Our Summer...

…has been crazy. Really crazy. In May, after Ben graduated, we took a trip to Nauvoo, Illinois with his parents.

In June, we left for California. We stayed for three weeks. While we were there, we drove up to Las Vegas for a family reunion with Ben’s family. We stayed at the Monte Carlo for a few days, and then all the girls stayed at his sister Amy’s house while the guys went camping up in Beaver, Utah.

The guys had a great time doing their thing, and the girls had a great time doing our thing. Like dance parties. J And like taking pictures of all the cute baby boys. In the picture below, from left to right, are: Jacob Austin (born in April), Kai Koa (born in November), Elias Reed (born in September), and Gabriel James (born in September- 2 days before Eli). And yes, that is a lot of new baby boys for one family.

When the guys got back from their camping trip, we went back to California. I had wanted to visit with my friends, but it was crazy busy, and the time flew by. We did go to Oceanside, the beach near where we used to live. Good memories. I miss living there. The water was surprisingly frigid, even with a wetsuit on, but I went boogie boarding anyways. I would’ve loved going surfing, but the waves were terrible. It was Eli’s first time at the beach. He did not like the texture of the sand, but he was fascinated with it, all the same.

We got back from California, spent 6 days at home during which time, MY TEAM, SPAIN, WON THE WORLD CUP!!!!! NOT ONLY DID I CALL IT, BUT IT'S THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR HISTORY THAT THEY'VE WON!!!!!), and then left for New Orleans. We stayed with my friend, Ashley, and her husband, Drew, and their two kids. Ben and Eli and I drove down Bourbon Street. Wouldn’t recommend it. The cool part was that there really are street musicians everywhere. It seems like New Orleans really was built out of music and soul food. We went out with my family to this restaurant called Mandina’s on Canal Street. I tried several things, but I mainly remember the gumbo and the turtle soup (which I ordered, despite the chagrined accusations of my nephews that I was eating their favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle). It was… an experience. I truly don’t have words for turtle soup.

We left the next day for our cruise to Mexico. Ben and I agree that the best part of the trip was the excursions to Progreso (and, from there, to Chichen Itza), and Cozumel. Here’s my take on cruises: 1. Don’t bring a baby. You can’t do anything. 2. If you like to go on vacation to relax and be pampered, a cruise is perfect for you. The food is really good, they have a hundred places to lounge around, you can get massages, go to shows (if you don’t have a baby who is desperately tired), etc.

If you go on vacation to have experiences and adventures, you could probably spend your money better by planning your own trip. We thought there was not NEARLY enough time for the excursions into Mexico. We are glad we went on this cruise, because it was a different experience. But we think we would probably rather spend the money DOING more than going on another cruise.

By the way, our trip to Chichen Itza was eventful. There was a monsoon while we were there. We literally could not have been any wetter had we been thrown into the ocean. Half of my family hated it and went back to look for shelter (thankfully, they took Eli with them, so the poor kid, who was sick, got out of the rain), and half of us stayed and braved the onslaught of rain. I actually loved it. I felt more of an adventurer and less of a tourist, sloshing in the lakes of water, persisting through the pounding rain, with a tiny fear that, standing in so much water, there was a valid possibility of being struck by lightning. The ruins were amazing. We had an LDS tour guide, and the little bit we could hear from him was fascinating.

Below is one of the very few pictures we got of the Mayan ruins before the downpour.

Us in Cozumel, before we went snorkeling. By the way, everyone thought I was Mexican (it probably had something to do with the Mexican soccer hat I was wearing!).

We already blogged about snorkeling at Cozumel, so I am going to fast forward to the end of the cruise. We got back into port in New Orleans, and with Ashley and Drew, took the trolley along Saint Charles (the mansions there are crazy! There’s one that looks like La Alhambra, in Granada!) to Bourbon Street. Ben and I were apprehensive at finding ourselves there again, but we walked in a different direction this time. We walked for a long time and went to the birthplace of the legendary muffaletta sandwich, Central Grocery. Although the name of the tiny shop is ho-hum, their muffaletta is not. There was a line out the door and down the sidewalk to get one of their famous sandwiches. If you go to New Orleans, you cannot leave without trying one.

We left the same day, and drove to Texas, where we stayed a night. We were just too tired to go on. We drove home the next day. And five days later…

… we left for Houston. We are here in Houston now. Ben officially started his job and they have him down here for a month-long business trip, so they rented out a NICE two-bedroom apartment in a nice part of downtown Houston for us to stay. So, here we are until September. So far, we love the apartment, the ward, and the area. There are so many things to do!