Last weekend, we were able to arrange a nice little "vacation" for Bean. I met my mom in a town along the way between our houses and passed Bean off to my mom for 5 days of kid-free bliss - ha! We didn't go anywhere while Bean was gone, we just caught up on a lot of things around the house, rested (and slept in!) a lot and just enjoyed some well needed Steve/me time to talk and prep for the new baby! We took advantage of being able to go out to eat and not have to entertain her in the process; and watch long movies that we could start earlier because we didn't have to wait for bedtime.
Steve has taken on a big house project - remodeling a bathroom. He started about a month ago, and has been working on it any free weekend we have. He's making good progress, it's just slow. I'll do a full blog post on it when it's done (or at least partly done, ha). I wouldn't admit this to him, but I'm guessing this will be a summer long project (sorry dear).
He was able to work on the bathroom around the clock on the weekend (usually he has to stop and take a break during Bean's nap time). I was able to work on random things that needed done (and I didn't want to work on with Bean in tow). While she was gone I was able to get the upstairs guest/storage room all organized and cleaned up. It had become quite the catchall and a huge mess with the change over of baby items and clothes going on in the house.
I also cleaned the entire house - and it stayed that way for 4 days! It was marvelous. We didn't have to dodge toys around the clock, no food and crumbs to sweep up daily, and let me tell you how QUIET the house was. It was strange, but quite the blessing. I was able to go out and mow the yard at my own pace (and not have to try to cram it all into a short nap window). And yes -- at 36 weeks pregnant, I'm STILL mowing. My choice!
I felt so productive while she was gone. It's amazing how much physical rest I need when she's here because of all the mental energy I exert on her. Maybe I didn't need as much rest because I could do things at my pace and not cramming it into nap time. I even took some time to clean out the car and get it ready for 2 kids! So weird to think that we'll be a family of 4 in less than a month. We can now count the time in WEEKS.
Bean's vacation consisted of a a weekend of cousin sleepovers, going bowling, being the constant center of attention, making new friends at my parents' church, and lots and lots of family love. I'm thankful for the opportunity for Bean to go and spend some quality time with her cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents. Now the big question is, when can she go back?!
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2016
Monday, March 21, 2016
Cruising the Atlantic (and only the Atlantic) -- Part 3 - Bonus New York Trip!
On Thursday morning, we headed off the ship, picked up our luggage and then figured out our transportation. We couldn't decide between calling an Uber of just grabbing a taxi. The taxis were right there, so we used them. The ride into New York ended up costing $100! The driver was kind of crazy and it was a hassle to pay (we didn't have cash and they only took credit at the office). So he had to drive us to the office so we could pay before getting us to our destination. Let's just say, we are true Uber users and so thankful for their efficiency!
We got to our hotel earlier than check-in time, but they had an available room ready and let us check-in (we were hoping just to leave our suitcases, so bonus for us!). It was a cold day, so we decided to spend our day at The Met (art museum). We took our trusty Uber there and enjoyed the warmth and history in the museum. Steve got the director's audio tour, so we just followed along that path and saw most of the museum's highlights. Only other big art museum I've been to before is the Chicago Art museum. The Met reminded me a lot of it (similar exhibits, but The Met is bigger). I think Steve was getting tired of me saying, "I've seen that in Chicago" or "I'm tired, I'm gonna sit over there." We stayed at the Met until closing time.
From there, we stood out in the cold for another Uber (seriously, it was super cold and windy. I was losing it.) which took us to a restaurant for dinner -- Tony's Di Napoli. Steve had made reservations, but we got there before our time. They weren't busy and led us straight to a table. Their portions are big and the server encouraged us to share. We split a ravioli dish - and it was amazing. Once we were fed and warm, we headed (via subway) back to our hotel and called it a day.
On Friday, we ate breakfast in our hotel. We stayed at a Comfort Inn that was on the outer edge of Manhattan. On the subway, it was the last stop before heading into Brooklyn. The rooms were very small (we lucked out and were upgraded to a business room which had a little more room) and it was pretty noisy with the traffic outside. The breakfast area was located down in the basement. It was very crowded in the mornings! We actually got our food and then took it back to our room to eat. After we ate and got ready, we took the subway to get to Chelsea Market.
We had signed up for a food tour in Chelsea Market and met up with our tour group. Our guide was the hilarious - Curt Upton. He knew everyone in the Market and was super knowledgeable of the area's history and the food. We later figured out that he does comedy and acting on the side. He talked with each of the tour members and would learn some information about us and then share with the rest of the group - making it into a big deal. There was a couple from Alaska, some girls from CA, and even from Brazil. He kept calling us by our names and whatever information he remembered. Steve and I were dubbed "Steve and Lindsey from Hurricane Cruise". He thought it was hilarious that we were on that cruise and would randomly tell people in the different shops we would stop in.
The tour was totally worth the money and a fun experience. We got to go into several of the different shops in the market and try out what they had to offer:
-Cupcake from a bakery
-Steak tar tar from a meat company
-Quiche from an Italian store
-Biscuits & jam from a bakery
-Veggies & salt from a salt store
-Meat pies & Kale salad from an Australian shop
-Caramels from a candy store
-Meatball subs from a hotel (we walked there after the Market)
After we finished the actual Market portion, we got to go into Iron Chef Morimoto's restaurant and use this super fancy toilets. Then we continued our walk through the meat packing district and got to see some neat views of the city. We ended the tour at a hotel, where we got to go up to the penthouse before tasting some meatball subs in the restaurant. We laughed some more at Curt, got a couple pictures with him, then went on our way.
We walked back to Chelsea Market thinking we could find a quiet place to sit and maybe get another snack. However, the market was hopping! We did one pass and decided the craziness wasn't worth it. We called up an Uber and headed for the afternoon's activity - a visit to the Tenement Museum. We had a set time for a tour, but was a little early. So we killed time by watching the movie in the gift shop before our tour was called. We went on the "Hard Times" tour which took us through a couple of the apartments that immigrants lived in during the early 1900s. The tour guide told stories of the families that lived in the apartments and explained how they got by. It was crazy to think about such large families living in 1 bedroom apartments with no running water. Boy do we have it easy!
After the "museum" (I thought there would be an actual tour through a museum with artifacts and such, but the Tenement Museum is just a series of different apartments you tour), we used the subway system to go back to our hotel. It was too early for dinner, so we relaxed in our room a little before heading back out. I really didn't want to get back out, but Steve had found a BBQ place that he wanted to eat at. We used the Subway again and had to walk about 5 blocks to get to the restaurant. The food was really good and worth getting back out for. There was a little bakery that my friend Sara had mentioned before we left. There was a shop for it another 5 blocks away from the BBQ that we decided to walk to.
The Momofuku Milk Bar (the shop not the actual bar) was a little hole in the wall place. I thought it would be more like a bakery with fresh stuff in a case. There was enough space for 3 people to walk in the door, and then there was a counter with a couple people working behind it. We got a few cookies that were packaged. I was really confused by the place, but when we ate the cookies later, they were good. We had to walk the 10 blocks back to the subway, and then headed back to the hotel for the last time!
We were able to sleep in a little, grab some breakfast, and then take our last Uber to the airport. We worried about delays due to some weather, but only got back to Indy about a half hour later than we should've. Boy were we excited to see our Bean again! She had a great time at Ahm & Abo's house (my parents) and was able to soak up lots of attention and playing with cousins. It only took us a week for Bean to detox off of all the attention and about 100 "Go Ahm's house?!" questions.
