Cruise ~ Day 6

Our cruise was really only a 5 day 4 night cruise, but since I called my first blog about our trip Cruise ~ Day 1, it has turned into a 6 day event! Day 6 started on the boat! I had been up in the night for some reason or another, and it had seemed to me that we had actually gotten back to port by 4 am (when I was up). And I'm not really sure how you could actually "count" the day as a day on the boat, since you had to be off so early in the morning...

Josh and I got up early enough so that we could catch breakfast before we got off. We had packed most of our stuff the night before and the attendants had already taken our suitcase...

After breakfast we went back to the room to grab the rest of our stuff, and then we headed to our "area" we were suppose to meet in before we got off the boat. We learned there, that there was no reason to be there and that we could just go get in line to get off the boat... So we did!

We were off the boat probably by 8:30... We then went to go get our suitcase, and repack a few things (like contact stuff that couldn't be in our carry on for the flight back home)... Then we set off to find the shuttle to the airport to rent a car :)

Our flight home wasn't until 5pm, so instead of sitting at the airport all day we found a decent price on a rental car, and decided to "see" the city. Our first order of business was to find free internet (since Miami Airport does not have FREE internet). So we left the airport in search of a McDonald's :)

We decided (after we had internet), that instead of wandering aimlessly around Miami or hitting another beach, that we would go see the Everglades... Between the internet and the map we were able to figure out where we needed to go pretty easily... And off we went...

After driving past three "shops" offering Air Boat tours of the Everglades, and going through one very SLOW moving construction zone, we decided to turn around and see how much the Air Boat Tours were...  After stopping twice we decided to go on an Air Boat tour...  It was AWESOME!!!  The Air Boat was so cool!  at first we started off in what looked like a river, but not very deep (we could have stood up in it and only been knee/waiste  deep)...  But soon our guide was going where ever he wanted!  Over the glades, water, lilly pads!  So cool!  The tour of the Everglades was to last about 30 to 40 minutes...  About 20 minutes in it started to POUR!!!  Not sprinkle, but pour!!!  It rained so hard that we were soaked to the bone by the time we got back to the dock...  Thankgoodness it was a warm rain :)

Our Air Boat tour also included alligator wrestleing and a petting zoo of sorts...  The wrestleing was kind of lame, he really just sat on the alligator, but it was still worth it for the Air Boat ride!  After or tour we decided to head back towards Miami and the airport.  We also needed lunch.

We then headed to the airport and to return the car....  Our wonderful adventure was coming to a close...  Two short flights later (OK one LONG and one SHORT) we back in the Springs and the cold (thankgoodness our clothes had dried)!

***Bit of Everglade info ~ Grass that grows in dirt is called BLADES of grass...  Grass that grows in water are called GLADES of grass... Hence the EVERGLADES!!!

Did you miss me?

It is amazing how quickly you can get out of the habit of doing something...  Last year I made it a goal to blog every day.  I almost succeeded...  I missed one day, but it was only because Blogger was down all evening...  I made up for it by blogging twice on multiple days... 

I didn't make it a goal to blog every day this year, but I had hoped to blog every day, or only miss a day here or there... I guess I missed all the here and there days in the last week and a half  :)  And it wasn't because there was nothing to blog either...  I just didn't make the time :(

Hopefully I will do better the rest of the year...

Valentines Day

Not sure why blogger
turned this picture.

Josh and I don't celebrate Valentines Day.  We never have! We have nothing against it, we just don't celebrate it.  But our kids do.  They LOVE the parties at school!  Today they came home from school all high on sugar :)  Sharing all that they got.  I was a little surprised at something Brooklyn shared with me...  I guess I just didn't think it would happen THIS soon...  She got a SPECIAL Valentine from a boy in her class.  Along with the "note" written on the Valentine he gave her a special pen thing (she didn't bring it home with her, so I'm not sure what it really looks like).  I guess I should just be glad that when I asked Brooklyn if she like this boy she said no...

Conversation with Cat!

Cat and I had a fun conversation as we walked home from preschool this afternoon... She had made two card while at school. The first one was for her Daddy (whom she loves very very much). The other card was for her grandma. She explained that she would have given it to me but "Grandma is really old, and she's gonna die soon, so that's why it's for her"... I know I shouldn't laugh, but she was too funny! Sorry Grandma!

Cruise ~ Day 5

Sunday! 

