Cruisin'!

Rob and I just returned from an amazing vacation with our friends, John and Cris Dunlap. We left Monday and headed for Long Beach where we boarded Carnival's Paradise and we were off! Our first stop was at Catalina Island. Cris had spent a summer working there, so she was our tour guide. It is such a cute place! We shopped and walked and walked and ate! We had planned to go snorkeling, but the weather was apparently not informed of our plans and it ended up being chilly. I was freezing! We ditched the snorkeling and headed back to our ship. We had been told that we would not be making a stop at the planned port in Ensenada because of swine flu, but when we got back to our cabin, there was a letter from the captain saying we would be spending the day in Ensenada and allowed to go ashore. We booked an ATV tour in the afternoon and spent the morning shopping. I was a little hesitant about the ATV's. I have ridden on the back, but never driven one. I had no idea what I was missing out on. We had so much fun and got so dirty! I didn't want to get off! The next day was spent at sea. We ate, sat in the hot tub, played cards, watched shows and ate some more. We had a wonderful time. I don't think I have ever eaten so much food in one week, but it was all so good and we had to try everything! This was the best vacation ever. Next time we will take the kids along. I had no idea there were so many activities to keep kids entertained. It is definitely a family friendly ship! Mom and dad watched the kids for us--thank you so much! I really do appreciate it and realize how lucky I am to have you!