Sunday, August 28, 2011

A la Baja

After months of hemming and hawing about what we should do to celebrate our five year anniversary (anniversary=May 13), we finally bit the bullet and decided on a 4-day cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. In the midst of really busy schedules and a eye for frugality, it turned out to a quick but really fun trip.

Catalina Island is about 3 seconds from Long Beach. So I'm pretty convinced we set sail just far enough to be in "international waters" for the Casino and then chilled the rest of the night.

In the morning we took a ferry into the island and set off for our kayaking excursion. We traveled along the coves of the island until we got to a small private beach and the Frog Rock formation.

Cole is such a water baby. While all the other couples were looking for shells, this man was out swimming in the ocean til the tour guide called him back in.




The next day we made our way to Ensenada, Mexico. We got duped into paying $4 for a shuttle ride 1.5 blocks into town. During the two minutes on the bus, we were sold on a tour to the local blow hole and street market. We were pretty crunched for time, so we don't have any photos of us haggling for those dang maracas. Needless to say, we finally got those, a poncho (for Crew) and a few silver bracelets for a semi-reasonable price. Having a hubby who is fluent in Spanish helps open a few doors with some vendors. :)

We did manage pictures of the blow hole and the yummy fish tacos.


Another highlight was paying $.50 to use what I believe is the nicest bathroom in Mexico. Well worth the investment.

We spent the last full day of the cruise at sea. I got all the laying out and reading that my albino body could handle.


Turns out we also look pretty good all cleaned up, so here's a picture from the night of the Captains Dinner.

Overall, such a wonderful trip. Loved hanging out with my handsome man and literally leaving everything behind. Next time we want to bring friends. Anyone up for a Cruise in 2013?


Thursday, August 11, 2011

Festivities

Regardless of the fact that the 4th of July was a million years ago, I couldn't pass up a quick post on the weekend. We were lucky enough to have Cole's family in town from Texas and the Depews up from Arizona.

In true Lansford fashion, we made our way up to Park City to enjoy the Alpine slide and coasters. The lines were long and the weather was toasty, but we managed to keep ourselves entertained. :)


After a fun day in Park City, we headed up to Odgen for BBQ with the Richins and fireworks with the Bukeys.

In between Crew decided it was time to cool off. My mom spent the better part of an hour helping him climb in and out of this bucket of water. Wish I had this on video but the pics are pretty cute too.



I guess the fireworks were a little bright for my boys...



Best Dam Bike Ride

Back in July, Cole trained and rode in his first century ride, the MS Best Dam Ride in Logan. My mom surprised me by offering to watch Crew for the day...So while Cole rode 100 miles in and around Cache county and parts of Idaho, I treated myself to a yummy breakfast, a pedicure, shopping (without a baby!) and a chick flick.

Pre Race Jitters

BikeMS Best Dam Ride, Logan UT from Maura Lansford on Vimeo.

Crossing the Finish Line