Jillian (aka 6) is just full of crazy energy this summer… and today, I swear she took triple the recommended daily allowance. We are talking RARE form, people.
This? Her reaction to 8’s suggestion that we save a few slices for Daddy.
Good Lord. This kid is funny. Here, she was trying to hold up the pyramid (thank you Despicable Me).
But she’s still our sweet baby, so I guess we’ll keep her ;-)
Back to the vacation shots…
Our last port of call was Cozumel. Because Hubs just LOVES historical crap we decided to go to the Mayan ruins of Tullum over on the mainland. This was the only Mayan city ever built on the water, so it had these amazing beaches below the cliffs. They reminded me of that Leo movie The Beach.
Ok, so call it an ADD moment, or whatever, but this place smacked of our visit to Pompeii where I had to practically drag his ass away from square rocks. Don’t get me wrong. I usually like this stuff too… until I’m done taking the pictures I want, THEN I’m ready to move on to the next fun thing. That’s what I get for marrying an intellectual.
Anywho, the place was neat, and I got some good shots. The theme of the day was “spot the iguana” because they were simply EVERYWHERE!
Now check this out… this was actually cool. See the corner of this temple? It’s a friggin FACE! One corner had a smilie face, they other had a sad face!
This is the same temple shot at a profile that I’m blowing up to go with our travel “gallery” in the hallway upstairs… Cool, no?
To no surprise to myself… I have a very similar shot from Pompeii… ;-)
This is the main temple that most people associate with Tullum. You used to be able to climb those steps, but a couple of years ago they stopped letting people go up.
And there you go. That’s my summer vacation. Quick. Easy. Relaxing. It was also probably the last time we’ll get to go someplace really cool without our kids… they are old enough now and they were sort of peeved they missed this cruise, but it was sure nice to get away and be with sister and Hubs. Hope you enjoyed the pics!
By far, my favorite place to visit on the cruise was Grand Caymen. WHAT a beautiful place. I seriously wish we would have had more time here. There’s the biggest problem I find with cruises… when you find a place you can stay in, you’ve gotta hop back onto the ship.
Because of reef protection, you have to take a tender boat to the actual dock. Walk straight through to the street and you can hop a van taxi for $4 each to 7-Mile beach. This beach is beautiful… and convenient. We stopped at the Royal Palms beach club and claimed a spot by the water. The RP has a bar, restaurant, jet skis, lounge chairs, umbrellas… anything you need to hang out for a while, they’ve got it.
The locals are friendly too…
We booked an excursion to go to Stingray City and the Coral Gardens through Captain Marvin’s. Again, go through the dock, to the street… look left and across the street, you’ll see Captain Marvin’s.
The biggest thing you should know about this excursion is that STINGRAYS SKEEVE ME OUT!
Hubs was lucky to get smoochin after this… Disgusting!
But he was totally loving it… Massage by stingray anyone?
Excuse me while I {shiver}…
Coral Gardens snorkeling was for SURE more my speed than playing with face–sucking ray-stabbing stingrays…
I’ll be posting on how I took the underwater shots later… You’ll really think I’m smart then :-)
After our excursion, we had to race to grab shirts at Margaritaville and then get back in line to grab the tender boat to make it to the boat. There was LOADS of shopping right there by the dock. A guy Hubs knows even stopped into a place to buy a new duty free HUGE diamond to replace the one his wife lost out of her engagement ring. Duty free is GOOD people… Real good.
If I can finagle a way to get back to the Caymens for an extended period of time, you can bet good money I’ll do it. The place was beautiful and the people were super nice. If you have a chance, Go!
You know how I’ve been looking for photography and camera information? Well, here’s some. And no, as a matter of fact, I couldn’t wait to share them… This post is also my sneaky way of making notes in a place that I can get to really fast :-) And it also may or may not be a backhanded excuse for putting up one of my most treasured shots of Abby.
Thank the blogging gods that Kim took the time to email me today, because Karen Russell has me in tears… weepy puddles of emotion just looking at her photographs… Just start reading… And once you read her post about her vows, wipe your face and keep on going. I’ve got all sorts of lens notes scribbled down. I also found this super helpful link on there… for reviews. Karen is a beautiful woman who is living life… and thankfully documenting it for all of us to share. And her family is beautiful and her sweet little girl Annie has made me miss that time in my own girls lives. So go and read.
I’ve been going to The Idea Room for a while now. And, well, it’s full of ideas. There’s a nifty section from Kristen Duke that will give you so much information you’ll return there time and time again… and then you’ll put the Kristen Duke button on your own blog because you’ll just HAVE to share it with the rest of the world. And no kidding… You’ll be hard pressed not to find dozens of other ideas on this blog to try.
I’ve mentioned Scott Bourne before when I was searching for a new point and shoot. Which I swear, I still love. No really… I promise. Go there. His Fast Photo Tips posts are great. While you are there, poke around some more. Photofocus has a wealth of information.
And of course there’s Ree. Who we all know doesn’t know me from a tick on one of her cows. Actually, she’s for sure had more contact with the ticks. Her photography section is full of awesome. Go learn. And even if you never enter her photography assignments, follow along and see how you do. You might just be better at this than you think ;-)
Recycled pic circa 2005