We got to our hotel earlier than check-in time, but they had an available room ready and let us check-in (we were hoping just to leave our suitcases, so bonus for us!). It was a cold day, so we decided to spend our day at The Met (art museum). We took our trusty Uber there and enjoyed the warmth and history in the museum. Steve got the director's audio tour, so we just followed along that path and saw most of the museum's highlights. Only other big art museum I've been to before is the Chicago Art museum. The Met reminded me a lot of it (similar exhibits, but The Met is bigger). I think Steve was getting tired of me saying, "I've seen that in Chicago" or "I'm tired, I'm gonna sit over there." We stayed at the Met until closing time.
(Checking out some of the armory. Back in Middle School, my teacher Mrs. B took us to the Chicago Art Museum as a special trip for her medieval ages class to go see their armory. This is the point where Steve kept hearing, "I've seen that in Chicago.")
(The museum itself has some great architecture!)
(Can you tell I was tired??)
On Friday, we ate breakfast in our hotel. We stayed at a Comfort Inn that was on the outer edge of Manhattan. On the subway, it was the last stop before heading into Brooklyn. The rooms were very small (we lucked out and were upgraded to a business room which had a little more room) and it was pretty noisy with the traffic outside. The breakfast area was located down in the basement. It was very crowded in the mornings! We actually got our food and then took it back to our room to eat. After we ate and got ready, we took the subway to get to Chelsea Market.
We had signed up for a food tour in Chelsea Market and met up with our tour group. Our guide was the hilarious - Curt Upton. He knew everyone in the Market and was super knowledgeable of the area's history and the food. We later figured out that he does comedy and acting on the side. He talked with each of the tour members and would learn some information about us and then share with the rest of the group - making it into a big deal. There was a couple from Alaska, some girls from CA, and even from Brazil. He kept calling us by our names and whatever information he remembered. Steve and I were dubbed "Steve and Lindsey from Hurricane Cruise". He thought it was hilarious that we were on that cruise and would randomly tell people in the different shops we would stop in.
The tour was totally worth the money and a fun experience. We got to go into several of the different shops in the market and try out what they had to offer:
-Cupcake from a bakery
-Steak tar tar from a meat company
-Quiche from an Italian store
-Biscuits & jam from a bakery
-Veggies & salt from a salt store
-Meat pies & Kale salad from an Australian shop
-Caramels from a candy store
-Meatball subs from a hotel (we walked there after the Market)
(Red Velvet Cupcake -- it was good, but it wasn't "Sara's Sweets" good.)
(Inside Chelsea Market. It had very interesting decor. It was very industrial with lots of exposed metal and beams.)
After we finished the actual Market portion, we got to go into Iron Chef Morimoto's restaurant and use this super fancy toilets. Then we continued our walk through the meat packing district and got to see some neat views of the city. We ended the tour at a hotel, where we got to go up to the penthouse before tasting some meatball subs in the restaurant. We laughed some more at Curt, got a couple pictures with him, then went on our way.
(Curt being crazy. He wanted to stage the picture like we were looking at something. And supposedly he plays some boy that dances with Winona Ryder on the movie Little Women.)
("Now look over there!")
We walked back to Chelsea Market thinking we could find a quiet place to sit and maybe get another snack. However, the market was hopping! We did one pass and decided the craziness wasn't worth it. We called up an Uber and headed for the afternoon's activity - a visit to the Tenement Museum. We had a set time for a tour, but was a little early. So we killed time by watching the movie in the gift shop before our tour was called. We went on the "Hard Times" tour which took us through a couple of the apartments that immigrants lived in during the early 1900s. The tour guide told stories of the families that lived in the apartments and explained how they got by. It was crazy to think about such large families living in 1 bedroom apartments with no running water. Boy do we have it easy!
(The Tenement apartment we got to tour. We were on the 2nd level and got to see 3 different apartments. The first one was the shape the apartment was when the Tenement Museum got ownership. The 2nd and 3rd had been remodeled to appear like the last families were living in them.)
After the "museum" (I thought there would be an actual tour through a museum with artifacts and such, but the Tenement Museum is just a series of different apartments you tour), we used the subway system to go back to our hotel. It was too early for dinner, so we relaxed in our room a little before heading back out. I really didn't want to get back out, but Steve had found a BBQ place that he wanted to eat at. We used the Subway again and had to walk about 5 blocks to get to the restaurant. The food was really good and worth getting back out for. There was a little bakery that my friend Sara had mentioned before we left. There was a shop for it another 5 blocks away from the BBQ that we decided to walk to.
The Momofuku Milk Bar (the shop not the actual bar) was a little hole in the wall place. I thought it would be more like a bakery with fresh stuff in a case. There was enough space for 3 people to walk in the door, and then there was a counter with a couple people working behind it. We got a few cookies that were packaged. I was really confused by the place, but when we ate the cookies later, they were good. We had to walk the 10 blocks back to the subway, and then headed back to the hotel for the last time!
(Inside the Momofuku shop. The door to outside was right behind me, with another little counter to the left. It was super small!)
We were able to sleep in a little, grab some breakfast, and then take our last Uber to the airport. We worried about delays due to some weather, but only got back to Indy about a half hour later than we should've. Boy were we excited to see our Bean again! She had a great time at Ahm & Abo's house (my parents) and was able to soak up lots of attention and playing with cousins. It only took us a week for Bean to detox off of all the attention and about 100 "Go Ahm's house?!" questions.
(One excited little girl to have Momma & Daddy back.)
(One not-so-excited little girl to be back at home with just Momma.)
(The struggle is real. I hear you kid.)
Monday, March 14, 2016
Cruising the Atlantic (and only the Atlantic) -- Part 2 - Anthem of the Seas vs a Hurricane
We woke up Saturday morning ready to get on the ship already! I'm the kind of person that vacation doesn't start until I have no more deadlines/times to worry about. We were able to start boarding at 11:30, so we slept in a little, ate breakfast, packed up our stuff and called an Uber. We had a great driver who was super talkative and kept us laughing. He had never driven anyone to the Bayonne port before, but he figured it out. We ended up being in a super long car line, so we decided to just go ahead and get out of his car and walk the rest of the way (less than a half mile).
Getting through the port and onto the ship was quite simple. We did a pre-check before going through security which allowed us to just walk onto the ship. Last cruise we went on, it took us over almost 2 hours to get out of the car and onto the ship. This time, it was more like 20 minutes. We stepped onto the ship and vacation officially had begun!
We chose this cruise based on the ship - Anthem of the Seas. It's the 3rd largest ship in the Royal Caribbean family and had lots to offer. It has a high tech lounge that offers one of a kind shows, roller skating, bumper cars, indoor/outdoor pools, Broadway style shows, and a pod that can take you out over the water. Our first goal upon getting on the ship was eating, eating, and more eating :). When it was time for departure, we donned on our winter coats and hats and headed up on deck to watch the ship pass under a bridge.
This was our first Royal Caribbean cruise and tried out some new things like the "dynamic dining". The ship had 3 main dining rooms (there were additional ones that you had to pay for). With dynamic dining, we got to pick which restaurant we wanted to eat at and reserve a time. On our first night, we went to Silk which was Asian inspired. The main dishes weren't anything impressive, but I fell in love with their sesame rolls and garlic butter. Yummmm. I could've just eaten those all dinner. After dinner, we watched the welcome show and then went to bed.
