The McGraths

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Day at Sea

On Thursday, March 2nd we had a day at sea. Here are some highlights.

Carter jumping around the pole again (maybe trying to be Spiderman). Hudson ready to get going, waiting in our room, watching a Mickey cartoon and eating a sucker. Waiting in line to see Spiderman.

Meeting Spiderman. Playing in the teens club, Guitar Hero. Hudson catching a ride w/ Nyles.

More fun in the teens club, playing bowling on the Wii.

Hudson playing w/ the Chess pieces. Diane giving Wii a try.

It was super windy up on deck as you can see from Steve's face and the waves.

Super windy day at sea.

More wind.

Meeting Moana, hugs and hi-fives.

The Little Mermaid mural again. Using blankets up on deck. Hudson playing in the kid's club.

Nyles and Carter really enjoyed the drawing spaces, tracing characters and coloring them.

Nyles, Carter and I also attended an origami workshop which was fun.

Meeting Mickey Mouse!

Meeting Mickey Mouse! Hudson was so excited!

Hugs and hi-fives from Mickey!

Then Meeting Minnie Mouse and Chip and Dale. Hudson loved giving them hugs ;)

Dinner time back at Tritons. More yummy desserts to try of course.

Diane said she didn't want dessert, so our waitress Wann, wrote this and delivered it to her, haha.

Cute elephant towel animal at bedtime.

Nyles and Carter playing the the windows. Big waves. Loving the towel Elephant.

We had another great day at sea, enjoying the ship, even w/ the winds.

Puerto Vallarta

On Monday, March 1st we were at Puerto Vallarta. Here are some highlights.

Walking by the ice cream station as we head to breakfast.

We took an excursion going on pirate ship.

The pirates put on a program for us as we sailed to the beach.

The kids learning to be pirates.

They then fed us breakfast down in the bottom of the ship. The whole ship was very authentic.

It especially creaked and rocked.

Even the toilets were pirate themed, skulls, along w/ the center pieces on the tables.

The boat didn't move very fast to get to our beach destination, but it sure did ROCK! It was a very round-bottomed ship, so it ROCKED a lot! Thankfully I took my motion sickness meds and didn't have any issues, neither did anyone in our group. Unfortunately, several others in the excursion did though. It was neat to see the views from up top on the ship.

It was a really cool ship w/ lots of details everywhere.

The pirates put on a performance for us with fighting and shooting. They even jumped off the ship and got back on. It was entertaining, but Hudson couldn't fight it and fell asleep. :)

After at least 1.5 hours on the ship, we made it to our beach destination! It was a beautiful cove where we got to play for a couple hours. Hudson just wanted to dig in the sand.

The cool pirate ship. The crew even brought chairs and umbrellas for everyone to use. They also had banana boats for rides and kayaks to use.

Kids playing tug of war.

Playing in the water, jumping in the waves.

Hudson playing in the sand. The cool pirate ship.

Hudson enjoying life, playing in the sand.

Beautiful views. Nyles and I went for a banana boat ride. Then the kids played tug of war.

The pirates put on a treasure hunt game for the kids.

Hudson jumping the waves w/ Steve. Nyles and I on a kayak. Carter w/ the Mermaid.

Nyles and Carter tried their snorkeling gear out as well.

We brought our shovels/buckets, which were perfect for the beach!

After a couple hours, we loaded back onto boats to get back onto the pirate ship. We then had lunch in the bottom of the ship. The pirate toilets were intense!

Pirate toilets.

They did more games coming back and fun for the kids. It was a beautiful day!

Our excursion took the whole day, so we made it back just in time to board the ship. Fun decor at the back of the ship. Getting back on board. Cool mural on the ship of the Little Mermaid.

That night we were back at Tiana's Place for dinner. Cool kids' menus looked like saxophones, since it's a Jazz themed place. The bread was super yummy, so Hudson took the whole thing to eat all for himself. Our server Thompson cutting up Carter's steak. They like to help w/ the kids, which was wonderful. Nyles and Carter ordered steak every night for dinner. Yummy dessert.

Tiana's place dancing fun.

Carter w/ a frog our waitress made him. Later w/ the towel animal before bed.

It was another super fun, enjoyable day!! RRRR!!!

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Mazatlan

On Tuesday, February 28th, we were in Mazatlán, Mexico. We decided to do a city tour.

On the bus headed out.

We stopped to see the cliff divers first. Crazy sport!

Cliff jumpers

We then stopped by the Basilica Cathedral of Mazatlán.

There were some beautiful flowers outside I had to see of course :)

More beautiful flowers around the church.

The boys thought the pigeons were fun to feed.

Then a drive by the coastline.

Then we went to a theater for a Mexican folk show where they did dancing from around different parts of Mexico.

Carter even got his face painted.

Beautiful dresses. Fun characters. An amazing singer.

It was neat to see all the different costumes and dances. Lots of work to practice them all!

Then back along the coastline.

Hudson was really worn out by this time, so he fell asleep on me.

Mazatlán city tour.

Just before boarding the ship, we did a little shopping. Nyles wanted to get a Mexican poncho and Carter got a blanket. They love them and sleep w/ them every night now.