Monkey Jungle December 31, 2008

We went to Monkey Jungle a couple of weekends ago, and it was amazing! It’s like you are in the cage and the monkeys run around above you!

You can buy raisins or cranberries there. You put them in these bowls that dangle. Then the monkeys come and pull them up to get the treats! Most of the time the monkeys jangle the change for you to put the treats in the bowl. They have the humans trained!

Up goes the chain!

He looks like an old wizard!

They have one orangutan. I can’t remember her name, but she was sweet. She was born there.

They also have a gorilla named King. He was rescued from a circus. They tried to find him a mate, but since the circus removed his canine teeth, the females didn’t find him attractive. Poor thing. He loves to finger paint, and we bought one of his works of art! It’s really neat, and you can see his hand print. The money goes to his upkeep.

Awww…mamma and baby.

And a lizard!

Miami Seaquarium December 31, 2008

Better late than never! These photo were taken when my mom was here the first weekend in December. We went to the Miami Seaquarium. It’s really cool, and they have a ton of marine life. We had never gone before because it’s $40 a person (!) but my friend gave us free passes! We saw everything but the orca. Jack loved it. He really likes fish, and seeing the dolphins and sea lions was exciting for him!

We watched the dolphin show. The dolphin that played Snowflake in “Ace Venture: Pet Detective”  lives here!

They have an amazing underwater viewing area.

I had never seen a manatee in person. They are so gentle and calm. That is why they often get hit by boats and have propeller scars on their backs. The baby is so cute!

They also have the viewing windows at the manatees. This manatee is “standing up”

They are also called sea cows.

That’s not a real dead shark.

The Beach BBQ December 15, 2008

In Bequia, the last port of the cruise, the ship threw an amazing beach bbq for the guests on a private beach. It’s not your typical beach bbq – it’s a gourmet bbq with lobster tail as the highlight! There was sooooo much food! And usually they serve caviar in the surf where the waiters take a huge tub of caviar out in the the ocean on a surf board and serve it to the guests with champagne. But it was too rough so they just served it from the beach rather than chance losing thousands of dollars in caviar! It was my favorite day of the cruise.

The beach was only for our guests.

We found a nice spot in the shade.

Beverage anyone? The ship is all-inclusive, meaning guests don’t pay for drinks. Needless to say, a lot of alcohol is consumed!

We partook in the beverage consumption! My new favorite drink is a shandy – 1/2 7-up, 1/2 beer!

Jack had a nice set-up on the sand with toys and all. (That cell phone is my old one that doesn’t work anymore.)

The ship was at anchor again and we all tendered to the beach.

This is the tent where they served the caviar. All of the guests swarmed it when they started to serve!

The food is in the background under the pavilion. They even covered the picnic tables with nice linens and brought silverware ashore!

The cruise ended the next day, so this was the perfect ending.

Postcards From our Cruise December 15, 2008

On the blog I do for one of my clients, we have a “Postcards From…” category where we post photos sent in by the ship’s crew and guests from places around the world. So, I thought I would call this post Postcards From our Cruise! Some ports were more picturesque than others, as you will see.

Martinique:

We didn’t go ashore in Martinique because we were at anchor and would have had to tender ashore – and it looked rough! But I took this pretty photo of a rainbow from our balcony.

Guadeloupe:

We anchored again, but this time the tender ride didn’t look too rough. Jack loved it!

That’s our ship in the background.

Yes, that’s a chicken on the steps!

St. Lucia:

Gerry was standing on the dock when he took this of us on our French balcony.

Grenada:

St. Vincent:

Our Cruise – Part 2: The Bridge December 4, 2008

Because Gerry works for the company, we’re allowed on the Bridge. For those who don’t know what the Bridge is, it’s the place where they drive the ship and do all of the navigation. It’s closed for security purposes, but we got to take Jack on the Bridge and he loved it. He wanted to push all of the buttons so we really had to watch him! haha!

This is the ship’s wheel. They use autopilot most of the time except when coming in and out of port or in fog. It’s not the giant wooden wheel from the movies/olden days that many people expect to see!

Jack trying to climb out of the captain’s chair before I could get a good photo!

Ohhhhh … buttons!

Ohhhhh … a phone!

Ohhhhh … a flashlight!

Hey, that’s my daddy! Gerry is the Designated Person for the cruise line. Each cruise line has to have one. He is the one they call if there is an emergency, so his photo is all over the ship in the crew areas!

Our Thanksgiving Cruise – Part 1: On Board December 2, 2008

We’re back from our wonderful Thanksgiving cruise! We had a great time and Jack did amazing. He slept so well despite the movement and natural ship sounds. Seabourn Pride carries only 208 guests, so it’s small. (Check out www.seabourn.com if you want to see about the cruise line). Jack was the only kid on board, and he was very popular! Besides the fact that he talks to everyone, they loved his red hair! We had so many people come up to us and say “I have a grandchild his age…” And the crew loved having a young sailor on board! They were incredible. Whatever we needed or wanted, they accommodated. They made anything I wanted for Jack, and now he’s spoiled forever by their delicious chicken fingers and gourmet grilled cheese! ha!

