Trip to Corinne's

We were able to purchase tickets for the MCO concert in Salt Lake. 

Ben, Garrett, Spencer, Henry and Clara all participated. We reserved a hotel and hit the road.

We stop at Love's on our road trips. Fred bought two rollers from their "food court" so we were rewarded with this free Stawberries and Cream Dr. Pepper. 

 On Friday all of the kids had school except for Clara. Margot and Gary (Ben's parents) were also there visiting for the concert so Gary took Clara with him running errands. We wanted to take Corinne out to lunch for a late birthday celebration. She wanted to go to Leatherby's. So that's what we did. Their ice cream menu was very big so it was very hard to decide what to get. Our's was delicious!!

There was a dress code for the choir participants. This is the cute jumper set for Clara.

I was glad Ben thought to have this picture taken.

I'm not good about taking pictures anymore.

During preshow warm up and waiting, Garrett was messing around with some of the 

other boys and somehow fractured his forefinger on his left hand.

Miraculously Corinne was able to get him to urgent care and patched up and then 

get back in time for most of the first performance.

For Mother's Day Richard sent his Mom a card from the mission field. 

This is the picture that was inside. He looks so happy and content.

We went to church with Corinne on Sunday. She played the organ and Garrett gave a talk. 

After eating lunch and hanging out with them, we took off before dinner and headed 

to our friends in West Jordan to spend the next two nights. 

Shan and Judy are our good friends from St. George. They left St George before us and now have ended up back in West Jordan. That's a good thing because we will be visiting Corinne and can always stop by to see them too. They got us into board games so that is what we do together.

Judy works for Norweigian Cruiseline and works from home. 

She works the afternoon and night shift. So while she worked, 

we made our way to the nearby Zupas.

We have to do that everytime we go to Utah. We miss that place.

We had a very nice time. It was a very busy weekend at Corinne's. She left Monday morning for her next work trip to Richmond Virginia. I think we will be squeezing in short visits from now on with all of her business travels. That works. Short and Sweet that way.

Houston & San Antonio tourists

After we left the pier, we both hailed a Lyft to take us to the Space Center in Houston.

This was another example of Shannon's family getting a Lyft no problem and us waiting there for about 40 minutes. Several of the Lyft drivers accepted and then canceled. It was super frustrating.

Finally we made it to the Soace Center even before Shannon and Brian. 

They had to pick up the rental van.

I did enjoy being here with Fred. He wasn't out of control or anything, but he was very interested and enjoyed everything on display.  

Here he is just to give a scale of the size of that engine. I guess that is what that is....

This is a full-scale shuttle replica mounted on top of the original shuttle carrier aircraft NASA 905 

 This is a rocket. I've googled pictures trying to figure out exactly what this is called. 

A "rocket" is the best I could come up with.

Scott recommended Rudy's BBQ for a Texas BBQ experience.

The next morning as we headed to San Antonio, we drove by the Houston Temple. It was a drizzly kind of day. It sure is a pretty temple and lovely grounds.

Grandma and Grandpa. 

Of course, you cannot drive to San Antonio and not stop at Buc-ee's. This is a typical expression for B.

The kids were great travelers.

Once we got to San Antonio, we headed to the Alamo. It was plenty warm, but not horrible. 

There were lots of displays, but I didn't go crazy taking pictures.

Outside in the garden/plaza is this Live Oak. Walter Whall moved the 40-year-old Live Oak to the Alamo in 1912, proving you CAN move large trees and transplant them successfully.

From the Alamo, we walked to the River Walk. It really is a beautiful walk. I remember going years ago while visiting Scott. We got the see the Christmas parade. In the dark, it is so beautifully lit.

The next stop on our sightseeing journey was to see Scott and Jess's first home. It looks very much the same. I loved that house. A wonderful representation of one of their many accomplishments.

The last stop was the San Antonio Temple. 

The stained glass is all around the temple and it really beautiful. 

I got a teeth smile out of Fred. 

