Wednesday, June 27, 2012

cruise - part 3

2nd stop - halifax, nova scotia
please note the "proud members of steeler nation" on the sign for this local coffee shop

some famous canadian guy - he did something with steamboats

it was a beautiful day for hanging out. halifax was a neat place and we walked quite a bit on a local boardwalk . . .

played on the playground . . .

got cokes in a bottle . . .

saw theodore the tugboard . . .

and got rides on the way back.

some nose picking going on in the midst of all the touring

then we got some family photos




this goes towards the "good sport award" - lots of hair doing going on

camp carnival crafts. ted loved his time there. sophie a little less. but she went. we let ted register for a party from 10pm-midnight b/c he was so excited about it. he laid out clothes and was really excited. then decided he was too tired. i kind of really wanted him to go. oh well.

our towel folding steward

our breakfast/lunch/hangout spot

ted's view of the hot tubs (it rained the day we left)

ted's view of the water slide

and coming back to real life
good times!

cruise - part 2

uncle andy & aunt courtney get the "good sports award" for the week.

1st stop - st johns, new brunswick - not a whole lot happening there folks



they gave us flags when we got off the boat. helped our tourist get up. ted's camo backpack was our essential carry-all for the week. thank you, pottery barn.

ted, sophie & "the fisherman"

the boys & the mountie

playing a little battle ship while we waited for it to warm up enough to swim

sophie plays a mean game of candy land

ted loved the slide. sophie wasn't big enough but was ready in a heartbeat in case someone gave her permission on the fly

it never really did warm up enough to swim

ted LOVED this. he's waiting for lessons, jacob



cruise - part 1

The next several posts will be lots of pictures. More or less for me and keeping photos. Just my disclaimer.

Plane buddies

doing a little light reading

so, they didn't follow instructions and take the back seat out of the 15 passenger van. Ever tried to put 12 people's luggage in a space about 12 inches wide. Ain't happening.

waiting to board the boat

boston in the background

catching a few rays

sophie's version of sun bathing

checking out the sunset



ted was a total ham with in the photo department. he was no stranger to the picture section of the boat. many of which were individual shots.


Tuesday, June 26, 2012

cruise to canada

So we closed on our house and moved 2 1/2 weeks ago. That's another story for another day. A week after the move, we hit the road, airways and water ways for vacation. After 10 days of sweat, painting, unpacking, exhaustion and obsessiveness to get our house unpacked, a vacation was very much in order. Not that vacation with little kids is a vacation.

In October or November, Ben's mom called and said she wanted to do a family cruise. We all agreed and ended up on a flight to Boston to pick up a cruise to Canada. So away we went last week. Before I share most pictures, I would like to share my top 10 moments (in no particular order).



1. We started vacation by leaving Morgantown at 3 am for our 6:30 am flight. The kids had a backpack and a small suitcase each and were such troopers making it through the airport. They seemed so grown up.




2. Dinner one night with Andy and Courtney at a steakhouse on the ship. It included raw meat, an 18 ounce cow boy cut, the stinkiest cheese plate EVER and one huge piece of cheesecake.






3. Ted's response to seeing the beds they would sleep in. Their beds were pulled out of the ceiling above our bed. He said, "This is going to be brutal." It ended up being really fun and they were awesome.





4. Sophie squealing on the plane as we landed in Boston. It was a first flight for both kids and they loved it.




5. My children spending a significant amount of time on the 5th deck after dinner one night. That would include the casino and maybe a var that included a Martini Tasting!




6. Family dinners. Even though we didn't sit where and how we wanted to every night, it was still nice to sit down as a family every night. We talked. We laughed. We tried new foods. 



7. Swimming and playing putt-putt golf in the the COLD! Canada ain't warm, folks. Add a moving vessal into that and you've got cold.





8. Ted wanted to make a zoo with the towel animals. Then he said one day (totally unrelated to the the previous comment), "This is really better than the zoo. I would like our whole family to go to the zoo. But that would only be a few hours. This is a lot of days."





9. Ted & Sophie spent an evening with the rest of the family while we went to dinner with Andy & Courtney. They saw a show that may or may not have had slightly inappropriate costuming. It really bothered Ted. He finally told me about it last night.

10. This was by far my favorite: Walking down the hallway with Ben, Andy, Courtney and the kids, laughing so hard we couldn't breath. All of us. By far my favorite moment of the whole trip.

Thanks, Doh, for a great family vacation!