Cruise

At the end of most Dennington Decor seasons Aaron has usually bought himself something for a job well done and then uses the rest of the money to pay off debt. Well, this year the season wasn't even over when he decided that he would be going on a cruise to reward himself for this very tiring season. So, even before we had found out about Aaris's heart condition we had committed to taking a cruise. And, I must say that Aaron definitely earned a vacation this year!!! We were talking about it with our friends the Perkins, Eli and Kristen, and they thought that sounded fun as well. So, we found the most inexpensive cruise out of Galveston and packed our bags for the last week of February. Aaron and I left the kids with my parents for three days and then his parents for 3 days.

The first day was just departing from Galveston, but it was so nice to have a 3 course dinner that I didn't have to go buy groceries for, cook or clean up. Also, that night at dinner we were introduced to the now famous, Chocolate Melting Cake dessert. We were given a choice of three new desserts every night, but could also get a few standards. One of the standards was the chocolate melting cake. So, every night we almost all ordered our "regular" (choc. melting cake) and one of the other new choices.

The boat was much smaller than the other cruise ship I've been on so I did feel it's natural sway a lot more. The first day at sea was not as activity filled as I would have liked just because I didn't feel all that great in the morning and then once I got a motion sickness pill I fell asleep for a couple of hours. Later I talked Aaron into joining me in the ships main swimming pool. He even went down the slide. I guess he wasn't wet and slippery enough and had a little struggle actually getting himself to slide down the slide. I went down about 4 times and it was fun. Then we just set on the deck and read. Very relaxing. We all got dressed up for dinner that night because it was formal night. It's so fun to get to do that. Molly, Eli and Kristen's 9 month baby, also came with us, but I would almost forget she was there because she was so quiet when awake and would sleep anywhere.

We ported in Cozumel and ended up going to a beach resort. They had a rock climbing wall that I had wanted to try, but after I found out I had to pay, we decided we would try rock climbing some other time. But, then we saw the floating "ice-berg" out in the water that seemed very similar to a rock-climbing wall experience. We checked out a paddle boat, which was fun in and of itself, and went out for an adventure. It was harder than I had thought because it was swaying on the water, squishy and flexible from being inflatable, and we were wet from the water. But, getting to the top felt great. Plus, sliding down into crystal clear water is a very fun way to come down. I think I went up 4 times and Aaron went up 3. We then came back to the market place and window shopped. The weather was gorgeous and even seemed a little hot (and this was only February). The water was beautiful. I love nature because I feel closest to God's wonderful glory and design.

Our second port was at Progreso. The water there must be very shallow because the ships had to port a couple of miles out on a dock and then we had to be shuttled into the shore. Progreso seemed more like a village whereas Cozumel seemed more like a city. I like the quaintness of it. They had a great open-air marketplace. Then, I think I got lost in the beauty and moment of being on the beach surrounded by the crystal clear water, and the weather being just right that made me give into Aaron's persuasion to get my hair braided. I was just going to do the top front of my hair, but Aaron is very good at talking me into things because he always makes everything sound so fun. The ladies that did my hair where not gentle by any means and I must say that my eyes watered more than once. But, I got the true Caribbean experience and walked around with my hair braided for 3 more days. One great thing is that I didn't have to spend any time getting ready. I just washed and let it dry.

The last day was the toughest. During the night we had hit a cold front. We could hear the ship crashing into the 10-12 foot high waves and we could DEFINITELY feel them. I once again spent time during the day sleeping with motion sickness pills. There were barf-bags at every elevator and they were all used up. But, by late afternoon it had all calmed down.

Some of my favorite things were spending time with Aaron just talking without being interrupted by kids, our great conversations with Eli and Kristen every night at dinner, karaoke, and the games we played late at night (Scattegories and Catch phrase). Things I could have lived without were the motion sickness, the strange irritated bumps I returned with on my face (lasted about a week), the 2 hour departure process, the guilt of being on vacation at such a hard time in our lives, and the 5 extra pounds. But, was it all worth it....DEFINITELY YES!! A HUGE thank you to Aaron for letting me share in his reward for all his hard work this past year!