August 23 & 24
Tuesday was our first port day on the cruise. We didn't arrive at Puerto Vallarta until the afternoon, so it was nice to not be rushed in the morning and do some activities on the ship.
Sophie and I went to the front of the ship to watch us pull into the port.
It is a very pretty city and there was a really awesome house at the edge, surrounded by the ocean.
We were joking that it was Iron-man's house because of the secret garage underneath the house.
We waited for the crowds to die down before we headed off the ship. These two were Tom and my buddies the whole trip. It was nice having the one-to-one ratio for adults vs. kids on this trip.
When we got off the ship, all of us, minus Eric and Carlee who were doing a shore excursion, went together. We found a very nice tour guide/van driver named Oscar. He was our guide for the day.
He took us on a very long drive up the mountains of Puerto Vallarta. It had some breathtaking views.
Then he took us to a resort place. It had a restaurant and we saw zip-liners, but the place itself was free.
We were right on a river with waterfalls and beautiful hills and rocks all around. There's a native that was there and ended up being our buddy at the resort. One of the things he did was find a wild Boa Constrictor and bring it over to our group to hold.
The kids thought it was so fun to hold the big snake!
Tom and I took a turn too.
Lily and Jeff took turns carrying the snake around where we were hiking before Marcos (the native), took it back to it's home in the rocks.
Marcos, then took us over to a place where he showed us how to jump off the rock into the deep river. Lily and Jeff were more than happy to try out the jump.
He then showed us a fun spot on the rock where we could slide into a shallow part of the water.
Of course, I tried it, but as soon as I was in the water all I could think about were the wild snakes that live in this area. I'm already terrified of fish, but if I ever saw a snake in the water, that would've been the end of my swimming career. Then as I was climbing out of the water, the rocks were really slippery and I slipped and fell onto my knees and stomach and slip right back into the water! It's the second time that month I'd been going rock sliding and ended up with a bloody knee.
Marcos then took Jeff and Lily across the river, which made me a bit nervous with the strong current and waterfalls all around them.
They climbed up onto another tall rock and jumped, this time into the current!
He took them over to a little swing too.
The rest of us were just watching from the big rock, Sophie was crying because she wanted her life jacket (which was back in the van). I asked her where she thought she would go in her life jacket and she said with Lily and Jeff. Nope, sorry.
Marcos just kept taking Lily and Jeff everywhere, so Bryce jumped in to go with them. I was a little nervous, but nothing made me more scared than when he took them up to a really high rock to jump off of. There were rocks all around and right below, so he explained to them they had to jump out far. He also said not to run and stop or they could slip and fall off the rock. As I stood there watching helplessly, Cedric came over and put his had on my heart and said "don't worry Mom, I'll hold your heart in". He even knew how scared I was.
But Lily and Jeff didn't seem scared at all and luckily jumped safely into the water.
Tom decided to get in too, because he was nervous as well.
They headed up to the waterfalls.
Cedric, Sophie and I started walking back up toward the restaurant and got a picture of them from above. Marcus had decided to brave the river and joined his dad, uncle and cousins.
It was so fun for the older kids! Even with a bit of rain, they still kept going.
Cedric and Sophie found some dogs up above the restaurant and found their way up to the dogs while we were waiting for the swimmers.
Marcos kept taking them all over. They were having fun, but the little kids were getting bored so I tried to encourage them to be done.
We were so grateful for Marcos' hospitality and give him a nice tip and big hugs before we left. It was definitely an amazing place to spend the day.
We didn't have time to go to the beach that day, so headed back to the ship and cleaned up for dinner.
Tom and Cedric are showing of the ox tongue Tom was about to eat for his appetizer
Usually the kids ordered from the kids menu, but once in a while they'd try something from the adult menu. Sophie is trying the Mango soup. This night we got to sit at the table by the window.
After dinner the kids wanted to do Karaoke again. Lily and Jeff sang again, and this time Cedric and Sophie sand a duet too "Let it Go".
Wednesday was our second day in Puerto Vallarta. We got up and going early since the ship was scheduled to leave that afternoon. We arranged with Oscar to take us again and this time we went straight to the beach.
The beach was the same one Tom and I had gone to with my family two and a half years ago. That time, the jellyfish were stinging, but we saw no Jellyfish this time. Us adults enjoyed sitting in chairs under umbrellas while the kids played.
Sophie managed to get the whole beach in her hair.
The beach was calling and even the adults had some fun on the beach and in the water. We'd bought a bunch of beach toys when we announced the cruise to the kids back in April and brought them with us.
We ordered lunch from the restaurant that supplied the chairs and umbrellas and I ordered the same chicken avocado soup that I'd gotten the last time we were there. It was very yummy food, but I paid for it later that week.
We went to the pier and saw the famous seahorse.
The Spanish-speaking group that took our picture, decided to join us for one of the shots. My dad would've been proud (he often joins strangers pictures).
We did some shopping and then headed back to the pier. Sophie had sand all over her! All of us were pretty sandy.
When we got back to the pier, we did some more shopping before heading back on the ship. (I did rum back on to get some more money). We shopped until almost the last minute and were one of the last ones on the ship.
It was nice to get all cleaned up again. I even had time to do a cute hair-do on Sophie.
However, She was tired and it was starting to show. Throughout dinner she kept crying "I want to go to bed! I want to go to bed!" The two hour long dinners were starting to loose their nostalgia.
Luckily, they had some entertainment and the kids were happy to have an excuse to get out of their chairs and dance a bit.
Often the little kids would play on our phones if they were bored at dinner. So Cedric decided to take a selfie with him and Budi, one of our waiters.
Karaoke was starting to become our nightly ritual. This time, Lily and Carlee did a fun duet. They are both amazing singers!
Despite the long day, I snuck out on to the balcony and spied on the boys. They were still up telling funny stories, playing Jeff's new chess game and drawing. I took this picture without them knowing I was spying on them.
Puerto Vallarta was a fun and beautiful place, but we still had more adventures to look forward to.
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