last week we were at sea...

...basking in the sun,as we sat on the top deck of the ship reading our books, sipping on an ice cold drink now & then. Ahhh- I can feel the warmth just thinkin' about it! 

 (sittin' on the shuttle bus outside our hotel in Hollywood, FL, waiting to be transported to the ship in Miami).

Our flight to Florida left at 5:50 am Sunday, February 21st. I was so glad to finally be done with packing everything for the kids to stay with family members + our stuff and just be on our way. Although I have to admit.. I don't love to fly, so I never feel totally stress-free until we are safely at our destination and I didn't feel 100% stress-free this trip until we landed back home late Saturday night. The waves were a bit larger than I'm comfortable with and made me nervous a good part of the time especially at night. We didn't get to stop at our second port due to heavy winds and high swells, kind of a bummer..

But... all in all, it was really nice to get away and the two places that we did get to visit made it all worth it.. they were gorgeous and the weather was nice & hot!

Our first night in Florida was kinda funny... we didn't go to sleep Saturday night before leaving at all, mainly because I always procrastinate in getting everything packed and by the time I was actually finished with everything it left just enough time to take a hot bath and get ready to head for the airport. After the long day of traveling, we finally walked into our hotel room in Hollywood, FL about 5 p.m. Sunday evening and were totally pooped. We were kind of hungry for a normal meal and half way thought about going out to dinner, but then we both plopped on the bed and next thing we knew it was 2:30 in the morning! We both woke up and were ready for a new day and were really hungry. Luckily there was a place you could order food from and they'd deliver up 'til 4:00 in the morning. We weren't expecting much... but we ended up having some really good food. We both got these delicious, gourmet greek salads and shared an order of bruschetta bread that was to die for. The tomato mixture was amazing and the feta cheese was so good... my mouth is watering just thinking about it. We both looked at each other and said, "if we're ever in Hollywood, FL again, we're for sure ordering take-out from this place."

(photos we took as we were leaving FL and heading out to sea)

(Jen & I)

It was overcast and a little bit chilly as we headed out to sea but the next day it was sunbathing weather! We always look forward to hangin' out with T-Ray and Jen on the cruise, they're lots of fun!!!

(first night @ dinner)

We kept wanting the waiters to take the wine glasses from our table to leave more room since we don't drink, so we built a pyramid with them thinking they'd notice, but no go... we finally ended up taking it down for fear that they'd take a tumble on their own if we didn't and they continued to decorate the table empty the entire week. 

 (These were my favorite little towel buddies that greeted us each night when we'd come back from dinner)

Day 2: Sunny Day @ Sea & Formal Dinner Night!

This day was so relaxing... it was the beginning, so we were thoroughly enjoying the newness of the vacation! The sun was shining, we took a nap, read our books, sipped on cold drinks and ate yummy panini sandwiches, and visited the 24 hr. soft serve ice cream station a time or two all on the upper deck of the ship. The only thing that made it fall a notch under total bliss, was the guy that was drunk as the day is night just over from us.. he was making a total fool of himself singin'-swearin'-n-yellin' like he actually thought we were all interested... he was definitely not dealing with a full deck of cards, nor was a good number of the people around us. I thought for a moment that he should just do himself a favor and fall over the side. I'm actually quite surprised he didn't. We also had to inhale everyone's smoke which I hate... but that's what you get when you go on a cruise. A bunch of people that forget who they are and all their morals for a week, if they even had any to begin with it seems. It's like they leave everything behind and let their worse selves come out and take it all the way... then they go home and don't even remember anything or any of the places they visited. Huge waste of money if ya ask me... but to each his own.-

(on our way to the dining room on formal dinner night)

to be continued...

Grand Turks

& 

Nassau, Bahamas 

comin' up!!!