New Year's Eve - 2013

We spent New Year's Eve eating at the Teppanyaki Grill on the ship, followed by drinks at the martini lounge, a bottle of champagne on the main deck, with a great view of the huge party with live music waiting for the countdown to midnight.  It was a very fun night, with energy you could feel in the air, as we made our way to Jamaica.  Most NYE we don't do a whole lot, so we took advantage and had a great time!

Spent some early mornings like this on the balcony reading.

Dinner at Teppanyaki.

Yum.  One of the best dinners of the cruise.

Champagne..."yes please.....actually....

......leave the whole bottle.  Yup, the whole thing.  Thanks!"

Wake up!  It's only 10 pm!

Got to the main deck early.  There was a young boy (in the white shirt) about 9 or 10 who would do this little jig out of no where for 30 seconds, then stop abruptly and the dance a few minutes later.  So cute.

Us waiting for midnight.

Crowd is starting to fill in.

Ok, the main deck is jammed packed with midnight a few minutes away.

Our first photo of 2014! I think looking a little to "happy" is a good thing!

Blowing this picture up for you so you can see Spider man.  See him? On the stage, in the middle!  Full blown costume and everything?!  A few days later he was dressed head to toe as a panda.

Happy 2014.  Hoping it's everything you want it to be!  Now on to Jamaica!

Caribbean Cruise - Bahamas

 This was our first trip by ourselves, that didn't involve family commitments, work commitments, or the kids since our honeymoon and Thanksgiving getaway to Napa in 2008. So obviously we were excited! We also increased our countries visited up to 13!  Yes, world travelers.....or not.

I could talk for a full hour about our cruise vacation but typing all that out would be ridiculous and we all have better things to do so I'll keep it semi short.  The ship, Norwegian Pearl, was pretty nice.  We spent most of our time in the spa when we were on the ship.  We enjoyed most dinners as breakfast and lunch at the buffet were sub par. We worked out everyday at the gym, or running around the track outside, and played shuffle board. The shows at night were really good and we enjoyed seeing those too!

Scott near the water slide and kid pool on the main deck.

First drink of the cruise at the piano lounge.

The hydro therapy pool was filled with jets. Awesome!

Tiled and heated lounge chairs.  If you couldn't find me, this is where I was.

View from our deck.

First sunset.

Taking in the sites of the wide open ocean.

Our ship from the tender boat.

Our first stop was at Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. (We had previously been to Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas but Great Stirrup Cay was new to us!) Norwegian Cruise Lines have their very own private island.  We took tender boats to the island and Scott and I signed up for the para sailing excursion.  It was a first for both of us and so calming being high above everything, feeling like your flying with just the wind in your ears.  There were about 8 other people on our excursion so we also enjoyed a boat ride around the island while everyone else went para sailing.  After para sailing we found two lounge chairs near the lagoon and spent the rest of the day playing and swimming in the tepid water, hanging out on the hammocks, enjoying some tropical drinks (banana daiquiris), and applying sunscreen!  It was so bright, sunny and hot outside!

First morning, ready for the Bahamas.

Approaching part of the island.

I apparently had one leg in the Bahamas. 

The water was so pretty.

Scottie walking along the beach.

Enjoying the view.

Enjoying the view.

On our boat ride.

Yikes! Getting hooked up to para sail.

Here we go....

....weeee......

.....higher....

.....and higher....

....and higher.  500 feet above the ocean.

Warm tropical weather on the last day of the year.  Can't beat it!

Welcome to Miami

We flew out of Baltimore to Miami on Saturday (our cruise leaves on Sunday) and stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Miami.  It was a gorgeous hotel and we had an amazing corner room with floor to ceiling windows, an awesome bathroom with a separate tub and shower and the bathroom mirror even had a TV in it.  I watched Martha Stewart bake bread while taking a shower.

We enjoyed our 1 evening in Miami by going out to (The Oceanaire Seafood Room).  We knew there wasn't a seafood restaurant on the cruise ship so we chose seafood for dinner since we were right by the coast.  It was really fresh and delicious! It was also really warm outside so we walked around the little downtown area before ending our evening.

Sunday morning we didn't need to be on the cruise ship until noon so we both ended up working out at the most complete hotel gym I've ever seen.  It could rival any Equinox, LA Fitness, NYSC gym.  The views from the gym were also amazing.  Then fueled up on a free breakfast from the concierge lounge before packing up and taking a short taxi drive to the port.

Part of our awesome room!

A TV in the bathroom mirror.

 Views from our room of downtown Miami.

Early morning view from the gym.

Picking about 1 of 15 languages on the treadmill.  Highest tech. treadmill I've been on.

View of this awesome yacht from my running vantage point.

Lazy days in PA

We spent a few extra days in PA after Christmas and before our cruise.....playing with the kids and their new toys, going sledding and taking them to Chocolate World.

Bryan dragging Katie up the hill....again.

My dad has a little tree farm going on on the side of the property.  It's fun to walk between while the kids sled.  You almost feel like you're in your own little forest.

Happily playing.  

His fire station is growing slowly. 

 A little cottage made entirely of candy at Chocolate World.  The door was made of 6 5lb bars of chocolate.  The roof was made of licorice, the bricks made of cookies and cream bars, the wreaths made of hershey kisses, the walkway leading to the door made of Hershey's candys in the m&m sizes.