Penning Our Story: The Vacation--Part 3

Tuesday we woke up early and got off the ship before 9. We loaded into these smaller boats, which took us to Catalina Island, a beautiful little island off the coast of California. We wanted to rent a golf cart to tour the island, but they required all children under 4 to be in a car seat, and only one car seat per cart. Clearly that wasn't going to work with a 1-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a 3-year-old in tow, so we just walked around the streets near the dock. We visited the souvenir shops and played on the beach for a little bit. Of course the kids' favorite part of the island was the playground we found!

Since we hadn't gotten to do the golf cart tour of the island, we had to find something else to do. We decided on a glass-bottomed boat tour, and I for one really enjoyed it. I have never been in one before and it was cool! The water was incredibly blue. We saw GIGANTIC seaweed (I don't remember the exact name of it) and TONS of fish, mostly sea bass. They feed the fish when the boat comes around so you always get to see lots of them. My favorites were the little orange ones that swam in and out of the seaweed. The kids liked the fish but got bored, as kids do.

We got back to the ship around 2 and tried to eat some lunch, but the kids were pretty worn out and didn't really eat well. So we all napped, then explored the ship a little before dinner. Tuesday was "formal night," so we dressed up fancy and went to a comedian, then dinner. We really enjoyed the comedian. Eleanor fell asleep on me while we were eating (just like Lia did the night before!) I started feeling sort of queasy and extremely tired at dinner. I hoped it was just from all the walking we did that day, and the motion of the boat. I was very glad to get to bed that night!

Penman family on the way to Catalina Island

The other Penman family on the way to Catalina Island! :)

Our ship

We bought the girls some fun swirly suckers in a candy shop. They loved them but didn't finish, of course!

Next time tell me to duck! (Sorry Lia!)

Dustin went on the same cruise as a high school senior, and he has a picture of him and his friends under this same pier. Pretty fun!

Glass-bottomed boat

Giant seaweed!

LOTS of fish.

There's the little orange ones!

Formal Dinner

Sleepy baby!

Mmm, dessert.

Towel animal

Around 7 Wednesday morning, I woke up with severe diarrhea and puking my guts out. (Sorry if that's TMI, but there's really no pleasant way of talking about it.) I couldn't walk, my entire body was achy and shaky, my head was pounding, and I was exhausted. Needless to say, I did not leave the ship that day. Dustin and the girls met up with Josh, Appols, and Carson to eat breakfast and go ashore, and I went back to sleep until they got back on the ship at 2. Luckily, I was the only one sick, so the rest of them had a good time in Ensenada, Mexico.

They went to a local attraction called "La Bufadora" which is a giant natural marine geyser. They also visited the shops and bought some souvenirs and churros. Apparently there was a guy there with a lion in a cage, but since it's illegal to have lions, he called it a "chihuahua." I am really so grateful for Josh and Appols, who helped Dustin with the girls all day so they could all have fun while I was sick. If they hadn't been there, the four of us would have been stuck on the ship all day, because Dustin wasn't comfortable with taking our small children into a foreign country by himself. Thank you Josh and Appols!

I was feeling a bit better when they got back, so we went up to the water works area on top of the ship and played for a bit. The kids loved playing in the water! All Eleanor wanted to do the entire vacation was swim, and finally she got her chance (well sort of, she didn't exactly swim, but she got to splash around in puddles and go on the slide). As soon as we got back to our room after swimming, I got sick again. We didn't go to dinner, but J, A, & C did. I really hoped it was just a 24-hour thing and that I would be feeling well enough in the morning to enjoy our "fun day at sea" as we headed back to Long Beach!

Lia on the bus ride to La Bufadora

Beautiful

Also beautiful :)

Eleanor fell asleep on her favorite person, Josh! She was asking for Josh and Appols whenever we weren't all together because she loves them so much :)