Here We Go A Cruising Day 1

On Thursday we headed to Mobile to get on a cruise ship to celebrate our anniversary (coming up in 2 weeks). Neither of us have ever been on a cruise.. so we were a little overwhelmed at the size of this beast as we walked up... I guess this sums it up... matt is just in awe at this boat. (Don't look to closely at the sign on the wall that says NO PHOTOGRAPHY in big bold letters).

The first thing we did was explore the whole ship. Here is matt trying out the track on the top of the boat, which is next to the mini golf.

And then we got down to business and hit up the buffet. Complete with an ice cream cone for dessert.. you may see more of these to come.

When we finally were able to get into our rooms, the first thing I did was assess the life jacket situation. And I needed to make sure it fit.

And then we walked around some more. This is a view from the upper deck. See that slide... we took advantage of that as well.

Here we are finally setting sail to our destination. This is coming out of the port in Mobile. Can't turn back now.

For all of you who told me there were no pirates... look what I saw at dinner. See, I told you so.

Later we tried our luck at the casino. Now, Matt and I have never even set foot into a casino in our lives, but we each put a dollar bill in and both lost, so that was enough of that. Now, I guess I can say I have done that.

What a beautiful sunset over the water. What a great way to end our first day at sea!

We lounged on the back of the boat and watched the sun go down. This is about the time I started to feel the boat begin to rock some. When the boat first took off, I thought.. this isn't bad at all. About an hour after this picture is when I had a major meltdown and told Matt I wanted to get off the boat (sorry no pictures of that).

Here We Go A Cruisin Day 2

Day 2 was our first "Fun Day at Sea".... The water was so pretty. The boat took a longer route to Cozumel to avoid the oil.. so we never saw any... just crystal clear blue water.

Our boat had this awesome swirly slide and of course we had to do it... even if we had to stand in the line with 10 yr olds. Here I am (trying to hold on to my top).

And Matt had to get all spiffy and lay down as he went.

On the way to the cruise Thursday I was talking to a friend and found out that her and her husband were going on the same cruise as well as a bunch of others from JSU... several which happened to be some of my best buds from my sorority in college. We enjoyed seeing each other.

On the deck we laid out on they had these 2 cold Whirlpool tubs. They were refreshing.

Matt is eating one of the many ice cream cones that we enjoyed. They had ice cream available 24 hrs a day. How can you resist that?

We had just enjoyed a nice hot day on the deck and now we are heading in to get ready for dinner.

Tonight was our "formal night" for dinner. Matt had a tie on, but he shed that puppy as quickly as possible.

Then we enjoyed a quick game of chess with these life size pieces. Really I don't know to play chess, but it looked fun.

And we enjoyed one last show before the night was over.

Here We Go A Cruising Day 3

Our stop today landed us in Cozumel, Mexico. We stepped off the boat to a very drizzly, foggy morning.

Our first souvenir... a lovely poncho. These babies are so attractive and they do so much for your figure.. but hey they kept us a little drier. A major downpour came just as we were buying these.

Matt is all suited up --helmet and goggles, ready for the ride.

Matt was so stinkin excited, I thought he was going to bust.

And look at me.. I look like Ameila Earhart with these goggles and helmet.

We stopped for a quick break to look at some Mayian Ruins. I personally thought they just looked like rocks, but Matt said I wasn't appreciating the history.

They made us wear these bandannas on our heads.. Don't we look fierce? I will admit I had a little trouble getting mine on correctly.

This was after our ride.. please notice the mud on my face... it was ten times worse on my legs and shoes, but it was so much fun.

After our four-wheeling we went into the town of Cozumel and did a little browsing around. I would have bought this puppy, but it wouldn't fit in my suitcase.

And we ended our wet, soggy, but fun day at a nice dinner. This was a rough rough night at sea.. we practically drove through a tropical storm after we left Cozumel. I almost fell out of the booth at dinner because the boat was swaying so much. The crew placed barf bags all around the ship just in case.

We were once again greeted in back in our room with a towel animal. These guys that make these do such a great job. We were always excited to see what animal we would get tonight.

Here We Go Cruising Day 4

Sunday was our last "Fun Day at Sea",,,,, This morning we watched an ice sculptor sculpt this Indian head. He did this from a 300 pound block of ice in about 15 minutes.

Some of my sweet sorority sisters that we ran into. It was so much fun seeing them.

Our last day relaxing on the deck.

Matt loved to just stand at the rail and look over. It made me a little nervous.. I was afraid I might fall over and you know like that movie "Overboard" and they would let me sink.

This is where we spent most of our time.. on the back of the boat in the "Serenity" area for adults only. It was so quiet and peaceful.

Jessica and Matt spent an hour on stage learning Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance. If Matt keeps practicing he might be able to add "backup dancer" to his resume.

This was our last night at dinner and we were sad to be leaving the next morning.

Here are the other 2 sweet couples that we shared dinner with each night. They sit you at a table with people you don't know... and I have to admit at first I was like great.. we are going to get with some weirdos (someone may say that about us), but these 2 couples were so much fun!

Here is our waiter "Made "--pronounced with some sort of accent. Each night the waiter danced and sang for us. It was too funny!

And our last night out on the deck before we headed to the show. Isn't the sunset beautiful?

What A Great Birthday

Well, today was the big day.. another birthday come and gone. But it was a good one... let me recap the fun filled events. We started off with a little celebration at the lake this past weekend. Sister made a scrumptious cake for the day and Steven decorated it with a beautiful K in the middle.

Opening a few gifts. This was from sister and steven.. cute H plate. (Side note: please imagine "Today it's your birthday" playing in the background with my dad dancing)

Today Matt surprised me with a picnic lunch by the river. He made some chicken salad, macaroni salad, and fruit. He even thought to pack some forks and napkins. I was impressed. Doesn't get much better than your man carrying a polka dotted market tote.

We were laying on our blanket and we were looking at the sky and I said... look there's a shooting star. Matt quickly reminded me that it was daytime and that the "thing" I was seeing was a jet.

A quick picture before we headed to do this....

Put our feet in the "Crick"... the water felt so good and if only we would have had our swim trunks on we could have waded down the creek with the others.

This little current doesn't play around. I almost lost my balance and went floating away.

I had to take a picture of this because Matt was just beside himself proud. He was so stinkin proud of himself for all his color coordination with the tissue paper and the bags. He did a great job wrapping (the bag on the left was still laying out from a present from a friend earlier... so he didn't have to plan too much for that one).

And tonight we went to dinner with the fam at Firebirds and back to sister's house for a yummy Oreo cake that Matt surprised me with.

Thanks to everyone for making it a great birthday!! Matt worked so hard to make it a special day for me and I loved every minute of it. It was a fabulous day!!!