Don't ever change

Drew was being his cute self trying to talk Mommy into getting him cheese bread from Frankie's for dinner. When she asked him if he had money he said, "Just write a check!". After going around and around, Mommy said, "Oh buddy, I hope you never change." His logic was so funny. His reply was, "I will! I'll be a grown up like you!" Gotta love 'em.

Cruise

San Juan airport

Flying home in style

scratched up face

HOME at last

Saturday was another long day of travel. We got off the ship around 9:30am and headed to the airport. It was raining in San Juan. The taxi driver said it had been raining for 3 days already. Our plane left at 4pm so we had some time to kill. The rest of our group had gone on a tour. The airport had plenty to keep us busy. Drew had pizza AND McDonald's. Mommy then walked him around the area we were in 3 times before he fell asleep. He took a nice nap while Mommy and Daddy did some people watching and visiting with other people off our ship. The time went really fast.

On the plane, Drew took an hour nap, watched some videos, read some books and colored. Again he was awesome on the plane. We were in the last row which allowed us some extra snacks from the flight attendants. Drew fell asleep in the car on the ride home. We told him he could play for a bit when we got home, but he said he wanted to go right to bed. It was 9pm our time, but 11pm ship time.

Simon and Sabrina were happy to see us. They were annoying when we were trying to sleep, they wanted attention! Simon seems anxious every time we have left him this week. He attacked Mandi every time she went to feed him.

SINCE WE'VE BEEN BACK

It has already been a week! Daddy has been working and Joey and Dylan have been at Auntie Daycare again. Everyone is happy to be together again. Drew got sick again within 2 days of being home. He didn't make it to school this week. He has a fever, cough and runny nose. Poor guy. He finished 10 days of antibiotics for an ear infection part way into our trip. In the last 5 weeks, the only time he wasn't sick was when we were on our vacation. Guess we should move!

We had lunch at Chuck E. Cheese one day this week. They got new games and Drew can't stop talking about it! Mommy and Daddy went to give blood this week. Mommy wasn't able to give because her Iron was too low. Never has been a problem before. Tomorrow the boys are heading to Monster Jam again. But this time Joey and uncle Erik are going too! Drew can hardly wait!

Cruise

Drew singing at the talent show
Drew and Max

Drew in the lounge that looked down over the pool

dinner

exhausted from a long week!

DAY 7

Friday was a day at sea. We let Drew sleep as long as he wanted since he had to get up early the 3 days before when we went on excursions. Drew went to kids club to play with the other boys for awhile in the morning. After kid's club we went to the kiddie pool. Drew and Daddy went down the water slide. There wasn't enough water pressure for the two of them so Drew decided to go by himself. He did really well and he loved it. After the pool we we had lunch and Drew went back to the kid's club. The rest of us went to the card room and played "Apples to Apples". We played a couple times in the week, it was a lot of fun. In the afternoon there was a talent show in the kid's club. Drew sang "big green tractor" he did so awesome. We were surprised he sang in front of so many people. We have it on video if you ever want to see it.

Every night there was a lounge we could go to for champagne and kiddie cocktails. A couple nights there were cocktail parties before dinner. Most nights Daddy went bumming around after Mommy and Drew were in our room for the night. Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Jim enjoyed their first cruise so much that by the 2ND day they were asking where we were going next year. Everyone had a good time!

Cruise

Inside the Atlantis Submarine
in awe

our ship

dinner

Pirate Drew playing air hockey

Day 6
Thursday we were in Barbados. It was the day Drew was waiting for all week. We went on the Atlantis Submarine. Drew really enjoyed it. But as was true on most excursions we went on during our trip, as soon as we got in there Drew said, "I'm hungry". He ate so much all week, he was always hungry! We saw lots of fish and creatures in the ocean. We went over a sunken ship and even saw a turtle. It was fun to see the sub go down with the next set of tourists when we were done. Papa, Mimi, Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Jim were on the sub right before us so we got to see them in passing. Their tour continued with an island tour which we didn't do because there wasn't room for all of us. We went back to the pier and walked around. We were only asked about 6 times if we wanted to go on a tour with a taxi. If you ever go to Barbados and want an island tour, do it with a local instead of through the ship. It is cheaper and there are PLENTY of taxi's to go around!

