O family vacation 2012

That's right, we gathered the Greg O family for a cruisin' good time! My parents wanted to take a cruise to Alaska, so we went to Cozumel! Does that make sense? Here is a hint, from here on out, don't try to make sense of things on this blog... I have come to the realization that in my life, all the dots don't exactly connect, but everything ends up in the proper place (or at least close).  Okay, back to the Alaskan cruise, my folks wanted to go, but had not been on a cruise ship before and wanted to make sure they were down with ship travel before taking off on a 9 day tour.

I had been on a cruise before, I often tell people it was the worst 7 days of my life. I HATED it, but for my parents, I was willing to give it another try.

We met at Gaido's for lunch before we boarded the boat, YUM YUM! This place has a funny smell, but it is right across the street from the beach and humidity is pretty high, so I am not going to hold that against them. Their food is super tasty! I needed a really good meal before I got on the boat and Gaido's hit the spot!

We had cute family vacay shirts, here are the grand kids with Mimi and G-daddy waiting in check in.

We had a great time. The boys had some casino fun time, the kids got some splashing in at the pool, and the ladies enjoyed a moment at the spa. Saturday, while in Cozumel we swam with the dolphins. I think the kids had a blast, I know I did! Our dolphin must have had a crush on Tristan, she "clicked" when he was giving her a sweet smooch! The J O's headed to a snorkel spot after the dolphin adventure, Dad, Dale and Matt headed back to the boat for some relaxation, and Mom and I went to get some retail therapy in before we were required to get back on the boat. I think everyone enjoyed their time in Cozumel.

Matt and I tried our hands at bingo, it passed some time, but we were not the big winners.  We watched a show and saw a comedy show, and we ate... a lot! I feel like that is all we did, and we didn't even go near the buffet (I don't eat at buffets) the seated meals were good, we had a chance to try some things we had never heard of and for the most part, they we good choices. The kids had a never ending supply of ice cream cones, which made them very happy!

Mom and Dad took some time to enjoy a fun drink or two for my grandparents. I found this super cute coconut monkey (there is a drink in there), but it also doubles as a "monkey" bank (with a coin slot on the top). Matt indulged my childishness and walked around with me and my monkey for a little while.



The last night, Mel and I went to the casino and to the dance club, neither took too long! Mel and I were not going to let go of our money in the casino and when we went dancing we realized that the average age of other disco goers was well beneath ours, so we grabbed our canes and oxygen tanks and scooted our tennis ball padded walkers back to the room.

We had a great time! I don't know that we will be boarding a ship to Alaska, but I am looking forward to our next family vacay!

Keep in touch, xoxo