The next day was Super Bowl Sunday! I of course donned my Manning jersey all day to support my beloved Broncos. Little did I know how memorable that Sunday would turn. We made a reservation to see "We Will Rock You" - a Queen inspired Broadway show at 2:30. On Saturday before we departed, the captain had warned us of potential rough seas on Sunday due to a storm brewing in the ocean. He felt confident that he could outrun the storm though. By 2pm, the ship was rocking pretty good. We went to the theater and waited for the show to start. Our cruise director came out before the show and made an announcement about how they were going to start the show, but with the rough seas, they may have to abruptly stop. The show started and about 20 min in, you could tell that the actors were struggling. Shortly after a couple dancers slipped, the director came out and cancelled the rest of the show.
We headed back to our room because we didn't have any other plans due to the cancellation. It was hard to walk up the steps from the rocking. We just figured it was rough seas mixed with the captain driving the boat fast. We got to our room and looked out our balcony to realize how high the waves were. There wasn't much to do other than read or pick something to watch from our 6 available tv stations - TBS (which was based out of Spain and didn't have normal programming, just mostly movies), CNN, ESPN, HLN, a channel like TruTV, and another channel that just showed episodes of The Middle (or at least that's all we ever saw on!). Nothing was on and the rocking got worse. That's when the director came on and announced that for everyone's safety, they wanted everyone to return to their staterooms.
With that announcement, I started to get a little afraid. I realized that things were worse than what we (or the captain) initially thought. Life jackets aren't located in the rooms, but at muster stations. Our muster station (place you meet in event of an evacuation) was the theater we had just left located on deck 5, we were on deck 12. I freely admit that I had a slight panic attack at this moment. Steve was calm and had no fear of the situation. He immediately comforted me and stopped and prayed. I quickly came to my sense and realized I couldn't think worse case scenario, but instead had to focus on each passing minute being 1 minute closer to it all being over.
The waves started to get worse and another announcement came on saying we were going through the worst of it. Steve started feeling queasy as the waves really picked up. He typically has no issues with motion sickness (ironically, I do) but he was really feeling it (I was fine). I happened to have some Dramamine with me and gave him some. He laid on the bed and was pretty useless for awhile. His uselessness made me be the one that had to be levelheaded and in control. I took care of his needs and just focused on trying to get him feeling better versus thinking about our real situation. He just laid on the bed the rest of the time, but I would get up and secure things like glasses and our random toiletries in the bathroom. You could hear them falling off the shelves and rolling around the floor. Stuff in drawers and clothes hanging in the closet would shift left and right as the boat rocked. I had to get up and pee a lot and there were times that I would have to crawl on the floor from the bed to the bathroom because it was too hard to walk. When I would go to get back into the bed, I had to time the waves right so that the bed was in the high position as I got on. If it was in the low position, I would continue to roll over the bed and would have to catch myself against the wall. The scariest part to me was when the wind would hit our balcony door just right and it would pop the seal. You could hear the wind screeching through and it would make our ears pop. The director came on with an update and let us know that all pay per view movies would be free the rest of the day. Despite Steve being sick and useless, we settled on a movie to try to pass the time. By the time the movie ended, it was Superbowl time! The waves had calmed a little, and the last update from the director/captain said "just a few more hours."
Those "few more hours" ended up being more like 6+. But at least they kept giving us hope that we were surviving and would be in calmer waters soon. The captain was very open with us over the situation. He explained his plan of action and would update every hour or so on what was going on. The storm was too powerful to try to navigate through. So he had to point the ship in the direction of the wind and then power the engines to just hold position and allow the storm to pass over us. So basically, the ship sat like a lame duck for about 10 hours (only at the time, they predicted the storm to be less severe and to pass quicker than it was).
The Superbowl was the perfect distraction! Steve was feeling better and we really got into the game. We were shocked that we had such a clear picture of the game (after all, we were in the middle of the ocean in a hurricane!). I got to watch my beloved Peyton Manning lead his team on to a great victory over the Panthers! We were getting a little hungry during the game (hadn't really thought of food much until then) and luckily, the director came on letting us know that we could raid whatever was in our mini-fridges for free. I investigated and found a lot of useless booze, bottles of water, some soda, 2 cans of mini Pringles, 2 Snickers, and 2 packs of m&ms. So we watched the game and feasted on our junk food. I drank a diet coke for the first time since before getting pregnant. Boy was it tastey :).
Once the game ended, we figured the waves would stop anytime soon. However, the last update that came on around 11 said "a couple more hours" again. By 1am, we were tired and gave up caring (the waves were significantly smaller). The waves lulled us to sleep and we woke up the next morning around 8:30 to a very calm ship! Woohoo! We made it! Announcements came on that food locations were up and running and to be careful while navigating around the ship.
We made our way to breakfast and saw lots of crew out and working. I got a little chuckle out of all the barf bags hanging in stairwells for people to use (and yes we even got to see some barf that did not make it into a bag). As we made our way to the lido deck, we had to walk some outside. The weather was actually beautiful out, but the damage to the ship was quite obvious. The pools had been drained and were full of glass, random debris (pieces of the ship's outer shell came off the top, lawn chairs were mangled, etc), electric doors were either stuck open or stuck closed, lots of statue/decor were all in a huge pile on the deck as opposed to being in their right locations. As we entered the actual buffet location, there was a big section of the ceiling that had fallen. There were several workers already making good progress on it.
We got our food and ate and let it really sink in what we'd gone through. We heard other people telling their stories and realized we had it really good! If you were in a decks 5 and below, the waves would crest up over the balconies, and enter through the door. The water would then slosh through the staterooms and into the hallways. Later when we walked deck 5, there were lots of air dryers being used to dry the carpets. Others had stories of water coming up through their shower drains, or people puking in their ice buckets all night. It really is a miracle that of the 6,000+ people on board, there were only 4 minor injuries reported (lacerations from broken glass).
After we ate, we made our way to the Solarium (basically outside deck with glass all around it, so you get the view but controlled weather). We found a couple of lawn chairs and were going to sit and read. However, we started to notice lots of people around us watching news stories of our ship on their tablets! We quickly realized that the ship had gotten national attention and I started worrying about our families freaking out about us. The ship had an internal wifi that you could use to access their app, but that was it. I went ahead and put my wifi on just to see if maybe there was information on the app about what had happened. But all the sudden, I started receiving emails and internet messages. For whatever reason, the internet was working (about 30 min later, the director came on and announced they'd opened internet up for everyone to use at no charge). I was able to chat with a friend and have her text my mom that we were fine. I then sent out a mass email to our family to let them know what happened and that we were fine! We did see news reports from CNN on our tv in our room later that afternoon. Let's just say, Nancy Grace had it allllll wrong!
We were supposed to port in Orlando by noon on Monday; however, it was obvious we were way off course. There were all sorts of announcements all day saying that we'd have a delayed port time in Orlando, but that the main office in Miami was working on the scheduling and figuring out what the rest of the cruise would look like. It was obvious that no one knew what was really going on, but at least they were trying to keep us all in the loop. Activities were planned and they were doing their hardest to get the ship back to normal. There wasn't just the obvious clean up of the random debris on the outer deck, but I'm guessing they lost a lot in the kitchens/storage areas. Coffee mugs were few and far between the rest of the cruise (they did have disposable cups to use, though). I noticed some other "short cuts" like packaged butter vs. the butter being served in dishes like the first night.
