Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Independence Day!

The 4th of July. One of my favorite holidays for so many reasons. # 1 is that I truly love our country and feel so blessed to live here. I also happen to love fireworks, barbecues and warm summer nights so I look forward to this day every year. We were barely back from our trip so we had a very mellow day but it was so much fun.

We were invited by a good friend to a block party here in Long Beach and it was a blast. Delicious food, a great fireworks show, family & friends. Couldn't ask for anything more.




Baby Gus and Dog Gus were troopers. Neither one of them were even scared of all the noise from the fireworks.
And can we just take a minute to talk about this double chin action happening in this photo. I mean are you kidding me with how cute this kid is!


Sunday, July 8, 2012

A Well Deserved Break

Last week the hubby and I took our first real vacation since our honey moon (lame, I know but better late then never). We spent a week on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship with no cell phones, no work, no responsibilities. It was amazing!!!



We slept in late, ordered room service, laid by the pool and basically were just waited on hand and foot by some of the nicest people on the planet. It was divine.

I have never seen anything like this ship before. It had a promenade, a boardwalk, a central park, rock climbing walls, tons of pools, a 3D movie theater, I mean the list goes on and on. Needless to say, it was very easy to find things to do on the days we were sailing. Mason even tried is hand at the flowrider, yes the ship had a flowrider (well, actually two of them).



Our stops were in Haiti, Jamaica, and Mexico and I did an awful job of bringing a camera anywhere and remembering to take pictures, so here is the best I got. 

First stop was Labadee, Haiti.  The cruise line leases part of the island, so you just stay in that area and don't really venture inland which made this just a lounge at the beach day. The beach was beautiful and the water was crystal clear.  





Falmouth, Jamaica was my personal favorite. We had a wonderful tour guide named Shorty who took us around the island. My favorite part of the day was our hike up Dunn's River Falls. You literally hike up the waterfall. Not along side it, actually up against the current through the middle of the falls. It is so much fun. We had a great guide to take us up and show us where to go. Because you get totally drenched I don't have a single picture from that activity.  These pics are from here and here.


We also stopped at the port where Christopher Columbus first entered Jamaica, a very short stop, but I learned a thing or two. 
 After our hike we stopped for lunch at a local place (recommended by our tour guide) for some authentic jamaican cuisine. I have to say I quite enjoyed it.
 The boys joking around with their dad.

I also loved Jamaica because the people we encountered were so nice, and that accent is seriously the best. I mean you can't help but smile when someone's response is "Yeah mon" while Bob Marley is playing in the background. Good times.


The last stop was Cozumel, Mexico. We spent the day snorkeling which was really fun and then headed to land for some lunch. 

I am pretty sure that as a group we demolished about 60 tacos, but man they were good! I was reminded of how delicious soda tastes when it comes out of a glass bottle. The perfect combo.



We were a little concerned about the weather when we showed up on Florida the first day and it was pouring rain, but the weather was beautiful the entire time. Sunny, hot & humid. Very humid. I  do not spend much time in humid weather and I almost forget how my hair has a mind of its own when it comes to humidity. By the second day I let go of trying to fight it and just let the beach hair take over.
 I couldn't help but think of a friend who has the same issue........ : ) Gotta love it!