Spring Break Extravaganza!!!

For spring break this year we FINALLY were able to go on our cruise. Our original plan was to go on the cruise for Thanksgiving and then go to Legoland/Disneyland this summer to celebrate Nathan's 8th birthday. Well, once they changed our cruise, we decided to just do So. CA in the same trip and save some gas money. So, we had one BIG crazy trip. We were exhausted when all was said and done (as you will be after taking the time to read all about it--if you stick around for that long--sorry, it's a long post--or rather two long posts).

About a month or so before the cruise we found out that our friends, the Proctor family, were going to go on the cruise with us. Jacob and Tyler are best buds with their sons, Stevie and James. It was so much fun having the Proctors on the cruise with us. It made the whole experience even better.

So, on Friday after school the kids and I started our drive. We stayed in Cedar City that night with Matt's sister, Audrey, and her cute little family. Matt ran the SLC marathon Saturday morning so he got to fly to LA after the race and have us meet him at the airport. We boarded the Carnival Splendor Sunday at about noon and played and played until we got off the next Sunday morning. The ship was amazing! It was HUGE and filled with tons of fun things to do.
Our stateroom. yep, Miranda and Jacob were in the room next to us. Every night when you went back to your room after dinner there would be a new towel animal and chocolates on your turned down bed. The kids loved that.

But what we all REALLY loved was:

EATING!!!!!

The in the dining room the waiters would put on a show each night. A few times they even got up on the tables and danced for us. It was great fun. It worked out great with the Proctors. We ended up having a kid table and an adult table. We were able to try a lot of new foods too. Tyler and Jacob ordered escargot one night...slimy, yet satisfying:)

And let's not forget the endless buffets, 24 hour ice cream (I'm pretty sure Miranda and I ate at least 3-4 a day), 24 hour pizza made to order, free room service, and , of course, the chocolate buffet-YUM!

PLAYING:

Mini-golf, swimming, hot tubs, ping pong, etc etc

WATCHING!

They had great shows each night--Vegas style, comedians, and the one the kids loved best--movies on the big screen with popcorn and blankets included. I'm not sure we got to bed much before midnight any night.

Our stateroom was on the interior so we did not have a window--ya the cheap rooms. What I didn't realize was how dark these rooms stayed in the day. On our first morning Matt got up and I asked him why he was up so early. He let me know it was 9:30am. He left as I slowly began to wake up. A bit later Nathan woke up and went to the bathroom and quickly climbed back into bed. A minute or two later he said "Mom, why are they vacuuming in the middle of the night?" I laughed as I told him it was actually 10 o'clock in the morning. He was quite surprised. So, that's how you roll on a cruise. Play, eat, play, eat, read book out on sunny deck, play, eat, sleep, and start all over again the next day.