Cruise 2015!

Last summer Josh and I started talking about our summer vacation for this year. We really wanted to take a "Mommy/Daddy vacation". But we weren't sure we could make it happen. Life was kind of hectic at the time, and we had no idea who would keep the girls. So after discussing it for a while we decided to maybe ask Taron and Nolan if they would like to come and stay at our house for a few days and keep them, and we would possibly split the rest of the time with Aunt Emily and Pops and Memaw if they were willing. But before I asked Taron, I decided to text Aunt Bit and see if she thought they would even be interested. It was a random text one night while we were sitting outside. She responded a few minutes later telling me that it had been on her heart to come and keep our girls while we went somewhere. I was completely blown away. I mean....seriously...... she was going to drive from Mobile, Alabama to Weatherford, Texas and keep our kids for a week! Holy cow batman. How blessed are we???
So, Josh got to looking and we began discussing dates for when Bit could come. We ended up deciding on a cruise for a week that she could be here. And the planning began!!
Bit arrived Friday, June 19, Mom's birthday. God does work in mysterious ways sometimes. Knowing that we were leaving on vacation the next day and knowing that Aunt Bit was on her way sure did make that day SO much easier for me. I found out later on that Josh planned it that way on purpose so that we would leave the day after Mom's birthday and I would be focused on packing instead of focusing on it being her birthday. Yep- he's pretty awesome.
On Saturday morning the 20th, I got up early and loaded the car and headed to Ft. Worth to pick Josh up at the fire station since he had to work the night before. We were both so excited to get away just the two of us! We haven't been on a real vacation like that without kids since before Brenna was born. We have done weekends here and there, but never an actual vacation. It was long overdue and much needed.
We boarded the Carnival Triumph at about 2pm in Galveston. Check in was a little hectic, but we finally made it on board and got our stuff to our room and headed out to find a spot to sit and wait to set sail!
This was my very last instagram picture as we were pulling out of Galveston.

The caption read- "My companions for the week! Peace out peeps!" Couldn't think of a better way to start vacation than with this guy by my side and a bucket of beer!
One of my favorite parts of our cruise was that our room had a balcony! It was on the back end of the boat and we could watch the water churn as we sailed. It was AH-MAZING!!

We spent a lot of time out here just watching the water and enjoying the peacefulness.

This was the US Coast guard boat taking us out of Galveston. The GUN on the front of the boat kinda freaked me out a little- not gonna lie.
We spent that afternoon/evening just walking around and checking out the boat. This was the view of the decks.

Yes, I went down the slide. Once. Because why not. 

And this lady....

 well, she was interesting. We saw her out on the deck dancing. She was wearing a skirt made of some type of coins and it jingled a she shook her hips. No joke. Josh and I thought she was paid entertainment on the boat. She pushed around a walker that had Mardi Gras beads all over it. And her husband was not far away, usually just sitting in a chair or sleeping in a chair. We later found out that she was just a passenger on the ship like the rest of us! I guess she takes her own party wherever she goes!! I'm pretty sure she started working on the drink of the day before I did! 

And I certainly didn't waste much time on that one! Priorities people. 
One of the things that I found difficult on a cruise when it is just the two of you is getting pictures! There wasn't anyone to take our picture. SO- I improvised!! I took our picture each night when we were dressed for dinner while se stood in front of the mirror in our room! Josh thought I was nuts, but then again, that isn't really anything new. He was, however, a good sport and obliged my photo ops! Here we are headed to dinner on Saturday night!

Sunday was a day at sea. And I had an appointment with a deck chair and my new book!!! My goal on the trip was to soak up as much sun as possible- and I think I succeeded.

Next time I'm taking Josh a book so that he won't feel the need to want to TALK to me so much! Lol! He got very bored just sitting there. I, on the other hand, could have sat there 24/7. 
The deck was so crowded on Sunday. Everyone on the ship was out there, so it took me a while to find a chair. But once I did, I hung on to it. It was so nice and breezy. I think I could have spent the whole day up there while the bartender continued to bring me different drinks of choice! Yep- I was in heaven. Josh started his day with a nap, and eventually moved on to the tables in the casino.

He then enjoyed a cigar on the balcony while I got ready for dinner.

He's such a goober....but he's MY goober!!!

And you can tell he was giving me a hard time about our nightly "selfie" because of the grin on my face.
Monday we docked in Progresso. Josh and I have been to Progresso before, and didn't really care to get off there. There isn't much to do unless you book an excursion, and we didn't have any desire to do that. So we stayed on the ship. It was the first time I had ever stayed on the ship while it was at port, and it was heavenly! I had my choice of deck chairs and the food lines were not long at all. I enjoyed my book some more, and a Beach Boys concert on the big screen.

You can see how empty the boat was! Heaven. 
I also booked myself a massage in the spa! It was heavenly. In fact, it was so good, I think I fell asleep....OOPS! I guess that is what you call RELAXED.
Josh and I stood on the balcony in our room and watched as we left Progresso. It was so peaceful out there.

AND.....our nightly selfie!!

