Cruisin’

The last week Jeremy and I went on a cruise to escape the cold Missouri weather. Obviously our plan didn't work too well because we came back to today's blizzard warning and a possible 20 inch snowfall. 

Our five day cruise had two stops, Calica and Cozumel, Mexico.  The weather was perfect and actually could’ve been warmer.  Here is our boat, the Carnival Elation.  It was a little smaller than the last boat we were on, but everything else was pretty similar. 

Here’s a picture we took in our room on formal night.

Our first stop was Calica.  Here we went and saw the ruins at Tulum, went snorkeling in a cave, ate at a delicious Mexican restaurant on a private beach and snorkeled again at a private lagoon.  We went through a company called Edventures instead of Carnival for this excursion and that turned out to be a great idea.  We were able to get to each location about an hour before the big crowds arrived and we only had 6 people in our group.

Here’s some pictures from the Mayan ruins at Tulum.

Beautiful bluffs and beach at Tulum.

This huge iguanas were everywhere!

This is the view from the private beach restaurant we ate at.

Here’s a picture of the Dos Ojos cave we went snorkeling in.  The water was unbelievable clear.  It was amazing and Jeremy could’ve stayed there all day exploring.

We also some some scuba divers swimming around way below us.

At Cozumel we boarded a catamaran and went snorkeling again at the local reef. Here’s an underwater shot we thought turned out really cool.

Tyler stayed with Jeremy's parents and got to play with his cousins almost everyday.  We had a great time on the cruise, but unfortunately Tyler got sick with an ear infection and bronchiolitis (which is similar to bronchiolitis, but only occurs in children under 2).  He’s taking antibiotics twice a day and using a nebulizer every 4-6 hours as needed.  He’s doing better now and we’re down to using the nebulizer only 3 times/day.  I don’t think he minds the mask, but he’s not a fan of having to sit still for 10 minutes.

How much snow did you get?

We haven’t officially measured, but I’d say it’s close to a foot!

Culinary Exploration

Our goal for 2011 is to try a different food each month. You can check out everything we've tried by clicking on the link at the top of the page anytime to find an indexed list of our current explorations. Any suggestions of things we should try?

Culinary Exploration: January

Month: January

Food: Pommelo [pom-EH-loh]

History: Also known as the Chinese grapefruit, his giant citrus fruit is native to Malaysia and thought to be the ancestor to the grapefruit.

Description: It's very thick, soft rind can vary in color from yellow to pale yellowish-brown to pink. The light yellow to coral-pink flesh can vary from juicy to slightly dry and from seductively spicy-sweet to tangy and tart.

Taste Test: I'm not a fan of grapefruit to begin with, way to tart and I would have to describe this pommelo the same way. The flesh was so thick you couldn't really eat it, we peeled it away before trying the fruit. Jeremy thought it just tasted like a grapefruit, but said he thought the fruit itself was firmer than a grapefruit. Tyler also surprisingly liked it.

Before.
After. There was a ton of rind surrounding the fruit, probably half an inch.
Tyler enjoyed the pommelo and kept asking for more.

Johnson Invasion

This past weekend we had the pleasure of hosting Jeremy’s sister and her family for a mini STL vacation.  While they were here they went to the Arch, City Museum, Science Center, ice skating in Forest Park and even the Magic House.   Since Jeremy was playing in the band this weekend, I enjoyed the extra company.  Saturday, Tyler and I tagged along and made our first visit to the City Museum. 

If you’ve never been, it’s a little crazy.  First, the building is huge and used to be a shoe factory. There are slides and tunnels all over the building, inside and out.  There is even a 7 story slide, which we weren’t able to go down because Tyler is too young to go by himself and he’s not allowed to sit on my lap.  So I got a workout carrying him and climbing 7 stories of a spiral staircase!  And then we rode the elevator down.

Tyler loved running around and playing with his cousins.  All three of them passed out from exhaustion on the way home.

This weekend we also transitioned into taking only 1 nap a day.  We’re still working on taking a longer nap in the afternoon and it seems to be getting a little longer each day as he gets used to his new schedule.  Today he slept almost 3 hours!

We had a great time with the Johnson’s and they are welcome anytime! 

So, who wants to come visit next?