ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE ....

Yesterday, (Monday 6/1/09), our sister-in-law, (Sheryl), got re-married to a really nice guy, (Dale) in Laughlin, NV. So Dave and I, (along with the rest of the Kronenberg clan), all met up in Laughlin over on Sunday and Monday to celebrate the joyous union of these two middle-agesters.

So after finishing up all our chores and running our errands on Saturday, at 2:30 in the afternoon, Dave and I decided to leave early and drive to Vegas, (on the Q/T - without telling anyone), to get a room and catch a show. We arrived in Vegas at 8:30, grabbed a room, and ran over to the Mirage and bought tickets to see one of the hottest shows - LOVE, Cirque Du Soleil. We got FABULOUS seats, (way too expensive - but worth it!!). I would advise everyone to go see the show, but buy the cheap seats, since every seat is a great seat. All your senses come alive from the moment the show starts until the very last moment. Love it, Love it, Love it. I told Dave, LOVE is now my #1 show for 2009, and WICKED is my #2 show for 2009. IT'S THAT GOOD !! We spent way TOO MUCH for LOVE souvenirs, t-shirts, books, etc. But, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event....
GO SEE IT BEFORE IT CLOSES !!

After the show we stopped by IN-N-OUT BURGER. I finally got to have my FIRST. Another milestone for me. I ordered the small regular cheeseburger. Dave had the double double animal, and an order of fries. Personally, (even though everyone else just raves about them), the burgers are just ok. The fries, I really don't care for, I like McDonald's fries better. But now I can offically say that I have had an In-N-Out Burger.


Then up on Sunday an on to Laughlin, NV for the family wedding. Boy was it hot - 102 degrees. My Cabo tan got darker, and the parts that weren't tanned, got burned, (and we were only at the poolside for 2 hours!!). Sunday evening the family got together for a seafood buffet, (all 16 of us). The waitress did a pretty good job of taking care of the LARGE table. And there were so many different conversations going on at one time, I couldn't keep track on my usual 2 or 3 at one time. After dinner, some went to a movie, some went to a comedy show, some crashed in bed, Dave and I played $1 virtual blackjack. Dave turned his $20 into $90. Pretty good - but then he plays pretty fast, hard, and gambles big, (sometimes betting as much as $3 a hand !!). After 3 hours, I was tapped out of my $20. I then talked Dave into walking back to our hotel. After 2 miles in 100 degrees temps - Dave was pretty much ready to sign the divorce papers.... I don't think I'll ever be able to talk him into doing that again, (even if I do tell him "we can use the exercise, and it's only 4 casinos down the street").

Monday, we visited, did some pool side time, ate more buffet, then it was time for the wedding. Sheryl was smiling from ear to ear, and her friends drove up from Phoenix, (Dale and Sheryl live in Phoenix). We all got on the boat, and as we started to cast off, the mate got her finger caught in the tow rope. It appeared as if she might have broken it, and of course that delayed everything, but after the EMT looked her over, she only badly bruised it. Finally the boat left the dock and everyone could settle down and the ceremony could begin.

And 20 minutes later, Dale and Sheryl were newlyweds !!!
A small champagne toast, some cake cutting and the boat also took us on a small river tour of the area. Then back on the dock - everyone split up to go do their own thing again. This time, Dave and I, along with the newlyweds, we back to the $1 blackjack table. Dave, Dale and Sheryl each spent their money, but I turned my $40 into $41.50. WOW - lookout VEGAS. Oh yea, early while I was waiting for the wedding party to gather, I sat down at a slot machine, and turned $2 into $2.40 - I am such a high roller!!! There's no holding me back now that I have a taste of the high life....

Now that we are back home where the temps are 20 degrees cooler, it feels so much better, and we are so exhausted. The 8 hour drive is a long, long drive. But it was a fun time seeing the family and playing for the weekend.

And, it truly was a weekend of Love, Love, Love....
Our photo taken by the Mirage photographer

One Last Look Back

Now that we are all back to work, and starting to settle back into our daily routine, I took a look one last look at the photos and wanted to share just four more. Here we are at El Squid Roe on Saturday night. The place that started all the fun. Starting at the left side: George, Tammy, Karen, Neil, me, and Dave.
Then of course I forgot to post Neil and his "whale of a catch" when we went fishing. Sorry Neil. How could I forget you !!! Did I mention that we had to throw this little guy back? The fish, not Neil.

And this is where we had our last dinner. We went to La Nao at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach on Thursday night. The food was excellent and the service was outstanding. One of the top notch resorts in Cabo. Finally, as we are leaving, one last look back at the arch. AHHH, such a beautiful sight...
Until next March - Bye, Bye Cabo...

Parasailing

On Thursday the sun was up, the weather was warm and it was the best day we had all week. So, we decided to go para sailing. Dave, Karen, and I were immediately up for the idea. It took some coaxing and a lot of talking, but we finally convinced Tammy that it was not only fun but very safe. George and Neil both said NO WAY JOSE', they would only ride along in the boat and take pictures. So it was all set, the only question was - would Tammy back out at the last minute!! I went first, being the dare devil and the one who had the most experience doing para sailing. 600 feet up, the view was wonderful, and it was so peaceful. Next up, Dave. Another dare devil with experience. He also loves doing it for the same reason. Sometimes I think he goes to sleep up there. Finally, we decided that in order to keep her for chickening out at the last minute, it was Tammy's turn, and hey - she did it and LOVED IT. Next up, Karen. Talk about big smiles - these two couldn't wipe the grins from their faces all the way back to shore. Then to our surprise, Tammy jumps up and announces, I'm going to para sail when we go to South Carolina this summer !! Guess she must also like it... Next off to Cabo Wabo for some lunch. Then shopping time, and back to the room for pool time and relaxation before dinner.

