We Are Back!

From a cruise that is!! Ok, so we haven't been on a cruise for the last two months, we have just needed our cruise vacation for the last year, and finally got to go. We were gone for an entire week, and used each day to put in some much needed R&R. Now, we are back, refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to catch up on some blogging. It would be impossible to go back and include posts that we have missed, so this is where we are going to pick back up.

Some posts that we have missed sharing with you would have been:

Charlotte attending her first "kids" birthday party this summer
Fishing at the Farm
MDA Telethon 2010
Jenn finished with school

It seems like a lot more that that has happened in the last 2 months, and truthfully, there has been a lot more, just maybe not "blog worthy". We have just been busy keeping up with daily work, therapy, school for Charlotte, and finding time to have a few minutes to relax. So, that is the last of my excuses, on with some pictures!

We sailed on the Royal Caribbean cruise line, the ship "Freedom of the Seas". This is walkway down the middle of the ship, full of shops & restaurants. This is called the "Promenade". Our room faced the promenade, on the 3rd floor. This was our compromise to not having a total interior room, but not an exterior window either. It was great, and not noisy at all!

As the ship got ready to set sail, we were all smiles!

Our Ship, tough to get a picture of the entire thing. I took this as we were transported, or "tendered" from the ship to our first stop, Cococay, Bahamas, a private island owned by Royal Caribbean.


On Cococay, Bahamas

I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday while we were gone. My Dad arranged ahead of time for them to decorate our room on my birthday, thanks Dad!

Dinner was always interesting, trying foods we would never begin to imagine trying. This was the night of my birthday. So lucky to have my husband...

This is St. Thomas... quite arguably, one of the most gorgeous places I have ever been...

When we ported at St. Thomas was the only chance we had to call Charlotte, who was staying with my sister, Sara, and brother-in-law, Nathan. She had a great week, playing with her cousin, Ian, and even sang "Happy Birthday" to me on the phone. She was very good for them all week, and we were so thankful that Sara and Nathan agreed to take care of her for us. A favor I am afraid I will never be able to repay. I just hope they understand how greatful we were that they made this much needed vacation happen for us.

Breathtaking.

This is the cute little cafe we had lunch at. It overlooked the port where there were 3 cruise ships docked at one time. The people who ran the cafe were from Maryland.

My birthday present from Chris, a birthstone ring. The saphires are beautiful, this picture doesn't do it justice. Thank you Chris!! We picked it out together and happily took advantage of the tax and duty free benefits of buying in St. Thomas.

This is St. Maarten, a port of call on our trip that we were not able to visit. We got there, the seas were rough from the approaching hurricane Igore, and when the ship tried to dock, the plank fell. They made the executive decision that it was unsafe to let anyone off the boat, "phew", and we had to turn the ship around and leave. But, while near the island, we got a few good pictures from a distance. We were up and ready to go, with no island to explore.

This is one of the pieces of art on the ship, how fitting since Chris works at Boeing. He was fascinated by the replica of the Boeing F-18 (center), the program he is on now.

A picture I couldn't refuse...

The "Flow Rider" is a simulated surfing experience, on our ship. The water rushing out at speeds so fast that if you fall, you are quickly carried to the top of the wave (and if wearing a bikini, are left without your top or bottoms). Chris and I both had to "get our feet wet" and give it a try. First we tried boogie boarding. Chris did awesome, his first trial, learning to get on his knees, roll with the board, and push it out and catch it back in front of him. This may sound easy, but trust me, it was not.

A day at sea.

I was fascinated by the spray of the waves.

We were sad to be off the ship once our trip ended, but both of us didn't realize we were off until a coupld of days later. Everything was still rocking! Our ship returned to Port Canaveral, where we had left from, and then we took a car back to Orlando to catch our flight home. We had some fun in Orlando airport, and took some special pictures for Charlotte.

We missed Charlotte a lot, and the entire way home, I just kept praying that nothing would get in he way of us seeing our little girl. Once she was finally in my arms, I felt so relieved. She was still napping when we got home, and when I picked her up, she just giggled and giggled! Sara had made a book with pictures and stories about her activities while we were gone and we looked at it together on the couch. It felt so good to be home, together again.

The Hawns