Eventually, we were finally notified that the ship would not be headed towards FL as planned. They used a ploy about another potential storm brewing off the coast and decided it best for everyone to just end the cruise and get back to Bayonne. After we were off the ship several days later, did we get the information that one of the engine's system's had burned out all it's gears and needed repair. Steve and I were still in good spirits. Other than never reaching warm weather, we made the best of our cruise. The director did a good job cramming the highlights of a 7 day cruise into 3 days. We got to eat lots of great food (even though it took Steve a couple days for his stomach to stabilize and want food), enjoyed great entertainment, and most of all -- had a great kid free break!
There was more confusion about when we would return to Bayonne. The issue wasn't the ship getting back to port, but the port having space for the ship to dock. We were told we could be back at port as early as Wednesday morning, when reality it didn't dock until 8pm on Wednesday night. We had to option to get off the ship that night (had to be off by midnight) or stay the night and depart Thursday morning. We took option 2. However, we still had to "go through immigration" on Wednesday. So we were corralled along with everyone else on the ship to go through a specific location and turn in our customs sheet. The agent we handed it to didn't look at our paper work, our passports, or even our faces. You could tell they were just going through motions because of legalities. Whatever. I got our stuff all packed up and we enjoyed 1 last night on the boat (even if it was docked).
And for those of you wondering how we were compensated:
-Drink package purchases were refunded
-Internet packages refunded (didn't apply to us, but we did get free internet the rest of the trip!)
-Free movies
-Free minibar "purchases"
-Free all you can drink "Happy Hour"
-Full refund of trip
-Up to $150 refunded for changed flights (we chose to keep our flight and have bonus days in NY)
-Parking reimbursed (didn't apply to us, we did submit our taxi ride from port to NY after cruise, but awaiting response)
-50% off voucher to book and sail on another cruise by March 15, 2017
-We also had lots of on board credit that we had to burn. We didn't figure it out until the last day and didn't get to take full advantage of that credit, but we did come out with several free t-shirts. Unfortunately, none of them said "I survived the Anthem of the Seas." Marketing opportunity missed!
Getting through the port and onto the ship was quite simple. We did a pre-check before going through security which allowed us to just walk onto the ship. Last cruise we went on, it took us over almost 2 hours to get out of the car and onto the ship. This time, it was more like 20 minutes. We stepped onto the ship and vacation officially had begun!
(Our statemoom! Little did we know how much time we would spend in there!)
(View from the bed to the door/bathroom. I should've taken a photo of the shower. It was a glass shower and really nice for a cruise ship!)
We chose this cruise based on the ship - Anthem of the Seas. It's the 3rd largest ship in the Royal Caribbean family and had lots to offer. It has a high tech lounge that offers one of a kind shows, roller skating, bumper cars, indoor/outdoor pools, Broadway style shows, and a pod that can take you out over the water. Our first goal upon getting on the ship was eating, eating, and more eating :). When it was time for departure, we donned on our winter coats and hats and headed up on deck to watch the ship pass under a bridge.
(First time being bundled up for a boat departure celebration!)
(As the boat sailed out of the harbor, it had to pass under a big bridge (not Brooklyn). It was neat to watch the top of the ship clear the bridge by what appeared to be just a few feet!)
This was our first Royal Caribbean cruise and tried out some new things like the "dynamic dining". The ship had 3 main dining rooms (there were additional ones that you had to pay for). With dynamic dining, we got to pick which restaurant we wanted to eat at and reserve a time. On our first night, we went to Silk which was Asian inspired. The main dishes weren't anything impressive, but I fell in love with their sesame rolls and garlic butter. Yummmm. I could've just eaten those all dinner. After dinner, we watched the welcome show and then went to bed.
The next day was Super Bowl Sunday! I of course donned my Manning jersey all day to support my beloved Broncos. Little did I know how memorable that Sunday would turn. We made a reservation to see "We Will Rock You" - a Queen inspired Broadway show at 2:30. On Saturday before we departed, the captain had warned us of potential rough seas on Sunday due to a storm brewing in the ocean. He felt confident that he could outrun the storm though. By 2pm, the ship was rocking pretty good. We went to the theater and waited for the show to start. Our cruise director came out before the show and made an announcement about how they were going to start the show, but with the rough seas, they may have to abruptly stop. The show started and about 20 min in, you could tell that the actors were struggling. Shortly after a couple dancers slipped, the director came out and cancelled the rest of the show.
We headed back to our room because we didn't have any other plans due to the cancellation. It was hard to walk up the steps from the rocking. We just figured it was rough seas mixed with the captain driving the boat fast. We got to our room and looked out our balcony to realize how high the waves were. There wasn't much to do other than read or pick something to watch from our 6 available tv stations - TBS (which was based out of Spain and didn't have normal programming, just mostly movies), CNN, ESPN, HLN, a channel like TruTV, and another channel that just showed episodes of The Middle (or at least that's all we ever saw on!). Nothing was on and the rocking got worse. That's when the director came on and announced that for everyone's safety, they wanted everyone to return to their staterooms.
With that announcement, I started to get a little afraid. I realized that things were worse than what we (or the captain) initially thought. Life jackets aren't located in the rooms, but at muster stations. Our muster station (place you meet in event of an evacuation) was the theater we had just left located on deck 5, we were on deck 12. I freely admit that I had a slight panic attack at this moment. Steve was calm and had no fear of the situation. He immediately comforted me and stopped and prayed. I quickly came to my sense and realized I couldn't think worse case scenario, but instead had to focus on each passing minute being 1 minute closer to it all being over.
The waves started to get worse and another announcement came on saying we were going through the worst of it. Steve started feeling queasy as the waves really picked up. He typically has no issues with motion sickness (ironically, I do) but he was really feeling it (I was fine). I happened to have some Dramamine with me and gave him some. He laid on the bed and was pretty useless for awhile. His uselessness made me be the one that had to be levelheaded and in control. I took care of his needs and just focused on trying to get him feeling better versus thinking about our real situation. He just laid on the bed the rest of the time, but I would get up and secure things like glasses and our random toiletries in the bathroom. You could hear them falling off the shelves and rolling around the floor. Stuff in drawers and clothes hanging in the closet would shift left and right as the boat rocked. I had to get up and pee a lot and there were times that I would have to crawl on the floor from the bed to the bathroom because it was too hard to walk. When I would go to get back into the bed, I had to time the waves right so that the bed was in the high position as I got on. If it was in the low position, I would continue to roll over the bed and would have to catch myself against the wall. The scariest part to me was when the wind would hit our balcony door just right and it would pop the seal. You could hear the wind screeching through and it would make our ears pop. The director came on with an update and let us know that all pay per view movies would be free the rest of the day. Despite Steve being sick and useless, we settled on a movie to try to pass the time. By the time the movie ended, it was Superbowl time! The waves had calmed a little, and the last update from the director/captain said "just a few more hours."
Those "few more hours" ended up being more like 6+. But at least they kept giving us hope that we were surviving and would be in calmer waters soon. The captain was very open with us over the situation. He explained his plan of action and would update every hour or so on what was going on. The storm was too powerful to try to navigate through. So he had to point the ship in the direction of the wind and then power the engines to just hold position and allow the storm to pass over us. So basically, the ship sat like a lame duck for about 10 hours (only at the time, they predicted the storm to be less severe and to pass quicker than it was).
