Today is our 16th anniversary. Starting December 29, 1990 we've had 16 wedded years, 8 moves, 3 kids, 1 ferret, 1 bird, 1 dog, 1 cat, 1 hamster, countless trips and vacations, untold holidays and birthdays, a few bumps along the way, some sadness and goodbyes to people we love and through it all we have always had each other and always will. I wouldn't trade a minute of it.
Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas at about 1:00 p.m. The ship was scheduled to depart at 5:00 p.m. The first thing we did was inspect our cabin. It was actually pretty spacious by ship standards. We had an oceanview Family Stateroom. It had a separate curtained off area with bunk beds and a closet; a pull-out sofa (more of a glorified futon) and a window in the main area; and a curtained off sleeping area with a king size bed, a closet, and a vanity. With all curtains, it got pretty dark in there. It was awesome when the kids slept until 9:00 a.m. some mornings. That is virtually unheard of! That alone was worth the price of the vacation!
The next thing we had to do was participate in the emergency drill. We had to don lifejackets and go on deck to our "muster station." Like I said it was very chilly and windy that day and we were out there for quite some time while everyone on the ship was counted.
By the late afternoon, we were all feeling better. The kids all decided they wanted to go to the kid's club that night rather than have a late dinner in the dining room. That worked out great for them...and for us! I finally got to meet our tablemates--Ricardo and Nayra Rodriguez. They are a newlywed couple from Monterrey, Mexico. At first I wondered what the cruise line was thinking seating newlyweds with a family with 3 kids, but it ended up working out great. They were very funny and nice and very sweet to the kids when they ate with us. Ricardo celebrated his 30th birthday on the cruise. We bought them a bottle of wine one night to celebrate that and their wedding. On the last night they gave us very thoughtful gifts...a caribbean christmas ornament and a t-shirt from the ship. I had been meaning to get a Christmas ornament as a souvenir so it was perfect!
We weren't scheduled to arrive in Key West until 3:00 p.m. so that left a big chunk of the day on the ship. In the morning the girls wanted to go to the kids club and Jackson decided to play family bingo with Jim and I. Good thing he did too since he won $87!! He was soooo happy!
After lunch the kids wanted to swim even though it was still pretty chilly. However, they had drained the pool due to the rough weather (they use sea water for the pools, did you know that?) so all that was available were the hot tubs.
Once we docked in Key West, we departed for our excursion to Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. This is something I never care to do again. Jordan and Jackson both say they liked it but Jensen was mostly just scared of all the weird stuff. After the museum we walked around and 
did a little souvenir shopping. This was all Jackson cared about in any port we were in. He always wanted to make sure that we were going to have time for souvenir shopping.
We left Key West around midnight on our way to Grand Cayman. We had this day at sea and the weather finally started to warm up. We spent this day very leisurely...totally on vacation. The kids went to the kids club for a while and Jim and I went to pool. After lunch, we kind of all hung out by the pool. Jackson joined a "sexy legs" contest by the pool and ended up winning a medal! He was in his glory!
This was a great day! The weather was beautiful when we docked in Grand Cayman. We had
planned to just go to the beach for the day. We went to Seven Mile beach and played in the
beautiful sand and water for several hours. We had lunch at a beachside hotel then got in the requisite souvenir shopping before heading back to the ship.
kids a little by trying to get a potential Christmas card photo. I made Jackson try to build a snowman out of sand. This proved to be virtually impossible, but at least it kept him busy for a while.
I 
was most looking forward to this day the whole trip. We had decided that we would do "swim with the dolphins" excursion and I was so excited. The day we were in Cozumel, the weather wasn't that great. It was overcast and windy. We went to a national park called Chakanaab. It had all been virtually rebuilt in the past 2 years since hurricane Wilma. They had a beautiful dolphin habitat. We were able to get in the water standing on a platform in water about chest high. Jensen really didn't want to do it, but we made her get in the water. She loves animals and I really thought she would love being so up 
close with the dolphins. However, she was terrified and screamed to get out. I think the main problem was how rough the water was. Since she wanted to get out, one of us had to get out with her and Jim volunteered. Next to go was Jackson. He tried to stick it out, but was just too cold in the rough water. He did manage to get one kiss from the dolphin before he got out. That left just Jordan and I in the water. I know I loved the whole experience and I think Jordan did too. She was a trooper and I hope she remembers that experience for a lifetime.
Once our time with the dolphins was over and we had spent a small fortune on the photos and dvd, we had to make our way into town for souvenir shopping and lunch. We ate at Carlos and Charlies. It was loud and fun and we all enjoyed it. We sort of separated to conquer all the souvenir shops and Jackson and I got back to the ship on the last tender.
This was our last day on the ship. The weather started to get rougher as we entered the gulf of mexico and I was worried that we would get sick again, but we held tough. We played bingo again the last day but didn't have any luck. Both Jackson and Jordan had made friends on the ship with a brother and sister from Round Rock, TX. We had arranged to have lunch with their family that day. After lunch the kids wanted to climb the rock roll on the top deck of the ship. I spent a big chunk of the afternoon packing up all our stuff!
We all ate dinner together in the dining room that night although the kids really wanted to go to the kid's club.
family vacation that had a little something for everyone.
acious when we returned!
It has been 3 weeks since I've posted here!!! I know I'm not the best blogger, but I'm not usually that bad. It's really just a testament to how busy we are. My last post was on Nov. 19th. On Nov. 20th we went to NC to visit my dad and Dyann for Thanksgiving. We had a great visit and got to see Denise and her new boyfriend as well. We didn't have the best weather so we did some indoor activities like see a movie (Happy Feet) and went bowling (that was fun!). On the last day Jim and the kids finally got to play a little golf.
After we returned, we had a week to get ready to go on our cruise. This meant I had to find swim suits and summer clothing and flip flops for all of us since most of our summer stuff (well, the kids' at least) was kind of trashed from the summer. Got us all packed and we headed out on Dec. 3. I'll write another post with the details of the cruise and some pics. It was a great break and boy did we need it! We got back this past Sunday on Dec. 10th.
Jackson and Jordan had their costume parade at school first thing at 8:15. Then, Jensen had to be at school at 8:45 and her little parade was scheduled for 9:00. Getting three kids dressed in a costume in time for school stresses me out. I mean, getting them dressed in regular attire is stressful enough.
I have to say they did look cute. Jackson wanted to be a scary, evil vampire but ended up looking more like Eddie Munster. