cruising into 2013

After Chicago I left 2 days later for a cruise with Sheri, Larry, Katie, and Derrick. I had never been on a cruise and I was so excited! I was also super excited to get out of the cold and wear my bathing suit for a week. (I know, you're already jealous reading this...unless you live in Texas and are currently wearing shorts like me.) Sheri and I drove from Houston to New Orleans where we met the rest of our group. Now I know these ships are huge, but I don't think I ever really realized how big they were! When we first stepped onto the ship a lady came up to Larry, Sheri and I, and she handed Larry a pamphlet and said "Here's more information about our Camp Carnival." She looked at Sheri and walked off. I about peed my pants I was laughing so hard. That lady thought Sheri was our kid! Amazing.

After that amazingness we started walking around to see what we could before Katie and Derrick got there. It's like an entire city inside that ship! There were bars, stages for different shows, a casino, candy store, shops, restaurants, pools, putt putt, you name it, it was there! We headed down for some food when Katie and Derrick showed up. It was perfect timing because people were walking around with trays of champagne for a bon voyage toast.

See ya New Orleans!

That night we had our first dinner in our dining room. We were stuck in the very back at a table with what turned out to be a very annoying group. Our service was terrible and slow. We got our first course when most people were already getting their dessert. The one good thing that came out of sitting there was there was a girl at our table that had food allergies and talked to the hostess about her allergies so I did the same thing. (I hadn't realized that was something I could do.) The hostess came by every night to show me the next nights menu so I could choose what I wanted, and the chefs would make it without gluten or dairy. Anyways, dinner was great, although slow.

After dinner we went and saw a Motown production in one of the theaters. It was corny as hell! The singers weren't that good either. I bet I could have done a better job. Needless to say, we didn't see any of the other musicals on the trip. 

The best part about going back to our room after dinner was seeing the towel animals Clemente would make us. Yes, I know the name of the guy who cleaned our room. It was crazy, that first night EVERYONE was introducing themselves, and after that night they called each of us by our name whenever they saw us. It was really crazy. 

The next two days were days at sea, so we got to check out a lot of stuff. We ate a lot and hit the top deck after breakfast where we stayed most of the day just laying out and relaxing. It was pretty incredible. I also tried running at one point and the track they had was redonk. You had to do 10 laps for a mile! I still tried, but I felt drunk running because I was running from side to side with the rocking of the boat. That day was New Years Eve day so after hanging out on the top deck all day, we napped and then met in our room for a champagne toast before getting ready for our first formal dinner night.

We played a lot of cards during our down time.

New Years Eve night in (mostly) pictures:

Sadly Katie got sick soon after this picture and missed the rest of the night with us. We even tried bringing her lobster and creme brulee to make her feel better. That didn't work.

 Super classy ice bucket.

I apologize for what you're about to see, but it still makes me laugh. After dinner we went to the top deck where there was a DJ and a party. It was a lot of fun, but we had trouble when we first got up there when we tried to open the champagne. I was crying I was laughing so hard!

Derrick got it!...Kind of...

You would think that being in the middle of the ocean they would shoot real fireworks off the end of the boat. Nope. We got a video on the giant tv of fireworks.

Word.

Let's stop there because what comes next is a little nuts. Let me leave you with this teaser, there is falling, passing out, and a trip to the scary bottom level to visit the infirmary.

birthday quotes

My birthday was last week, but things have been crazy around here and I forgot to add these quotes. 

Kid: Ms. Ewing, your letter from me is made of solid gold! (He gave me a card written with a gold paint pen)

Me: Oh yeah? Tell me about it!

Kid: Well my mom found gold and gave it to a gold crusher. He gave it to a pen maker and then gave it back to my mom. I can write in solid gold!

Me: How cool! My note is pretty special then.

Kid: Yeah. You shouldn't throw that away. It's priceless Ms. Ewing.

A Mom: This morning ..... wanted to write you another card. Before I let him start I asked what he wanted to write on it. He said, "I love you, I like you, and I will always be one your side."

I'm pretty lucky with the kids in my class! It's not every day you get a note written in solid gold, or a kid willing to always have your back.

christmas

As we have the past few years, we spent Christmas in Chicago. However, things were different for me. For the first time I didn't have to sleep in the closet! I know, I know, some of you are disappointed. But my sister and Michael are in a new, huge, house equipped with enough bedrooms for everyone to have a bed! It was a very different experience not spending the weekend in a closet. I have to say, I quite enjoyed it. Anyways, it was a lot of fun!

One of our first days there we went for a walk in the new neighborhood and found this on a wall.

 My favorite? "Drop it like it's haaawt"

We asked Miles what he wanted to do before he died and he said wear mittens. (Rebecca had forgotten them and his hands were really cold.) Rebecca was worried people would be sad and think a homeless person put that so I had to clarify he was 2.

So Rebecca gave him her mittens. He was less than thrilled.

My favorite diapers. I don't think Miles feels the same. But he looks so cool and stylish wearing those jeans just like the commercials promised!

You knew this was coming, our typical photo shoot.

Worn out.

On Christmas Eve we always make pizza from scratch, one of my favorite traditions. Miles is finally old enough to be a part of the action. It was so much fun having him there!

Using all 6 burners because we can. Their kitchen is pretty incredible, I am really jealous of it.

Helping out.

Miles even knew that half the fun of putting the toppings on your pizza is eating them as you go. He was really good at that part.

After dinner it was time to put out cookies for Santa. Miles loved putting them down, telling us who was coming that night and how he would come down the chimney. He was totally ready for Santa....

until he realized Santa was getting all of the cookies and he wasn't going to get any of them. He was a little upset at Santa.

Feeding the reindeer with Michael.

Christmas morning we were all excited to walk down with Miles and see how excited he got about the fact Santa had come. What was the first thing Miles asked about walking down the stairs? Where are the cookies. When we got downstairs we were all ooing and ahhing about the presents Santa had brought, etc. Miles? He walked straight to the empty cookie plate and asked what happened. After awhile he finally got over it and loved playing with all of his new toys.

When we finished opening presents I looked outside and it was snowing! Not just a little, Texas snow, but a full, I think this is what they call a blizzard snow! (Now to clarify, I realize it wasn't a blizzard. But as a Texan, what happened was a blizzard.) It snowed pretty hard all day long. We of course had to go out and play in it!

Snow blowing....snow plowing...whatever Michael is doing is only appropriate with a top hat.

Dad and I had a snowball fight. Obviously. However, I think Michael won and he wasn't even playing. See that huge stream of snow for my face from his plower thingy? Yeah, that happened.

Rebecca wasn't joining in so we just decided to corner her and attack.

That night we had our amazing dinner prepared by Rebecca. She loved cooking for me (wheat and dairy free) and my dad (salt free).

 Yum!

 Cheers!

 Merry Christmas y'all!

too many posts...

There is a lot that needs to be blogged, so be patient. Until then, head on over to my fundraising page and donate to help eradicate Batten Disease. It's getting closer to that time again to Run to the Sun, and I can't wait! Any amount will help. Thanks!!

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