Cruise -- Part 2

Wednesday, May 28th, was the day we stopped in Ensenada, Mexico. By that day, Brooke was feeling much better. She stopped feeling feverish and started acting more like herself. She woke up really early that morning, around 6am, and Daniel and I decided to get her up and sing to her and put her back down, to see if she would sleep anymore. She actually did (we weren't expecting that), and we slept until 9:30! Dad came knocking around that time, which thankfully woke us up. We were hoping to already be in Ensenada by then.

We all got ready and rushed out to breakfast. And then got off the ship into Mexico! The boat actually docked in Ensenada, which meant we didn't have to take the little boats there.

The first thing we did was take a little horse-drawn-carriage tour of part of the city. Brooke was really fascinated by the horse, but she didn't like to touch it or sit on it. :) The tour was fun. The driver talked to Daniel about different restaurants, museums, tourist sites and things in the city. I understood most of what he said, which was really nice. He talked slowly and clearly enough for us.

We stopped for a bathroom break (which we had to pay for, of course, being in Mexico and all), bought a couple little souvenirs, and then took a van ride to La Bufadora, which is a blowhole made from the rocks on the coast. It was cool enough, but a little anticlimactic. It was supposed to be the big thing to see in Ensenada, and it did spout some pretty high water sprays. But not quite worth the money and time it took to get there. It took us at least 45 minutes to get there; it was a ways out of town. But it was a nice drive. We got to see the countryside and everything.

There was about a quarter of a mile walk from where the van stopped to La Bufadora, and the whole street was a huge market. A whole bunch of shops, selling basically the same stuff, lined the entire street. They sold fun trinkets, souvenirs, Mexican style clothes, and food. There was one place that had little lion cubs; they were letting people take pictures with the lions (for a fee, of course). We totally stopped and did that. I thought the cubs were SO cute! And I think Brooke was really fascinated as well with the lions. She's been really into learning about animals lately. Daniel was a pretty good sport for us, as were Mom and Dad, who had to wait for a while.

We walked down to La Bufadora, and watched it for a few minutes, and then we walked back up the street. It took us just as long to get back up to the van as it did to get down. Mom and Dad stopped and bought some souvenirs, a couple of hats, some vanilla extract, a pretty dish, etc. The trip back was not as fun as the drive there. Brooke was getting tired and grumpy, I was getting hungry and carsick. We were all glad when it was over.

After getting back into town, we quickly found a little hole-in-the-wall place to have a little late lunch. We ate some delish authentic tacos; steak, fish and shrimp tacos. And Brookie had a little quesadilla and some strawberries. A Mariachi band stopped by the restaurant and offered to sing for us. We were all pretty much out of money, but Dad gave them 5 bucks to sing a song for us. It was really fun! I think Mom and Dad loved it.

On the way back up to the ship, we were bombarded by the cutest little Mexican kids asking us to buy souvenirs. At that point, we really were all out of money, though. Mom felt really bad about spending all of her cash; she wanted to give each of those kids a dollar or two. One little girl walked with me and Brooke and started talking to me in Spanish. She was so cute, asking about Brooke and telling us how old she was.

Brooke had missed a nap that day, obviously. She handled it pretty well, probably because we had slept in so late that morning. But we still had to put her to bed early. Once we got back on the ship, we tried to feed Brooke a little more, and then we put her to bed. Mom and Dad went to dinner while Daniel and I stayed in the room with Brooke. We were not very hungry, seeing as we had just eaten some delicious tacos. So we waited and relaxed with each other.

Later, when they got back, we went to have dinner. Then later, they were having a little fiesta out by the pool. Dad, Daniel and I went for a little swim and dip in the hot tub. When we were done, Daniel and I did a little salsa dancing and Dad went for some hot chocolate. Then we all went for ice cream and pizza and garlic bread. And it was fun!

When we got back to the room, Mom and Dad went for a little romantic walk, Daniel went to check out the Mexican food bar, and we all stayed up way too late. ...Again!

Thursday was a day spent at sea, so we just stayed on the boat. It was a relaxing and odd day. It was a bit hard to keep Brooke occupied and happy. It seemed that everything we tried to do to entertain or distract her wasn't working. She enjoyed playing with the mini golf balls while I played ... by myself. Daniel had already done a round of mini golf with my dad earlier in the day. And she also loved when Daniel took her in the pool.

That night, we had our last dinner. We all went together for this one, and it was delicious and fun. I took Brooke back to the room after dinner, while everyone else had some dessert, and got her ready for bed. When Dad got back to the room, Daniel and I went to meet up with Mom. She had been saving us seats for a show that was soon to start. None of us were entirely certain which show we were waiting for; but it ended up being a musical and dancing show, featuring songs from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Mom recognized all of the songs, I recognized most of them, and Daniel, hardly any. But we had a good time. It was very fun!

Afterwards, Mom went to join Dad, while Daniel and I walked around on deck and went for a snack. And then we went back and switched with the parents.

We had such a wonderful time on our cruise! The next day, we were docked back in Long Beach. We woke up early, breakfasted and got ready, and then we got off the ship, fairly early in the day. And that was it!