Southern Florida- Day 3

Today we drove up to Jupiter and there happens to be a lighthouse (Quique planned it and didn't tell me what was in Jupiter).  It was awesome.  I've always liked lighthouses and had never been able to see one or go inside.  So today we did both.  We got to take a tour and learn all about it.  It was really fascinating.  We were there for the morning.
Then we decided to drive down the coastal highway 1.  It was really neat.  We stopped at all the public beaches.  There were many private beaches and we drove through areas that were extremely wealthy.  The houses looked like hotels but they were private houses.
Every beach had flags out on the life guard stations to let you know what the water was like.  The more south we went the more "dangerous marine life" were in the waters.  It was crazy.  It went from yellow, red, then purple flags.  It was pretty awesome being able stop and see so many beautiful beaches.  It was so surprising to us that you couldn't smell the ocean at all.  It was just windy and cold.
After we had dinner, we went to the Sawgrass Mills Mall.  We got out and walked around.  Um, talk about super upscale mall.  There was an Amani, Prada, and tons more high end stores.  Then we went to the Hard Rock Cafe & Casino.  It was cool, except the casino part.  Outside of the casino were lots of shops and a live band.
Then we decided we should find somewhere to sleep....again almost midnight.  We checked out 4 hotels adn they were all stinky, dirty, and didn't feel safe.  Then we found one a block away from the beach, a little bed and breakfast.  So we literally crashed there for the night.
The beaches & cities we visited today were:  Jupiter, Jupiter Beach, Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Dearfield Beach, Ft. Lauderdale Beach & Ft. Lauderdale.
I do have to apologize, almost every photo I took while driving in the car turns out that there is a light pole, tree, or person right in the middle of it....hahahaha  the whole time, never failed. hahahahaha

 

Southern Florida- Day 2

We had to go to a presentation of sort as part of our package deal for the cruise....trying to get us to buy more stuff.  It actually took most of the day, shockingly, so after it was over, we found a dollar store to buy sunglasses since we both forgot them at home.  Then we found a subway, ate there and then planned the next day.  When we were finished, we went to get in our rental but there was this duck that wanted to attack me....it was funny but not at the same time.

We happened to be in Florida during a 'cold' time for them.  However, it really was cold, I guess because of the humidity.  It was in the high 40's and low 50's which is nothing at home, but here we were cold.  So we went to a Salvation Army store and got some warmer things and I didn't pack actual clothes for every day.  I thought we were going to be in our swim suits for 2 days, so I had to get pants, a church skirt, and 3 shirts.  hahahaha  Who knew I'd get a new wardrobe on vacation?

We left when it closed and then we were on a hunt for a hotel.  We called and looked at a few on our way up north towards Jupiter, since we were going there first thing in the morning.  We ended up staying at a Travel Lodge, which was clean and no bad smells and 'felt' safe, and it was almost midnight too so we were pretty tired.

Bahama's Trip- Day 1

Today we left for our Bahama's cruise.  We were very excited.  We left around 4:30am.  We were on the airplanes most of the day.  We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida around 5:30pm.  We picked up our rental and went straight to the 'Ramada Resort' to check in (which is the worst hotel not even close to a resort.  They need to demolish it and rebuild it's so terrible).  We had to package deal through the cruise line so we had to check in at the welcome center first before the hotel.  So we went there to check in and get our cruise vouchers and all that stuff.
Well, we were misinformed about the proper identification needed so we no longer could go to the Bahamas.  We could go on the cruise and tour the Bahamas for the day but when the ship left at 5pm, we had to also.  So for the next 2 hours or so, we were in shock and disbelief that we couldn't go even though we were told were would be allowed before we left Utah.
The workers in the welcome center were not super helpful or friendly in the least bit.  Once the one lady saw us in the hallway, after a good cry, like always, I'm super red forever, that lady became very helpful and friendly.
We got our room at the dump hotel.  Enrique was on the phone with the cruise line person trying to reschedule.  I was trying to reschedule our flight back home at the same time.  It would have ended up being over $1500 to reschedule our flight, plus more to reschedule Enrique's parents too.  We were devastated to say the least. 
Normally the cruise line won't let you reschedule so close to  your cruise date or they make you pay extra fees if they even let you reschedule, specially the night before.  However, no new fees were added and Enrique was able to reschedule our cruise for April.  Except next time around we have to pay for our rental car and 1 night stay of hotel.  It's no longer part of the package deal because we used one night hotel and even if we returned the rental the same day, it would have counted for our week's rental.
So we decided to leave the nasty hotel and go eat, since we were starving.  On  our way down to tell the welcome center lady that we rescheduled, we decided to make the best of it and stay in southern Florida for the week since we had a the rental car for the week.  Once we told the lady we rescheduled, I grabbed tons of brochures and coupons so that we can plan our spur of the moment week vacation in southern Florida.
At the restaurant, we were seated at a huge table and most of which was taken up by maps, and brochures and paper trying to figure what in the world we were going to do.
We left the restaurant with a tentative plan, drove around a bit and then went back to the nasty hotel to sleep.

Bienvenidos Abuelitos

We went to pick up Abuelito and Abuelita at the airport tonight.  They are going to stay and watch the kids while we go on our cruise.  The kids are super excited and I am so relieved they are able to watch them while we're gone. 
They started off sleeping on an air mattress but ended up on the floor when we went down in the morning.  I felt so bad.  They still let the kids climb all over them and they all loved it.

Random Photos

Here are some random photos.  Lili lays under the piano bench almost every time Isabel plays the piano.  the ones of Mateo are just after he woke up....seconds afterwards, already with the ipod and the last one is him pushing the buggy at Bowman's grocery store. 

Happy 2nd Birthday Mateo

Today Mateo is 2 years old.  Man, I cannot believe how fast this last year has gone.  His first year seemed to take a long time or maybe it was just me (it was one of my most difficult years since kids came).  This past year has been such fun with him......besides the early terrible two's of course.  He is such a happy funny little thing.  I love how he is so close with Lili and how he is so protective of her.  He calls her 'my Lili'....so sweet! It is not very often that Lili and Mateo are not together but when Lili is at school, Mateo seems lost without her.  She is his best friend.  Happy birthday my baby boy.  I guess I can't call you baby boy anymore....happy birthday my big boy!  I love you SOOOO much.