The Superbowl was the perfect distraction! Steve was feeling better and we really got into the game. We were shocked that we had such a clear picture of the game (after all, we were in the middle of the ocean in a hurricane!). I got to watch my beloved Peyton Manning lead his team on to a great victory over the Panthers! We were getting a little hungry during the game (hadn't really thought of food much until then) and luckily, the director came on letting us know that we could raid whatever was in our mini-fridges for free. I investigated and found a lot of useless booze, bottles of water, some soda, 2 cans of mini Pringles, 2 Snickers, and 2 packs of m&ms. So we watched the game and feasted on our junk food. I drank a diet coke for the first time since before getting pregnant. Boy was it tastey :).
(Superbowl "feast"!)
(Had to take a shot of how we were surviving the storm! Go Peyton!!)
Once the game ended, we figured the waves would stop anytime soon. However, the last update that came on around 11 said "a couple more hours" again. By 1am, we were tired and gave up caring (the waves were significantly smaller). The waves lulled us to sleep and we woke up the next morning around 8:30 to a very calm ship! Woohoo! We made it! Announcements came on that food locations were up and running and to be careful while navigating around the ship.
(There was a channel on the tv that would show our boat's position and give stats - wind/direction/speed/temperature/etc. During the storm, we would flip to this channel a lot to get an idea of how fast we were going - even though we were staying in one spot - and how fast the wind was hitting the ship. The next morning I took a snapshot of the screen so you could see our "holding position" during the storm.)
We made our way to breakfast and saw lots of crew out and working. I got a little chuckle out of all the barf bags hanging in stairwells for people to use (and yes we even got to see some barf that did not make it into a bag). As we made our way to the lido deck, we had to walk some outside. The weather was actually beautiful out, but the damage to the ship was quite obvious. The pools had been drained and were full of glass, random debris (pieces of the ship's outer shell came off the top, lawn chairs were mangled, etc), electric doors were either stuck open or stuck closed, lots of statue/decor were all in a huge pile on the deck as opposed to being in their right locations. As we entered the actual buffet location, there was a big section of the ceiling that had fallen. There were several workers already making good progress on it.
We got our food and ate and let it really sink in what we'd gone through. We heard other people telling their stories and realized we had it really good! If you were in a decks 5 and below, the waves would crest up over the balconies, and enter through the door. The water would then slosh through the staterooms and into the hallways. Later when we walked deck 5, there were lots of air dryers being used to dry the carpets. Others had stories of water coming up through their shower drains, or people puking in their ice buckets all night. It really is a miracle that of the 6,000+ people on board, there were only 4 minor injuries reported (lacerations from broken glass).
After we ate, we made our way to the Solarium (basically outside deck with glass all around it, so you get the view but controlled weather). We found a couple of lawn chairs and were going to sit and read. However, we started to notice lots of people around us watching news stories of our ship on their tablets! We quickly realized that the ship had gotten national attention and I started worrying about our families freaking out about us. The ship had an internal wifi that you could use to access their app, but that was it. I went ahead and put my wifi on just to see if maybe there was information on the app about what had happened. But all the sudden, I started receiving emails and internet messages. For whatever reason, the internet was working (about 30 min later, the director came on and announced they'd opened internet up for everyone to use at no charge). I was able to chat with a friend and have her text my mom that we were fine. I then sent out a mass email to our family to let them know what happened and that we were fine! We did see news reports from CNN on our tv in our room later that afternoon. Let's just say, Nancy Grace had it allllll wrong!
We were supposed to port in Orlando by noon on Monday; however, it was obvious we were way off course. There were all sorts of announcements all day saying that we'd have a delayed port time in Orlando, but that the main office in Miami was working on the scheduling and figuring out what the rest of the cruise would look like. It was obvious that no one knew what was really going on, but at least they were trying to keep us all in the loop. Activities were planned and they were doing their hardest to get the ship back to normal. There wasn't just the obvious clean up of the random debris on the outer deck, but I'm guessing they lost a lot in the kitchens/storage areas. Coffee mugs were few and far between the rest of the cruise (they did have disposable cups to use, though). I noticed some other "short cuts" like packaged butter vs. the butter being served in dishes like the first night.
Eventually, we were finally notified that the ship would not be headed towards FL as planned. They used a ploy about another potential storm brewing off the coast and decided it best for everyone to just end the cruise and get back to Bayonne. After we were off the ship several days later, did we get the information that one of the engine's system's had burned out all it's gears and needed repair. Steve and I were still in good spirits. Other than never reaching warm weather, we made the best of our cruise. The director did a good job cramming the highlights of a 7 day cruise into 3 days. We got to eat lots of great food (even though it took Steve a couple days for his stomach to stabilize and want food), enjoyed great entertainment, and most of all -- had a great kid free break!
(Steve was bound and determined to use our balcony, even if it was cold! The warmest it got was mid 50s one day the day after the storm, but before returned back north.)
(Once we were well on our way back to Bayonne, I took another snapshot of our ships's path from the beginning, through the storm, and our return. The loop/squiggle is from the storm. Then you can see how far south we went before the decision was made to return back to original port. We did experience some choppy seas again on Tuesday, but nothing compared to Sunday!)
(This may seem lame to some, but I thought it was super cool. Before entering the lido (buffet) area, you were funneled through a hand washing station! There was crew there encouraging you to use it. I thought it was great!)
(One of the technologies highlighted on the cruise is the "bionic bar". You order your drinks on a tablet which is then sent to the bar. When your drink is being made, it is shown up on the screen. Steve wanted to try it out just to experience. You can see the information of his "Green Lagoon" being made.)
(The drinks are made by robots. All the different liqueurs are stored upside down on the ceiling. The cups and carbonated drinks were located in those squares behind the robots. They'd move around, grab the cups, put the cups up to the right liquor, etc and make the drinks.)
(Showing off his drink, which he only took a sip of. Ha.)
(This ship was all about technology. Another big selling point was the 270 cafe - which offered a huge panoramic view off the back of the ship. At night, screens would cover the windows and they could display scenes and all sorts of stuff on there. We got to see the big show offered in this theater - Specter's Cabaret. To me it was a trip fest, but it was a one of a kind show. It had aerialists, robot screens, and the different sections of the stage would raise and lower.)
(One night we went to the "silent disco". We knew about this going into the cruise. It was supposed to be one of the last nights and was disappointed that we would miss it with the shortened trip. However, it was the director's favorite event and he squeezed it into the schedule. Everyone gets a pair of headphones that toggles between 2 different music stations - green or blue. You then only hear the music through the headphones. So people around you are dancing and singing, yet they may be listening to different music than you.)
(Silent Disco Selfie)
(We stayed for a little bit. Highlight for me was when half were singing Rockin' Robin while others were dancing and singing to "Bye Bye Bye". The crew who were in charge of the event were really going crazy. It was a fun time!)
(One night I needed to get some ice water before bed. Steve didn't want to go with me so I went off on my own. I went on a long circuitous route to find it and discovered this artwork in one of the stair wells. I told Steve about it when I got back but he thought I made up there being "Mickey Mouse donuts". I tried to find it later in the trip but couldn't remember the path or stairwell it was on. Finally on the last day, we ran into it! He thought the donuts made up the Mickey head, and didn't realize I meant they were legit Mickey Donuts. There was all sorts of random artwork featured around the ship and hindsight I wish I took some more photos!)
