Smile!

The Fam
November 2009

Trip Report...

We left August 8th for our first cruise out of the Port of Galveston. We usually leave from Port Canaveral, FL but decided that since Galveston was a driveable location & we were bringing Jessie & her BFF, we'd give it a shot.

The drive from home to Galveston took about 5 hours but it was a great drive. No traffic. Straight shot down the highway. Definitely more convenient than having to fly to Orlando!

When we got to the port, we used EZ Cruise Parking. I would highly recommend using their service again (and we will when we cruise out of Galveston in a few months). They have gated parking for a reasonable fee. For an additional fee, you can have your car covered or washed while you are gone. We made our reservation ahead of time online which saved money, and they offer a free shuttle to the cruise terminal which is just a few blocks away. The only negative about EZ Cruise Parking was that the parking spaces were small. We drive a Mazda CX9 crossover SUV and when we returned to the car after the cruise, Jeff had to crawl over the passenger side seat because a huge pick up truck had parked too close to the driver's door.

Since we were limited on our time choices (the girls had to be back for school), we went with the 5 day cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy. We had 5 people and didn't want to split into two rooms (I wasn't comfortable taking someone else's child along and putting two teen girls in a room across the hall!), so we were left with the Penthouse Suite as our only option. Poor, poor me...I know. *wink*

We have cruised a handful of times and I had no idea what to expect from a Penthouse Suite. When Reese, Jeff, & I cruise we get a balcony room, and it's fine for the three of us. But I was concerned about us all being on top of each other now that we had 5 people.

Boy was I wrong!

This room was the biggest cruise ship room I've seen! We had two Queen beds (the second bed was the couch that folded down) and Reese's roll away twin bed, and there was still ample room for walking around. During the day, the room steward folded Reese's bed up and moved it to the side (you can see it in the far left corner) which left even more room.

The other thing I wasn't sure about was storage space...especially since we were bringing two girls with lots of clothes, shoes, & accessories! No worries though here either...there was a walk in closet. Wowza!

That picture was only half of the storage space...there was more on the other side! Even though this cruise cost about 3 times what we typically pay (we cruise off-season and don't bring 5 people!) I felt like the room was worth the extra cost.

Our cruise itenerary took us to the ports of Progresso & Cozumel, Mexico. I suppose we aren't typical cruisers, because we don't get off the boat. We love port days, when the ship is empty and there aren't many people in the pool, at the restauraunts, or just around the ship in general. It almost feels like we have the whole boat to ourselves!

Day 1 was port day & at sea, Dayy 2 at sea, Day 3 Progresso, Day 4 Cozumel, Day 5 at sea.

Reese relaxing and watching a movie before going back to Camp Carnival.

The beds were amazingly comfortable & we all slept like rocks.

Look at those lips...

Reese moved up to the next age bracket at Camp Carnival and was now with the 6-8 year olds. The first day he didn't like Camp Carnival, but I think it was mostly because there were so many more kids in there than he was used to. When we cruise off-season, there's a handful of kids but this time it was packed.

Well, the above is true for Carnival cruise lines. On the Disney cruises, the kids club was packed all the time with lots of kids!

By the second day though he decided we were too boring and that he'd give Camp Carnival another try. Lo and behold, it was better :) From then on out, we brought him back with us for meals and some afternoon resting time but that was about it!

The girls were completely entertained as well. I was thrilled as they searched out every free activity they could find...samples of makeup & perfume at the shops, tasting rum cake samples, eating sushi, singing kareoke, taking naps on deck, playing tag with the walkie talkies, trying on jewlery at the jewlery shop, taking in shows, ordering room service, going to high tea...and these were just the stories we heard about.


We don't ever go to the sit-down dinners, because frankly, they take too long and we don't like to eat a 2 hour dinner! But the girls enjoyed getting dressed up and going to dinner...

Reese loved blowing bubbles on the balcony...

And of course there's always yummy food and towel animals!

I got the joy, joy, joy, joy....

I came home from the morning out with Reese to find this on my desk:

My favorite candy bar...ever!!

Hubby left a special treat just for me....love him!!!!!

Family Reunion Time!

It's The Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday to the

best Hubby & Daddy on Earth!!!

We love you more than you'll ever know....

Even if you look like Mr. Potato Head wearing heels....

8 Years With My Best Friend...

Happy Anniversary honey!

He Didn't Laugh...

We drove to Grammie's house today & my wonderful Hubby fed my Diet Dr. Pepper addiction by surprising me with a pop from McDonalds!

The first sip was so delicious...I told him my Diet Dr. Pepper was like drinking candy. It's THAT good!

