Back at Christmas time moma and daddy gave all of us a spring break cruise for one of our Christmas gifts. It gave us plenty of time to make arrangements and get excited about it. Well this past week was FINALLY time for that cruise. The kids were all super excited about it. They couldn't wait. Hell, we couldn't wait. There were 16 of us total going. It was moma and daddy, me,
Barrett, Elena and Landon, Krissy, Anthony, Hailey, Anthony Jr., and Ashleigh, Aunt Trina, Uncle Scott, Aunt Cathy, Uncle EJ and Trey. Moma had a great idea to rent a limo to bring us to the cruise. So bright and early Saturday morning the limo came and picked us up. We loaded all of our luggage up in the back of my van and Erick drove that over to the terminal behind the limo. The limo dropped us right off at the entrance to the terminal. We unloaded all of our stuff and walked right on just in time for them to open the ship up and start letting everyone on. We hardly waited at all. Once inside we took a little time to explore, had some lunch, found our rooms, and then staked out our spot for sail away. I brought bubbles for all of the kids to blow as the cruise ship was leaving. Once we sailed we played around a little bit and then went to our first dinner in the dining room of the boat. We ate all of our dinners together every night on the cruise ship. We all sat close to each other or at the same tables and it was for a set time which made it easy to meet up and catch up on everything that went on. After dinner we went to the dance club where they were having a parents/kids dance party. Krissy won best dancer for the adults and Elena won best dancer for the kids. She loved that she won the trophy out of all of the other kids.
Our cruise was 3 days at sea, 1 day in Belize, 1 day in Roatan Honduras, 1 day in Cozumel, and 1 last day at sea travelling home. Our first 3 days were spent by the pool, eating, sliding, watching shows, having fun, and spending time together. Once we docked in Belize Daddy, Barrett, Anthony and Hailey all went Cavetubing. Uncle Scott went deep sea fishing. All of the rest of us got off in the port and just did a little shopping. In this port we had to tender and ride a boat from the cruise ship to the port. Landon loved this part. He loved watching the boat leave. I don't think he took his eyes off of the water the entire time. Once in the port we shopped for a couple hours, then split up. Some went back to the boat for lunch and me, Krissy, Elena, and Ashleigh stayed behind and looked around a little longer.
The next day was Roatan, Honduras. I have to say this is the most beautiful country. The people were super friendly, the land was gorgeous. Everything was great. We all had a beach excursion booked this day. We went to Tabyana Beach. It was about a 45 minute bus ride from the port to the beach. But once we were there we all loved it. We rented snorkel equipment and got to snorkel around the reef. The iguana's were running all over the place. The fish were literally everywhere in the water. We found starfish just in the water all over the place. Beautiful. After playing in the water and on the beach for a while the girls decided to get their hair braided. Elena and Hailey got full heads of braids. Ashleigh only got the front of her hair done. They all looked so freaking cute. We all went back to the port at our own pace that day. Once we got back to the port we did a little shopping and headed back to the ship. This was probably my favorite day out of all of them.
The last port was Cozumel. We had all been to Cozumel before on cruises so we knew what to expect in this stop. We had a Stingray excursion booked here. It was only a couple hours. It left out at 10 and we were back in town by 1. The excursion was more instruction than anything I think. Then it was 1/2 hour snorkel and 1/2 hour play and feed stingrays. The kids say this was their favorite part of the trip even though most of them were terrified. Once the excursion was over we did the same thing. Some went back to the boat, some stayed in town to shop. We shopped for a while and then caught a taxi back to the port. Once we got back to the port everybody headed back to the boat except me and Elena. We hung out at the port shopping and just looking around. Last call to get back on the boat was 4.30. We walked back on right at 4.20. We were having so much fun we didn't want to go. Only when we got back on the boat did we realize we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning. And all of a sudden we were both starving. We grabbbed a quick snack and got ready for dinner. Now I have to say, dinner was always one of our favorite times. We all got to be together, we all got to try new foods, we all had fun, and Landon had a girlfriend. Our waitress, Desy, was a doll. He loved her. Everynight he would dance with her, kiss on her, flirt with her, whatever. I don't know what it was but he looked forward to seeing her.
Our last day on the boat we just kinda lazed around and played. Up until this point the kids had not wanted to go to Camp Carnival to play. They only wanted to spend time with us, which was fine because to us spending time together is more fun than anything else. But today they both wanted to go. We let them go for about an hour before lunch and as soon as we picked them up to eat, they both wanted to go back. So we let them go back several times that day. They even spent dinner there this night. They missed our last dinner together on the cruise but they had a ball. They stayed in Camp Carnival until 10 this night. When I picked them up, Landon crashed and Elena asked to go back for a party they were having. So I brought Landon to the room, and brought Elena back for the party. She stayed until 11.30. When she came out she was hungry but didn't want pizza which was the only thing still open. So we ordered room service and waited in the hallway for it so we wouldn't wake up daddy and Landon. My little party girl can hang with the best of them for sure.