And for those of you wondering how we were compensated:
-Drink package purchases were refunded
-Internet packages refunded (didn't apply to us, but we did get free internet the rest of the trip!)
-Free movies
-Free minibar "purchases"
-Free all you can drink "Happy Hour"
-Full refund of trip
-Up to $150 refunded for changed flights (we chose to keep our flight and have bonus days in NY)
-Parking reimbursed (didn't apply to us, we did submit our taxi ride from port to NY after cruise, but awaiting response)
-50% off voucher to book and sail on another cruise by March 15, 2017
-We also had lots of on board credit that we had to burn. We didn't figure it out until the last day and didn't get to take full advantage of that credit, but we did come out with several free t-shirts. Unfortunately, none of them said "I survived the Anthem of the Seas." Marketing opportunity missed!
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Cruising the Atlantic (and only the Atlantic) -- Part 1 - Preparations & New York!
Ever since our last cruise in the fall, Steve has been itching to go on another cruise. When we found out we were pregnant, we realized that our window of another cruise got significantly smaller (cruise lines won't let you cruise over 25 weeks pregnant) and we knew we didn't want to leave a newborn baby for a week (or take with us). Even though it sounded crazy to go on 2 cruises in 5 months, we realized we are crazy and booked our first Royal Caribbean cruise for the 2nd week in February.
Since I am pregnant, we decided this cruise was all about relaxation. We picked a ship with lots of entertainment options (and didn't care so much about destination or excursions). Once we picked the ship, we got locked into leaving out of Bayonne, NJ with planned stops in Orlando, FL; Nassau, Bahamas; and Cocoa Cay, Bahamas (private island). We have never cruised the Atlantic Ocean before, always just the Caribbean (Steve's cruise the Pacific Ocean/Alaska, but that doesn't matter to the story). We know it would be a weird cruise leaving out of NJ in February!
As the date approached, Steve was like a kid in a candy store. He spent hours each night researching about the ship, things to do for our extra day in New York, and some possibilities of small excursions at ports (like Space Center in Orlando and beaches in the Caribbean). Now I do enjoy cruises, but I'm the kind that it stresses me out until we get there. I have to figure out all the packing, and who's going to watch Bean, plus my worrier spirit prevents me from being gung ho about the next adventure. And THEN, we heard all over the news in the weeks leading up to the cruise about the Zika virus and causing birth defects in pregnant women. Great! That added to my stress, but after doing my own research and talking to my doctor, we decided we would be fine if we just stayed on the ship in the Caribbean ports.
The date quickly approached and I had to kick it in to high gear to get stuff pulled together. I am a procrastinator by nature, but I always pull through. We planned to leave Thursday by 4:30pm to head to my parents house (they watched Bean while we were gone). By the Sunday prior, I hadn't even pulled out suitcases yet. Steve was panicking about not seeing packing progress so I made a bet to get it all done by Wednesday night. I succeeded except for a few last minute items I had to get at the store on Thursday (and I even got to sneak in a visit to our friends' house to see their new son!).
We made it to my parents' house in great time and got to celebrate my sister's birthday with the majority of the family. We even got to share with everyone that Bean is getting a baby sister! Once the festivities died down, we tucked our little girl into bed and ran over the "Bean List" with my mom. We said our goodnight/goodbyes to everyone and went to bed. We had an early morning wake up call, got on the road and got to the airport in Indy without any issues. Our flight ended up being delayed a little bit (would've been nice to know prior to waking up!) but we made good time in the air. Once at the airport, we had to pick up our luggage, get on the hotel transfer, drop bags off at hotel, pick up an Uber and get to the Liberty Ferry Boat dock on the Jersey side all within an hour. I was stressed about how the timing was going to work, but it all went smoothly. We even were able to just go ahead and check into our room.
When I was younger, my family did an "All American" Vacation - Philly, New York, and Washington DC for 4th of July fireworks. We only had a brief afternoon in New York and had planned to just go and see the statue of liberty. We got lost trying to find the ferry dock and missed the last boat by minutes. I imagined this scenario happening again, but our Uber driver got us to the right area with a little bit of time to spare. However, we found the right area, but couldn't find the dock! We knew it had to be along the water, right?? It ended up being hidden back behind an old building. The signage was awful and it was easy to miss. Thankfully, we made it to the ferry!
We were starting on the Jersey side, but wanted to end up on the New York side. There were 2 routes going counter clockwise, so we had to ask someone the best way order in which to hit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and end up in New York. We figured it out and it wasn't that hard, just had to bypass a stop on the first trip. So we started at the statue. We picked up an audio tour and walked through the little museum first. We then only walked up to the pedestal lookout. Even though I've been doing great with the pregnancy (as far as hanging in there, haha), I didn't want to climb all those steps to get all the way up the statue. Maybe next time?? Maybe.
(Photo cred goes to Steve. Have I ever mentioned how good he is at taking photos?!)
(Lady Liberty's close up. I'm not sure what makes this photo more awkward, Lady Liberty or my fashion statement.)
(If only we brought our selfie stick. . . )
After the statue (which was neat to say we did, but not as impressive as I thought it would be), we took the ferry over to Ellis Island. It was much cooler than I thought it would be. My great grandpa came over from Romania in the early 1900s and came through immigration at Ellis Island. It was neat to hear all the history (we did an audio tour) and to think about what my great grandpa went through just to find a new life in America. What a sacrifice! I was taken aback by how many immigrants never made it through the island. A lot were quarantined, died on the island, or were rejected and sent back overseas on boats.
(Upon entering the building on Ellis island, immigrants would leave all of their belongings in this room before heading off for registration. My parents have the original steamer trunk that my great grandpa brought over from Romania. It was crazy for me to think about him leaving it there - and also having to lug it around, that thing is huge!)
(Registration room. Back in the day, this room was full of immigrants waiting on benches. They would be called one at a time up to a little podium to register for entry. While they waited, they underwent some quick medical assessments and were marked with chalk on their clothing. Different markings met whether they had passed or needed further assessments.)
It was nearing closing time, so we left the building to go catch the ferry. For some reason, the ferry took extra long to come back to Ellis Island. It was a cold day and the wind coming off the water made it even worse. The boat finally came and we packed on with everyone else to get to New York. I was done being cold and ready to just get dinner and get to the hotel, but Steve had a full evening planned. We walked from battery park down wall street to see the bull statue (I still don't understand it), then swung by the New York Stock Exchange building (kind of weird that it is hidden in a back alley, haha). We continued walking and made it to our dinner spot - Fraunces Tavern. It claims to be the oldest building in Manhattan and once served as headquarters for George Washington. We loved the rustic/historic atmosphere and especially loved being out of the cold!
(Eating in Fraunces Tavern)
(Yum! Steve got a stewed chicken dish while I had a sweet corn and cheese ravioli. It sounded kind of crazy but was pretty tasty!)
After dinner, we walked to the 9/11 Memorial and museum. It was really cold, but I sucked it up. The memorial itself was breathtaking. There were two huge memorial pools where each tower once stood. Surrounding the pool's rim were written all the names of those lost in each tower. The names were etched in black granite with lights shining through and illuminating the names. In the center of the pool was a dark abyss that sucked down all the water from the cascading pool. It is quite the site to see and I encourage anyone venturing to New York to make this a stop on your list.
(New One World Trade Center or "Freedom Tower" with the WTC Tower 1 reflection pool in front of it.)
