and over and over and over and over again!!!

Well I have to cut this short, we are off to watch Karaoke Idol and then if we can stay up late enough to the late night comedy show. (We figure we can sleep on the planes on the way home tomorrow!)

I have to say that we were just commenting on the fact that we feel strongly that our amazing and wonderful husbands must have been praying for us on this trip. It has been such a blessing in so many ways and each and every aspect of it feels as if it has been blessed. From great table mates, getting along perfectly together and absolutely perfect weather each day. Truly we can find nothing to complain about!!

While we are very sad to end this amazing experience we look forward to seeing you all tomorrow and we love you all very much!! (Oh, we love those of you that we won’t see tomorrow too!!)

Renee and Leila too

Hey, it's Mexico!

Well we woke up to a very early arrival in Ensenada, Mexico.



This cruise really does not go very far so you get everywhere really quickly. We pondered on day one why it took us 15 hours to arrive in Catalina, a 26 mile distance?!?! Slow ship….. Really I think they have to be in International waters to open Casino and Shops, so I suppose they just take the long way (o:

I have to start by saying, we are just having a GREAT time, really great! This ship is older and all but it is really a fun one with lots of energy and enthusiasm, the food is excellent, we have great table mates, have met lots of nice people at other times, the ports have been simple but really enjoyable! We are both so thankful to be doing this trip, it’s been a blast!

The first thing you notice about Ensenada is their flag! It is GIGANTO! It sits right there on the Port and I am certain is would’ve covered the ship if lowered and placed over it, REALLY! I am pretty sure they have this flag in hopes that you don’t notice the landscape so much… it’s not very attractive. But hey, it’s Mexico, it was actually a bit nicer than expected.

We spent out time in Ensenda on a tour called, “The Taste of Mexico”. We enjoyed a bit of History and information on our way to our cooking class. We saw the University, which is quite nice, one of the best in Mexico, and has a whopping tuition of $150 - $500 (for medical degrees) a semester! But hey, it’s Mexico!



Upon arrival of our destination we were BLOWN OVER by the Rap Music that was coming from the Restaurant, unbeknown to us, where we were cooking happened to be one of the two MAJOR party spots here in Ensenada, uck! Thankfully we were whisked upstairs to a separate location with fun, light Mexican music playing and seated at our tables for our cooking adventure. Our Chef, Jesus, was part comedian, part actor and part chef. He was quite entertaining and although we didn’t really learn anything about Mexican Cooking (it was more of a put things together type thing) we enjoyed the experience thoughoughly and gobbled up our tasty food along with Mango / Strawberry Margaritas, YUMMY! They were so tasty but not strong, for the strong stuff we would’ve had to venture downstairs and endure the many 18 – 20 year olds partaking in BLARING RAP and shot after shot and beer after beer. But hey, it’s Mexico!

Then we were set free to SHOP! We had 3 goals. Renee’s 100% Agave’ Tequila for Chuck, something for the kids and mine EIGHT of the $22 Sarape’s for $80!

We headed off to Giganto (the grocery store) for the Tequila, our guide informed us this was the best / cheapest place to go. It was! While Renee’ pondered the many options at FANTASTIC prices, I browsed the aisles and the many products that are the same as ours with Mexican labels. Products scored.

We headed out for my impossible task. I was very adamant about the blankets I wanted and was not willing to budge, hmmmm… Renee had no idea what to get the kids so while she browsed I bargained… at booth after booth after booth, all the while thinking, “How the heck am I going to carry these home if I am able to get them?” Finally someone realized I was serious, I really did want EIGHT! (I want them to hang over the chairs out back for those chilly nights, CUTE!) Anyway after about 15 attempts a vendor and his wife (who really was the boss but couldn’t speak English) brought me back in after my departure and met my price of $12.25 each. Not my original offer, but after all, I did get the “good ones” according to my vendor, it was a sacrifice for them (*/*) but hey, it’s Mexico!

Renee’ made a decision on her purchase and we headed back for our walk to the ship. Shopping took to long and we missed our bus (o: The Eight blankets were quite cumbersome so Renee’ very sweetly bought me a bag to cart them home in as I was out of cash… I am a good tipper and it just goes! But hey, it’s Mexico!

We headed straight for our suits and the pool deck and just enjoyed the rest of the afternoon outside. We tried to wait till sunset but it was getting chilly and we needed to dress for dinner and the view was a bit industrial (we were ported till 10:00 p.m.) so we decided, sunset tomorrow and went and changed to casual for dinner.

Again dinner was delicious. OH MY GOSH, Renee’ had SHRIMP, yeah, big surprise there! I had the braised beef, yum and we shared a Pinot Nior from Mendacino County. We enjoyed getting to know the other two ‘sisters’ at our table as the boy’s opted off for Mexican in Port and we did not know where Ozark Girls were (we did not miss them, they offer very little to the conversations).

Nancy and Kiev are Cambodian Refugees who are delightful. They are 30 and 40 and look 22 and 32, REALLY and both have professional careers. They are single and we were DELIGHTED to hear they did hook up with Sat and Michael (our other table mates, who are also young single Asian men) during the day. We loved learning of their culture and had a great chat!

Our show was a magician who did mostly slight of hand, Bobby Borsma (I guess he in on Disney channel) he was pretty good but Renee’ new most of the tricks already! Then our comedian was HISTERICAL, our guts were bursting with laughter. It was a blast. I must add, our cruise Director is just great, she is a girl named Darcy and calls everyone ‘Loves’ she is just super and fun.

We always head up top before bed to view the stars and gaze at the sea. The weather has been grand. Renee is loving being at Sea. All of us who’ve cruised know what I mean. It is just a beautiful peaceful thing.

