Cruising

In March, the boys got to spend a week with their grandparents while Ryan and I went on vacation! Ryan had signed up for a course which was, conveniently, being held on a cruise ship. I suppose one of the perks of owning your own practice is that you can basically pick a place where you would like to go on vacation, and then find a CE course and write the whole thing off as a business expense! Ryan's brother, Collin, and his wife, Emily, also went, so we were thankful that there was at least one other couple on the ship who were not dependent on motorized scooters.

We got an early start to Wyomissing on Saturday, March 8th. After visiting for a bit and giving some instructions, which basically consisted of "as long as you keep them alive, you're doing a good job, we're not too picky," we headed to the Philly airport. I couldn't tell if I felt more nervous/sad or excited about leaving the kids but the ride to the airport seemed endless and I knew that once we finally got there and got checked in I'd feel much more relaxed.

When we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, we went to the hotel where Collin and Emily were already waiting for us. We had some drinks and apps (I actually ate a few oysters!) at the hotel bar before heading out for dinner. I love, love, LOVE Ft. Lauderdale. We had a great time that night and I was happy to hear that my parents (and kids) survived the first night. The next morning, Ryan's sister Allison drove down from Jupiter, FL, to have brunch with us. As a bonus, she dropped us off at the cruise terminal afterwards!

Our cruise was with Holland America. We had a day and a half at sea before our first stop in Turks & Caicos. It was okay there, but I don't think that Grand Turk is really anything more than a cruise port. The beach was beautiful and the snorkeling was great, but there wasn't a whole lot in terms of a town. We actually ended up at the Margaritaville, which worked out well because they had a nice pool area, and free wifi, so I got to briefly facetime with the boys. Our next stop was Puerto Rico. We had been there on each of our previous cruises so to be honest, we weren't overly excited and debated even getting off the boat, but I'm so glad we did because I think it was one of my favorite days on the trip! We ate lunch at a very local, non touristy restaurant and then just walked around some of the streets of Old San Juan, admiring the architecture. When we got thirsty from all that walking, we stopped at the coolest hotel, El Convento, and had the best pina coladas I've ever had in their courtyard while we waited out a rainstorm. We had an amazing dinner at a ceviche restaurant and somehow ended up at Senor Frogs, where "ladies drink free, for $5." That was not the highlight of my trip, for sure, as the "free" drinks consisted of 3 choices from a separate bar. It was eerily reminiscent of when our moms took us to Cancun after we graduated high school, except we were the oldest people in there by a minimum of 10 years.

Dinner on the ship

We left Puerto Rico at 11pm and arrived in St. Thomas the next morning. We had been to St. Thomas on our honeymoon and loved it so we were excited to go back. The first time we were there we spent the day at Maegan's Bay. We were going to go back there this year but the cab drivers swindled us into going to Coki Beach. I'm pretty sure that the "owners" of the beach pay the cab drivers to funnel people there. It was nice, but not as pretty as Maegan's Bay. It started to get really crowded after a few hours so we headed back into town to get some lunch and do some shopping (diamonds!)!

We had a day at sea and then a final stop at the cruiseline's private island, Half Moon Cay, in the Bahamas. It was pretty much just a beach so we weren't off the ship too long. By that point, I think we were all ready to wrap up vacation - I know I missed the boys and had gotten more than my money's worth out of the free beverage package! I was so happy to get this message from Connor towards the end of the trip:

 Overall it was a fun time, but I don't think I'd cruise on Holland America again. We prefer Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. Holland America's food/menu choices weren't nearly as good as Celebrity's, and the clientele were entirely too close to death a little older than we'd prefer to hang out with. But, a vacation is a vacation, and it is always nice to get away, enjoy some food, drinks, and sunshine. We were so excited to get back to the boys though.

I'm not sure the boys were ready to come home! They have more fun at Nana and Pop-pop's than our house! They were certainly busy while we were away.  One day they went to see the Clifford the Big Red Dog exhibit at the Reading Public Museum. Connor reads those books at school so he was really excited to go.

My dad took Connor to the fire station to see the trucks one of the days and he looks like he loved it! 

They also (bravely) took both kids to "the restaurant" multiple times, grocery shopping, and to the mall to throw pennies in the fountain. I think they did more than "keep them alive," and we were so thankful that they were able and willing to take such good care of the boys. But, they did look tired and happy to see us (my dad was practically loading the laundry baskets in our car before we could even get out) so they could get back to their normal, quiet routines. I'm pretty sure they slept for four days straight after we left!