Freedom of the Seas Cruise

In a whirlwind of fun our family set out on a last minute cruise to the Caribbean!   In less than 5 days we booked tickets, rooms, and our adventure began by flying to Florida to board the Freedom of the Seas Royal Caribbean cruise-line.     Our family of four was joined by Uncle Kai and Auntie A.   It was a great time to spend with them.     

Our adventure began out of Fort Lauderdale and we started our cruising on Mother's Day.    Couldn't beat that!  The ship was amazing.  They had a great children's program and how our children's ages fell they were in the same room together so it was perfect!   They both enjoyed the program which gave mom and dad probably the most babysitting we've ever had!     

Day 2 we were at sea and we enjoyed  spending time with the fun the ship had to offer.  We kicked it off with a Character Breakfast and the kids had a good time with that - then enjoyed the pools, an ice skating show, and relaxing.   That night was the first formal night and the kids enjoyed getting dressed up and eating the fancy meal.   Though after that meal we got smarter and we elected to feed the kids around 5:30pm, drop them in the kids area for the evening and the four of us adults enjoyed a later dinner by ourselves at 7pm for the remainder of the cruise. 

Our first stop was Labadee, Haiti.   It was beautiful and as it turned out - our favorite port.  We spent a few hours at a beach with the kids and played with them - and then we took them to childcare beach area that is provided by the cruise ship and the 4 adults went to another beach and enjoyed swimming and relaxing in some shade for another couple of hours before we gathered the kiddos and headed back to the ship.

Day 4  was a stop at Falmouth, Jamaica.  I spent the morning not feeling great so the family headed off the ship and walked around the shopping areas.  After lunch time I was feeling back amid the living and we all got off the ship in search of a beach.  We took an overpriced cab and found a local bit of sand and spent a couple of hours splashing in another beach.  It rained on us a bit and back to the ship.

Next up was the Grand Caymans where we got to enjoy swimming with the dolphins and more beach fun!

 

There was a final stop in Cozumel, Mexico but our family of four decided to stay on the ship and just enjoy the fun that was offered around the ship.     However Uncle Kai and Auntie A did get off the ship and had much fun! 

The other fun feature that we utilized throughout the cruise was the babysitting that was for a large fee - but you got 2 babysitters that would come to your room for about $19 an hour (steep, but worth it!)   So the adults on several nights were able to go out all together and enjoy the various shows, bars, etc., while the kids slept happily in their beds.  We had a good time hanging out - going to the club on the ship and generally enjoying the kid free time.  :)      A and I had met one morning Sergio a bartender who introduced us to Ocean Mimosas and aside from his tasty mixology he was really fun to hang out with - and at least once each night we found time to stop by and hang out!

Overall it was a great great time with family and a lot of fun!   We'd certainly love to do it again! 

July in Photos

4th of July, Bec's baby shower, Cali visiting, trip to the beach, church BBQ, VBS, Swim lessons and a boozy beautiful bridal shower for B!   July was busy and Loving Husband and I celebrated nine years of marriage too!    Can't wait to see what August holds for us!

The Magical World of Disney

Have I mentioned that I love Disneyland?   :)  I do and I love even more sharing the experience with my children and seeing it through their eyes.  It's so exciting to get to see my boy giggling with delight on a ride, or Mae in awe as a "Printhess" walks by her.   It's adorable to hear Mae say "Hiiiii" and "Byeee"  to everyone that goes by on the parade route.    Ace so excited that he meets the height requirement that allows him to soar over California ;-)  or ride on Star Tours for the very first time!    The energy that they produce is infectious and their joy is so catching.  :)   I love that Mae all through Pirates sang "Yo Ho Pirates" (and still does) -  I love that Ace does pretty darn well shooting things on the Buzz Light Year ride (another ride where Mae said 'Hi' and 'Bye' to every alien as we moved along the ride.)     I love sharing it with them!  I also love photographing it!  Enjoy!

