Catching Up: The Cruise, Our Move, and My Birthday

On May 16th, we drove down to Vegas to start our trip for our cruise that Jan's mom got us all. We spent the night in Vegas and headed to Long Beach Sunday morning. In Long Beach, we stayed at a hotel and met up with Jan's Aunt (Tita Cha-Cha). Oliver finally got to visit the "beach" (aka, the Pier) he had been talking about for months. Tita Cha-Cha also gave him a new truck - an M&M truck!

At the Pier

Monday morning, we checked in and got on the cruise ship. Oliver loved having constant access to all of his favorite foods. On Monday, we just explored the ship.  We brought Oliver to the "daycare" onboard, so he could get used to it and see all the fun toys (he refused to go back after that). He wanted to go swimming, so I brought him on the waterslides and into the pool. The breeze made the waterslide area freezing cold, and he was only allowed on the little slide. The pool was warm, but he wouldn't swim. He hadn't swam by himself for a while, so he was a little scared. Later that evening, we met up with Jan's family for dinner together, which we did pretty much every night.

Waiting to board

Waterslide!

On Tuesday, the cruise ship stopped at Catalina Island. This was the same cruise trip we took for our honeymoon, so we had already done all the free stuff already. Leni got us all a bus tour of the city. Oliver liked being on a bus and not having to ride in a carseat. We stopped at a real beach for Oliver to play.

On Wednesday, the cruise ship stopped in Ensenada. We took a bus to the blowhole and walked down the shopping area nearby. Jan got some candied nuts and I got a bowl for serving. We also got a pina colada and refill to share (Oliver pretty much drank one whole one by himself). And of course we had to have a real Mexican street taco, which was delicious! That night, we stayed up late to try the Mexican food the cruise put out at 11pm. It wasn't worth staying up late for.

Thursday was the day at sea. It was also Leni's birthday! We did a towel folding activity followed by a towel-animal play. We went to a "live" game show thing, which was a continuation of one we went to another day, and a bunch of other random things. That night, we did dinner together again. We gave Leni her birthday present, which was a set of mugs that we DIYed by putting on some pictures of us, Oliver, Julian & Amy, and Zoe.

Friday morning we were in Long Beach again and had to head home. We stopped in Las Vegas again, but we wanted to get home so we could finish packing and getting ready to move.

On Wednesday afternoon, Jan got a call from Grand Canyon Airlines offering him an interview if he would be willing to get nine more flying hours. In the six months we had been waiting to hear from them about an interview, no one ever told him he needed nine more hours to qualify for the position. At first I just wanted to stick with our plan... I mean really? Three days before our move and one day before Jan had to sign an employment contract? We would be crazy to change our plans just for an interview! Either way, there was no guarantee. We were having trouble finding someone to cosign a loan for Jan to get his instructing licenses, so we would have had to rely on his boss. We figured it would be better to move to Vegas and take a chance on an interview where Jan would be paid to fly instead of us paying for him to fly. If worse came to worse and he didn't get it, at least it would be better than not being able to pay back his boss for the instructing licenses. So, we moved to Vegas!

Oliver is having a hard time adjusting, but he is finally starting to go on the potty again. It's been crazy moving everything in, trying to keep Oliver entertained, job search, and try to go about our daily lives, but everything is starting to settle in.

This Sunday was my birthday. I have the best birthday (6/7/89)! I'm not having a hard time adjusting to the fact that I'm 26 now, though I do cringe at the fact that I'm closer to thirty than twenty. I saw someone post this on Facebook the other day, and even though I'm not thirty yet, this is still how I feel.

Jan made me a birthday cake, and he made fajitas for the whole family! Both were absolutely delicious!

Anyway, Jan had his interview yesterday, and HE GOT THE JOB!!!! We are very relieved! His training starts July 16th. Now the last piece of the puzzle is for me to find a job, and we should be all set!