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…

Maya’s 2nd Birthday Party! November 7, 2008

When we were in St. Louis, we were able to attend Maya’s 2nd birthday party. She is a Halloween baby, and Karyn organized a party for her on Saturday night with a few friends and family. Of course, it was a blast!

Jack and Allison enjoying pizza.

Evan is such a cutie!

Jack and Maya sittin’ in a tent…

Karyn is my Martha Stewart. She pre-sewed the felt pumpkins (which she cut out!) and cut the shapes for us to decorate pumpkin pillows. Then we stuffed them. They turned out amazing!

Happy Birthday to Maya! Here she is with mommy and daddy, brother Ryan in red and her cousins Sophie, Jordan and Molly. Look at all the curls!

Gabby, Ali, Maya, Jake and Jack love their cake and ice cream! So does Stuart!

Happy Halloween 2008! November 6, 2008

Hello all! We had a great time in St. Louis this past weekend. Jack had a blast trick-or-treating with his cousins, and he actually wore the costume the whole night! We went to the pumpkin patch earlier that day with GG Honey (my grandma), Grandma Lisey and Michael’s family. I will post those photos later, but I wanted to get the Halloween ones up ASAP because they are so cute!

Jack the monkey. I love the banana in his pocket!

Jack with Paige the witch and Graham the cow. Graham is Michael’s brother’s son, but we’re all family!

Paige, Riley, Graham, Hailey and Jack. It’s not easy getting them all to sit for a photo!

Trick or treat?!

What a fun evening!

Our Trip – LONG Overdue! August 22, 2008

Wow! Where has the time gone? I promised these ages ago! Sorry! Gerry was out of town and then he came back with a lovely case of food poisoning from the plane! It was pretty bad – poor guy! Anyway, here are some pictures from our trip to Kansas City!

Here we are at Grant’s Farm in the barn.

Feeding the camel at Grant’s Farm.

Grant’s Farm (left) and Chuckie Cheese. Jack was so afraid of Chuckie! Can you blame him? haha! For those who don’t know, Chuckie is a giant mouse/rat

Ok, on to our trip to Kansas City!

Here are all the kiddies! Jack, Jacob, Gabby, Maya, Ryan, Evan and Allison! What a cute bunch!

Part of the waterpark. There’s also a lazy river going around the place, as well as 4 huge waterslides (I’m guessing 3 stories high) that are enclosed (it’s a PITCH BLACK TUBE!). One you sit on innertubes. That was less scary for me, although Erica and Gerry could hear Karyn and me screaming (we went together!). Gabby was sooo brave and kept going down! She had no fear. After 3 times down, I was done – and dizzy! ha!

Friday night we went to the baseball game. It was the Royals versus the White Sox. We lasted 1.5 innings! ha! We did get to see Ken Griffey, Jr. play his first game for the Sox, so that was cool.

After our trip to Kansas City, we went through Colmubia on the way home. I was really excited for Gerry to see my university.

The Mizzou grads on the quad at the columns! Hard to believe it’s been 12 years since we graduated (13 for Julie!)!

We had to go to Shakespeare’s for lunch! The pizza was better than I remember. Sooooooo good! But, I did feel old! I never imagined the day I would return to our favorite college pizzeria with my husband and son, my best friends and their kids. It was wild! And yeah, Gerry looks scary in this pic!

Julie and Jack taking a nap on the car ride home. It was a fun, but exhausting, weekend! Can’t wait for next year!!

Jack is 18 Months August 7, 2008

Ok, so I am a bit behind! This photo was taken July 18th, but I am posting it late! Ay The photos are getting much harder to take, as he doesn’t want to hold the paper! And, he didn’t even want the paper touching the chair so I got one photo and this was it – lucky!

We just got back from a trip to Coco Key in Kansas City with the Abowitz, Oglander and Klein families. It was so much fun, and I have a ton of photos. Once I sort through them I will post a few.

St. Louis Trip April 29, 2008

We had a fabulous time in St. Louis last weekend! It was great to meet Riley and see all of our family and friends. And Jack got spoiled by Grandma Lisey!

Of course, our AA flight was delayed an hour-and-a-half, so we didn’t get to STL until 11 pm, which meant Jack didn’t get to sleep until super later. He did sleep in, but he was a bit of a mess on Saturday morning. Shelley, Michael and the girls all came over so we got to meet Riley. She is a doll. So tiny! But very sweet and so good. It was great to see Paige and Hailey too. They have the cutest personalities and are sweet little ladies.

