Cruise

My family had been planning to go on a cruise for a couple years, when my father got sick it was delayed. Then I got pregnant, so the cruise was delayed even further. I would not leave until Kennedy was at least 3 months old, which was still way to young to be leaving her.
So back in March the plan was set, My mother, brother Paul, sister-in-law Jana, Trever and I would be traveling on the Liberty of the Seas to the Eastern Caribbean Aug 30-Sept 6, only 5 days after my 29th birthday. It was a very hard decision to leave my girls, specially with Kennedy being so young, but it was a once in a life time opportunity, so off to the Carribean is where I would be going. Luckily I have wonderful people in life that I could trust with my children for 8 days. So here is a break down of the days.

Friday-
Very long day of traveling, finally made it into Ft. Lauderdale around midnight.

Saturday-
Back to the airport to catch our bus that would take us to the Miami Port. Around 2pm we are finally on the boat. What an amazing feeling, after months of planning. Now I had heard the boat was huge, but wow it really is like a city. So we spent a few hours touring the boat. Then we were off to our first dinner at our assigned table. We met, who would become our waiter for the remaining 6 nights, Arun. His sole job was to make sure we we ate in luxury, that is exactally how we were treated all 6 nights.
Our itenary was changed due to the many hurricanes going on around us. At this point in the trip our biggest concern was Gustavo. Due to the change, Sunday was a full day of cruising.

Sunday-
Very relaxing day. Alot of laying around, swimming, and eating. This was the first day we tried the flow rider. Harder then it looks! Trever contuined doing it daily until the end of the cruise, Im not real sure he ever got better. Sunday night was the first "formal" dinner. Again, it was a very nice dinner. We went to a show afterwards, Everafter. It was basically a modern version of all the fairytales, pretty good for an hour of entertainment. We did some gambling after, I stayed about even, Trever won, Paul and my mom lost. This gambling trend would remain through the end of the trip.

Monday-
Today we would port into Labadee, Haiti. We didnt have any excursions scheduled so we were excited to get some snorkeling in. A hurricane had hit the island only days before, so the weather was still stormy. They closed all the water activites. We tried to snorkel, we saw a few fish but nothing too exciting. We ate a mass produced lunch on the island, by far the worst food of the week. Then it was off to the flea markets, that is an experience all in itself. Defiantly a test of self control. Due to the weather, we decided to head back to the boat. After dinner, we went to the Promenade (the shopping area) for the 70's style "Dancin' in the Street". We all had a blast, it was fun to just let loose and giggle with the family. It was very windy night, after the party we went on deck 11 where the pools are, to see just how windy it was. According to our boat information channel, 50 mph winds. I was sure we were all going to fly away.

Tuesday-
Today we ported San Juan, Puerto Rico. We did the Tiki Hut zip lines. We were taken about 40 minutes up a very windy long road. We then zip lined to 8 platforms. It was alot of fun, during the 10 seconds we were on the zip lines, but waiting 20 minutes to get unhooked and hooked on to the next zip line was a long process. Overall, a fun excursion. We then ate at a Puerto Rican restaurant. Not food I would want to eat all the time, but it seemed appropriate. Trever, Paul and I did some shopping afterwards, but then headed back to the boat. It was a very dirty place, and it smelled rotten. When we got back to the boat, and cleaned up. We went to the Ice Skating show, Encore. Very well done show, I was impressed. There was a special appearance from a lady that skated around while hula hooping 20 hoops. Pretty amazing. I wonder if my brother got a picure of that????

Wednesday-
Bright and Early we port in Philipsburg, St. Maarten. Even though our snorkeling excursion was canceled, this was the best port by far. We took a cab to a beach, and did our own snorkeling. We saw quite a few tropical fish, it was just what I wanted. Snorkeling is one of my favorite things to do. I even got my mom to give it a try, it only lasted a few minutes but she did great for those few minutes. The weather turned rainy after a few hours, so after enjoying a tasty crab sandwich and beer on the beach we headed to downtown for some shopping.
Later that night, after an interesting dinner (Lamb has a very odd texture) , I watched the show "In the Air". This was a very cool show, alot of acrobats. Amazing.
I think around this time we were dodging, Hurricane Hannah. The top decks were closed for the night, as the winds were too high.

Thursday-
By morning, the weather was perfect. We sat around the pool all day. The belly flop competition was a nice entertainment piece. No, Trever did not enter he just wasn't feeling up to it. Later that night was our last formal dinner. It was very tasty Lobster. By this time Arun had a full on man crush on Trever aka The Captain. He also had begun singing "We are family" to us nightly. He was a funny man, when you could understand him. However, he did feed us well. There were several nights Trev and Paul ate 3 plates each. Another gambling night followed dinner, as I mentioned before I stayed even, Trever won, Paul and Mom lost. By this time Paul was convinced blackjack is fixed on boats, and had even researched it to back up his theory. But for some reason, he just kept playing.. and losing. That ended quickly, so Trever and I headed to one of the bars for a game of beyond balderdash. The 3 characters were hilarious. I laughed for one straight hour.
So without looking it up, what is Vagitus?

By this point in the trip, I'm sick to my stomach every time I think of my girls, so I am trying to just not think about them. I miss them more then words can describe. But I'm also enjoying one of the best trips of my life!

Friday-
Another full day around the pool. I got a minor sunburn, nothing to complain about it quickly turned into a tan. After our last dinner, we headed to the Farwell variey show. It was good, I wrapped up the week long experience well. Trever and I wondered around the boat for another hour or so, then we were off to bed.

Saturday-
So bitter sweet. This cruise was an amazing experience. But I was so excited to get home, I missed my girls and dogs desperately. We were off the boat by 8am, and to the airport by 9 am. Our flight did not leave until 3pm, and the airline did not show up until after noon to take our luggage. So we sat, and sat, and sat, and sat at the airport for 6 hours!!! Followed by a 5 hour flight to Denver, and another hour flight into SLC. We arrived at 7:30pm. And we missed the first home Utah game! At least they won! One very long day of traveling. I couldn't understand why Trever was not running red lights on the way home from my moms, I needed to see the girls right then. After we had our reunion with the girls, and every settled I had my first bitter-sweet moment. My experience was over and I had spent the last days wanting nothing more then to get home. Again, this was an amazing experience and I'm so grateful I got the opportunity to go. Thanks mom!! Even though we were all a little on edge by the end, it was a awesome experience and Im happy I got to spend it with my family.

I started the book, Breaking Dawn on the first day of the trip. I finished all 700+ pages throughout the trip. Good book, but it could have been condensed down to about 500 pages and still gotten the story told effectively. Well, maybe not, I guess that is why I'm not a writer.

While I was gone Maddy started Preschool and Dance. She loves them both. She goes to "pretend" preschool every day that is not a real preschool day, and we officially got the shuffle ball chang down. I think she likes the noise the tap shoes make more then the actual dancing :)
Kennedy is not rolling over yet, but she is so close. It will happen at any moment. I started her on cereal, she likes it. We will start some bananas and other fruits soon. She can pull her self up to a sitting position. She has always been a strong little girl. Still not sitting all that well once she gets herself sitting though.

Things are going to get crazy in the next few weeks. Saturday I have a fund raiser for my mom at the union hall, Tuesday another at Oyster bar, Friday at the Hunter game they are doing the official naming of the Hunter High football stadium after my father, Ute games. So life is going to be crazy for a little while. Ill try and keep updated.
See photos of the trip at Flickr, link is on the left side. Also see my brothers Flickr, he has some different pictures posted.

Wow, I just wrote a novel. I'm impressed with anybody who read the whole post