Cruise Pics: Friday, 1/16 - Grand Turk

Friday, January 16th:

We spent all morning lounging around since we didn't arrive at Grand Turk until 1pm.

After breakfast on Deck 15

A lover's stroll down Deck 7

A lover's kiss

Lover's

Grandma, Lovey, Momma hanging out, Deck 7

Grand Turk, 1:00 pm

We toured the island in a golf cart, stopping when ever & where ever we wanted. Lovey & I rented snorkel gear and snorkeled while Momma & Grandma laid on the beach. The water was cloudy so we weren't able to see a lot of fish or marine life. The wind picked up and waves started to roll like crazy. After 45 minutes we stopped and enjoyed the afternoon setting sun.

Lovey rented a golf cart making it easy to tour the 8 mile long, 2 mile wide island

Conch shell on beach

Historic Site: US Astronaut, John Glenn, landed here after his

orbit of the earth in the spaceship, "Friendship"

(Lovey & I are signing "friend")

The Grand Turk Inn

Her Majesty's Prison

They named a street after us, Mom!

T + A = LOVE

Lovey on the pier

and the beach

Beautiful afternoon sun

Mom & Grandma on the beach in the Caribbean!

Returning to the ship

Lovey & me @ dinner - Yummy!

This was our "home" for 7 days,

Baja Deck 11, Room 746

Cruise Pics: Sat, 1/17

Saturday, January 17th: Sea Day

We're heading back to Ft. Lauderdale. At Sea all day. Lounged, played, took pictures, ate (then ate some more), and watched Eagle Eye under the stars

Cruise Pics: Sun, 1/18 & Mon, 1/19

Sunday, January 18th:

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale's port at 7:15 am Sunday morning. Lovey got our shuttle to the airport, where we dropped off Pat & Kim (who were returning home that day), and picked up our rental car since we were staying in Florida for the night.

After breakfast and a quick change of clothes, Lovey took us to a National Park - Sawgrass Reserve - and we took a boat ride through the everglades looking for Alligators. The Alligator we saw came right up to my side of the boat. Grandma & Carol held a 4 foot alligator too.

Monday, January 19th:

6 am on our Delta flight to Atlanta. Lovey snatched my eye mask and was being silly as we waited to take off. Mom & Grandma were across the isle from us, and Jack & Carol were several rows behind us.

Home

We're home. And what a feeling it is to be home. Loved our vacation, but I seriously missed my babies! By day 4 I was in a serious home-sickness state. By day 5 Lovey started dreaming about the girls and the song they sing to him when he comes home from work. I was in a sour mood and nothing was making me happy. Lovey pulled up some pictures of Rebecca & Mary-Gail on the laptop I brought, and that lightened my mood and returned the smile to my face. Lovey & I viewed pictures of Becca & Miguel from the 4th of July - I couldn't believe how much they had grown since then! Lovey & I dreamed about our reunion with our littles, and pictured their reactions to seeing us after 10 days. That's what helped me endure my separation from them. My little angels - Becca & Miguel were so well taken care of in our absence. Happy to be home...so very happy to be home.

1 Princess, 2 Saints, and a Turk

Tomorrow, Sunday, at 2pm, we'll arrive at Port Everglades to check-in for our cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Ahhhhh! I am so, so, so excited! We have been discussing this since May; planning it since August; and reviewing, Googling, and researching our itinerary since October. Finally the day has come that we get to disembark (I love saying that word) and cruise!


Our ship is the "Crown Princess" of the Princess Cruise Line. We're visiting 1 Princess, 2 Saints, and a Turk along our 7-day vay-cay. Ahhhh! I can't believe this day has finally come!


Sunday: Sail
Monday: Princess Cays, Bahamas - Private island of the Princess Cruise Line
Tuesday: at sea
Wednesday: Saint Martin (French territory)/Sint Maarten (Dutch territory)
Thursday: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Island (with plans to ferry to St. John!)
Friday: Grand Turk, British Virgin Island
Saturday: at sea
Sunday: arrive back to Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Lovey, Me, Mom, Grandma, Lovey's 2 brothers & their wives (Jack & Carol, & Pat & Kim) are all sailing with us. Lovey booked Mom & Grandma's flights with ours so we could fly & sit next to each other to and from Ft. Lauderdale. We arrived today at 3:45 pm (we left SLC at 6:05 am!), Jack & Carol arrived tonight at 9:30 pm, and Pat & Kim fly in tomorrow. Lovey rented us a van, a Nissan Quest, and we've already seen lots of Ft. Lauderdale.

Waiting for our 6am flight to depart

(I had just under 2 hours of sleep - so tired, but so excited!)

We easily found our hotel rooms at La Quinta Inn and I laughed at my Mom & Grandma's childish joy when they saw a squirrel in the nearby tree. If Tony saw this squirrel he would say it was a "bad squirrel" (because it is still alive - we had tons of squirrels that infested our attic in Charleston).

The "bad squirrel" looking me squarely in the eye...a challenge?

Mom & Grandma in their hotel room

My cousin, George, and his family live nearby and were able to met us for supper at Applebee's. George took Mom & Grandma to see his home, while Lovey and I drove to the Ft. Lauderdale Beach and walked along the waves under the fullest moon of 2009 (30% larger than any other full moon this year. I read that tonight the Earth's orbit and the Moon's orbit are the closest that they'll ever be this year, which makes the moon look enormous). Ahhhh, romantic.

My cousin, George, + wife Laura and 3 cute kidlets w/Grandma

Full moon...beach...Atlantic ocean...vacation...