So what do I proceed to do?

Pick up the cup by the lid, attempt to take a sip, and spill the whole damn thing into my lap!

My first instinct was to cry. Ice & a full pop all over my jeans, the seat, everywhere. CRAP! Luckily, the seats are leather so the clean up wasn't too bad.

Me? I rode to Austin in my undies while my jeans dried on the back seat. Yes...I did! Sorry to any 18-wheel truck drivers who saw my lap! Jeff offered to give my his jacket for my lap...but I decided to live a little wild.

After I wiped up all the pop, threw all the spilled ice out the window, & gathered myself, Hubbs said he held back his laughing. Which I greatly appreciated...but I'm sure it looked darn funny!

Let's Go Bowling!

Catching up before we head out tomorrow morning for Hawaii!

Last Friday, we joined our CoOp friends to see

"Click, Clack, Moo" at the Dallas Children's Theater.

It was a GREAT performance!

Afterwards, when trying to decide on a lunch location,

Some of the Mommies had dueling iPhones!

Mrs. Holly led us all to Steak n Shake for lunch which was a great choice!
After a big morning of theater & lunch,
Reese zonked out in the car on the way home!

For Valentine's Day on Saturday, Reese & Jessie got little gifts from Jeff & I.

Earlier in the week, Reese worked hard on signing his Valentine's cards for his CoOp buddies.

Those boxes for his name were tiny!

Reese found some "edible paper" in the gift section at WalMart & I told him if I bought it, he'd have to wait until Valentine's Day to open it.

He waited for over a week to taste it...he asked every single day if it was time to eat it yet!

Finally, it was Valentine's Day & Reese wrote a message on his paper...

And took a bite!

Hmmmm....not as good as he thought it would be...

We attempted a bowling trip, but the wait was SO very long on Saturday.

We ended up heading home with one very sad little boy...

We ended up bowling on Sunday though & had a great time together!
Can you tell who bowled in the Junior Bowling League?

Reese had a blast bowling too!

Sissy & I didn't use the bumpers once. Um. Maybe once.

Or twice.

Hope your Valentine's Day was fun!!

Merry Merry!!!

Sending Merry Christmas wishes your way...from our family to yours....

We've had the best time with all 3 kids together in one place! Lunch together...

And making cookies for Santa was especially fun!

Everyone got in on the decorating...even Daddy!

Austen worked hard on his cookie for Santa

Jessie puts up with my picture taking...
Reese needed blue icing for his Christmas tree....

A plate full of Christmas cookies to share...

And a special letter to Santa:


Dear Santa, These cookies r for you. Love, Reese

A special plate of cookies for Santa...one cookie made by each of us...

Opening Christmas gifts together...Daddy got a very special, handmade gift from Grammie!


We hope your Christmas was a fun-filled morning with many blessings!

Come See Me Elf Myself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Am I That Hard To Deal With?

Hubby loves himself some coffee....does it take that much caffiene-fuled energy to put up
with me?

Reason #187

Reason #187 I'm glad Jeff no longer travels....time together with the family all day, every day!!

Burnin Down The House...

Reese & I had this brilliant idea that we were going to put enough candles on Daddy's birthday cake to represent each year. I'm not saying how many candles we actually put on the cake, but let's just say there were *a few*.

Then, at the store while purchasing said candles, Mommy showed Reese trick candles! He was all about surprising Daddy with candles that he can't blow out. Mommy decided that we needed two packages of trick candles, making a total of 20 trick candles on the cake, to go along with the other regular candles that would add up to Daddy's age.

I swear our fire alarm is broken...it didn't do anything after this:

Dollywood, Here We Come!

Last week, we took our first family road trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We traveled all those miles to take Jessie to Dollywood...which she didn't know about!

While Dollywood wasn't all that fantastic, the road trip was a blast & we all had so much fun together :)

Happy Father's Day

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad

-Author Unknown

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday, Dear Batman

Happy Birthday to you!

Fun In The Pool With Daddy

I could snap pictures all day of these two...

Friday

Reese & Mommy being silly waiting for our show at Casa Manana to begin. We were there to see Willy Wonka!

One thing that always amazes me: Of all the bazillion gene combintions possible when a child is conceived, how is it that eye color can be identical? I mean, click on the picture to enlarge it, & just look at Reese's eye color & mine. It is exactly the same. It's amazing...

When we got home, and Mommy almost ran into a tree while talking to Daddy in the driveway, Reese decided to wash his race car.

This little boy is growing up way too fast.... Here's Daddy, hard at work. I know he loves when I take pictures like this to share...