Hawaii Wishes: ...and we're BAAACK!

Well, we're HOME!
I tell ya. Taking a vacation, getting away from life & kids for a while is SO nice, but coming home to your OWN BED is even better!!!

The 6 of us took off out of here almost 2 weeks ago. We made our way to north Georgia to drop the kids off with grandparents. I got to hold & love on my newest nephew, Tyson. MAN, I love that boy! He is SUCH a good baby!! I almost forgot what it was like to change diapers! BUT, its a lot like riding a bike. It comes back to ya! Oh, and my brother Todd is a great daddy! It's kinda strange seeing him with a baby!

Since my grandmother moved in with my folks, and we hadn't been home in almost 3 years, it was really nice seeing the changes they had made to the house, and getting to spend time with my Grammie. She's a big crafter like me, and seeing her CRAFT ROOM that my dad built for her was AHHHMAZING! I was able to teach her how to use the Cricut, and my daughter Emily & Grammie had a BLAST playing with it!
Of course, there's never enough time to visit with family. I miss them already!

Last Saturday, the boss man & I made our long haul to Tampa for my cousin's wedding. They got married in Apollo Beach, and it was beautiful! It was fun seeing a lot of people I hadn't seen since we lived there when I was 4!

Then, one week ago today, the boss man & I went on our very first CRUISE! We left out of Port Canaveral, Florida. We went to Coco Cay, then Nassau, Bahamas.
We were on the Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas ship. It was a smaller boat, but perfect for first time cruisers! I did NOT get sea-sick, and we had a lot of fun!! Unfortunately, no one ever tells you about when the boat does indeed rock, or sway, it has a tendency to rock you to sleep like a baby... um. I fell into that category. I was SO sleepy every day! I wanted to just SLEEP!
The food was great, the staff was awesome & it. was. HOT. No, not just hot. SWELTERING. We called ourselves the crispiest white people on the boat.
Here are some pics from the cruise...

Our ship! Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas

Boss Man.... don't jump babe!

Boss Man looking out at the Norwegian Jewel...another cruise that seemed to 'follow' us!

The waters were VERY calm, and honestly, couldn't have asked for better weather!
First stop was Coco Cay.
Oh my dear sweet Coco Cay. I miss thee. Crystal blue waters!! The beaches were so white & beautiful, it was the stuff out of dreams! Had there been a breeze of ANY kind, I would have told the boat to go on without me...
Boss man & I did some snorkeling in Coco Cay. That was an amazing experience! We saw lots of all too friendly fishies... (when I say too friendly, I mean it. Lets just say I had a near-panic attack!) we saw a flounder, bright blue fishies, and got to snorkel to props from the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' ships. THAT was a lot of fun!! There was a live band, and the weather held out long enough for us to get BURNED to a crisp, and head back to the boat.
And by burned, I mean so burnt that I had chills at the formal dinner that night, and felt like I had some sun poisioning. ugh. fair skin & red hair.... BAD combo.
anyway, here are some pics we took in Coco Cay....

there's our ship! sitting pretty in between two swaying palm trees!

We also got some awesome pics & video of our snorkeling adventure!

this one cracks me up! I told you the fish get all up in your comfort zone! These were going after the Boss Man's bum...

NOW... let me talk about Nassau.
I remember 'way back when', and its seemed like everyone was going to Nassau...
It's not what it's cracked up to be.
I think maybe Nassau is past its prime. Maybe 'back when' it was a nice place to visit, but now, its just not worth it.
When we arrived, we rented a scooter for the day. It wasnt overly expensive, and it was a lot of fun!
A lot of the locals said we needed to see certain sights, areas, etc... OK. We mapped out our attack plan, and off we went.
We wanted to see some of the old forts they had, and see some old historic pirate stuff... WELL... For a place that 'raves' about their historic sights, and is 'sooo proud' of their land, lemme just say that it felt like a 3rd world country.
Their beaches were trashy! Full of debris, old trash, used um....condoms (EVERYWHERE!), old clothes in the water... the list goes on & on.
Now, before anyone gets mad, and puts me in my place, let me say this.
We've been to Hawaii where the people there basically survive off tourists. That's how they make their money. The Hawaiian people love their land. They praise their Gods, and adore their tourists. They are proud of who they are, love you like family, and its very apparent on the island. Even the 'bad' parts of Hawaii are still lovely!
Nassau? Notsomuch.
Most of the people act as if tourists are a burden. They will literally STOP you in the middle of the road, and pester you to buy something. It was almost scary.
The 'bad' parts of town had NO running water. There was maybe 1-2 pumps on each street for people to come pump their own water for drinking, bathing, cooking, etc. It was really sad.
The children? Oh, please dont get me started. Those poor babies. Looked like they hadn't eaten in a while. Looked like they hadn't bathed in a while. My heart was in pieces.
But what can you do? We just did what we had to do to get out of those areas, and go about our day. It really was hard to enjoy ourselves knowing these children lived like they did.
Dear Lord, keep Your hand over them!

Though we remember more of the sad parts of Nassau, we did manage to get some nice pics...