Putt, putt anyone?!! Aboard the Carnival Ecstasy with Bridget!!!
Cruise elegant night on board and a "meet the captain" reception prior to dinner
The day we docked in Cozumel there was another Carnival cruise with us: Carnival Glory
The two adventurous mommas after our jet ski excursion; SO FUN!!!
On a private beach in Cozumel
I'm thinking... wake me up when this dream is over!!!
At port in Cozumel after we girls did some serious bargain shopping!
Back to the ship... bye, bye Cozumel
Our day at Progresso; I actually think Bridget's hair is blowing into the bird poop
on my chest!! The guy taking the picture told us this after the fact!!! Progresso is the little town we'd like to forget!
Every night at dinner the waitstaff would pull us out to dance; it was so hilarious and this
was our cute little Lithuanian waitress
This was the night we danced until, well, late... our feet were yelling at us the next morning!
Here are some of the towel creations that awaited us every night when we returned to our room; our room attendants were amazing, we were upset that the ship wouldn't let us
take them home... "housekeeping, you need towel"!
The sunsets were beautiful!
This was the fun group we dined with every evening; they were all from Houston too:
me, Bridget, Lina, Sharon, Shalia, Antione, and Betty
Here we are with our Italian maitre'd, Fernando... don't worry Chad, NO competition here!!!
Back on the homestead I was welcomed with newly potted pansies and the SWEET, SWEET
Welcome Home banner with artwork by Abbey, of course!!! What an awesome way to come
back home!
Two days after Thanksgiving I left with my friend Bridget from church and our AMAZING husbands sent us on a 5 day Carnival Cruise!!!! Thanks to Bridget's husband, Darrell, who planned the whole thing and coordinated with Chad's schedule, the two mommas were off!! The trip was so awesome and we were just beside ourselves most of the time in complete disbelief that we were actually given this opportunity! I was a bit sea-sick the first 24 hrs. (SO not fun) but by the morning of day 2 I was feeling back to my old self. We had the most amazing time laying out on the deck, reading our "never-get-to-read books", eating 5 course meals EVERY night, watching the nightly shows and entertainment, and we actually danced the night away several nights...such a BLAST and we laughed hysterically at the people dancing that had a bit too much to drink!!! Our favorite excursion was in Cozumel where we got to chill on the beach for the day and where Bridget convinced me to ride a jet ski (I had never done this)! This time of year the sea is pretty choppy so it was a ride I'll never forget and every time we hit a wave, our bottoms came about 2 feet off the jet ski, such an adrenaline rush, and I'm sure the people on shore could hear me screaming a mile away! The whole day was an adventure especially when we had to get a taxi to take us back to port; I don't know where Mexico drivers learn to drive but our driver was flat our scary! The guy was passing busses and shuttles on a two lane road going about 80 mph while Bridget was saying, "No rapido senor"! While the driver was laughing at our requests, I was praying the whole time and thankful to get back on the ship in one piece!!!
Our other port of call was Progresso, and I'll just chalk this one up to a day of adventure, not relaxation! It was like old Mexico and we were haggled to death even while trying to lay out on the beach which got old really fast but what did me in was getting pooped on twice by seagulls... Bridget has pictures of me discovering the lovely poop on my chest... I'll have to post those comical pictures later!!!
The whole trip was really awesome to get back in touch with ME apart from my everyday roles of mommy and wife and somewhere out on the ocean a glimmer of the old carefree me came out. It was such a blessing to have that time of refreshment and I really was ready to come back home to the three greatest blessings of my life and at the same time cherishing all the fun Bridget and I had. I've posted pictures of my wonderful homecoming and all the preparations they did to make my coming home so FUN! Thank you Chad for allowing me this time away and for all the sacrifices you made to give me this amazing gift, I'm so grateful and love you more than you can imagine.
Enjoy the pics, we took just a few!!! :)