Saturday night we went to Ava and Steve’s for Seder. There were about 25 of us! They did such a fabulous job, and it was special to get to celebrate with everyone. We took a photo of all the kids, but I don’t have it digitally. Jack and the seven girls! Of course, he was the one crying

Sunday we went to Shelley’s house in the morning for a play-date with the Abowitz family. It was nice to play on their new swing-set. Sunday evening we went back to Shelley’s (after Jack’s nap) for a BBQ with Audrey. The weather was gorgeous! In the 60s and 70s and sunny.

Monday morning we went to Karyn’s to play with Maya, and Julie and Evan came over. Ryan and Allison were in school. They are such cute kids! Maya is 3 months older than Jack, and she’s so sweet. We got to play with some of Ryan’s toys that she’s not allowed to touch, but since he wasn’t there…shhhh…… don’t tell him! haha!

In the afternoon we finally got to see Rikki (she got in Sunday night). She came over to my mom’s with the girls. I have not seen them in 2.5 years and they are getting so big! Maya and Yarden are 7 now, and Tali is 3.5. They are so cute and have the sweetest and funniest personalities. Tali kept bringing Jack toys to play with. Then we all went to the park and met up with the Greenfield, Oglander and Abowitz families. Here’s the pic. Not bad for 9 kids! Tali was swinging so she’s not in the shot.

(left to right) Hailey, Paige, Erica with Jacob, Rikki with Yarden and Maya, Gabby, me with Jack, and Julie with Allison and Evan

After the park, we went to dinner with the Oglander and Greenfield families. Nothing like a good buffet! ha!

Tuesday morning we saw Shelley and the girls, and then we went to lunch with Rikki and her girls. Seriously, they are so sweet and I really liked spending time with them. Maya was saying some really funny things! We met at the mall cause a food court is the easiest option, and the kids got to ride the carousel. It was nice to have some alone-time with them before we left.

Then, off to the airport to come back to Miami. We crammed a lot into the long weekend, and it was a BLAST! We can’t wait to go back.

1 Year Old! January 26, 2008

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven’t updated in a while, but since our return from St. Louis we’ve been catching up on everything, including sleep! It was an AMAZING weekend. On Friday we woke up with Jack, brought him his balloon (I always had a balloon tied to the end of my bed when I woke up on my brithday, and I want to do the same for Jack), sang him “Happy Birthday” and then got ready for our trip. Of course we were an hour late taking off (thank you Miami), but we still got to STL around 5 pm. We went to my mom’s and Shelley, Michael, Paige, Hailey and Ellen and Marvin (Michael’s parents) met us there for a birthday dinner. I’ll post photos of Jack and his cake later, but we got him undressed so we wouldn’t have to clean up a big mess, and he just looked at his cake and whined when he got icing on his hands! haha!

Saturday morning we took him to Portrait Innovations for his official 1-year photo, and they all turned out fabulous! We also took a family pic, and my mom got one with Jack too. Here are the two pics of him we ordered and the one of the three of us. The one of him clapping in the navy sweater is the one we’re using as his “1 year” photo.

After a good nap, we headed off to My Gym for his party. I could not have asked for a more perfect party for Jack. It was sooo much fun. He had 20 of his friends there, and they all played on the equipment (trampoline, ball pit, swings for babies, a zipwire thing, climbing walls, etc…) and they sat in a circle and sang songs and played. It was so cute. Then we had pizza and cake, and it was 6:30 pm by the time it was over. He loved every moment.

Sunday morning we had Paige and Hailey’s party. It was bumper bowling, and the kids were adorable! They had these ramps that you put the ball on and let it go so it had momentum going down the lane. The kids had a lot of fun. Pizza and cake again! Erica and Gabby came over to play and then Gerry stayed home with Jack (don’t feel bad for him – the football playoffs were on and he was more than happy to watch the game!) while Erica, Karyn, Julie and I went for dinner. We haven’t been out just the girls in years! So thanks to Brian, Stuart and Dave for staying home with the kids as well! It was such a fun dinner, and it made me miss being in STL even more.

Monday we went to pick out Jack’s gift from my mom (a gorgeous personalized frame with his name and birthdate, as well as a baseball for a baby boy – very cute) and then met Shelley and the girls for lunch. After that, it was off to the airport and back to Miami. Oh, did I mention one night in STL it was 1 degree, yes, 1! It was nice to get back to the warmth!

Well, Jack is napping and I better get moving. We’re going to the botanical garden today for the chocolate festival! YUM!! I’ll upload his birthday party pics later and post a link so you can see them all!