Cruisin’

For my birthday in September Philip and Steve planned a 4 night cruise for me and whitney. A late bday gift for me and an early bday gift for her. Last week was time to cash in on the gift! I flew out Monday midday and Whitney and Steve picked me up at the airport. We went to dinner and then to their softball game (they’re in a Disney co-ed league), and i spent the night in my most favorite guest room. 

We got up and rolling pretty early Tuesday and drove to Ft lauderdale. We had a nice long car ride to catch up on our lives. In fact we got to talking so much we missed an exit. Oops. We parked our car at Whitney’s Aunt Debbie’s house and took a Lyft to the port. We almost died several times , i got very motion sick, and then got charged 10 times what we should have. BUT we made it on the boat. We grabbed some lunch and then hit the pool, because that’s how we roll. When we made it to our room we found that we had been upgraded big time. The balcony had a table, 4 chairs and 2 loungers with extra room. I spent a lot of time there ;) 

We ate a nice dinner in the dining room that night and went back to the room to get ready and ended up going to bed before 9, and we were so happy about it. 

The next morning we woke up to Key West. We had breakfast and were off the boat pretty early (much to Whitney’s chargrin ). We walked around Key West, went to the southern most point, got rained on a bit, then headed back to the pool on the ship (and the free food). 

That night we made it to the show after dinner and it was called “broadway live” and was good. 

The next day i really wanted to sleep in but my body just wouldn’t. I snuck out of the room and got coffee and read my book and let whitney sleep in. I finally went and woke her up and we got moving. We went to a presentation on acupuncture , i was hoping he would demonstrate on me and try to rid my nausea. He did demonstrate on me but just to show how little the needle was and felt in my arm.

After that we got off the boat at the Bahamas. There was a market when you first got off full of all kinds of handmade trinkets, clothes, wooden arts, all kinds of stuff. This is where i purchased a skeleton pirate head bank for Parker and it was the best money i spent— he loves it. I also took all my free coupons to said store and racked up on free jewelry. And made whitney do the same. 

We went to the show that night and it was a comedian that was super funny and made us laugh a lot. 

The next day was our at sea day. We were full-on bums that last day. I finished my second book of the trip, we frequented the buffet and bar a lot, and fell asleep in the sun. And then we got massages. 

That night we visited the casino, caught the last show, and were spectators in the male versus female gameshow. Which was quite entertaining and we made friends with 3 older couples who had been very much enjoying their cocktails. 

We woke up Saturday morning to being back at the Ft. Lauderdale port. We had priority deboarding and were back to Aunt Debbies by 8. We went and had breakfast  overlooking the ocean and then whitney took me to the airport, where i attempted to get on an earlier flight with no success. I got out of FL around 1 and then got stuck in ATL airport until 10pm. Instead of getting home at 7:20 like planned i got home after 11pm. I could have driven back from FL in less time than it took me to fly back. Thank goodness for aunt Ellen coming to pick me up in the rain and dark. And my sweet husband was up waiting for me. We were so sad the kids couldn’t come pick me up at the airport, they had made signs and everything. 

Philip held down the fort so well while i was gone. He isn’t an early riser, so getting up early to make lunch, get the kids ready and to school on time, was a big deal. He did it lovingly and happily and I am grateful. He loved having one on one time with the kids and he managed to not only keep them alive, but well fed, clean, and happy. I never doubted his skills. 

Whitney and i snapped back to reality where we had to actually pay for food, make our own beds, pick up our own towels, and make our own meals. ::sigh::  we loved our time together and can’t wait to do it again!