Sometime back in November, Shaun and I started to think about taking another little getaway BEFORE our long-awaited 2019 European adventure. After all, it had already been almost a year
since our kids last cruised, with still another five months to go until our 16-day voyage across the Atlantic. We decided that we simply have too much invested in this upcoming trip for our kids to be out of cruising shape! ;) As parents, we had to do the responsible thing...which was book an impromptu "practice" cruise for the last week of the girls' winter break. ;)
On January 7, we boarded our favorite home away from home, the Carnival Inspiration, for a 4-day cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. As everyone reading this blog knows, we've done this cruise many times before. Whether it's just Shaun and I or all five of us, there is no beating the bang-per-buck ratio of this 4-day getaway. Plus, a huge added bonus of sailing out of Long Beach for a cruise (besides the fact that we don't have to fly to get there) is that we can stay a few extra days in So Cal visiting Shaun's family. A relaxing four days on board followed by a whirlwind two days of family visits was not only a great way to get the kids back in travelling shape, but also the PERFECT way to start off a new year!
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[[As an aside... I have promised that I will return to more frequent blogging...maybe not until Eddie starts pre-K in the fall... but it WILL happen, eventually. Though I am committed to blogging all our travels, I know many of our family and friends are missing seeing current pics of the kids at the rate I used to post at. In an attempt to keep everyone up to date in an easier (for me) fashion, I joined Instagram... but I just never got comfortable with it, and have since abandoned that effort. What I have decided makes the most sense for me right now is a Shutterfly website, where I can upload pics regularly without letting too much time lapse. I am very close to being ready to share that link with those who I know read the blog, so watch your email! What I like best about a Shutterfly site is that the pics are nice and clear (unlike here on Blogger!) and you can easily download any photos you like and have them printed and sent by Shutterfly. Now, back to regularly-scheduled programming!]]
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The highlight of this cruise is always Catalina Island and the wonderful little town of Avalon, which fell on Day 2 of this itinerary. It had been almost three years since our last visit and we were eager to return to the town named after our girl. ;) The weather couldn't have been more beautiful for ANY day of the year, let alone the second week in January. It was a picture-perfect day, so we made sure to get a lot of them! :)
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| First pic of the kiddos in Avalon! Eloise's toes were in the sand before I could even pull out my camera. :) |
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| Our cruise ship makes for a great background! |
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| Avalon always gets a kick out of seeing her name everywhere! |
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| I love this great photo spot with the iconic casino in the background |
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| I just adore how Eddie wrapped his arm around me for this pic <3 |
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| High on our list of priorities in Avalon was recreating a classic shot from our first visit in May of 2015. Somebody doesn't look very happy, does she? |
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| [[FLASHBACK to May 2015!! Awww!]] |
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| Okay, time for a "nice" one. :) My, how time flies! |
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| This is very likely the last family photo you'll ever see with Ellie and Eddie in our arms. These kids are getting heavy!! |
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| Having fun on the tender boat ride back to the ship |
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| Almost there! |
The rest of the day was spent living the cruise life we know and love so well, complete with arts and crafts in the kids club, ice cream, elegant night in the dining room, and a post-dinner show. Talk about my idea of a great day! :)
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| While the kids were in kids club, Shaun and I enjoyed some alone time... eating salads on the Lido deck. Are we wild or what?! |
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| Enjoying a little afternoon ice cream break. This may have happened more than once on the cruise...:) |
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| Family pic at dinner |
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| Showtime! Ellie really wanted a pic of her with the singers and dancers in the background, but this is the best I could do. |
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| After the show we returned to our cabin to find this little guy lounging on the bed (pictured with another little guy creeping behind it) |
Day 3 of the cruise took us to Ensenada, Mexico... which always gets a pass from us. We much prefer staying on board and enjoying the ship's amenities with much thinner crowds. We made the most of our day with swimming, golfing, kids clubbing, dinner and more kids clubbing before ending the day with late night pizza in the buffet (always a "must" at least once per cruise!).
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| Someone started off the day pretty grumpy, but we soon turned that frown upside down |
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| Eddie is finally starting to like being in the water! It didn't hurt that the pool was heated to bath water temperatures :) |
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| We had the pool to ourselves for at least an hour! |
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| Of course we had to take a couple attempts at a family selfie |
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| An inspired photo op! |
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| "Now a funny one" |
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| After swimming we changed and headed up to the Sports Deck for a little mini golf while the ship was still in port. By now the weather had turned cool and cloudy, so we were glad to have soaked up the morning sunshine in the pool! |
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| Posing in the Waterworks on our way back to the cabin |
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| Avalon joining our waitstaff in their dance performance :) |
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| Eddie was wearing this sea creature hat when we picked him up at kids club later that night. So cute! |
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| "Late" night pizza! (It was actually just a few minutes past 10pm) |
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| It was too late for this girl! She fell asleep watching a movie in the kids club and couldn't bring herself to wake up...even for pizza! |
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| My boys <3 I love how Eddie looks way more awake and alert than Daddy does. We only had one cocktail while the kids were in camp, I swear! :) |
Day 4 of the cruise was a sea day, which meant we had to share the ship with all of our fellow passengers. However, after brunching and other sea day standards such as watching the ice carving demonstration, we managed to take over an entire lounge for our own personal, family dance party! After one last dinner in the dining room and post-dinner show, it was time to head back to our humble little indoor stateroom for our last sleep at sea... until April, that is!
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| Morning shenanigans on our last day at sea |
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| Dolled up and ready for the Sea Day Brunch |
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| Avalon takes a pretty good picture :) |
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| Enjoying the ice carving demonstration |
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| An unplanned, expected highlight of our last family cruise has now become a tradition... taking our Bluetooth speaker into an empty lounge in the middle of the afternoon and throwing our own dance party! This was at the very top of the kids' "cruise bucket list". |
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| The kids were a little disappointed that no other families joined in (like what happened last time), but they still boogied down and had a blast |
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| Naturally, they brought plenty of drama to their performance |
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| After an hour or so of nonstop dancing, they finally stopped for a pic and let us continue on to dinner. It was a great way to (almost) end the cruise! |
