From top left to bottom right: Jen & Mom, Katie & Clarke, Denise, ilan & Soda
Dave, Laura, Lori & Ashley, Jason & Jello Shot.
watkins, Hudzik, Christy & Matt, Cummins & Bad Attitude.
Tyler & Jordan, Laura/Denise/Meagan, Matt working the grill, Dad guarding the trash can.
Frank, Farrell, Carrie, John w/ State Trooper shades.
Colleen, Bob, Soda, Melissa.
RECAP:
We hosted a 4th of July party on Saturday evening. These are the photos that I took before my camera battery died. Good food, drinks, company, and 80s music!! It took me a couple of days to recover from this one...
Seasons greetings from the frozen tundra.
Jen and me with our soon to be baby girl in the works.
My parents, Mike and Julie, along with the newest addition.....Baby Ben!
My sister Melissa with her husband Tony and their baby Ben.
My sister Sarah with her husband Kevin, daughters Summer & Savannah, and 13+ yr old dog Steeler.
Our nephew Vincent at Xmas. The only good photo with Jen's family before our camera battery died.
We like to learn while traveling. Here were a couple audio books we listened to while driving.
Jen and I just got back from spending 12 days in the midwest with our families. Our usual travels during the holiday season have us driving from Charlotte, NC to Chicago, IL........spending a couple days there with her family and then driving from Chicago to just outside of Madison, WI to visit my family for 4-5 days.........then driving back to Chicago to spend another couple of days with her family before making the drive back to Charlotte. This year was no different. Luckily the driving conditions complied with our plans and most of the driving was relatively stress free.
This was the first Christmas vacation in quite a while that I didn't have to go out and train. I could just relax and enjoy the time with our families. We still got out for a few walks and I did 3-4 strength sessions though. Here are some notables from our vacation:
* Spending lots of time with our families and meeting our newest nephew Ben.
* Getting both of our parents' computers running.
* Setting my parents up with a web cam so they can feel like they are closer to us once the baby comes.
* Going to Toys-R-Us to let the kids pick out their own gifts from us.
* Cooking a few meals and helping out.
* Playing Tiger Woods golf and Rock Band on the Wii.
* Reading half of my Baby Care Book in one sitting.
* Giving a goal setting workshop to my family.
* Going out to dinner with Jen's family.
* Bowling with Jen's brother.
* Breakfast with Jen's friend Beth and her boyfriend Mike.
* Listening to audio books on the drive home.
All in all there was a lot of quality time spent with our families and a lot of good laughs. I also hope that the goal setting workshop will give some of my family members the spark that they need to start accomplishing some of their goals.
Monday at sunset after dinner at Scarlett's restaurant
Jen and I haven't gone on a vacation where we were completely unplugged from everything for at least 5 years. Our 9 year anniversary is coming up in a little over a week so we decided to do something special with the money that I won from my past couple of races. We ended up finding a cruise leaving Miami on Sunday, August 9th and returning on Sunday, August 16th and making stops in Grand Cayman, Isla Roaton, Belize, and Cozumel. It sounded like a lot of fun and it was!! I forgot just how important it is for us to extract ourselves from our daily routines with no email, cell phone, internet, work, training, etc and live "fuzz free" for 7 days straight. I think it worked out well that we went on this trip solo so we could focus on having fun and interacting on our own together and with our own agenda. We didn't once talk about work, triathlon, or other people. We just focused on having a good time and enjoying each others' company. Along the way we met some fun and friendly people and had a lot of laughs at dinner, on excursions, and while watching shows at the theatre. Here's a day by day recap of our trip:
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8TH
Driving from Charlotte, NC to Miami, FL
We left Charlotte on Saturday at around 10am after Jen cheered on her running group at the Blue Points 5K and I got in a 2 hr bike ride. The GPS said it would take around 10 hrs so we figured it would take around 11 hrs with stops. For the trip we bought the audio book "Good to Great" for our listening pleasure. We like to learn while taking long trips so it doesn't seem like such a waste of time. The book got me thinking about some things that I might need to change when I get back from vacation. We arrived in Miami at around 9pm, checked into the hotel, and went straight to bed.
The view from the hotel in Miami
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9TH
Miami, FL - Day at Sea on the way to Grand Cayman
We went for a run and stopped at McDonald's midway through the run for breakfast and then jogged back to the hotel to do some strength work. We then got everything packed up and took a shuttle van from the hotel to the ship. We boarded the Carnival Valor at around 1:30pm after standing in lines and getting registered. After checking out our room and balcony we went to lunch to check out the options and oh were there options. There were so many choices but Jen and I both opted for healthy choices. I went for a chicken breast, fish, rice, and bowl of fresh fruit. Okay, that will be the last time I update what I ate. Needless to say, the food on the ship was great and the choices were nearly limitless. After lunch we walked around the ship to get our bearings and at 4pm had a mandatory boat drill. After the drill it was off to dinner at the Washington Lounge where we met our dinner mates for the rest of the week. I think we got really lucky and had a fun couple named John and Sonia to share our meals with each night. We got to know each other over dinner and then went our separate ways. After dinner each night we took a walk on the top deck and took photos of us with the sunset in the background. I don't usually like to hold hands or anything like that in public but made the exception for the cruise so we'll see if it continues when we get home. After our walk we were both tired so headed to our room, planned out our next day and went to bed.