Tuesday we docked in Cozumel. We decided to get off of the boat and do some shopping. But first, Josh needed an ice cream cone to tie him over until we got back on the boat!

We snapped a picture of the boat to send to Brenna. 

My big goal was to find a restaurant with WIFI so that I could check on the girls!! I had never gone this long without talking to them, or at least checking on them, and it was killing me!
We did catch another couple and trade off taking pictures.

We walked around, and went into a Starbucks that said it had WIFI and ordered a $5 drink, only to find out that their WIFI was horrible and didn't work. So we kept going and I spotted a Hooters that advertised WIFI. We asked and the waitress assured us that their WIFI was great. But we had to eat there to get the password! So- in Cozumel, Mexico we ate Hooters hot wings. BUT I was able to check on my kiddos and know all was well! That was all I needed to keep enjoying myself. And as a plus...the wings were really good!
I found some bracelets that a guy was making with names on them, so we got the girls each a bracelet as their souvenir.  Josh was on the hunt for a certain cigar shop he had heard about, so we walked what seemed like MILES to find it. I'm sure it was only a couple of blocks in reality, but with the heat and humidity it seemed like we would never find it. We did find a McDonalds on the way! 

But we did eventually find his shop, and he got himself some prizes.

He enjoyed one of those prizes as soon as we got back on the boat. He asked me to hold it at one point and left to go to the bathroom...... so I took that opportunity to pose with it for some goofy selfies of my own.

No worries, it never touched my lips. Because..... YUCK. 
Here is the view of Cozumel as we sailed away..

The Royal Caribbean boat followed us out. 
We went a little more casual that night for dinner. We went and got some pictures taken on the ship, but none of them turned out. We asked someone to snap this one, but it was too dark.

Oh well- we will just have to enjoy our selfies- which we took at dinner that night!

Never a dull moment with this guy....

A strange thing about dinner..... on our first cruise, we were seated at a large table with like 10 people, and it was great. We visited with others without feeling pressured to make small talk. I HATE small talk. I consider myself a talkative person....but only if I know you. If I don't know you, I would just as soon crawl under a rock than to have to sit and make conversation about absolutely nothing. And as I get older, this characteristic is getting much worse. Good think I married a socialite! On our second cruise, we went with my inlaws, so we had a table for 4, and it was great. Just us, no one else. Well....since it was just Josh and I on this cruise, I expected to be seated at one of the large tables with several other people we could visit with. (ok ok- several other people JOSH could visit with and I could tag along on his conversations!!) That. Didn't. Happen. When they sat us on the first night, it was at a table for 4. That meant just one other couple! That meant I had to talk!!! Luckily they were nice, and we got along just fine. But it totally stressed me out! I was so thankful that I married an extrovert. Otherwise we may have eaten the buffet every night.
Wednesday was our last full day on the ship, and it was a day at sea. This meant that everyone was on the ship....and chairs were hard to come by. So luckily Josh got up early and went and snagged us two and put our stuff on them. I slept in a little and then we went and had breakfast. This was our view while we ate...

It totally did not suck. :)I thought on our first cruise that it would bother me to not be able to see land, but surprisingly it didn't. It was so peaceful out there. I could sit and just watch the water all day long. And I did pretty much just that on the last day. I laid out and listened to music while I read my book and people watched. Oh- and drank mimosas! It was a rough life... but I survived!

They also did an ice carving demonstration out by the pool. It was neat to watch, but was hard to see due to all the people.

Josh spent a little time in the casino, and I just enjoyed our last day of peace and quiet. It was a nice day. Of course we had to take one last set of mirror selfies!!!

But after we took that one, Josh pointed out that he had been on the same side for every picture we had taken. So he insisted that we trade places and take another one..... I could not quit laughing!

We enjoyed a few beverages out on our balcony one last time.

The view.... I could not get over the beauty of God's creation. 

That night we packed and went to a couple of comedy shows before we went to bed.
On Thursday morning, we woke up in Galveston. I'm not gonna lie....I laid in bed and looked at facebook and texted for a wile before I got up to get dressed! I felt like I had been cut off from the outside world for 5 days!!!! hahaha! But beyond that... I was so ready to get home and see my precious angels! This Mama decided that 6 days was way too long to be away from them. It was a first for me. The most I had been gone was 4, and that was with being able to talk to them daily.
But even thought I missed the girls, I enjoyed my time with just Josh and I. We needed that. Time to just BE. Time to relax. It was glorious.
I could never in a million years begin to thank Aunt Bit and Taron for what they did for us. Our girls got to be at home the whole time and with the same person the whole time we were gone. I didn't have to pack bags for 2-3 different places and worry about who was getting them when and for how long. It took a HUGE weight off my shoulders. And the girls got some special and wonderful time in with Aunt Bit and Taron. I had to perform an Aunt Bit detox on them for a few days, but hey- it was worth it!! Memories were made! Memories that they still talk about!!
Coming soon....Brenna will be writing a blog post about their week with Aunt Bit and Taron!!! Should be interesting!