For dinner, Scott and Jess recommended this Mexican Restaurant La Fogata. It was very unique. It has outdoor seating and what looked like another separate buildings for indoor dining. There is a beautiful courtyard in between the two eating areas. 

I think this is so cute. 

The restaurant defnitely had an authentic feel about it. Actually we ate under a outdoor covering. So there is one building for indoor and this covered outdoor and more outside seating. 

It was dark by the time we left. A live band was just getting started as we left. 

So our vacation is over. We spent extra hours in the airport because of delays. 

We were all entertained thought. 

We had an amazing time. Shannon and Brian were generous to include us. It was easy traveling with them (except the stupid Lyft and Uber experiences).

Spring 2023 Carribbean Cruise

 We got up at 2:30AM to catch our Uber to the airport. He took us to the wrong side of the airport so by the time we got to the check in, Shannon and family had already checked in and headed to the gate.   For us it took at least 20 minutes later to accomplish the same thing. 

Once we arrived in Houston, Shannon and Brian's family took off in their Uber to the airport. Ours pulled up and said "I can't take you to the pier. It's too far and not enough money." So we waited for the next Uber. We had added a sister in law to Phil Drees to our car so when the lady pulled up she said we had to all squeeze in the back. It was a nice Lexus, but still crowded in the back and her trunk wasn't big enough for our luggage. She was willing to let us put the extra suitcase in her front seat. 

We made it to the Port in Galveston and getting through security, check in was a wiz. 
No problem there. 

It was several hours before we could get in our cabin. We have never boarded so early.
When we got to our cabin, this plate of chocolate dipped strawberries was sitting on the desk. 
Fred had ordered them for me for our anniversary. 
That was super sweet. He does things like that.

Here are the kids on the climbing wall.

Kids coming out of the huge water slide.

This is the view of the promenade. 

We headed to the dining room at 5:30 and found ourselves at a table for eight. 

The entire cruise, there were only the six of us.

These two other couples were just right. It was a very good match. 

Of course, there were no last names shared which is too bad because the other two couples cruise ALL THE TIME. Sounds like they are matching up on their next cruise.

The first port was Costa Maya. We didn't sign up for an excursion. 

There weren't any that really caught our eye. I did, however, buy this hat. 

I didn't bring any of the three I have at home. 

Fred bought his souvineer hat.

This is what you see as you walk toward the port.

Shannon and family did sign up for an excursion. They did a much better job at seeing things. 

They did get sunburned. 

They did choose this excursion not attached to Royal Carribbean. 

We could have done the same, but it was a lot like our excursion in Cozumel. 

It would have been too much sun.

The next day was Cozumel. A pretty little port.

Here is our ship. We sailed with Royal Carribbean for the first time. Unfortunately, the ship was overdue for a reburbishment. It definitely needed it. 

We booked an excursion that included a buffet and unlimited drinks. I finally got my fill of Diet Coke. 

We got free loungers and umbrellas and also offered were kayaks and big tricycles to peddle in the ocean. Fred bought us snorkel gear, but I didn't want to do it. I didn't feel like the beach and water was very conducive for it. Fred, however, did get out and snorkel. 

There were all this floaty toys for everyone. I did get in the water and swim and bob around with Fred.

This picture was taken from the covered area where we could eat. The food was good.

This was taken on our way back to the ship.

On board was an ice skating rink. Again, I opted out because I no longer 

do things that are a threat to bodily harm. Fred was game. 

This was at the very front of the boat. Like Jack and Rose.

One of the shows we went to was an ice production. Here we are. The other boys didn't want to come.

This is a pretty good picture of the main dining room. It was the same on three floors. The staircase had an opening that connected all three floors. 

We did have a very nice time. We ate dinner with Shannon's family one evening. 

That was a nice change. 

We enjoyed all of the shows. A comedian, and a juggler who was also a comedian.

Two different dance productions. 

The food was very good. I felt a bit like a fuddy duddy this cruise. I just didn't want to do much.

I'm feeling old so I didn't want many pictures taken of us with me in it. 

I'll post pictures and talk about the next part of our trip together. In another week. 

I didn't want to do it in one huge post.