Cruisin' 2012

My office was closed for Spring Break, and so we figured it would be a perfect opportunity to go on a little trip with our friends the Ences and the Wilsteads.

We ended up booking the 4 day cruise out of Long Beach! 
{thank you to Darren for making it happen}

To break up the drive on the way down, we stopped in Prim to ride the roller coaster and crash for the night. 

Buffalo Bills is the craziest roller coaster. It is so dang steep and fast, I couldn't even hold my head up straight! We were all a little wind blown after the ride... haha

It was a blast.  

Although the sleeping arrangements weren't ideal, we still had a blast in Prim.
We spent the night laughing our heads off.
It was a great way to start off our vacation!

We woke up bright and early and headed to Long Beach to get on our ship!

Our ship was called the "Carnival Inspiration."

The rooms were nicer than I expected, the food was exceptional, and the entertainment was great! All in all, I was pleasantly surprised!

Our first day on the ship we spent the day exploring, mini golfing, and of course... eating!

Our first port was Catalina Island.
It was a little bit overcast, but that didn't stop us from having a great day!

When we got to Catalina, we rented electric bikes.
They were awesome! We had so much fun cruisin' around the island!

While we were on our bikes, we drove up to the Nature Conservatory. It was really pretty!

After riding bikes,  we took a walk down to the beach!

 

We had a great day full of fun in Catalina. I would love to visit Catalina again someday, it would be such a cool place to vacation! 
 That night when we got back on the ship, it was formal night! So we got {semi} dressed up, and headed to dinner!

We spent our time after dinner enjoying the shows, the casino, the hot tub, and the frozen yogurt! haha!

The next day, after Blair won the Mini Golf Tournament on our ship....

 

 we headed on shore to explore Ensenada! 

It was a gorgeous day.
We decided to go on a tour to "La Bufadora."
It took about 30 minutes to get there.

It is a blow hole, where the water from below literally explodes sending water shooting into the air. It is really beautiful!

 

The road leading up to the blow hole is full of shops, so we spent a lot of time wandering and finding good deals!

From the blow hole, we headed to the beach! We only had a few minutes to spend there, but at least we got our toes in the sand. :)

 

The best part about a cruise is that after a long and fun day, you get to get back on the ship and eat a delicious dinner! 

After dinner we danced the night away at the "Deck Party!" So FUN! 

The next day was our day at Sea. We were pretty disappointed when the sun wasn't shining... but we tried to make the best of it! We spent the day enjoying the on board activities, and the boys watched a lot of March Madness.

It was our last night aboard our ship, and it was one of my favorite nights! We had a delicious dinner.... (it's amazing that we didn't gain 100 pounds) haha!

 

...and then spent the rest of the night at the comedian show, the piano bar, etc. 

We definitely didn't want the night to end!
I almost forgot to write about all of the towel animals that the room stewards left for us every night... they were so cute!

The next morning we woke up bright and early to get off the ship and head home!
The drive literally flew by. I couldn't believe how quick we made it home to St. George. 
It was such a great vacation. We had a blast with our friends. We are grateful to have amazing friends. We made so many fun memories together. 
It will be a vacation we will never forget!

We love you guys!
Thanks for everything!