The next morning was our last morning. By the time we woke up, we were already docked in New Orleans and luggage was already picked up and sent off. We got dressed, grabbed our last minute stuff, and said goodbye to our room one last time. Landon and Elena wanted to go find Desy one last time so we headed to the main dining room where they served breakfast to find her. We found her and she was so excited to see them. She gave both of them big kisses and hugs. He didn't want to leave her. After we said our goodbyes, we headed to the lido deck to eat breakfast and wait for our debarkation number to be called. Once we got off of the boat, we grabbed our luggage, headed through customs, and went outside to wait for the limo and Erick to pick us up. They had been out there since like 8am and since we didn't get off the boat until 9.30 the port police made them move and circle several times. By the time we got out there we had to wait for them to loop through traffic again and come back around and pick us up. It was so nice not having to drive our own car home though. We were all exhausted and falling asleep in the limo.
Now that we are home, my kids are having cruise withdrawals. Landon asked for hotdogs for dinner last night (which is what he chose to eat every night for dinner). Elena said she wanted room service. She tried calling grandpa and order a BLT for dinner but he never delivered. So we had to fend for ourselves. Then after dinner, Elena asked where her warm chocolate melting cake and jello was. Go figure.
This was an absolutely fantastic vacation. My kids had a fantastic time. Elena even said this was better than Disney World. I can't wait to be able to take another cruise with the kids. Not once did I feel unsafe with them at any port and we stayed far enough from the railings to not worry about them falling over board. This was a great trip.
I will post another with pics, the quality of the pics is not fantastic. I only brought our small cheap camera with us but at least we have some documentation of all of our fun.
We have our tree up and some presents already wrapped and under it so I decided to play with my camera a little and take some pics. My kids were getting aggravated with mommy so I only got a few. But I love the effects the camera settings had on the christmas tree.
It's that time of year again. Shopping season. Yeah yeah. I know. It's supposed to be the holiday season. But really and truly, it is the shopping season. Everyone goes out and spends spends spends on everything to make everyone happy. Shopping makes me happy so I'm good with it. We went out again this year for our annual Black Friday shopping. Except this year it didn't start on Friday. It started on Thursday. The first sale started at 10pm Thursday night. That meant, since we were going to Baton Rouge shopping, that we had to leave at 8pm. We shopped all night and made it home around 2-230pm Thursday. Some of us were crabby from lack of sleep (I won't mention names....you know who you were lol). Some of us were delirious from no sleep. Me, I love to shop. I was ready to go. Once we unloaded at home, moma and I went back out for more and didn't come home until around 630pm. These are some pics of us eating lunch. The only one missing from our pics is Patri. She's lucky enough to get to go to the LSU games so we dropped her off in Baton Rouge before the game started. She missed out on the rest of the day, but had fun while she was with us. Also included is a pic from the back of the cargo van we brought. Now this is only one vehicle. With NO seats in it except the front driver and passenger. My back looked just the same and I'm sure there were things in Tina's trunk as well. Can't be done until you fill up the vehicles I guess.
Elena decided this year that she wanted to join Girl Scouts. A couple of her friends in her class were Girl Scouts and she wanted to do these fun things with them. So we let her join. Girl Scouts at her age are considered Daisy Scouts. I figured this would be a great way to get to know some of the other families and let her start doing things outside of school with her friends. She's now been going to Daisy Scouts for about two months now and she loves it. Well yesterday was her official investiture ceremony where they get their Daisy Scout pin and become official members. She was so excited. I'm so proud of my babygirl taking some initiative and wanting to join and be a member of something in our community. Even if it was to be with her friends at first, she is slowly starting to learn what Girl Scouts are all about. She is learning about helping in her town and helping others. This is only going to make her a better person. And hopefully through this process, she'll make friends that she'll keep forever. These are some pics from this past weekend at her Girl Scout Maze Hunt weekend and from her Investiture Ceremony yesterday.
This past weekend Barrett and I brought the kids to Global Wildlife. The weather was perfect and we just couldn't pass up the day. There was a nice breeze and the sun was shining. The animals were active. They were playing, chasing each other, even fighting. The kids had so much fun watching them get so active. Normally they just follow you around for food. Today they were playing. We made it about 80% of the way through before my kids had had enough. Landon laid his head on my lap and Elena put her food cup down and they were done. It was WAY after lunch time and I'm sure they were feeling that. This was a good day though. They had a great time.
