Well, Matt has gone to Argentina on a job...but we got back in town a little less than a week ago from my cruise. My dad is now in town from Seattle with his new wife and Merrae and I have been hanging out with them and other family.
The cruise was great! My 15 year old sister and I left a couple of Thursday's ago. The ship left out of Galveston that evening. We were at sea for a day, in Cozumel, Mexico for a day, back on the ship for a day, and then we got home the next afternoon. So, we spent four nights and about 5 days on the ship. The first thing Rebecca wanted to do was lay out on the deck by the pool. It was about 70 and very breezy but anything is warm to her compared to Seattle weather right now! We had dinner on the deck that evening.
Our room was really nice and our beds were very comfortable. We explored the ship a bit that night to get more acquainted with it and then watched a movie in our room. I think we ordered room service that night too.
I got a little sea sick the first few nights but after taking some nausea med. I was fine. The next day, Rebecca wanted to lay out again. It was nice after it warmed up a bit. It was real breezy that day and a little cloudy here and there. I wasn't thinking (as most pregnant ladies tend to do) : ) and I only put sunscreen on my face. I was cold and for some reason didn't think I would get much sun because of that. BIG mistake. We were out there all morning and early afternoon. I fell asleep on both sides and ended up FRIED to say the least. It was crazy...there's my word again, crazy. When I took my swimsuit off, it looked like it was still painted on me. Rebecca was cracking up. It hurt to do anything. We hadn't even gotten to Cozumel where we were planning on going to the beach! Rebecca didn't put any sunscreen on and she was barely affected at all! She does tanning beds in Seattle so I guess that helped her not burn like me.
We loved the dining room. We sat with a nice family every night from New Mexico. It was assigned seating. They had a girl Rebecca's age and a son in college. All the food was delicious and you could get as much of it as you wanted. One night I had this strawberry soup. It was cold and creamy. I had never had anything like it before. Yum. Another soup I liked was navy bean soup. The salmon was delicious, I couldn't have any other sea food the rest of the time due to being pregnant. Otherwise, I would have had a lot. The desserts were also scrumptuous.
We went to a show on one of the first nights and it wasn't so great but on other nights they were pretty fun. Rebecca went to the teen club with the girl from our table and they had fun "people watching" and had great stories when it was over with. I was hesitant to let her go but I checked in on her occassionally and so did the other family. The older brother walked them back to our rooms.
We had a great time in Cozumel. We got off the ship, walked down the pier, got on a catamaran tour boat, rode south along the island, went snorkling, went to a nice white sandy beach, rode back, and then did some shopping. It was funny...on the boat they played all American music, spoke great english, and when we got to the beach they were serving hamburgers, potato salad, and cole slaw. I have to say I was a little disappointed because part of the fun of Mexico is feeling like you are in a different culture. Even the shopping right off the peir is very Americanized. We walked a few blocks away from that and found the more rustic Mexican feeling shops. Rebecca had never been to Mexico. Our time there seemed to fly by. We had some good people watching on the boat. It was actually pretty sad watching all the adults get drunk and fall all over the boat hurting themselves and acting like idiots. We got some good laughs though watching them dance.
The next day on the ship was very low key and we even started getting a little bored. I'm glad we took a short cruise. On that cruise there's not a whole lot to do unless you are in to clubbing and gambling. We did find a good sushi spot that last day though. We got these yummy veggie rolls. We also got some more good movies in. Oh yeah, and we also went to "Tea Time" and had some finger sandwiches and pastries. We had some good time to talk throughout the cruise as well.
When we returned to Galveston we headed to my brother's to hang out and spend the night. Matt and Merrae met us there. They had spent the four days at his parent's on their land. I didn't worry about Merrae at all. She has a blast there. She loves seeing the cows, chickens, dogs, pig, etc. She's got her grandparent's wrapped around her finger. Matt said she did great there. When I saw her again she kept saying, "Hi Mama" "Hi Mama" and kissing/ hugging me. So sweet. My other brother came over that night and we all ate dinner together.
We headed back to the Dallas area the next day and Rebecca got to see our Mammaw and we watched several movies. I'm glad I got to spend some time with her. She's getting busier and busier these days. All in all we enjoyed the cruise but I don't want to go on another one for a long time. It was nice though.
I'll post cruise pictures and pictures of Merrae's time at her grandparent's next. That will take a little longer to do and I need to run meet up with my dad again.
