A Busy Day

More on Thursday (which was also Allen's Birthday) in Cabo.  Mom, Sarah, and all the guys went on a chartered deep-sea fishing expedition.  I don't know how the majority of their day went, but Allen got a nice birthday present:

Happy Birthday, indeed!

Anyway, after Princess-Mania, we ate breakfast at the Beach Blanket Buffet on Deck 9.  Nothing spectacular, just sustenance.  It was pretty low-key morning; I don't remember much of what we did, but we eventually got around to going to the beach.  We had to "tender" to get there, or take a smaller boat to get from the cruise ship to the shore.  I got a few good pictures of the Disney Wonder from the tender boat.

The cruise ship really is massive, and very well-kept.  I heard that, once every few months, the employees spend a week (unpaid) cleaning the boat from top to bottom.  I don't know if there's any substance to that rumor, but I hope Mickey doesn't require that!

The tender boat was kind-of a bumpy ride, but it was really cool to see the pelicans and sea lions up close.  They just hang out--totally unafraid.

We then piled into a taxi-van to take us to the beach.  Yes, that's Sabrina sitting on Becca's lap in the front seat.  Gotta love Mexico.

They took us to Medano (?) Beach, which was quite delightful, the weather was perfect (low 80's), and the water was a little cool, but very enjoyable.  It really was this color--an amazing, clear green .

The kids had fun, in and out of the water.

There were a TON of people vending their wares on the beach: braiding girls' hair, henna tattoos, girls' dresses, jewelry, toys, mats, etc., etc.  I did end up buying some necklaces, haggling for 3/$30.  I think everyone bought something, but I was pretty proud of myself for limiting the amount.

We decided to take a water taxi back to the tendering pier.  It was definitely a better choice, so we didn't have to walk too far.  Benji was reluctant to leave, and kept eating sand while I was trying to get him dressed.  Gah.

Anyway, we got back around 4pm, then got cleaned up and ready for dinner.  Allen and the crew had already come back, so he told us about the fish.  Pretty awesome.

Dinner was at Animator's Palate again that night.  Most everyone was in their Pirate get-up for the "Pirates IN The Caribbean Party", but Lex went all-out.  Had there been a contest, they definitely would have won.

Especially baby Zekey.  He made the cutest parrot ever!

Apparently we wore those kiddos out at the beach, so most of them fell asleep during dinner.

They brought out a special cake for Allen's birthday and sang to him.  Actually, they sang to like 5 different people that night; I guess March 1st is a popular day for birthdays!  I took the picture of Mickey with some random kid through the elevator.  It was pretty fun to see Mickey in so many different costumes!

That night was the Pirates Deck party.  We checked Benji into the Oceaneer Lab (that was the only time he went there, and he watched the t.v. the whole time.  I'm such a great parent.) and hung out on deck 9 for the evening: we wanted good seats for the fireworks show!

There was some dancing and stuff, but it was mostly just waiting for the fireworks.  I tried to get some fireworks pictures, but it's very tricky--especially if you don't have a tripod.  So, this is a sample of what I got:

So that's about it for the day.  There was a buffet on the deck after the party, but I didn't stay for it.  Very busy day, but lots of fun!