When we went back to the ship we had lunch in the Windjammer Cafe. For the first time all week we ate there instead of in our room! Mommy actually got to see what they served instead of just eatting a veggie sandwich (which was always yummy!). During lunch we watched the dock workers taking containers off trucks to get them ready to ship. Drew was in heaven. We then went to the front of the ship where the helicopter pad was. It was a neat view from there, but Mommy would not have allowed Drew up there if the ship had been moving. It was a little scary. The rails seemed shorter and more open than any other part of the ship. Mommy also had a problem the day Drew stood on a window on the 12Th floor that looked down to the 4Th floor through the Centrum. Mommy couldn't watch him do it, her stomach was in knots!

It was formal night and "pirate night". Most nights when we picked Drew up from Adventure Ocean we played in the arcade. We had good luck there. On this night the air hockey table let us play for free. There was another game where you won little prizes in plastic bubbles. Almost every time we went to the arcade, there were a bunch of unclaimed prizes in the bin. Drew got a lot of loot. When we built the red eyed tree frog, the lady before us got a $10 arcade card for whatever she purchased. But since her grand kids were not on the trip, she gave the card to Drew.

Cruise

Indian River tour boat
Drew on the river

the beach

dinner

Drew and friends


DAY 5

Wednesday we were in Dominica. We got up early AGAIN for an Indian River Tour. We took a rickety bus on terrible roads for an hour or so to a really peaceful river. As you can see in the first picture the boat was small. We had 10 people in the boat including the guide who did all the rowing. Luckily most of the time we could see the bottom. We saw a lot of fish, birds and crabs. We went up stream and stopped at a secluded little area with a bar/hut to walk around. Our guide made Mommy and Drew origami out of leaves. Then we went back down river to our bus. The bus took us to a beach where we had a beverage and played in the water a little. The tour was supposed to end up at another beach. It was also supposed to be about 4 hours. It ended up being closer to 6 hours and we didn't do the second beach stop. It was a rough ride! Drew somehow did fall asleep for awhile on both rounds of the bus ride.

Drew did his nightly trip to Adventure Ocean. Mommy and Daddy tried out the casino. It wasn't much fun. However, Aunt Phyllis might say different.

Cruise

Rail

and Sail

what a life

Family Feud

"Dangerous Drew" making a red eyed tree frog

DAY 4

Tuesday we were in St Kitts. We had to get up pretty early to have breakfast and get on shore for our Rail and Sail excursion. We took a rickety old train with an open top around half of the island and then a catamaran around the other side. On the train we saw lots of goats, dogs, 5 monkeys and lots of beautiful sights. Drew enjoyed the motion of the train and took a nap. Then came the catamaran. Having never been on one before Mommy didn't know what to expect. We had to take our shoes off before we got on. After a quick safety lesson, Daddy parked himself in front of the free bar. He probably didn't even know the boat moved. Mommy, Mimi and Drew sat out front and the rest of our group (the water fearers) stayed in the area with seats. It was so relaxing and very enjoyable. Our guide was very funny. Mommy did get a rum punch shower when the man next to her reached up to grab his hat and forgot he had a cup in his hand! No problem.

That night after dinner we played Family Feud. It's A LOT easier when you are sitting in the audience and not up on stage. We won a plastic key chain! The theme for Adventure Ocean was Super hero's. They turned Drew into "Dangerous Drew". He was cute. The also had "Pets at Sea" which was basically Build a bear. Drew made a red eyed tree frog that he named "Royal" (for Royal Caribbean) and then changed to "red eyed tree frog" .