(Notice the names on the black edging at the bottom of the picture. Water cascaded down the walls about 20 feet into the pool and then got sucked down into the black abyss in the center. It was such a serene setting. So crazy to think of the mayhem that took place on this spot.)
After we walked around the pool, we went into the museum. I was blown away by all the museum offered. I wasn't prepared for it to bring on my own emotions of what went on that day. As cool as it was to see a historical place like Ellis island, this historical place seemed just a little more real in that I remember exactly where I was when the towers were bombed. It's weird to live history and see it memorialized. The museum itself was fascinating. It was below ground level and built around the foundation of the towers (you actually got to see the foundation stones and walk around their edges). There was history of how the towers were built, the 1993 bombing, and of course the Sept 11th attacks and aftermath. The museum did a good job of incorporating media reports, artifacts (like shoes/glasses/airplane seat belts/fire engines/etc) and written information. I wasn't prepared for the rooms filled with pictures of all the lives lost or the areas that had voicemails from those inside the towers to their loved ones. It was a very emotional experience, but again, one I feel like everyone needs to experience.
(The only picture we took inside the museum. The left is the slurry wall that was created before construction started on the towers to keep water from the Hudson river from ruining the foundation. On the right is the "Last Column" which was the last steel beam removed from ground zero.)
After we finished the 9/11 Memorial, we headed to the nearest PATH stop (like Subway) and took it to a main station. From there, we picked up an Uber and headed back to our hotel in New Jersey. We crashed for the night and excitedly woke up and got ready the next morning for our cruise departure!
Monday, January 25, 2016
Christmas Vacation
It's hard to believe that our Christmas was a month ago. We spent over 2 weeks travelling between CO, OH & IN to visit both of our families for Christmas. We spent the first week leading up to Christmas day in Colorado with Steve's family and the week after Christmas with my family in Indiana. It made for a long and tiring couple of weeks, but it was worth it to be able to spend special time with our families.
Colorado Christmas:
We left on the Thursday (before Christmas) and headed to the airport in Detroit. Ohio was having weird weather and it was in the 50s. Boy was it a shock to get to Colorado and it to be in the 30s and below! Our flight came in close to Steve's brother Ian's flight. Steve's dad came and helped us get all our luggage and load up the car to head to their house.
The first part of our Colorado adventure included a visit to a museum to see a neat Sherlock exhibit (you got a case book and went to different stations and tested different aspects of the crime to figure it out), lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (Steve had been dreaming about that lunch for years), and a "kids only" trip to Casa Bonita (a not very good -food wise- restaurant that has several themed rooms with entertainment like cliff divers, puppet shows, games, etc).
On Sunday morning, we loaded up the SUVs and headed up into the mountains for a few days. Steve's parents rented a cabin in a very remote location that was at 11,000 feet elevation! They live near Denver at 5,000 (which was already an adjustment for us)! Everyone experienced altitude issues in one way or another, even with constant reminders of "Drink water!" It made for an interesting couple of days (especially throwing pregnancy sickness on top of it!). There were several plans of skiing, hiking, ice skating, sledding/tubing, and snow shoeing while we were up there. However, a lot of the activities got axed due to a snow storm moving through and people not feeling up to activities. Instead, we enjoyed playing lots of games, watching movies, and even got a nice dinner out in Breckenridge. The roads were a little scary at times and I think most of us were thankful to make it back to Steve's parents (and leaving the snow behind!).
We were supposed to stay in the cabin until Wednesday, but left a day early due to a snow storm coming in. We got to hit up our favorite Colorado pizza joint - Beau Jo's on our way out of the mountains. The rest of our time in Colorado was spent visiting a zoo up in the mountains, eating at a legit BBQ place, and sneaking in a brunch with Steve's best friend Steve and family! We figured it up that we hadn't seen Steve and his wife for four years. It was fun to get to meet their two kids and chat about life. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures :(.
And of course, we celebrated Christmas together with Steve's family! We opened up presents, enjoyed Christmas cookies, had a fabulous Christmas ham (thanks Trisha!), and even got to see Trisha sing at their Christmas Eve service. We had packed a lot in on Christmas Eve, including packing up all our stuff and figuring out how to get it all back to Ohio (thanks Scott and Ash for taking some items!). Steve, Bean, and I had an early flight on Christmas morning. Everyone woke up early to see us off (even uncle Ian, much to Bean's delight) and Steve's dad took us to the airport (thanks Doug for chauffeuring us!).
It was odd flying home on Christmas day. We've flown on Christmas day in the past, but it's always to leave town and go visit family. I think knowing we were heading back to our empty home was a little bit of a downer. We ate our "Christmas" dinner at Taco Bell and got home around 6. We shared some Little Debbie Christmas treats and had Bean open up a few presents that "Santa" left for her. Once we got her settled down from being back home, she went to bed and I frantically worked at unpacking, doing laundry, and repacking. We had a 9am departure for my family the next morning. . .
Indiana Christmas:
We got up, ate breakfast, quickly loaded up the car and hit the road to Indiana. We were the last to arrive at my parents for their Christmas festivities. My family's Christmas traditions are really laid back. Lunch consisted of deli sandwiches and lots of finger foods (nachos, meatballs, deviled eggs, etc). The guys all played different computer games in one room while the women and children all played and hung out in the living room. The afternoon gets a little tricky with two toddlers who need to nap, but we have a system and made it work! Once the kiddos were up, we opened up presents and continued to enjoy being together.
The rest of our time in Indiana was a blur. On Monday, Steve graciously watched Bean and my niece Gabbie to let me go with the rest of the family to see Star Wars again (thanks to Ashley, Steve and I were able to see it with his family while in Colorado while she watched Bean). My mom had foot surgery on Tuesday and was an absolute trooper. She was up more than I thought she would be and was able to help with Bean. We made plans and met up with some college friends on Wednesday. They live about an hour from my parents and it worked for us to swing by and visit with them for a few hours. Aaaaand in true Ackerman fashion, we didn't take a single picture with them and their 4 kids.
We didn't do anything crazy for New Year's Eve. I convinced my sister that we should make galushta (Romanian dish passed on from my grandma. It's always tradition to have it around Christmas/New Year's. My mom wasn't able to do it this year because of travel and her foot, so we jumped in to carry on the tradition.). I spent a lot of time in the kitchen between making the galushta and snacks for New Year's Eve non-party. My sister and her family came over, along with our friend April. The guys played computer games, girls chatted and watched tv. Typical Willis shindig!
We had to head back to Ohio on Friday afternoon because Steve had to work on Saturday. There's nothing like a kick to reality by husband having to go to work on a Saturday leaving you with a Christmas-crazy toddler who was hopped up on too much attention for two weeks. Okay, really, it wasn't that bad. But there was definitely a few days of all of us trying to ease back into routines. Thanks to all our family and friends who made this Christmas so great!
(The calm before the storm! We tried to do some family Christmas activities with Bean before we left town. She did a great job decorating with the candy and not eating it all like her Daddy. . . Next year, we'll have to be even more intentional about making sure Bean gets "Christmas" with just us before we visit all our family.)
Colorado Christmas:
We left on the Thursday (before Christmas) and headed to the airport in Detroit. Ohio was having weird weather and it was in the 50s. Boy was it a shock to get to Colorado and it to be in the 30s and below! Our flight came in close to Steve's brother Ian's flight. Steve's dad came and helped us get all our luggage and load up the car to head to their house.
