Our Cruise! Day #1...At Sea...

On Saturday we loaded up our stuff, grabbed a Taxi and headed to our dock! I have to say the whole process of checking in, etc was a breeze. So super organized, which I'm guessing they have to be with 2,000 guests and 800+ staff aboard. My first thought 'ALL of these people are going to be on the same boat?' BUT its amazing how there are 2,000 people and you don't even know it! AND it was crazy how we ran into the same people again and again. I guess its an even smaller world when you are stuck on a boat together :) We boarded at 11am on Saturday, but left the port until around 5pm...that left us plenty of time to just wander...the first day i felt like we were going in circles. We would be on one side of the boat and realize we were on the wrong floor...make it to the right floor and be on the wrong side of the boat. We did A LOT of walking that first day. There were 13 floors. That's kind of crazy for a boat. Just wait until you see the monster boat that was following a day behind us (but that's for another post). Enjoy.


We took a lot of 'selfies'...yes, we used that word a lot and I'm NOT proud of it. I told Collin what happens on the boat, stays on the boat. So, we haven't used that word since ;)

The outdoor pool....

...the indoor pool

...Maybe just ignore the next pictures. I was trying so hard to look 'afraid.' Apparently I can't pull that off. haha.

...Mississippi bridge...

...our teeny tiny room. I totally forgot to take a pic of the teeny tiny bathroom...but believe me, it was tiny.

...the boat is finally moving! It was a tad windy that day...

...the shows on board were AMAZING and probably my favorite thing...

....Well, my second favorite thing...FOOD was my favorite. In this picture i was brave and ordered SNAIL! yes-i said snail. And you know what? It was actually good!

...first formal wear night...they handed us free wine. I drank a few sips and almost tipped over (did i mention i was sea sick the first two days? we were going through a wind storm...60 mile and hour winds...NOT fun.)

....Love returning to our room to find our cute animal friends!

Breakfast on the deck getting ready to port at Jamaica....BUT that's another post...

STAY TUNED!

New Orleans.

A few weeks ago we headed on our way on our first cruise (together) to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I am not a big traveler (involving airplanes), so to say i was nervous was an understatement. After leaving our kids in Nebraska with our parents we had a full day of traveling...(when you buy the cheaper tickets, you get two layovers)we finally reached New Orleans. We stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast for two nights and walked the French Quarter in between (luckily it was only 3/4 a mile from our B&B). The architecture was beautiful. The music was lovely. The art was amazing. The drinking, smells,language and crazy people is what kept me leery. I don't know how many times Collin and I gave each other 'the look.' This was a city neither of us had ever been to and thought it would be fun to experience. Yes-i would say 'experience' is a nice word...i don't think we'll go back. Haha.
 One highlight was eating beignets (fried dough with lots of powdered sugar). A fried told us we HAD to try one-so we obliged and loved them! So after a full day of walking and eating, we made sure we were back to our B&B by dark (others said that was wise). It's amazing how growing up in the Midwest creates a kind of 'bubble'-and then its popped when you experience something new-outside of my comfort zone ;) Enjoy the pictures! Up Next...the cruise!

The next two pictures are 'people' statues (real people). We saw them everywhere.

Interesting, huh? Not sure how he balanced!

Collin's favorite stop....

These musicians were AMAZING. The man you can't see was playing some sort of an african instrument. IT was beautiful!

AND, yes, i'll end with a man and woman pushing their 'baby' (aka dog) in a stroller. haha.

See...i told you New Orleans was 'interesting' :)

Daddy's helper.

I left for the evening and came back to see these pictures on my camera (Taken by daddy). Guns and cars. I held my breath and didn't say much. Guess i'm going to have to get used to this daddy bond...oh, and boy stuff.