Carnival Cruise - Port Of Miami

 Spring break for our family started a day early! We took Briana out of school on Friday (April 5) to fly down to Florida that afternoon. The cruise left port on Saturday, but we didn't want to worry about delayed flights or unforeseen problems, so we decided to come in a little early. Our flight was actually delayed over an hour due to bad weather in Miami, but we didn't have to be overly concerned about it.

Here are Briana and Doug on the bus to the airport from the park-n-fly. Of course Pink Baby was ready for our trip. ;)

We boarded our flight and Briana was very excited to sit by the window...

When we got to Florida, it was late afternoon and very rainy. We stayed at a Marriott, which was very nice, and we could see the port from our window...

We grabbed dinner in the hotel restaurant...

My scallops and mushroom ravioli were delish...

Finally, the sun started to peek out after dinner...

We settled in for the night and woke up the next morning to a beautifully sunny day...

We saw that our ship was waiting for us (in the middle)...

We had breakfast and wandered around the hotel grounds a bit...

It was time to check out of the hotel and take a taxi to the port. Boarding started at 1PM. Briana was actually getting a bit nervous about boarding the ship (and I was a bit nervous too).

But when we pulled up, we saw the M family waiting for us and Briana saw Chani and all the fear just washed away... 

We dropped our luggage off (which was going to be delivered to our rooms) and it was time to board the ship...

To be continued...    :)

Carnival Cruise - The Victory

Doug, Briana and I spent last week (spring break week) enjoying a wonderful cruise with our dear friends, The "M" family. Neither Doug, Briana nor I had ever been on a cruise before, and to be honest, I always swore I would never go on one. I am one to get motion sickness and I am not the biggest fan of crowds. Last year, Kathy told me how much she loves cruises and convinced me that we needed our families to go on a cruise together during spring break. We booked a cruise that took us to Jamaica and Grand Cayman.

I felt better knowing that Kathy knew all the ins and outs of cruising, but I was still a bit nervous about the whole thing.

Well, let me tell you...

We had an amazing time. I loved the cruise and I loved it even more because we were with our amazing friends.

Here are a few pictures of the ship...

Over the next week, I will share our adventures on the Carnival Victory and our excursions to Jamaica and Grand Cayman.

It is a trip I definitely will never forget. :)

Bloggy Break

It is the beginning of Spring Break for us and I'm going to take a little time off from blogging and FB to spend it with my awesome hubby and amazing daughter.

(Happy Birthday to my mom today!)

See ya on the flip side!

Signs Of Spring

March was a weird month. It was a total mix of winter and spring - warm on day, cold the next. And today - the 4th day of April - it felt like winter again with highs in the mid forties. Spring break is next week, so temps should be in the 60's and 70's, not the 40's!

We have managed to enjoy the couple of pretty springlike days we have had. My weeping cherry tree realizes it spring...

The beautiful bradford pear trees at Bri's school know it is spring...

And it was gorgeous last Saturday for Briana's soccer game...

She would have even told you she felt a bit warm...

Go Team Argentina!!!

So, spring is at least trying to break through.

And on a different note, I just needed to post some more proof that Bri and Asia are becoming better friends. :)

Easter Recap

Easter was a wonderful day. We spent the day with my family, and Bri had the best time visiting with her cousins.

We started the morning off though looking for Briana's Easter basket from the Easter Bunny. She found it quite quickly...

She loved all of her goodies...

Then we got dressed and headed over to my parents' house for an Easter/Passover/Birthday (for my mom) lunch...

Once we got to their house, there were more presents received...

Then it was art and craft time...

We had a delicious Easter lunch. So much good food - I was stuffed. So was Miss B...

Briana read to Cousin N2. It was so cute watching him listen to her...

My dad playing with N2...

Then it was time to blow bubbles with Cousin N1...

And have a super fun Easter egg hunt...

My mother's birthday is tomorrow, but we decided to celebrate a bit early since the family was all together...

I found these cool candles - the flames are the color of the wax...

Blowing out candles and present time...

We spent the entire day together. And I got to snuggle on my nephews all afternoon, so it was awesome.

It was an awesome, double hula hooping kind of day. :)

Spring Pictures

In mid-March, Briana's school had spring portraits taken as well as class photos. Briana's spring picture turned out really cute. I like the background they chose for her.

And look at Miss B below... 

I couldn't stop laughing when I saw Briana pose for this picture with her classmates. She's something, isn't she? I think I have taken waaaaay too many pictures of her. I've created a little model posing monster! LOL!

I picture her one day becoming some big time fashion designer with everyone just calling her by her first name - "BRIANA"- no last name needed. ;D