Our Cruise

True Vacation

Brad and I went on a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean. We planned this trip about a year ago and it was so wonderful to truly relax. Our ship held 3,000 passengers and had an ice-skating rink, in-line skating course, movie theater, water slide, rock wall, work out room (my favorite thing) putting green and Broadway stage. It was amazing. The dining room was unbelievable and there were 3 dinning rooms on the ship. Each night there was of course an fun animal left on the bed made of towels. We saw Broadway shows every night on the stage in an theater that held 1,500 people. The service was unbelievable. I had a steak for 7 nights in a row (I'm not very adventurous) and Brad enjoyed trying new things and often times ordered 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 desserts (it was gourmet food so the portions were smaller than a normal restaurant or so that is what we tell people). Our server for dinner was from India and said they stay on the ship for 6 months and work everyday and then get 2 months off. I felt guilty enjoying myself so much when he was working so hard. We took the elevator only 1 time the whole 7 days and so we did an awful lot of walking. We would actually have races up the stairs. Brad was winning in the beginning but that is only because I had to wear cute shoes on my cruise and couldn't skip steps as fast as him. We met some really great people Kristin and David Pratt and Bea and Bob Ball who sat at our table with us. It was so fun to get to know them. We did a lot of fun things together and enjoyed teaching them the game Greed. It is a dice game and I would carry the dice in my purse and we would play whenever we were together and whenever we could find a table.
Brad loved having his new camera on the cruise. He took about 500 pictures. It was crazy and he even bought a yellow fanny pack (the only color the cruise carried) to carry his spare lens. There was a bit of teasing going on from our new found friends since he truly did look like a full blow tourist with his fanny pack, big camera, baseball hat and backpack. I just tried to walk a few feet in front of him so that people wouldn't think we were together. Of course I am just kidding and I am proud of Brad and his new hobby.
Brad and I are early to rise early to bed kind of people but we ended up staying up until at least 11:00 every night. There were so many activities each night. It was truly an amazing vacation that we both desperately needed. I had contemplated taking our kids on a cruise someday until I heard about some kids on the ship that ended up spending $1,000 on video games without their parents knowing it. I will think again about taking those people that live in my house and call me mom.

Spring Break 2008

Spring break was a blast this year. We actually went somewhere. Hannah and Brad were on a school ELP fieldtrip that ended at the San Diego Zoo, so I packed up the other kids and my mom and headed to San Diego. We picked them up at the zoo and spent a few days visiting the Bird family. We took the kids on a hike and then flew kites in the park. Connor was so upset that his "Car" kite might fly away. Tears were shed but luckily the park that we were flying the kites at had a playground and that made life better.


We took our kids to a family fun park called Fiddlesticks. Bumper boats, race cars and goofy golfing. What a fun day! Thank goodness we had a gift certificate and coupons. We brought Mitchell's friend Annika who is going to marry someday with us. She is loved by all in our family and brings a calmness to Mitchell and a smile to his face. Of course when you take 6 kids to a fun park you are bound to forget to take one of their pictures. Sorry Hannah we do love you and know that you were with us having fun but no picture to prove it.