Our Dinner Mates while at sea - John and Sonia
MONDAY, AUGUST 10TH
Another Day at Sea on the way to Grand Cayman
Monday was another day at sea so we weren't on any kind of schedule. We woke up and had breakfast which again was awesome! We went to the gym but it was packed so decided to watch a movie in the room followed by a walk on the track. We had some lunch and then read some books while laying in the sun on the top deck. There is a casino on the ship so I decided to try my hand at the Texas Holdem table. I played for about an hour and then we were off to dinner. Tonight was the formal night so everyone got dressed up in suits and nice dresses. We opted to go to Scarlett's where we nearly had the restaurant to ourselves. Jen and I both chose the filet and lobster for our entrees and the desert was obnoxious. After stuffing ourselves at dinner we went to the theatre to watch a show (Night Club Express - song and dance type musical) and then off to bed.
Dinner at Scarlett's restaurant -- surf & turf
Dessert at Scarlett's -- we were a bit stuffed after this
TUESDAY, AUGUST 11TH
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Today was the first day that we were stopping at a port. We planned a Jeep 4X4 Tour for our excursion so we were pretty excited to get going this morning. We had breakfast then took a 10 min tender boat ride to the island. Our dinner mates were also doing this excursion so we hopped in a Jeep with them and followed the carivan of Jeeps. John drove to the first stop and then I got behind the wheel and drove it like I stole it. Jeeps are meant to be driven over potholes, bumps, through puddles, etc so while others were avoiding them.....we were looking for them. Made for a very fun day. We stopped off at various locations and eventually ended up back where we started for lunch, rum punch, and some beach time where John and I did some snorkeling. I could stay out and swim in the clear sea for hours and hours. Jen and I opted to walk 3 miles along the beach instead of taking the shuttle back to the boat. It just sounded like more fun. We had another great dinner when we got back on the boat and then went for a walk and photos at sunset. We followed that up with a show at the theatre (Juggling & Comedian Jim Brick) and then off to bed.
Jeep tour while in Grand Cayman
Say hello to my little friend -- the lizard in Grand Cayman
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12TH
Isla Roatan, Honduras
The ship didn't hit the port until noon today so we headed to the gym first thing and did 30 min cycling and 30 mins strength work. Went to breakfast after that and then walked around the ship and relaxed for a bit. Ate lunch and then headed out to our Tabyana Beach Day excursion in Isla Roatan. The 30 min bus ride from the ship to the beach was something that I've never seen before and made me feel very fortunate. There were people living in brick houses that had no windows and sometimes no roofs. This is something that I've never seen before but I think it's important to see. The land, the beach and snorkeling were amazing. Jen came out with me snorkeling and we had a lot of fun following the scuba divers. After we got back to the boat we had dinner followed by our sunset walk and then Bingo. After Bingo we watched a magic show in the theatre (Magic Moments - Rand Woodbury) and went to bed.
Tabyana Beach in Isla Roatan
Our nightly ritual -- taking photos after dinner
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13TH
Belize
Another early excursion so we had an early breakfast followed by a 25 min tender boat to Belize. We took a bus ride through the city and ended up at Bacab Eco Park where we did the kayak expedition. After kayaking for a little over an hour we had lunch and hung out by the massive pool. The pool had a fast waterslide and I eventually confinced Jen to give it a try. We got back to the boat and off to dinner followed by our sunset walk & photos and then a show at the theatre (Puck - comedy hypnosis) and then off to bed. As you can tell, we are creatures of habit.
Jen on our kayak expedition in Belize
Self photo while crushing the kayak scene
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14TH
Cozumel, Mexico
Our excursion in Cozumel didn't start until 11am so we had breakfast and got off the boat and walked around the shops in Cozumel before our excursion began. Today we did the Twister Boat ride to Isla Pasion which included a high speed boat ride with 360 degree turns. The boat ride was loads of fun and the private island was amazing. There were only 60+ people on the island for the whole day. They served us a mexican lunch and margaritas along with some relaxing time on the beach and on the "floaties". Got back and had the formal dinner followed by our sunset walk and then the show at the theatre (Far From Over - 80s musical). After that we stayed up "late" and went to the karaoke in the Eagles Lounge and I almost got up to sing after a few more margaritas. We then went to Paris Hot for a little Salsa dancing....and off to bed.
Guns blazing in Cozumel -- I love Mexico!!
Jen has the right attitude for Mexico
This is how we got around while in Cozumel
The beach at Isla Pasion
Another beach shot at Isla Pasion
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15TH
Day at Sea on the way to Miami, FL
We woke up late and headed straight to breakfast. Today was a lazy day so we watched a movie in the room (Day the Earth Stood Still) and then to a late lunch. Played Texas Holdem at the casino and ended up with a net win of $48 for the cruise. Went to dinner followed by our sunset walk and then the $5K jackpot bingo. Unfortunately, we didn't win but John and I got a picture with the dude that announced the bingo games. We followed that up with a show at the theatre (Carnival Legends - people selected from karaoke) and off to bed.
Photo shoot with the Bingo Dude and John -- Boo You
A final night with our wait staff -- Eliseo and Pornsawan
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16TH
Driving from Miami, FL to Charlotte, NC
We had breakfast on the ship and then waited around until it was time for our floor to get off the ship. Took a taxi to our hotel and then drove back home from Miami to Charlotte. We finished up listening to the rest of the "Good to Great" audio book and had some conversations about the book and how we might be able to apply some of the principles. The drive seemed to go by pretty quickly and we got home around 9pm and went to bed after greeting the cats.
Each night Ny The Cleaning Guy would make a towel animal for us