In this post, I’ll show life on the ship. In the next post I’ll tackle Jack on the Bridge and then the ports and shoreside stuff. We took hundreds of photos, so this is just a small sample.

Here is the ship from the water. We had to anchor and tender in some ports, so on the ride I was able to snap this.

Here is our cabin facing the door. The ship has only suites. The doors from left are bathroom, walk-in closet, and then the cabin door. The curtains closed and Jack was on the other side which was nice at night because Gerry and I didn’t wake him with the light. On the left in the photo is the mini-bar. It’s an all-inclusive cruise line, which means you don’t pay for alcohol

Here is the cabin if you turn around. Jack’s pack-n-play is on the left and the curtains open to a French balcony (you can step on it but not really anything else. You’ll see in the next photo). The cabin also had a TV with DVD player, so we watched a lot of Baby Einstein! Good thing I brought them along.

Here is the French balcony. It was nice to be able to get the nice sea air.

I brought a lot of toys to keep him entertained.

Jack and mommy on the second night. He looked so cute in his tie! We just washed his hair so it’s extra curly!

In the lounge for the Captain’s welcome party.

We ate dinner in the cabin most nights, but did brave the dining room a few times (we ate breakfast and lunch in the casual lido restaurant every day.). Jack was great, but when he was done, he was done and everyone knew it! The guy in the background in the striped jacket currently is starring in “Cats” in the West End. That’s the captain’s table behind us, by the way! You can see Captain Dexter over my right shoulder. I couldn’t believe they sat us so close to his table! Ay! He and Gerry get on very well, and he was nice to have on board. We ate lunch with him one day. Notice I say “one” – ha!

As I said, most nights we ate in the cabin. Room service was great, and they made whatever we needed for Jack. He loved the pizza – and so did Gerry!

Thanksgiving. He looks so grown up!

After a long, hard day on board, only a cookie and glass of water will do! He loved sitting at the outdoor bar. Nelson, the bartender, would pour him a glass of water and put cherries in it. He loved that!

Jack and a life ring.

Daddy and Jack on the bow. We were docked so I was on the pier and they ran on board.

A nice family photo. The piping on my dress is green, in case you’re wondering why I have on a green headband!

A towel animal! Don’t you just love the use of my brush, sun glasses and hair clip?!

Our farewell dinner in the cabin.

Stay tuned for more pics…

Riley’s Baby Naming December 2, 2008

This post is looong overdue! The naming was when we were home over Halloween, but it’s taken me ages to post the pictures! Sorry about that. It was a beautiful naming. Shelley did an amazing job – as usual. All of the tables were decorated with baby lamb piggy banks that had balloons coming out of the slots. For those that don’t know, Shelley is very fond of lambs She also had wooden flower frames coming out of small flower pots with photos of Riley all over the room and every guest got to take one home. They were really cute.

She was also very generous in suggesting that we finally give Jack his Hebrew name. We are raising Jack exposed to both Judaism and Christianity, so I was eager to have him named but I wanted to do it in St. Louis with a Rabbi I knew. We just never had the time, and this was the perfect opportunity. We gave him the name Avraham BenZion. Avraham was my dad’s Hebrew name, and BenZion was my Grandpa Davis’ Hebrew name. I kind of look at it like my dad and his dad are reunited in Jack.

Shelley with Riley, Jack and me, and Rabbi Andrea Goldstein. She is the Rabbi at the temple Shelley’s family and my mom belong to, and I belonged there growing up. I also grew up with Andrea and her brother Adam, who is my age. She did a really nice job.

I think this is a cute pic of Riley and Jack during the naming.

Another picture where Jack looks like he’s thinking “who is this kid with the bow that keeps following me around?”

Auntie Julie and Riley. She wore the same dress Paige or Hailey wore at their naming.

The dessert table. Shelley had nice photos of the people Riley and Jack were named after. Riley was named after Michael’s Grandma Edith, who recently passed away, and our dad.

Jack and mommy.

Riley and daddy.

This is a cute pic of the kids at the naming. It wasn’t so easy getting them all to sit still and look at the camera – as you can see! In the back from the left we have Paige and Matthew, Ilexa hugging her brother Ian, and Jack holding hands with Graham. They are so cute! Graham is Michael’s brother’s son (the cow in the Halloween pics). The two girls on the left in pink stripes are sisters Maya and Madeline, and sisters Lauren and Taylor are next to them. Hailey is sitting on the ground in her Hannah Montana dress!