Weekend Family Fun

 

Back from vacation and right to being busy again. This weekend we had lots of fun with family!

 

 

Aunt Lorie called me at work Friday morning and asked if she could get Stryker from school for a day with his cousins. OF COURSE! How fun! And what a surprise! They were headed to Monkey Joe's, so before jumping all that energy out, I met them for lunch at CiCi's Pizza. I didn't get a lot of pictures, but I sure did love having a surprise lunch with my boy, Lorie, Peyton & Maddison!

 



 

Enjoying their pizza from the buffet

 

 

 

Auntie Crazy & my girl Maddison! I love her so much!

 

 That night we had dinner with The Alexander's at Little Tokyo for some sushi. Stryker loves entertaining 'Miss Kinley' at dinner but we didn't get any pictures this night. After dinner, we headed over to their house for a relaxing evening on the porch.

 

Saturday, we dropped my car off early in the morning for new tires and came back for some house cleaning & laundry. That afternoon, Mom & I went to Emily's baby shower to celebrate the arrival of Baby K with friends and family. Lorie & Maddison were there (Peyton said it was a 'girl' party and he was staying with Grandpa!) and I captured this cute picture! Little Miss was flirting with this handsome young man! What a couple of cuties!

 

Saturday night, Stryker went back to Granny's house with Nana for the night and Mommy & Daddy had a little adult time out.

 

Sunday we drove to COLA to celebrate the very first birthday of Camden! What a handsome little fellow! He really enjoyed his cake and had no problem digging right in!

 

 

While Camden devoured his cake, the other kids played and had some fun. We were lucky enough to have some more time with The Honours since we were in COLA. Anytime loving on this gal is much appreciated!

 

 

And all time with the boy cousins is always fun! They are a dynamic duo these two!

 

After cake, Camden tackled presents. He wasn't so interested actually, so the big kids got to help and they loved that. He got all kinds of awesome clothes and toys. Happy First Birthday Camden!

 

 

After the party, we headed back down to Aunt Lorie's house to spend some time with them. The boys played, Nana & I went to get Pizza & Salad and we had a very nice dinner all together. Since it was getting late on a Sunday night, we threw the kiddos in a bath together before we headed back home. These will be oh so valuable one day :)

We didn't get back to Summerville until 9ish. You can imagine who was a tired little guy....

 

We had such a family packed fun weekend! Spending time with our cousins and grandparents is so special! 



Day 5: Last Day At Sea

Waaaaahhh! Vacation was almost at an end :( We used our final day on board having lots of fun & relaxing! Grandma & I woke up early and went to the SPA for a massage & facial. Wish I could start the day that way all the time! Afterwards, we met up with Stryker & Daddy for breakfast in the dining room. Once again, it was very good and we were stuffed. We headed to down to the listen on the instructions for the next days debarkation and then back to the water park for a final day of water fun. 

 

 

 

 

Stryker wanted to listen to Daddy's IPOD... Isn't he the cutest! And I have no idea what's with throwing up hand signs when he poses now.. I guess he watches us too much! 

 

 

Stryker really liked the Drink of the Day cup, so we ordered him a Fun Ship MockTail in the souvenier cup :)

 

 

After a couple hours of sun, we headed down to lunch buffet and then back to the room for a shower. Daddy wanted to try to catch the opening game of his favorite soccer team, Manchester United. We walked around the ship and found it on in one of the lounges. The boys loved that!

 

 

After swimming, soccer, shopping and then heading back upstairs once again to pack, it was time for the pre-dinner show. All that fun = no nap. And no nap = sleeping as soon as the lights were dim :) Stryker missed out on a Beatles musical the Carnival dancers and singers put on. It was very entertaining. 

On the way out, our cruise director Matt posed for a picture with a sleepy boy.

Once across the ship back in the dining room, Stryker was back to full force (yeah.. it was long walk :)). He took pictures with my camera, and some pretty good ones too!

 

This was Anthony, our head waiter

 

This was Leslie, our assistant waiter

 

That's a funny Daddy face!

 

That's Stryker's model face again

 

 

After dinner, we took one last stroll around the ship and headed back to the room. Needless to say, little man passed out quickly. This was such a wonderful vacation! I'm glad we were able to spend the week with Grandma and Stryker and really enjoy each other as well as have fun on the ship. I love cruising and I hope we can do it again in the future. Stryker really enjoyed himself!

Day 4: Freeport, Bahamas

Day 4: Sunday. We awoke to another beautiful Bahamian day! I had never been to Freeport before, so I was curious as to what we would find when we got off the ship. We couldn't really see anything from our balcony except what look to be a shipping port of sorts. I was ready to head off the boat. Daddy had a rough night the evening before, so Grandma, Stryker & I showered and dressed and headed down for the breakfast buffet. We got our tummies full then made the track downstairs to unload. I was thankful for another port day where we pulled right up to the pier versus taking tenders. Freeport was nothing but a little shopping from what I could tell. It was hot and Grandma found a nice shady bench while Stryker and I wondered around doing some shopping.

 

 

This little thing was creepy... part lizard, part curvy tailed creature

  

After loading up on trinkets and seeing all that there was to see, we headed back to the boat to get Daddy. Luckily, he was already up & almost ready to head out the door. We decided we were going to take a taxi out to one of the beaches. Grandma stayed on board and the three of us unloaded once again to find a ride. We had to wait for about 20 mins for enough people to take a taxi out to Junkanoo Beach Resort at Taino Beach. It was another 20 minute ride from the pier out there. We arrived and rented a couple chairs and an umbrella and a nice gentleman got us all set up. Other than it being a little crowded on the beach, it was quite nice. We had some tropical drinks, a local beer and a Daddy even got a burger for lunch. We played in the ocean and sand until we were all tired out and it was time to catch a taxi back to the ship.  



 

Where's Dan-O?

Once back on board, Dan & Stryker took naps while I retreated to the sun deck with my book and a drink of the day. It was nice to sit in the shade and relax alone. So much so, I dozed off for awhile and didn't even realize we had left Freeport! I headed back up to the suite and it was time to get everyone bathed and dressed for dinner.

 

 We headed down early to let Stryker play in the arcade for a little bit; we walked around the shops; we sat in one of the lounges mid ship and listened to a band play. It was nice to relax before dinner now that everyone was refreshed. 

 

 

 After dinner, we headed out on deck for the Deck Party. Stryker had a blast! He found some kids to run around and play with and we did some line dancing. I never dreamed I'd be teaching my 3 year old how to electric slide on a cruise ship :) Stryker also practiced his photography skills with the IPhone (that's the reason for poor quality!). 

 Do NOT be alarmed! Our child is NOT taking shots... Well, he is, but it's just lemonade :) He loved the LED shot glass & made sure we brought that home as a souvenir!

 

This child is a HAM!

After awhile, he asked Daddy to take him up to bed. They all went upstairs to the room and I sat out on deck and watched the dancing and fun until I was just too tired as well. Couldn't forget about our nightly towel animal though. Dan said Stryker had to make sure it was in plain view so I could get a picture of it :)