Cruise

Drew and Shaun our cabin attendant
Looking at fish off the pier

Drew and the ship

Serenade of the Seas

Happy boy at dinner


Day 3

Monday we were in St Croix USVI. It was absolutely beautiful! Mommy wants to move there! We walked around the town we docked near and went to the post office. On our way back we stopped at the fire station and a market. We did a little shopping and walked down the beach. The rest of our group had gone on an excursion.

Each day for lunch Drew wanted to eat in our room. Daddy would go to the buffet and get pizza for Drew and a sandwich for Mommy. Drew would eat on his bunk bed. He never wanted to go eat in the restaurant. He never slept in the bunk, only ate or played with his toys. At one point Drew asked if he could "go to Mimi and Papa's apartment to go pee". It was so cute.

The theme at Adventure Ocean was camping. They did all kinds of camping related activities.

Cruise

The gondola
St Thomas

Drew and our ship

Drew in the kiddie pool

Drew in his "groove detector"

DAY 2

Sunday we were in St Thomas USVI. We rode the gondola up the hill to Paradise Point. Drew thought it was cool. We saw lots of geckos, ants and millipedes. When we went back to the ship we went to the kiddie pool. While we were at the pool, Mimi, Papa, Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Jim were going up in the gondola. While Mommy was talking to Mimi on the phone Drew almost drown. Drew was jumping from the ankle deep water into the waist deep water. Daddy was supposed to be watching him, but wasn't paying very close attention! Drew lost his footing and couldn't right himself. Mommy jumped in and grabbed Drew. Drew was fine and continued playing in the pool. Luckily Mommy's phone and camera survived too.

Our dinner was at 6pm each night. At 6:40pm a staff member from the kid's program would meet us at the dining room entrance and take Drew to the kid's program. Drew loved going to the kid's program, it was called "Adventure Ocean". There were two other four year old boys that were there a lot. Max was from Milwaukee and another Drew who was from St Louis.

Sunday was "space night". They made "groove detectors" and went on a hunt for "fuzz buzz" whom they did not find. They also made "space mud" which was gooey and green, Drew's favorite.

Caribbean Cruise

Drew, Mommy and Baby Jag on the airplane

Drew and Inky (the Octopus) on Serenade of the Seas

Mini golf on the ship

Drew and friends

Drew at the sports bar

DAY 1
Saturday January 9th we left for San Juan Puerto Rico. It was a 5 hour flight and Drew was awesome. We watched movies, took a nap, played toys and read books. When we got to San Juan we were able to get on the ship right away. We played mini golf and went to the kids program open house. Drew won a baseball hat in a raffle. He loved it so much, it was his hat of choice for the rest of the week. It was a really long day and Drew did very well.

Happy New Year

Winter vacation is over and Drew went back to school today. Of course he woke up at 3:30am today. He was in and out of our bedroom. He was crying about his ear hurting. After school I took him to the Doctor for an ear check. Sure enough his right ear is infected and he has a blister on his ear drum. The left ear had some fluid, but it was not infected. At least we started on medication today. We leave for our cruise on Saturday.

Drew's preschool is in Central Middle School. We have to walk down a long hallway to get to the Family Learning Center. If we get there a little early we do not see any of the middle school kids. If we are on time we have to walk through "the long grass" as Drew calls it. Meaning the middle schooler's are in the halls. Tall people are now called "long grass".

When Drew was going down for a nap he said to me, "Mom, pretty soon my butt will be big and hairy." At least he was talking about himself and not Mommy!

Drew was excited to learn the next Monster Jam is later in the month and not while we are on vacation as we first thought. He was sad to miss motocross because he has never seen it before.

Drew went on a date with Kirk and Kari last week. They took him to Chuck E Cheese. He told them his favorite part was spending time with them. He is going to be a heart breaker!

Three more full days to "enjoy" this bitter cold weather before we head to the Southern Caribbean. We can hardly wait!!!!!