MeMe and PawPaw's Sea /Sh/ore trip

On Wednesday, September 29 we ate an early dinner and then hopped in our packed  mini van to head to Corpus.  With PJs on and blankies and animals in hand we started our long journey South.  The big kids we fine because they had their movie to watch, but Rebekah won the best traveler award hands down.  We stopped so that I could nurse around 8:00pm, although we had not heard a peep.  She rode in silent slumber for the rest of the drive.  We pulled into Mom and Dad's driveway at about 11:30pm with 4 wide eyed children. We had several fun days ahead of us so, Trey took the little ones out to our room and It wasn't t long before the big girls were ready to settle into MeMe's sheets.

It just so happened, whom I kidding? I planned it, that this particular  week of school was the /sh/ sound.
Fish
Sea Shell
Sea Shore
Well you get my drift....

So, our geography lesson was on the Oceans. The girls colored all the oceans blue on the map in their Geography notebook. We also went on 2 boat rides where they touched and looked at the water.  I did try to explain that we were actually in the bay while on the boat and not the Ocean but honestly I was just happy that they learned the Gulf of Mexico.  Pre-K people Pre-K.

You guessed it, Science was about Fish and Sea Shell. So, beach pails in hand we headed off to the National Sea Shore on Padre Island.

Here are just a few pictures of our adventures with by the Sea /Sh/ore at MeMe and PawPaw's

our sand dollar/sea shell

A helping fly PawPaw's kite

Abigail, with her Daddy's help, actually caught a little fish

Hannah, MeMe, Samuel, and Abigail checking out the water on one of our boat rides

Cruise Sunday Coming Home

Sunday it was my idea to eat breakfast in the room. For some reason I thought it would go smoother than trying to eat in the extra crowded dinning room due to the fact that everyone had to be up and ready early to get off the ship. Boy, was I wrong!!! Room service in a tiny room with 2 kids does not go well and the food was late so we were rushed. I don't think either of the girls ate anything.

Getting off the ship went very smoothly, we decided to walk our stuff off so that we did not have to wait so long with the girls.

It really was a GREAT trip! Lots of quality time with the girls that seems hard to come by in the real world when there are always things that need and have to be done. The girls were already asking ,the first night back in their own beds, when they were going to go on the BIG BOAT again. We cant wait to go back!!!

Cruise Day #7 Saturday

Saturday was Donn's birthday. We all surprised him and showed up to dinner with party hats on and Paula ordered him a YUMMY cake. Seriously it was so good I had a hard time leaving the leftovers on the table, but I had already stuffed my self with salad, crab cakes, shrimp and lobster :) Oh, the food was so good!!! We had a great time celebrating!

After dinner the girls went to their farewell party at camp. Trey and I purchased our pictures and started the packing process :( Then the guys went to hang out and us big girls had some fun of our own (shopping) before picking up the little girls. We met the guys on the deck for the "last ice cream" :(
After "last ice cream" Paula and I took the girls to see the decorated b-day room. We hung out with Sedah for a few minutes while she packed and of course it turned into a dress up session :)

I decided that we better leave the room or Sarah would never be able to finish packing :) And we had plans to meet back up with Paula on the deck for our last late night snack, yum yum!

We had a GREAT last night on the ship!!!

Cruise Day #6 Friday

Fun Day at Sea...

We really just hung out in the morning. They had a special "Freddy Party" at the girls camp, Freddy is the fun ship mascot. So, the girls spent time their after breakfast and then we picked them up before lunch to swim. Then it was pizza again for lunch, surprise :) After lunch it was nap time and dinner. After dinner the girls went back to their camp for more Freddy Fun :) They had a really fun day with Freddy! Hannah was super excited because it was her turn to snuggle with our towel friend :) We had a nice day but it went by really quickly!

Cruise Day #5 Thursday

Thursday we woke up in sunny Jamaica. We headed down for breakfast and then took the girls to the little market, on the pier, for a short shopping trip. After shopping we headed back to the boat for another afternoon of swimming in the pool.

Paula found these beautiful hand painted dresses at a shoppe and the girls loved to watch them twirl. We were ready for dinner a little early so we took the girls dancing before our seating time.

Paula is red in the face because she has been trying to hold in her laughter as I try and take a "good" picture of the girls in their dresses and they act silly :) She was the only one laughing. I guess I should say that I was the only one not laughing :)

This was at the girls seats when we sat down. The girls ate quickly because there special program that night started early.

The girls had fun at their fish night but Hannah was exhausted. She got really upset when we picked her up b/c they somehow skipped over her and she did not get her face painted. She was very sad I had to carry her and cuddle her on the way back to the room. They melt down continued during our towel friend time. We felt sorry for her but the whole process was a little too funny not to document. p.s Abigail is laughing at the towel friend and Hannah cant decide if she still wants to cry or laugh.

I think Abigail was delirious with fatigue and Hannah was distraught with fatigue. It was not a very happy ending to our day but it was entertaining. Dont be alaramed she woke up "Happy Hannah" again :)

Cruise Day #4 Wednesday

Wednesday morning we arrived in Grand Cayman later than expected. We planned on getting off and taking the girls to see the town, but the tender was several hours behind schedule. So, we decided to stay on the boat and hang out by the pool. So, after breakfast we walked around for a few minutes and the headed to the room to put our suits on. We had a great time swimming in the pool with the girls. We were the only ones swimming, everyone else was waiting for the tender ticket numbers to be called. Good thing we decided to stay and relax. We would not have been able to get off until after 12:00. The Seales arrived early after noon and the girls got to swim with them too. We swam all afternoon and ate a late lunch before heading to the room for nap.

*It was really bright outside. I thought this was a funny picture

We had another fun night at dinner. Here are the dance pics.

It was PJ movie night at Camp. Abigail wore her PJs but Hannah did not want to take her "pretty dress" off. After camp I picked them up and we headed to the room to see our towel friend. Another great day on the BIG Boat!