The first part of our Colorado adventure included a visit to a museum to see a neat Sherlock exhibit (you got a case book and went to different stations and tested different aspects of the crime to figure it out), lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (Steve had been dreaming about that lunch for years), and a "kids only" trip to Casa Bonita (a not very good -food wise- restaurant that has several themed rooms with entertainment like cliff divers, puppet shows, games, etc).
(A station in the Sherlock exhibit. There wasn't much for Bean to do, so she was entertained by each of us at some point. There were some stamps she could do in the case book, but not enough to keep her entertained the whole time.)
(After the Sherlock exhibit, we took her to a kids discovery area. She loved it and cried when we had to leave.)
(She was afraid of falling off the dinosaur, but still humored me for a picture.)
(Still in the discovery area - she played in the water with Daddy's supervision.)
(Back at the house, Bean got to open an early present to help entertain her for the week -- a Mr. Potato Head. Thanks Ash! Uncle Ian was trying to help her with it.)
(Dinner at Casa Bonita. We got a table in perfect proximity to the cliff divers. Close enough to watch the little shows, but far enough away to not get splashed. And no, the face I'm making is not in reference to the food, although it was pretty depressing.)
(The saddest puppet show I've ever experienced, hahahaha. It was all about an animal with the hiccups. The puppeteer kept asking the audience - which was comprised of me, Steve, Bean, Ashley, another lady and her son - who did not want to be there - for help with getting rid of the hiccups. Steve and I dominated the suggestions department.)
(Playing with Uncle Ian and his panda bear Johnny! Trisha had saved some of their old toys and pulled them out for Bean. Big hits were the wooden train set and marble works tower.)
On Sunday morning, we loaded up the SUVs and headed up into the mountains for a few days. Steve's parents rented a cabin in a very remote location that was at 11,000 feet elevation! They live near Denver at 5,000 (which was already an adjustment for us)! Everyone experienced altitude issues in one way or another, even with constant reminders of "Drink water!" It made for an interesting couple of days (especially throwing pregnancy sickness on top of it!). There were several plans of skiing, hiking, ice skating, sledding/tubing, and snow shoeing while we were up there. However, a lot of the activities got axed due to a snow storm moving through and people not feeling up to activities. Instead, we enjoyed playing lots of games, watching movies, and even got a nice dinner out in Breckenridge. The roads were a little scary at times and I think most of us were thankful to make it back to Steve's parents (and leaving the snow behind!).
(Lucie was so excited to go play out in the snow and pretty much had to bribe adults to take her out. She became best friends with Ian when he offered to take her out without her prodding.)
(Playing outside with Ian & Ashley!)
(Working on a puzzle with Poppop.)
We were supposed to stay in the cabin until Wednesday, but left a day early due to a snow storm coming in. We got to hit up our favorite Colorado pizza joint - Beau Jo's on our way out of the mountains. The rest of our time in Colorado was spent visiting a zoo up in the mountains, eating at a legit BBQ place, and sneaking in a brunch with Steve's best friend Steve and family! We figured it up that we hadn't seen Steve and his wife for four years. It was fun to get to meet their two kids and chat about life. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures :(.
(Bean was unsure of the giraffe. She tried to feed the giraffe some lettuce, but she quickly retracted her hand when the giraffe took the lettuce with its tongue. Not gonna lie, it freaked me out a little, too.)
(Don't be fooled by that innocent looking giraffe. It's tongue was super long and black and would wrap around the lettuce as it took it from your hand.)
(Checking out the Elephants. I couldn't handle standing in the elephant building. Little too smelly for this nauseous preggo. We did get to see the elephants exit the building and go out into their outdoor area. Who knew that elephants would walk up a hill for some bagels?!)
("Coloring" at Mommom & Poppop's! The easel and markers were a big hit.)
(A trip with Mommom wouldn't be complete without some art projects! Bean loved the water colors!)
And of course, we celebrated Christmas together with Steve's family! We opened up presents, enjoyed Christmas cookies, had a fabulous Christmas ham (thanks Trisha!), and even got to see Trisha sing at their Christmas Eve service. We had packed a lot in on Christmas Eve, including packing up all our stuff and figuring out how to get it all back to Ohio (thanks Scott and Ash for taking some items!). Steve, Bean, and I had an early flight on Christmas morning. Everyone woke up early to see us off (even uncle Ian, much to Bean's delight) and Steve's dad took us to the airport (thanks Doug for chauffeuring us!).
(Making a gingerbread train. I think she consumed more candy on this go around. Apparently it had better candy than the kit we had!)
(Opening up presents! Bean made out with a ton of great gifts this year -- Potato Head, puzzle, clothes, shower basketball, Thomas RC train, and much more!)
It was odd flying home on Christmas day. We've flown on Christmas day in the past, but it's always to leave town and go visit family. I think knowing we were heading back to our empty home was a little bit of a downer. We ate our "Christmas" dinner at Taco Bell and got home around 6. We shared some Little Debbie Christmas treats and had Bean open up a few presents that "Santa" left for her. Once we got her settled down from being back home, she went to bed and I frantically worked at unpacking, doing laundry, and repacking. We had a 9am departure for my family the next morning. . .
(The perk of having to buy a seat for Bean is that she has some space to lay. However, this nap didn't last nearly long enough. Crossing time zones is a tough adjustment for toddlers!)
We got up, ate breakfast, quickly loaded up the car and hit the road to Indiana. We were the last to arrive at my parents for their Christmas festivities. My family's Christmas traditions are really laid back. Lunch consisted of deli sandwiches and lots of finger foods (nachos, meatballs, deviled eggs, etc). The guys all played different computer games in one room while the women and children all played and hung out in the living room. The afternoon gets a little tricky with two toddlers who need to nap, but we have a system and made it work! Once the kiddos were up, we opened up presents and continued to enjoy being together.
(Gabbie reading bedtime stories to Bean. How are these kids this big?!)
(My parents with their grandkids (sans Savannah). This picture took way too long to get a good one and the kids weren't the problem in most of the photos, haha!)
The rest of our time in Indiana was a blur. On Monday, Steve graciously watched Bean and my niece Gabbie to let me go with the rest of the family to see Star Wars again (thanks to Ashley, Steve and I were able to see it with his family while in Colorado while she watched Bean). My mom had foot surgery on Tuesday and was an absolute trooper. She was up more than I thought she would be and was able to help with Bean. We made plans and met up with some college friends on Wednesday. They live about an hour from my parents and it worked for us to swing by and visit with them for a few hours. Aaaaand in true Ackerman fashion, we didn't take a single picture with them and their 4 kids.
We didn't do anything crazy for New Year's Eve. I convinced my sister that we should make galushta (Romanian dish passed on from my grandma. It's always tradition to have it around Christmas/New Year's. My mom wasn't able to do it this year because of travel and her foot, so we jumped in to carry on the tradition.). I spent a lot of time in the kitchen between making the galushta and snacks for New Year's Eve non-party. My sister and her family came over, along with our friend April. The guys played computer games, girls chatted and watched tv. Typical Willis shindig!
We had to head back to Ohio on Friday afternoon because Steve had to work on Saturday. There's nothing like a kick to reality by husband having to go to work on a Saturday leaving you with a Christmas-crazy toddler who was hopped up on too much attention for two weeks. Okay, really, it wasn't that bad. But there was definitely a few days of all of us trying to ease back into routines. Thanks to all our family and friends who made this Christmas so great!
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