LOVED IT !!!

It's been many years (if ever) that I have been in a theater full of screaming girls and let me tell you, last night was quite the experience.  As soon as the previews ended and there was a lull before the movie started they screamed.  The first time Edward appeared on screen they screamed.  When he had his sunglasses on and he and Bella walked into school together they screamed.  And of course, when he and Bella finally kissed they screamed.  There was no screaming on my part.  Just yearning..... for Edward.  It doesn't get much better than this!

 

Thoughts from a grandma

It was quite the day yesterday, the day my first grandchild was born.  Thank heaven for text messages and cell phones that take pictures.  I was at school teaching, but Jordan kept us updated throughout the day and into the evening.  Aubrey did wonderful and all went well.  He is beautiful and perfect.  My heart is full of love for this little guy.  I can only imagine our adventures to come with him, our Kaden.

Did you ?

Man, I miss these guys

I had no costumes to make.  No one had a hard time eating dinner because they were too excited to go out trick-or-treating.  I didn't cut out hundreds of bats to stick all over the house. There are no fake cobwebs anywhere.  We didn't carve a pumpkin.  There will be no piles of candy on the floor tonight with intense trading going on.  No one is going to say, "here Mom, you can have this Mr. Goodbar 'cause you love them."

I love the wonderful people that they have become, but man, I really miss the kids they were.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

It was Heaven on Earth

War college was over.  Jay would soon be beginning a new job, a new DEMANDING job, and Julie was leaving soon for college.  It was the perfect time to get away before all the madness began.  I had always wanted to go on a cruise, but Jay swore that he'd never take me on one since the time he took me on a dinner cruise around Seattle and I spent the whole time in the bathroom violently ill.

My motion sickness is legendary.  Every family travel story from my childhood includes some mention of me throwing up somewhere on someone.  So I pretty much ruled out the possibility of ever taking a cruise.  Then Jessica went on a cruise for her honeymoon.  She inherited my motion sickness gene, but... she didn't get sick!  "The ship is big Mom, you never feel like you're moving."

I armed myself with this knowledge and started my plan of attack with Jay.  But, you know, he loves me (and he loves a good vacation), so all I had to do was mention (over and over for about a month) that it would be a great trip and he was on board!  I also promised that I wouldn't get sick.  And I didn't!  Our trip was perfect in every way, perfect weather, perfect food, perfect ship, sooooo romantic, and tons of fun!

Our first view of the ship in the Port of Miami

Set Sail party on deck

Our first day was spent at sea so Jay tried to master the FlowRider and learn to surf

Our first port was Labadee, Haiti.  Beautiful!

The water called to us

The daredevils wanted to go off on their own, and fast!

After dinner there's always a new friend waiting for us

Heaven part 2

Jamaica and Cozumel were both stops on the cruise.  While parts of Jamaica were beautiful, I would never want to go there again.  For the most part, Jamaica is run down and a mess.  The people are rude and the taxi drivers were pushy and dishonest!!! Steer clear of Jamaica if you have the chance.  Jake and Julie explored the rain forest by going on zip lines through the canopy while Jay and I tried to have a decent sight-seeing trip around the island.  But it did not turn out so well.  But we did not let it get to us and we still had fun the rest of the day doing some shopping on our own.  Cozumel was beautiful and restful, the people were friendly, and the taxi drivers were REGULATED!  It was $6 into town and $6 back to the ship.  All the same price.  That made it so much easier.  The kids had a blast with all the shopping there.  Jay and I found a nice beach to soak up the sun and do some snorkeling one last time.

Jamaica is beautiful from afar, just not close up!

Jake ready to take on the zip lines

Julie  is ready to go!

Heading back to the ship after another fun day

When we came back from breakfast one morning this was on our door

Jay had called ahead and told them it would be my birthday, so they decorated the room!

Beautiful bird in beautiful Cozumel

Our relaxing beach that we found

Another friend waiting for us

Heaven part 3

Our day on Grand Cayman Island was lots of fun.  The island is the total opposite of Jamaica.  Grand Cayman is clean, everything looks nice, and the people are really friendly.  The highlight of our day was going out to Stingray City.  We went on a boat for about 1/2 an hour straight out into the ocean.  Then we came to a natural sand barge where fisherman have been cleaning their fish for many years.  The place is full of stingrays who are used to being fed by the fishermen, so they just swim all around people.  Our guide described them like pet cats who just go all over you, and they did!  Up our backs, through our legs, around our waist, and up over our shoulders.  Julie and I just screamed and screamed at first.  I held on to her and she held on to Jake.  Jay was off the minute he hit the water with his snorkel gear looking at them.  We had a bucket of chopped up squid and you would put a piece in your hand and make a fist and they would come up and suck it out of your hand.  Definitely the most amazing experience I've had in a long time!

Our guide giving us instructions on the way out on how to act in the water, like Don't Panic!  (we panicked)

You want me to get out of the boat with those in the water?

                    Brave family

Then, just to add more torture, I mean fun, our guide said if you kiss a stingray you get good luck.  So we did.  Still waiting for the luck.

             Can you believe Julie did this??

                       Or me????

Jay, of course, didn't want to leave the water

 At the end of the day, a stingray waiting for us in our room