Spring Break, baby!

One of the best parts about being a teacher is spring break, for sure. (And Christmas, I mean winter break, and obviously the three months of summer vacation.)

Life has been insanely crazy busy the past few months... between teaching, filling orders for Sara's Sweets, making desserts for The Met, and training for Boston, there hasn't been much down time. 

My Business Man and I booked a cruise with my parents months ago for spring break, and it was the best decision ever. Seriously, it came it exactly the right time. After such a long, nasty winter (and running through a long, nasty winter), it was so nice to spend a week in the sunshine and 80-degree temps. The cherry on top was that we had no cell phone service at all! No distractions, no emails, no voicemails to tend to. No responsibilities for an entire five days! We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves. Don't worry, we managed to fill the time. ;)

We cruised with Royal Caribbean on the Liberty of the Seas. Seriously, I had no idea a boat could be so big. The ship was fifteen stories (!) with three pools, a 300m jogging track, an ice skating rink, mini-golf, a full-size theater, a rock climbing wall, etc. There was so much to do! (Of course, my favorite thing was to lay by the pool.)

Me & Dad, rockin' the shades

We stopped in two ports while at sea - Belize and Cozumel. In Belize, we did a snorkeling excursion. Snorkeling was ok... I think I would have liked it better a different environment. (Because the Great Barrier Reef was obviously not gorgeous enough.) Just kidding; it was really pretty, but there were a TON of people. We were in a group of about 200 people, and it was pretty much a free-for-all. Everybody jumped into the water at once. So it was a bit chaotic. 

In Belize, we also got to eat a local place for lunch - the Wet Lizard. My mom & I fell in love with this Green Iguana drink... pretty much like a pineapple-coconut smoothie. With a few other yummy mix-ins... ;) 

If you share drinks, it's totally legit to order drink after drink, right?

We also shared an order of fish tacos... so yum!

In Cozumel, we did a big ole' Jeep tour which was awesome. We caravanned through the countryside visiting a few different places. Thankfully my dad took the wheel because I was not about to learn to drive stick...

We stopped at one of the most beautiful beaches. Seriously, so gorgeous. 

The water was a wee bit chilly.

We also stopped at a tequila factory so see how the good stuff is made. It comes from the agave plant, which to me looked like a huge pineapple. Of course, we got to taste-test, too. There were all sorts of flavors - cherry, orange, blue, coffee, cream. (And yes, 'blue' was a flavor. Lol.)

When in Mexico...

The tour finished off with a Mexican lunch with some of the freshest pico de gallo I've ever had. 

Nothing better than Coca Cola light from a glass bottle.

This trip was just the right mix of relaxation and play time... and we were totally spoiled on the ship. There was even a cupcake shop! (Though I will have to say, they most definitely used frosting from a tub... blech.)

And we got to come back to our room each night to a fun towel animal. There was even a class on the last day at sea if you wanted to learn how to make them. Pretty sure I slept through that one. 

We had such an awesome time. It got a little crazy windy on the ship, but I'm pretty sure I can deal with a little wind.

Trying to look all pretty for formal night. Key word: trying.

Such a blast. But... now we are back to reality. At least spring has arrived! And just 5 days until the Boston Marathon. Thoughts on that coming later...