The Caribbean!!!

I can't even begin to try to guess how long Jeremy and I have been wanting and "planning" to go on a cruise. I loved the one I went on just before we got married and it took 6 1/2 years to finally make it on another one, and for Jeremy to finally get to experience one. (And what makes it even better is that he LOVED it and didn't get seasick. Yahoo!)

Ty & Maria & Co. were kind enough to take Logan for the week (with a little break thanks to Trina.) So bright and early last Friday morning (like 5:45 am.....thanks so much Gina for taking us!) we made our way to the airport. (Where we forgot our final destination was Fort Lauderdale and NOT Miami and we were having a hard time getting to our boarding passes. Hey, it was early.) But we did get them and without too long of a wait in either SLC or Atlanta, we made it to Florida. Then after a very LONG and STINKY shuttle ride from the airport to our very nice hotel (courtesy of credit card points. See! It pays to spend money!) we were able to officially say that we were ON VACATION!!! A much needed one, too. Let's try not to wait 4 1/2 years between vacations next time, k?

We didn't do much in Miami. Went to Chili's (hey, it was within walking distance) for dinner then meandered on home to sleep in our extremely comfortable  king-size bed. (Though I think I do prefer a queen bed. I might be alone in this feeling.)

After a much shorter and non-stinky ride to the dock and not too long of a wait, we got onto our ship, dropped our bags off in our room, and began the joy that is cruise-eating. Oh my.

Finally....time for some pictures! First up.......

MIAMI!!!

 Views from our room. Corner room = 2 windows!

 Waiting to board the ship.

 Views of Miami from the ship. Gorgeous. I used that word a lot this trip. :)

 Lido Deck. Kind of the party side. We spent most of our time on the other side. No kids allowed in the pool. :)

 

 Love the hair. But the wind was a constant companion on the ship, so it needs to be remembered.

 Anybody who knows me knows I love my ice cream. So the all-you-can-eat ice cream may have been on the top of my list of things I was looking forward to. And it didn't disappoint. And I did take advantage. And this may have been the first thing I looked for when we got on. :D

 Aaaaaannd......we're off! 

 (Notice the clouds. Also a constant. But really, they just made for pretty pictures!)

 Jeremy loves me!!! They played this game show and because I begged him to he waved his arms and jumped up and down to get called down. And almost won the "24 carat, solid plastic Ship on a Stick" but got edged out at the very end. As Logan would say, "dang it!"

 Every time he got a question right I had to stand up (and I was up on the balcony so easy for everyone to see) and yell "THAT'S MY MAN!" Without a doubt far more embarrassing than actually being up on that stage.

 So proud of his medal!

 And of course, the nightly towel animals. Umm.....can anybody tell me what this is?

Side note: I may have called Logan a lot before the ship "sailed away" and we had no more cell phone service. And he may not have wanted to talk to me at all. And I may not have loved that. But at least I knew he was enjoying himself. Silver lining, right? (He did eventually talk to us. And the last night he obviously didn't want to get off. No crying, just not wanting to get off the phone even though he wasn't saying anything but "yeah." It was a little sad and really cute at the same time.)

That's it for the first day! Next up........Bahamas!!!!