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!