This was our last full day on the boat :(  It was also a day of no ports.  We were at sea ALL DAY LONG!!!  There was a awesome Sunday brunch that we had for breakfast.  It was laid back, but food everywhere!  We met a nice couple from North Carolina who had four boys, and two of them are named Josh, and Ben! 

The sun was also not out much this day.  In fact it rained some off and on.  We tried to catch the sun set...  In fact we sat on the deck at the back of the boat for over an hour, until it was dark...  But we did not luck out :(  All there was was clouds, and they didn't even get a little bit pink :(  But it was still a great day!  It was Super Bowl Sunday!  And the boat had a HUGE Super Bowl Party!!!  In fact the BIGGEST Super Bowl Party I have ever been too...  Mind you, until I married Josh, I hadn't ever really watched the Super Bowl, so I haven't ever really been to a Super Bowl Party that wasn't at a friend's or family member's home ;)

There was a fantastic buffet of food in the theater were Super Bowl was being played.  Josh was nice to me and didn't watch the whole thing.  We kind of cam and went...  We went and sat in the hot tub during the third quarter :)  But we were in the theater fir the firth quarter, and it was CRAZY!  So many excited, happy, mad, drunk people ;)

After the Super Bowl we went back to our favorite lounge to catch our favorite groups one last time.  We didn't stay as long as we would have liked, because the drunk cougars were driving us crazy...  So we grabbed some pizza and called it a night :) 

Cruise ~ Day 4

Saturday!  Cozumel!  Mexico!!!

Saturday we made port at Cozumel.  We didn't get there until 11:30 am.  So Josh and I spent the morning goofing off on the boat...  You know eating ;)  We had breakfast, and then Josh caught a burger before we left for Cozumel (since the place for burgers would be closed before we got back).  Then we grabbed our stuff and headed into Mexico!!!

We had an excursion planned for 12:30, so we headed straight to the meeting place...  Our excursion was a mini jeep tour...  We took a bus of sorts to a different location to pick up our jeeps, and then we were off  with Josh driving our mini jeep around Cozumel!

Our first stop was a light house on the coast.  We could climbed the light house, shop, eat, walk on the beach, and just relax!  It was beautiful! 

After the light house we headed to another part of the island to go snorkeling!  Snorkeling was AWESOME!!!  We swam for about a mile out and down the coast of Cozumel!  Of course then we had to walk back up the beach when we finished ;) 

Our next stop was Mayan ruins...  I have to I was disappointed with the ruins we saw...  I expected more, and bigger ruins...  The history about the ruin we saw that the guide shared with us was pretty cool, but still a little disappointing :(

After the ruins we went to a alligator farm.  We were rewarded with seeing three alligators!  We then took off back to the storage place for the jeeps!  After a bus ride back to a hotel we enjoyed some HOT salsa and chips!

Josh and I enjoyed a little shopping on the way back to the boat (OK Josh didn't really enjoy the shopping).  But we were able to find the things we needed/wanted.

After cleaning up from all our fun, we enjoyed a nice dinner alone (well you know, alone at the table, but the restaurant was busy).  And then we caught the show for the evening...  It was a 70's musical, so not Josh's favorite, but it was still a lot of fun!

We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the different musical groups preform and of course getting a late night snack of pizza :)

Cruise ~ Day 3

When we awoke on Friday morning we were already in port at Key West! After a quick breakfast we headed in to town. We walked around town for awhile taking in the sights. As we walked around town we came across several little "booths" offering different services. We found one that offered parasailing. They could get us in that morning for a pretty good price, so we signed up!!! We got to parasail together, and it was AWESOME!!!! So much fun!

After parasailing we headed back to the boat for lunch! We made sure to be up on deck for a very windy leaving of port! We spent the afternoon hanging out... We played a trivia game, I took a nap up by the pool while Josh watched ice carving...

Friday evening we enjoyed a nice formal dinner with four new strangers :) We then caught the evening show ~ Ibroadway! It was fantastic! They had taken songs from all the Broadway musicals and done a show with them. The best part of the show was that one of the main male singers was Joey McIntyre!!! Really!!! OK it wasn't really him, but the guy really looked like Joey, and his name was Joesph!!! What's the chance?

After the wonderful show, we headed to a lounge/bar to hear the A Capella group. They were great, but the BIGGEST fan was not so much fun! She was also around for the guitar guys sets as well. We could only take so much of her, before we had to go find a quieter place to hang out.

We ended the night with a late night snack of pizza before we headed to bed for the night. Great second day at sea!!!