Happy 4th birthday Weston!

My chunky 11 lb baby boy turned 4 today! He is the the goofiest, sweetest, most lovable little boy. He is still my snuggle bug! Always willing to let me soak in a little hugging with his mama.

Love my baby boy to pieces!

 

 

 

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I interviewed my girls...

I came across this blog post from Weird Unsocialized homeschoolers on 50 Reasons Why Homeschool Kids Love Homeschooling. I thought it was a great list of reasons right from the mouths of kids! I decided to ask my own girls, what they liked about homeschooling.

Of course some of the comments where dislikes.

They don't like that they can't play with a few neighborhood girls during the school day.

They don't like that they can't play at two of the local playgrounds during the day that we can ride our bikes to, because they are on school property.

But they did have quiet a few positive reasons as to why they like homeschooling! Here is their list!

When you are sick you do not have make up work.

We don't have to fight crowds.

We can play at other homeschool friends houses anytime.

We don't have to get dressed in the morning.

We don't have homework.

We can have a dance party whenever we want.

We can work on school upside down.

We get snacks during the day.

We can play with our pets during the day.

We can take advantage of the hot and cold weather.

We can take different kinds of classes during the day such as Art, cooking, and PE.

We can cook and bake fun things.

We can play hide and seek.

We can sleep in.

We can have sleepovers on school nights.

We don't have a dress code.

When I wear my eye patch, no one makes fun of me...Katelyn

We don't have bullies.

We can do lots of crafts.

We play lots of games.

We can go on bike rides and play at the park.

We don't have to bring lunch money.

We can play our ipads during lunchtime.

We can take vacations and not miss school.

We feel safe.

We don't have to walk or drive to school.

We take lots of field trips.

We can do school on the couch or our bed.

We can stay up late.

We have lots of breaks during the day.

We can pray and read our Bible.

The pools and beach are empty once school starts.

We can go camping anytime with our grandma and grandpa.

Our American Girl dolls can come to school with us!

We can see our dad at lunch.

 

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The food on the cruise!

Everyone told me I would gain 10 pounds after cruising.... Well I proved them wrong! I did eat and eat and eat and I was never full... Not sure where the food went, but I'm happy to say I gained nothing!

Our table..

Food was available at all hours of the day and night. Room service was free and had a pretty good selection as well!

Each night we dined with the same assigned guests. We were at a table with two other pairs of sisters and an older gentleman and his "adoptive" son. They were all pretty nice and we had some very interesting conversations.

The servers also entertained us by performing and singing throughout the dinner.

There was one formal night, however I chose to dress up every night. Not in super fancy clothes just skirts and a nice top.

Each night we had a large selection of appetizers, main entrées, and desserts to choose from. There was not a limit as to how much you could order... I typically order two appetizers and two different desserts...yum!!

Strawberry, mint bisque...

For breakfast there is also a pretty big selection...including omelets, waffles, pancakes, eggs, and muffins etc.

For lunch there was also a huge selection including a grill, a deli, pizza, salad bar, and a variety of other items. The desserts were also yummy!

10 pm room service snack!

Many of the older folks go cruising just for the food... Some don't even get off at the islands.

All in all I enjoyed the food...and glad I didn't have any proof coming back! It was nice not having to cook or clean for 6 days!!

 

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The actual cruise!

We cruised on the Carnival Paradise. It is one of the oldest and smallest ships in the freight at Carnival Cruise lines. Since I have never been on a cruise, I didn't really have anything to compare it to and my standards aren't very high compared to other expert cruisers. I thought everything was just about right. The right amount of space, people, and entertainment. Since there was only 2,009 passengers on board and around 1,000 crew members, you tended to run into the same people over and over again. We got to know a few different groups while on board, so that was nice.

Our room was an ocean view room. Very simple with two twin beds, tv, desk, bathroom with toilet, sink, and shower, and a wardrobe area. Plenty of room for just my sister and I.

The cruise ship featured many different areas to hang out at from bars and restaraunts, to casinos, pools, jacuzzis, the gym, and spa.

It seemed like every hour there was something new going on from something music or game related to informational workshops on the island or cruiseline.

Here are a few pics...from the actual cruise. I will talk about the food and dining in my last post:)

 

Me:). I will be alone in most pics...

Here is the main area of the ship where you can get to all of the floors/rooms.

The first night we watched a game show

The last show of the cruise...Shout!

I won backstage tickets to meet the dancers/singers on the cruise. I entered a contest to give the cruise director a new nickname. He looks exactly like Seth Green and other famous people. My nickname was E. Seacrest Jr and he apparently liked it. My sister thought it was lame, but I couldn't think of anything else, so I went with that...they mentioned I could bring my family...so I invited a few of our dinner table ladies and another random couple to be part of our family. They all appreciated it. I am writing this in the RV...so this is a picture of the picture sent from my sister.

I did not lay out at the main pool area. There seemed to always be something going on like a hairy man contest, to singing, dancing, and ice sculpting...just to name a few. We did enjoy watching those events, however when I lay out, I like to enjoy peace and quiet...to some degree.

Here is me laying out on the adult only deck....yes I am wearing a swim suit...

Here is a pic of our room...me in the living room:)

Every night after dinner we came back to the cabin to these lovely animal towel creations.

My next post will be about food...yum!

 

 

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Our visit to Cozumel, Mexico

Our second stop on our cruise was Cozumel, Mexico. I was a bit worried about going here, because my husband gave me a few guidelines before booking a cruise...one was as long as it did not stop in Mexico he would be ok with me going...well this is an island and not connected to the mainland, so he was half way ok with it.

All I have to say was....oh.my.goodness. The 8 hours we had to spend here was not enough...at all. I could spend a few more days here....hint.hint.Sean if you are reading this....

We took a taxi to a resort called Mr. Sanchos. It was free to actually swim on their beach, however we paid for the all-inclusive package which included all you can eat food, drinks, scuba gear, kayaks, and other extra amenities...instead of just sitting on the beach. We definetly got our monies worth with just drinks and food.

There food was extremely good and the facilities were really nice.

We enjoyed hanging out in the gulf with some of our new friends from the cruise. We swam, relaxed, hung out in the pool, ate...and had a great time being off the cruise ship.

I brought my own snorkle gear and saw some hidden Mayan type ruins (probably placed there by the resort). They were cool and had tropical fish swimming in and out of them. While snorkling I saw a stingray and some other fun tropical fish. I did have an underwater camera...so once I get those pics developed I will share... if they turned out.

After we enjoyed the resort we did a little shopping. Quiet an interesting experience...I found some nice little "Made in Mexico" trinkets for the kiddos though...for cheap...

Waiting to get off the ship!

I would really like to go back here one day to explore more of the island and do some "real" snorkeling or scuba diving. Here are a few pictures from our day!

 

 

 

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