THE ANDERSEN'S: vacations

My dad and Donna (my dads new wife... my "step-mom" ) took my family and I to Vegas for my birthday in July. Neil and I were just going to go with them, but it is hard to leave the kids... so they came along. We were down there for a few days and had a great time! You may ask... what is there to do in Vegas when you bring the kids? Well... not alot... but we were excited to get to see a show!

We all (kids included) went to see Blue Man Group @ the Venitian and the kids loved loved LOVED it. Jacobs comment when it was over was "this is the best day of my life!"

Stupid Glare on photo!

We also went to a Malaysian Returant which served food that brought back ALOT of memories. I lived in Malaysia with my family while I was in High School for 3 years. I loved the culture and the people and I loved the food. I have had dreams about some of it ever since I left. This stuff was just how I remembered. Blast from the past!

We all went to "China Town" where the kids got to find their treasure! Donna got a picture of the kids and the sweet lady from the store.

There was a store called "Paige" at the Venetian

While we were waiting for our show to start we watched these Mimes at St. Marks Square inside the Venetian. They look so real and suddenly you will see one move or wave. Always fun!

These statues were remarkable!

Dad and Donna watched the kids the second night so Neil and I could go see The Phantom also showing at the Venetian. It was AMAZING!! Absolutly amazing! The music was excellent and the set design and staging was unbelievable. This is a must see if you are going to Vegas.

We just got back from our cruise down then Mexican Rivera. We went with my parents and my brother and his wife. This was our 5th cruise, but the first one with my parents and my brother. We truly had an awesome time!!! It was so fun cruising with family. Something about a boat makes you let your hair down and cut loose. We took this same boat about 18 months ago to Alaska, but taking it to Mexico with the sun and sand was a whole new experience.
Our first port was Cabo San Lucas. This is where we decided to focus most of our shopping. What an experience!!! We could not stop laughing at all the funny one liners we would hear from the local merchants. Here are my top favorites

Almost free....
You dropped something in my store....
Cheaper then Kmart.....
Good Price, just for you.....
You like? How much you want to pay.....?
This not made in China, made in Mexico.....
Your wife is in here.....
I make you a good price.....

We finally learned that whatever price they started out at, we could at least cut it in half. We also enjoyed trying our hand at price dickering. Something I became quite good at. Many times we would turn around and find the store owner following behind us dropping the price with every step we took.

Our second port was Mazatlan and again...more shopping. We got to tour alot of the city too and visit a really old local church. I remember this church the last time we were in Mazatlan. It seems to leave an impression on me. We shopped around a true Mexican open air market, complete with butchers and grocery vendors. We would be looking at tee shirts and turn around to see chicken feet and pig feet and the table across from us. This was authentic Mexico and an experience I am grateful for.

Finally the last port was Puerto Vallarta. This place was beautiful!!! The city seemed to be soo much cleaner then our last visit. We decided to go zip lining through the forest of Mexico. We found a local booth off the side of the road that was selling these tours and adventures. I was a little apprehensive about following a local down the road to his "store" where we paid him our money and boarded a local short bus to take us up the windy back roads of puerto to the middle of the rain forest to try our hand at zip lining. I kept thinking that they already had the hole that they were going to bury us in prepared for our arrival. I wondered how many other stupid Americans fell for the same fate. Fortunately it was legit and we made it.... alive... to the top of a beautiful hill that overlooked all of the city. We spent several hours zip lining through the forest. I hate to admit that I was the only one petrified of going. Yes, tears were welling up in my eyes as I was being hooked up to the first rope and pushed out over a deep ravine to slide for what seemed like hours until I hit the other side. And yes, I screamed like a little girl!! After the first one and my shacking subsided, I was all ready to do more.

Here is a link to the place that we went to. If you are ever in Puerto, you need to go here!! The guys were hilarious! They made me laugh the entire time. This place is a definite must.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Puerto-Vallarta-Mexico/CANOPY-BAY/39314605966#/pages/Puerto-Vallarta-Mexico/CANOPY-BAY/39314605966

The ship was a blast. The food was great!! But the best part was going with family! We even did a little karaoke. Yes, this was my first time. We were able to see several whales and dolphins. I never got to see the dolphins, but everyone else did. There were several times that we would look out to the ocean and see a whale jump out of the water or the tail slashing around. It was completely awesome.

Here are a few picts from the trip.