Dear Neglected Blog of Mine,

Wow! It has been forever since I've posted here & it's one of those things- the longer you wait, the harder it is to do!
Just getting back into the groove of things + we've all been sick with coughs & colds- blah!

I'm warning you now, this is going to be quite a long post as I attempt to catch up on everything so bear with me here...:-)

So let's see...I'll start with the cruise. FANTASTIC!! The boys & I had a wonderful , wonderful time & have memories we will always cherish. And of course, the photos to remember it all!
I will list a few highlights & a few pics but honestly- it's one of those things that is hard to describe without that person having been there- the sights, smells, feelings of relaxation, excitement & peacefulness all rolled into one.
I have everything I need to create a wonderful vacation scrapbook that I know we will love to look at for years to come! I can't wait to start...♥
I was also spoiled by all the wonderful food & so many choices! Let me tell you, it was a rude awakening to come back home & have to cook again! I actually lost a few pounds though- I didn't eat after dinner & all the exercise made it effortless- wish it was that easy to continue here at home!

*I've changed the 1st song on my playlist to one of the songs that played often while we were on the boat- this song will forever remind me of our trip!

We did so many things & met so many people. It really is hard to write it all down, lol. The last evening I took pics of the boys with everyone- our servers, head maitre'd, our stewardess...

The ship was awesome, huge... spent most of our time on the Lido deck with the pools, hot tubs & water slide. That's also where we chose to eat breakfast every morning (as I looked out over the ocean!) Spent most days at sea up there, listening to live bands or other music, just relaxing while the kids played.

Everyone kinda did their own thing during the day but we all went to dinner (we were at the 6pm seating- you have the same table w/the same people every night) and caught up on our days. I had wine with every meal (he he), the last night we had champagne.
Dinner was a long affair, usually over an hour and a 1/2. Then at 8:30 was the early show for everyone. We went into the Rome lounge (like a big, grand theater) with a balcony all around. There were comedians, jugglers, dancers, ventilouquist...every night something different. No pics were allowed in there though :-(

We also played Bingo & watched "game shows"- people from the audience who competed for a "ship on a stick"! LOL The ping-pong tournaments were neat too & Rob also took them to the mini-golf course on the top deck.
I bought a DVD of the vacation with clips from the sail away party, Mexican deck party, ice sculpting (Sam & I are in that one for a sec), hairy chest competition & the pool Olympics. It's going in the back of the cruise scrap album (we've already watched it, lol).

So much to do- the boys enjoyed Camp Carnival for the kids so a lot of times they were off doing that. Making & eating their own pizzas, scavenger hunts on the ship, charades, trivia...lots of fun activities for each age group. They each made a lot of friends so they had friends to play with & swim with during the day.
They also had all the dessert they could possibly hold! There were several ice cream machines & those kids got themselves more ice cream cones that week than I could count!! The last day, I know by 4 pm Sam had already had 6! LOL
At 10pm, we met up & I took them back to the room. They were allowed to watch tv for a bit then go to bed & not leave the room ( I knew they wouldn't). So then it was ME adult time! LOL I went to the casino, the karyoke bar, the piano bar (awesome- the girl who played could play anything & sang, everyone joined in the singing- FUN!), late shows, like adult comedy at midnight... so much. Sometimes I went alone but mostly with the other adults (my dad, Rob, LeAnne, etc). I thought I would mind being alone but I didn't. Everyone is so friendly & soon you start seeing the same familiar faces.
I'm sharing some photos out of my hundred-and-something I took!

Here are some random pics of the ship & of the boys...


huge screen on the Lido deck- at night you could watch a movie & swim, munch on popcorn- loved it. We all did that one night.






yummy food!


one of our many different forms of towel art...


Our (mostly the boys!) absolute favorite dessert! So rich- the inside is warm, liquid chocolate!


Our last towel :-(


Jamaica- Very beautiful, but SO poverty stricken. Very sad. The boys got necklaces & other trinkets there and we climbed a 600 ft. waterfall (Dunn's River Falls). SO scary! The lady in front of me actually fell! I really thought she got hurt but she seemed to be ok. There was nothing to hold onto but the human chain everyone made by holding hands with the person in front & behind you. The rocks were slippery too! It took about 1.5 to 2 hrs. to climb & I felt it in my legs the next day, lol. Sam quit 1/2 way through but he did great, I was proud of him. It was not an easy thing to do!
We spent the rest of the day at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville which the kids & I both loved!! Loud, thumping music, contests, a water slide & pool & good food! LOL We ate under a hut outside, right on the sand by the beach.










Margaritaville







Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman)- Again, stunning but poor. They are also very expensive! We went to 7 mile beach (Sea Grape Beach) for the day. Beautiful, pristine beach...



little geckos running around





Conzumel, MX- My favorite, by far. About 9000 degrees though! We went to a bunch of shops (we did at each place we visited too) then met up with my stepmom's brother (he went on 2 dives that morning). We met at another Margaritaville and this time Jake & I joined in the Conga line & did a Mexican dance on stage! LOL It was SO fun!! You also got 2 shots during the Conga line.
Afterwards, the others headed back to the ship, while Rob, the boys & I went snorkeling. He had a mask we shared and it was unbelieveable. The water is crystal clear blue & all the tropical fish were amazing to see! Jake really got into it & took about 5 long passes, describing the fish & coral reefs he saw & Rob told him what they were (he's big into diving & snorkeling & visits Mexico several times a year & knows people there).







Lastly, here is a photo of the boys & I that my dad bought for us!



Ok, moving on...(kudos if you've made it this far)

Sunday the 19th, we took the kids to the pumpkin patch & had a blast! Layla was so into it this year. We still have yet to carve our pumpkins, oops! Gotta do that...

Here are a few pics from our fun day:

Sweet girl before we left...






the boys shooting the *corn blaster*




the 3 little pigs (they each had a house- one straw, one sticks & one brick! LOL) So cute!


in the *corn box*




corn maze time! Jake led the way...


hayride





@ the Patch-









Whew! This is what I get for letting this go so long!!!

I haven't been idle scrappy-wise either. I've done a couple pages as well as 2 mini albums for the boys of their soccer teams (coaches gifts)

Here is Sam's- (the flash went off so the pic isn't as bright as Jake's)


and here is Jake's-


These are just 2 random pages I've done in-between...
pics of our pumpkin carving last year- I used a photo collage template from Scrapbooks Etc. & printed it out as a 5x7- worked pretty well!


and a page of my beloved flamingos! *See "Sweet Dh" post for more details!* LOL


and last but not least, here is a card (my FIRST card BTW!) I made for the kiddos for Halloween (Sssshhhhh!). It was a challenge of my friend Suna's, to create a Halloween card for someone & get a chance at a CTMH prize ;-)
(scraplifted the cover)





Holy Moly, that was a lot of posting & pics!! Not to mention I think Blogger is screwing with me- every one of my pics has been out of order & I've had to re-work each of them! Argghhhh!
But I *think* that's it for now! LOL If not, it can wait for another day!
Thanks for looking!