We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Josh, Gray, and I have flow South (errrr... East) for the season! We are at home celebrating the holidays with family and friends! We hope you are having a very Merry Christmas and that you have a happy New Year!

  

Merry Christmas!

Santa!

Gray loves everyone. Except Santa. 

Last year he proved the point by screaming bloody murder on three separate occasions. Real tears included. He was terrified and decided that Mommy laughing was less than desirable if he wanted to be rescued from this terrifying figure. 

Gray and I made the trip to the mall again this year to see Santa. I let him watch the other kids for a few minutes and he even checked Santa out up-close before sitting in his lap. He wasn't sure about Santa but he wasn't terrified. When I put Gray in Santa's lap, he had several reactions. He squirmed. He wiggled. He tried his infamous back arch. The photographer refused to take a single photo while he was between movements (acting natural), so the best shot we got was one just a second after he started to whine. 

There were no tears. No screams. No frightful looks at Santa. Just a "Please let me down mister. You are a stranger and none of the other strangers I see wear such ridiculous clothes. I'm a little worried about you and I would like to get down. Quickly. Thanks." I think this was a vast improvement over last year and if this keeps up, we may get a smile next year! 

Gray says "Merry Christmas Everyone!"

Gray needed some face time on the blog...

Does anyone think they need more Gray pictures? If so, here is a post dedicated (almost entirely) to my Monkey! If not, I think you will enjoy them anyway. 

Gray is catching up on his reading.

Here DaDa, you look thirsty.
If you do what I'm doing, you should have no problems drinking out of this bottle.

Playing in the back of DaDa's 4Runner. 

Gray loves the malls in San Diego.
Malls are much more fun with dolphins and water!

And I would hate to leave out my other child, Fletch! He is simply adorable too! 

Fletch is a great doggie! 

Mexico!

Josh and I decided recently, we were in need of a vacation. We haven't been on a 'real' vacation since our honeymoon, if you don't count a quick trip to Arkansas before Gray was born. We have traveled a lot and seen a lot of new things, but I don't think sightseeing while moving counts as a vacation. I'm assuming you don't either. We were debating what to do or where to go. (I was also worried about Josh getting leave or inability to actually leave when the time came.) 

We debated about going back to Hawaii or going to Mexico or staying in the mainland and visiting some National Parks we are both dying to see.  In the end, we decided a cruise would give Josh the relaxation he enjoys and let me see some new places. Josh had never been to Mexico, so that was a plus too. We decided to cruise the "Mexican Riviera" mostly because the ship leaves out of San Diego, which makes life much easier! We decided to go the week after Thanksgiving and were ready to pack and go! 

Mom came to San Diego to help us watch Gray while I completed the Susan G. Komen 3Day for the Cure. She decided to stay here for Thanksgiving and bravely volunteered to keep Gray while we went on the cruise. Originally we planned to take Monkey with us. We were going to sign up for a few tame excursions and eat meals in the dining room with just the 3 of us. We booked a room with a balcony so we could sit outside while he took a nap or let him decompress from being around strangers all day every day and still be outside. Josh and I actually thought out taking a toddler on a cruise and planned according, THEN Mom volunteered! We were grateful to her for offering and excited about spending some time away together. Not to mention the ability to sit (actually sit) by the pool and read a book or do any excursion we wanted! The possibilities were endless!

Our cruise ship, the Oosterdam, in port at Puerta Vallarta. 

Our cruise stopped in Mazatlan, Puerta Vallarta, and finally Cabo San Lucas. Mazatlan wasn't really what I expected. It was very industrial and not really all that nice. There was graffiti everywhere and it looked like a lot of poor areas from our tour bus trip through the city. We opted for a zip-lining excursion, so we drove out of the city and into the Sierra Madre mountains. It was a good choice, because we both enjoyed the zip-lines. After we finished we were given a quick tour of a tequila factory and were able to see tons of the blue agave plants used for tequila.

Some of the Mazatlan scenery (much prettier views from the water BTW).

Josh was a zip-lining master!

Waiting on the group to finish up.

Before getting back on the boat, we did a little shopping.
We had to get Gray a few of these luchador masks to play with when he gets a little older! 

Leaving Mazatlan.

The next morning we rolled into Puerta Vallarta. Josh and I decided to forgo any excursions so we got off the boat and hopped in a cab. We were dropped off in the older part of town. Immediately people started trying to get us to spend our money. The people were so pushy about buying their souvenirs, excursions, or even some vacation property! We tried to be friendly and say 'No thanks' but lots of them would keep talking to you long after you passed their store! It was wild. Josh and I walked up and down the shore line, where we saw tons of art, statues, and sand sculptures. We stopped in a restaurant for some lunch and watched a few Mexican wrestlers on TV (which was AMAZING). After lunch, we decided to rent a scooter and drive around town. It was cheap and super fun, but maybe a bad choice. I think Mexican drivers are insane and the lack of stop signs (or one way signs) doesn't make it easy for tourists to blend! We were also told by the rental chick that if we got stopped we could discretely offer the cops some cash so we wouldn't get ticketed. I was thankful we weren't stopped because I could just see Josh going to a Mexican prison for the rest of his life for offering a cop $25! 

This guy was so stinking cute.

The Cathedral in Puerta Vallarta. It was stunning.

Puerta Vallarta was much nicer than Mazatlan!

The life endangering scooter we rented for $15/hour.
Possibly the dumbest/most fabulous thing we did while in Mexico. 

Cabo San Lucas was the last stop on the cruise and by far the nicest. We decided to snorkel in Cabo, but we had a few hours to walk around and see the sights before meeting for our excursion! Josh and I felt it would be wrong to skip Cabo Wabo, so we dropped in for a t-shirt for Gray, some chips and salsa, and a shot of tequila (which Josh said was pretty tasty). We walked around for a few hours then went back toward the catamaran to see Land's End and snorkel!

Cabo's Land's End. Gorgeous. 

Waiting to board our catamaran for our snorkeling excursion. 

On the catamaran, Josh's head is covering the arch.
(That's what happens when you take self-portraits.)

Snorkeling self-portraits. 

Josh snorkeling. 

Did I mention Lorenzo Lamas cruised with us? No big deal. 

Lorenzo Lamas and his lady friend waiting on an excursion.