Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

On our second day on the cruise we sailed to Nassau in the Bahamas.  We didn't get off the boat but sure had fun looking at the beautiful island.  Here are some pictures from day 2.

It was a tad windy!

Too windy for Isabelle to look

The cruise was a DreamWorks cruise, which means several of the characters were featured on the boat.  Here was Isabelle's favorite cut out.

The kids paying close attention to the muster station practice drill.  They wanted to make sure we were prepared in case a "titanic" situation happened on our ship.

The kids love to compare how bit our ship was compared to others we sailed next to.

Maddie was just happy... because that's just who she is.

The boys woke up early to see we had reached land!

Daddy and Maddie weren't so interested in the waking up early part.

I could stare out this window forever.

I think the direct quote was, "See Isabelle, there's land again."

Here's Madelyn grabbing a hold of one of the dining captains ID badge.  Almost as if she's saying, "Let me see your credentials!"

This is at the back of the ship where they did a high diving act, but because we had rough seas and windy conditions they had to stop the show early.

The rock climbing wall we ran out of time and never got to do.

Getting ready to go to the swimming pool, although it was too cold for us.

Yeah, I think I could live there.

My sister Megan, her daughter Willa, Madelyn and myself.

My sister's family

On the boat they had one of those European buses... or at least it looked like it to me.  The kids and I loved it.  Here are Madelyn, myself, and my niece and nephew, Mason and Willa having fun driving the bus!

Here, all of my parents grand kids (except Noah) in a car featured on the boardwalk part of the boat.  Six grand-kids total, from 11 years to 9 months.

Also on the boat they had a baby (or young kids) play area.  Madelyn and Isabelle were able to go in an play and they loved it, especially Maddie.

After playing for a while we went to try out the pools. 

Here's Madelyn, she decided she could get use to the relaxing part of being at the pool!

Also on the boat they had a central park portion which is supposed to be reminiscent of New York's Central Park.  It was a nice place to walk through with restaurants, even a bar that would go from one floor to another and some fancy shops!

You'll notice Gabriel was tired of me taking pictures.

One of the restaurants inside the Central Park area

We also decided to get some exercise so we walked along the track on one of the lower decks.  It was windy and dare I say it, "cool".  Gabriel was over us doing something we (all of us but him) were interested in. Pre-teen personality in full effect!

Back to he play area we went, while the boys went to their favorite part of the ship, "Adventure Ocean- the kids program for kids their age!  They loved it and we had to beg them to spend time with us!

Here's Madelyn at dinner, this is the point in the cruise where she informed me she would no longer be eating baby food, but preferred the food we were eating.  Thankfully our wonderful waiter would bring her some food she could enjoy... steamed veggies, mash potatoes, even spaghetti.  Hard for me to believe my baby is eating full on table food already.

The rest of us at dinner...

Didn't take much before Madelyn decided it was time for a nap... a fully tummy and someone warm to hold her... the perfect combination for sleepy-time as Jarrett likes to say.

Isabelle enjoying some ice cream after dinner.

And a quick family picture on formal night before the drama of me losing my phone ensued.  

Yep, all happy here, and the picture taken by my phone, minutes before I decided to lose it on the ship.

Day 3 was fun... I think that post will be called... finding a tiny phone in the middle of the large ocean!

Until next time,

Angie

Spring Break

I can hardly believe it has been a month since I last posted.  So much has happen I hope to be able to catch up.

The first thing though to share is the fun we were blessed to be able to enjoy over spring break.  We went on a cruise with my parents, sister, her husband, their two kiddos and my mom's two sisters.  It was a LOT of fun.  And I have a LOT of pictures to share.  So let's get right to it!

Here are the kiddos at the airport excited to leave.  Of course Gabriel is too cool in the second photo to show his excitement.  And moments after I took this picture Madelyn face-planted right into the arm rest which gave her a nice bruise all across her face for the cruise.

Once we got on the airplane, Isabelle found a friend who had some "Trolls" in the seat in front of her.  So for the entire 4.5 hour flight she "sat" like this...

Meanwhile Madelyn slept for most of it, and Michael read.  Even Gabriel read a book and dad enjoyed catching up on some of his paperwork.

That night we met up with my family and stayed at a hotel before driving to the ship on Sunday morning.  Here are the kids the morning of.  They were SO excited it was so fun to see their reactions to everything..

Madelyn wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she went with the flow.

 We wore our Noah's Kindness Project t-shirts and several people asked us about our shirts.  Selfishly I felt like we were taking Noah with us, in our own unique way.

Here they are on the way to the boat.  They aren't excited at all...

 Again, Madelyn wasn't sure why they were shouting!

Yep smiles all around!

After an hour drive we finally got to the port and the kids saw the HUGE ship...

 The kids could hardly believe how big it was. 

After a bit of a snafu, we finally got to board the boat.  Somehow from the time I received my sea pass card and walked the 200 feet to the ship, my card was reported "Stolen" so when I tried to board the boat they thought I had stolen my identity.  Thankfully, Jarrett was able to help convince them I am indeed who I say I am.  And then we were able to board the boat.

 And we are on!

So what's the first thing we did when we got on the ship...

EAT! Of course, isn't that was you're supposed to do.

So eat is what we did.  Warning... there are a lot of food pictures ahead.

We told the kids, mainly for the boys' sake that they could eat what ever and when ever they wanted on the boat.  They were so excited (I usually am strict about the amount of sugar I let them have), and they ate their weight and more in food.

They LOVED it!

Plate 1

No one has time to smile... they are busy shoving their faces full.

Dessert first!

More dessert!

Look Mom, more sugar!

 Meanwhile Maddie and I were having fun too.  Here we are making the same faces.  

 Cheeze!!!

 Here are the boys having some coffee with dad... because they could and I didn't say anything.  

After a family next to us saw me taking so many pictures, they asked us if we'd like our family picture taken.  It was pretty comical because the lady said her husband was a professional photographer.  Yet when I handed him my phone he said, "Is this a camera or a phone? I've never seen a camera on a phone.  After about 5 minutes of him taking pictures of his hand, we finally got this one.  When he handed the phone back to me, I thanked him and then Michael whispered to me, "Mom, I don't mean to be mean, but if he's a professional photographer, I never want him to take my pictures."  

So there's the highlight of day 1.  

And there's just the start of our once-in-a-lifetime vacation. 

Day 2 coming up soon!

Until next time,

angie