Cruise 2012: Senora!

Friday, May 11th- Cold Day at Sea/ Hunter's Birthday!

Friday and Saturday of our trip were Sea Days as we sailed back to California. Oh so sadly, they were COLD days! We tried to make the best of it, but it was kind of a bummer. On Friday, we just hung around the ship, took naps, worked out, and relaxed.

Friday night was another Formal Night so we took a lot of pictures at dinner-

 And it was Hunter's 19th Birthday!

 This is Luis or "Lewie" as Drake called him. He was one of our servers and we absolutely loved him!  Luis was so cute with Drake and Drake just thought he was the funniest guy and was always trying to get his attention. Every night, the servers would sing and dance for us- lots of laughs! You have the same servers every night of the cruise, so you really get to know them by the end. Today, Drake asked me if we could go on a cruise tomorrow and see "Lewie." That's not the first time he's asked to go back on the cruise. :)

 After dinner, we went to a singing/dancing show- the entertainment on this cruise was a tad lame-o, but ok.

Saturday, May 12th- Payne's Can Make Any Cold Day at Sea a Blast!
On Saturday, it was still cold outside, but we weren't about to waste the last day of our vacation moping about it. We made the most of it and had a great time!

We went hot tubbing, played Phase 10 for hours, had a really nice lunch, and made sure to try every single item offered at the mid-day Chocolate Buffet!

 That night when we met for dinner, Staci & I discovered that we had unintentionally dressed in the exact opposite outfits! We still love this picture because it was such a fun coincidence.
All day on Saturday, Staci let Drake play with her camera. He got some pretty interesting shots!

 It was very hard and very emotional to order our FINAL chocolate melting cake at dinner. Let's just not talk about it...I'm not ready to.

Sunday, May 13th- Senora! 
Sunday it was time to go home. :(   :(   :(

Drake looked so big toting his suitcase around and held onto that thing with a death grip.

 Then, we were on the plane for home. We buckled up and said goodbye to a fantastic vacation!

And that's the end of our Mexican Riviera Cruise!

A few highlights for my memory:

1. One night on the ship (I think it was Thursday night), the crew hosted a giant dance party out on the deck. We had just gotten done eating dinner and all of us were standing on an upper deck watching the dance party below. We were just people-watching and laughing, but no one wanted to go done there. I told Rob that I was going to sneak down and start dancing like a crazy person and to watch and see if my family noticed me down there. I ran down and started dancing like an idiot and was watching for their reactions and when they finally saw me, we all busted out laughing SO hard. It broke the ice and Mom, Kate, Hannah, and Hunter all came down to dance. We ended up having a great, silly time dancing to YMCA, doing the Macarena, and the Chicken Dance, along with lots more!

2. Drake was seriously amazing on this trip! I know I've mentioned it throughout all of these posts, but I just want to say it again. I was so surprised with how well he did. He would just nap whenever he could or sometimes wouldn't get a nap, but would still be a good boy. It definitely helped to have so many people there to take care of him and entertain him. I'm so thankful to my family for their help. 

3. Lastly, I just want to shout out that I LOVE MY FAMILY! I absolutely love spending time with them! We have so much fun together- whether it be on a beach in Mexico or playing card games in a dark lounge because it's freezing outside. We just laugh and tease and have the greatest time! Love you all! Thank you so much Mom & Dad for taking us on this vacation! The time we spent all together before Hunter left will always be cherished!