Dana Point Harbor Cruise

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted!
Well, I surprised my family last night with a sunset harbor cruise. I bought the tickets on Groupon back in June, and had until the end of September to use them. I tried to book it last Friday, for our anniversary, but it was booked, so a week later it was!
It was so much fun! We did the short drive out to Dana Point Harbor, to board our catamaran. It was big and roomy, and luckily, they don't fill the boat, so there is plenty of room to move around. We took our spots up front, so that I could catch great shots with my camera. We were told that we would go outside the Harbor, out to the Ocean, and cruise around, then come back into the Harbor. We MIGHT see some sea life, if we kept our eyes open.
Well, to all of our surprises, we were in for quite a show! Once we were out at sea, our captain told us that a giant blue whale was nearby, and he took us straight out to see it. It was HUGE! It was actually a Mom and her calf. They would go underwater for 10minutes, then come up and surface a few times, only to drop again. She gave us a great show! We watched her do this twice and it was so amazing and beautiful!
After watching them for 20 minutes, we cruised up a ways, and caught two big pods of dolphins playing around. They were so playful and had fun swimming alongside our catamaran. Again, another great sea life show!
We then circled back and made our way back into the harbor. Unfortunately, our sunset wasn't the greatest as the coastal layer came in, but because of the whales and dolphins, we didn't care. The total cruise was 1.5 hours and was so worth it! We all had a great time and my family really enjoyed the surprise! We would definitely do it again!!

My little guy ready to head out to sea:

 Two of my guys:

 Here's my other guy!

 One of the many sailboats we saw:

 Coming upon the whale and her calf:

 There she is!

 Look how big she is compared to the men on the small boat!

 My favorite shot of the whale!

 Blurry, but a cool shot of one of the dolphins swimming next to us:

 A bunch of dolphins swimming around:

 Dolphins swimming near us:

 More dolphins:

 There were so many dolphins out:

 My oldest, having a Titanic moment:

 Back inside the Harbor:

Relay For Life

Seeing that my last post was for Mother's Day, this seems like a perfect follow-up post.

Yesterday I was part of a great event that was held at our elementary school. It was the Relay For Life, 24 hour cancer walk. This is the second year that it was held at our school, but I unfortunately didn't participate last year. I made sure I was on the team this year though! This event raises money to help cancer patients. It honors survivors with their own lap during opening ceremony, and has a luminary ceremony at night to honor those survivors as well as the loved ones lost. 

This event is very close to my heart as I lost my Mom to cancer at the age of 54. She had breast cancer twice and survived, then came down with brain cancer, which ultimately took her life. I was walking in her honor!

The Relay started at 9am on Saturday and my good friend Kimberly, who along with her husband, are cancer survivors, took on the first laps. The rest of our team, Moulton Hawks, showed up at different times throughout the day. My youngest son and I arrived at 2:30pm and stayed until closing ceremonies at 9am Sunday. My husband and oldest son arrived in the early evening and stayed until after the luminary ceremony. It felt really good to have my family there to support me. I also loved being surrounded by my wonderful friends! 

The most touching thing to me was the luminary ceremony. People decorated bags to celebrate survivors or to honor loved ones lost. Those bags were then placed all around the field and lit with a flame-less candle. Once the sun went down, the field had a beautiful glow framing it. At 9pm, a speech was given, then all in attendance were given a candle. We all walked the field, in silence, reading the bags. It was very emotional. 

Many teams came and went throughout the day/night, but there were a few that decided to camp out overnight. We were one of them. We had our little campsite set up and it was a neat experience "sleeping" at the school. I say "sleeping" because unless you were a child, we didn't get much sleep. My two friends walked all night, with the exception of about 2hrs. I stayed up until just before 2am and then tried to sleep. I don't know about most people, but I LOVE my bed! I climb into it every night and within 10 minutes or so, it has me visiting la-la land. Sleeping on an air mattress, in a sleeping bag, in a tent, isn't my ideal thing. I tossed and turned, while next to me, my son was snoring! Oh, to be a kid! I eventually dosed off because next thing I know, it's light outside. It was 5:30a.m. and I figured I would get up and do more laps. 

At the end of the Relay, my two friends and I, who had camped out overnight, had walked over 125,000 steps, which is over 50 miles. Kim and Stacey did the majority of that walking, but the 11.5 miles that I logged has me feeling it today. That is o.k. though, because it was all for a good cause!

My little trooper and I

  Cheryl Burke Dance Academy came down and gave free dance lessons

Kim and her husband Jason

My husband and son doing their laps

The luminary bag I made for my Mom

My guys having fun on their lap

A video I made of the luminary ceremony

Mother's Day

In my life puzzle, I have a giant piece missing. It is one of those important pieces that once you lose it, it cannot be replaced. You will pick up new pieces that will fit into your puzzle, but not in this one spot. This special spot can only be filled by your Mom.

It has been 14 years since I lost my Mom and yes, as time goes by, it does get a little easier. There are times though, that I really wish she was here, because I NEED her!

My Mom was more than just a mom to me. She was my best friend! She was my go-to person whenever I needed something, or had a question, or just wanted a shoulder to cry on. We had a very special relationship and I shared everything with her. I remember back to all the times we would hang out together. We loved to go shopping and grab a bite to eat, just the two of us. It was our special "girl-time" that I cherish so much!

My Mom was a true fighter! On the outside, she may not look like one, but on the inside, she was the strongest person I know. Even when her life was breaking down, she still worried about her family. She wanted to make sure we were all right.

So as Mother's Day gets closer, I am really missing her. My heart is breaking and I feel so alone. I know I'm not though, as I am surrounded by a wonderful family and great friends. It just all goes back to my puzzle. Looking down and seeing that missing piece really saddens me. I may be a grown woman, but deep down inside I am just a young girl who needs her Mom!

I miss you so much Mom! You are forever in my heart and I LOVE YOU!