Thankfulness

There are so many many people and things that I am thankful for - I am blessed with the ability and means to travel to visit my family and see people that I haven't seen in years at my college reunion.   Love getting together with everyone whenever I can - often it is far too long between visits - but I am always so thankful for when I can gather with them.

2011 in Pictures

Friends, Family, and Fun!

I always love when I get to go home. It isn't often that I get to go, but when I do it is fill with so much fun and so many people to visit and it is always exciting to show off my newest addition to the family: Mae! Ace is ever changing too so it's always new and exciting for people to see him too. :) I love my family and friends in California and love that I am blessed with them and the ability to go and visit them all.

We ventured to LAX from NOLA on Sunday, July 10th after a very successful airplane ride, wahoo! Shelley picked us up from the airport and we headed home to enjoy some Bakers! WOOHOO! (Why can't that food make it out of So Cal???) Ace was SO excited to get to Grammie's house to play. He had his own itinerary of "1. Play, 2. Go to Grammies, 3. Eat" and he stuck to that schedule. :) He had a blast. Becky came over and I got to rub her baby belly and talk to my soon to be nephew! It was nice to spend time with friends and family. After a while at home we ventured over to my other parent's house and showed off the kids there while Shelley and I played with camera settings. :)

We headed home after that and met up with Derek, Jennifer, and Ace's cousin, Kaylee! Where they gave him his birthday present in person, a pirate hat and an eye patch! He was in love.

 Ace and Kaylee played together a little bit, at first Kaylee wasn't too interested in sharing, which was amusingly caught on film...

But later she came around and wanted to read to Ace. Ace is a year and 2 weeks older than Kaylee, but they are just about the same height. It's adorable to see the two of them together. Playing and reading together. Ace after 20 hours of being awake with the exception of a 20 minute nap finally went to bed.

I was really glad it worked out to see my brother. Originally with his work schedule being shifted around it was iffy if I would see him at all. Thankfully, they made it work - even if my brother was a bit more sleep deprived because of it.
Monday was pretty low key. Ace received his birthday present from Grammie and he enjoyed playing with that: bug hunting gear! We spent some time just relaxing, running errands, actually having 'nap time' for Ace and just not doing much. :) It worked out nicely. Ace was so excited all day that 'Aunt Shelley' was coming back, he kept saying that he missed Aunt Shelley - even got super excited when he saw the back of the neighbor saying "Aunt Shelley's here!!" (sadly she was still a few hours away from her visit.) It was so cute how excited he was to see Aunt Shelley.


Tuesday and Wednesday were Disneyland Days! Oh boy! Lots of fun was had on those days. :) Look for separate posts upcoming for those.

Thursday was another low key day after the craziness of Disneyland the two prior. Derek and Jen brought Kaylee back over, along with some toys to entertain Mae and all the cousins played together for a while. It was cute to see them interacting together. Derek had to head to work and so was only able to stay for a short while, but he and his niece got some good bonding time. :)




Friday was another low key day and then in the evening we went over to Becky and Dave's place with Shelley and Kelley. It was nice to all be together and hang out. Ace of course was super excited to spend time with Abby and Isaiah. He's really starting to enjoy playing with other kids and he LOVES Abby. :)


Saturday was the much anticipated baby shower (a separate post to come!) followed by a birthday party for my brother whose birthday happened to fall on the week that I was in town. It was nice to all be together to celebrate. Ace had yet another late night of going to bed after playing with his cousin and playing 'the leader' as they ran around the front yard playing with glow in the dark chalk that Derek had bought and put together. Shelley and Kelley stopped by and hung out for a bit and we obtained the grandma shot with all three of the kids. :) Derek and Jen finally left around 11:30pm and I finished packing up the suitcase and my mom and I went to bed.


Sunday morning once again we were off early during the underwhelming 'Carmageddon' and heading to the airport to say goodbye to a great visit to California. Until next time!