So our ‘Sea Day’ tomorrow, which is going on as I write this. Renee’ will tell you all about that later.

Love You All, so much, thanks for reading and for the comments! It’s a real blessing to know you are with us in a way.

LG & RM
xoxo

ABC’s of a perfect day…

Avalon



We woke up this morning to a beautiful view of Catalina Island and the town of Avalon, California. Avalon is a whopping 1 mile square. After a lovely breakfast on the Lido deck we headed down to catch the tender to shore. We walked around a bit and then decided to take a bus tour to learn more about the island and the town and some of the history of the area.

We leaned that Avalon has several oddities like having a third street when there is no first, second or fourth streets. Eucalyptus Street is the only street in the town that does not have a Eucalyptus tree on it, there is a casino, but no gambling and the town is proud of the giant bird aviary that has not birds in it!

We saw the apartment that Norma Jean Baker lived in with her first husband and several homes owned now and in the past by the Wrigley family. In fact the Wrigley family purchased the island and founded the town of Avalon. While Avalon is now part of Los Angeles County, the rest of the island is still owned by the Wrigley family…that’s a lot of chewing gum!!

We saw one bedroom condo’s that sell for one million dollars and lovely villas overlooking the town and the ocean that sell for who knows how much!

After touring the small town and some shopping we headed back to the ship for our daily afternoon reading/sun tanning/napping session.


Beauty Treatments

We came on the ship fully planning to take advantage of the SPA facilities. We were soon discouraged by the prices of the spa treatments and decided to forgo spa time for shopping. But last night we saw that for today only there was a special package price on a full body massage, scalp massage and facial. We decided to go ahead with our splurge plans and booked the package for each of us.

We both felt like butter that had melted into the massage table by the end of our treatments. I was more relaxed than I can remember being in a long time! Our faces were glowing from contentment and the facial!! We felt completely spoiled, and at peace after our day in the sun and spa!

Cruising

I am finding cruising in general to be an amazing vacation experience. As my family well knows being on the water is one of my favorite places to be, cruising has proved to be no exception to the water bringing me much joy!

Yesterday in particular was a great day of cruising. After our incredibly relaxing spa experience we headed back to our cabin to dress for our formal dinner night. Of course we looked amazing!!

Dinner was a sumptuous affair of shrimp and lobster (I think I have had shrimp in one form or another every day Travis!) with a fun conversation with our table mates. Melissa and Diane from the Ozark’s (no, really!), they are sisters-in-law, married to brothers and Sat and Michael from LA (two single guys) and Nancy and Kiev also from SO. Cal. (two single girls).

After our dinner we headed to the main stage area for an amazing tribute to Hollywood show. While we are convinced the mail singer wouldn’t make it past round one of American Idol, the women are good and the dancers are great.

We topped off this perfect day with a walk on the deck under the stars, which are quite amazing in the middle of the vast and very dark ocean. We headed to the very back of the ship and tried not to conjure up images of titanic but just to take in the beauty of it all! We could not help but wonder how anyone can look at something so far reaching and so beautiful and not believe in God! His beauty and glory are every present around us as we are surrounded by so much beauty, blessed by our time together and ever so thankful for the break from reality!!

Love and miss you all!!

Renee and Leila

Set Sail!

Well we are officially sailing away from Long Beach port. It was very exciting for Renee’ to look out our cabin window and see… yes… we really are moving… Even though we stood up top on deck and witnessed the ‘Sail Away’ the speed is much more apparent and visible down on this lower deck in our ‘economy cabin’. More about ‘economy cabins’ later…

I want to tell about our day yesterday! Renee’s flight was basic, boring cramped. Mine was a kick! Telling more detail in person will be much more interesting and funny. I can’t post it on the internet, for fear of hackers from National Enquierer obtaining the story and revealing the details of Todd’s troubled life to the masses, much the same way he revealed it all to me.

I ended up sitting next to Todd Bridges, if you don’t know who he is. He is an actor who was REALLY famous in the 70’s, he was on the very popular family show ‘Different Strokes’. He is now on the show ‘Everybody Hates Chris’. It was fun I just kept sitting there thinking…. I just cannot believe he is telling me all this stuff. It was a total crack up. He was a very nice guy, very Hollywood, but very nice. And boy do I have stories to tell!

After my fill of Hollywood inside info, getting my car, waiting for Renee’. I happened upon Randy’s Donuts’. It was so cool, I took a pic but we have no cord for my camera. I did buy some delicious donuts for Renee’ and I and they were yummy.

Then we were off to see Michael and his boss Mickey. We had a blast at Disneyland. We actually got to go on the Teacups (a ride that is just to thrill filled for our dear hubbys). Spent lots of time hanging out a Michael’s attractions to visit with him, he is an AWESOME Disney employee and he should win Golden Mouse ears in my opinion. We enjoyed many more rides, struggling to pick out which is our favorite. Thankfully there were no lines at all. woo hoo!

It was a fun day that we ended with dinner with Michael and a drive to our Hotel in Long Beach. We argued a little with our Navigation System (Shirley) but she got us here faithfully we were wrong in the end and she was right.

Well Renee’ is all ready for dinner and I have not even began! So we will get this uploaded after dinner and Renee’ will be doing tomorrow’s post.

Love to you all! We miss you but we are having a good time.
xoxo

O.K. So we are having trouble getting our pics to post!?!?! We will still try, but we wanted to get this up there for now.

She’s Off With Her Sister

My beautiful wife is off tomorrow for a week with her sister. I am excited for her because I know how much she loves her sister along with cruising! I wish both of you a great time! Godspeed and stay away from tall, dark, handsome men. As a matter of fact, stay away from men altogether! I love you my wife. Your husband with the tuxedo suspenders.