Snorkeling

On Wednesday, we went out on a boat to Lover's Beach and spent an hour snorkeling. The fish were very colorful and the water was very cold! It was shall we say are real "Heart Stopper" when you jumped in !!. Tammy has a new digital snorkeling camera mask, so she took the underwater photos. On the swim back to the boat, a sea lion swam right under Dave and came up out of the water right by us. Very Cool. This year there have been 4 sea lions in the marina. Something that I have not seen in the 14 years that I have been coming to Cabo. Usually they are all out at Seal Rock. But this year they are all in the waters. I'm not sure what is going on!! Maybe they finally got on the the better eats in the marina. We saw a couple of dolphins on our way back into shore. Quite a day. Very fun, but we were so exhausted and ready for lunch, then a quick trip to the glass factory. But by the time we got there, the glass blowers had already gone home for the day. This year they are only doing demonstrations from 7:00am to 11:00 am. OH WELL - Karen bought a few items and then back to the rooms for a short nap before dinner.

Fishing on Tuesday

On Tuesday, (5/12), we went deep sea fishing. Our boat was the Marisol II, with Captain Nick and 1st mate Ricky. We had to be on the boat by 6:30 am to leave the pier. It was a rather cold morning and we were all bundled up. But by 10:00 the sun was out and the day was a little warmer. By 8:00 Dave caught the first fish of the day, a striper, and pretty good size as you can see by the picture. Next at 9:30, I caught a small striper, but it had to be thrown back.... too small to keep (oh well, maybe the next one).. Next at 10:30, Karen caught a whopper of a mackerel, it was a beauty and made for a good dinner. Then at 10:50, Neil caught a small mackerel, but it was too small to keep and had to be thrown back also. (maybe the next one). At 11:10, Tammy caught a doozy of a mackerel, definitely a keeper. Enough to feed all of us that evening. Then at 11:30, lookout, I finally caught my mackerel. It wasn't as large as the others, but a nice one. At least my dignity was saved. Last but not least at 11:45, George finally caught his fish, but the little striper was too small to keep. Not to worry. we had enough to take down to Captain Tony's for our dinner. And feast like kings we did. In fact the next morning for breakfast we had the rest of our fish with our eggs for breakfast. YUMMY !!!

WHAT was he thinking, or WAS he thinking ??

On Friday, (5/8/09), we arrived in Cabo for our annual Cabo vacation - ahhh. We went to dinner at El Coral and enjoyed a great dinner, swam in the pool, enjoyed the hot tub, then fell into bed for some much needed sleep. On Saturday, we picked up a rental car, went to get a few groceries, then stopped down at the pier where I found the Wild Cabo exhibit. Every year I stop and get my photo taken with the baby animal from the reserve. This year it was the one month leopard named Leo. He was so small and weighted less than our house cat. His fur was so soft and he was just starting to get his little growl. I was so smitten .
After a short nap, it was time to drive to the airport to pick up our friends Karen and Neil Wyllie and George and Tammy McGowan. We got everyone settled into their rooms, (Karen and Neil were staying at our Hacienda Encantada timeshare and George and Tammy were staying with us at the Finisterra), Another quick trip to Wal-Mart for more groceries and then out to dinner and some dancing and fun on the town till we were exhausted. We ate at El Squid Roe, then walked down to The Giggling Marlin. Before I could even pull out my chair, Dave was across the room and talking to the hanging crew. Yup, you guessed it. Dave got hung up just like a Marlin, and here are the photos. And he was sober when he went up, but after the 3 tequila shots, he wasn't feeling any pain. When I asked him what he was thinking, he just answered, "I don't know, I've been coming here for 6 years and thought it was time to do it !!!"

WHAT was he thinking OR WAS he thinking??? I thought with age comes wisdom !! Guess not.

Neil said that between the 3 sets of cameras, he's sure to get the perfect photo of the Employee of the Month for the company newsletter.

Sunday, the six of us went to Romeo and Juliettea's for dinner after just relaxing for the day. Monday, the six of us did a sunset cruise, but it was very windy and we had to wear light jackets. Even though Dave and I have done so many of these cruises, they are still a nice relaxing way to end the day.

Will post more later this week....

Spring Finally Hit Our House

It took a while, but Spring finally got around to coming to our street. This weekend Dave took this picture of our front yard. He is always so proud of how pretty the cherry tree and the flowering plum look in the Spring. In fact, when he gives people directions to our house, he always tells them, "it's the house with the pink flower tree in the front". The only problem is that he has such a short time frame to tell them. I always try to remember to thank him for mowing and taking care of the yard. I also noticed that the lilacs are blooming. Those are my favorites. And of course Dave's famous roses are starting to bud out. He is such a great "rose whisperer". Just wanted to share some of Dave's handy work with everyone.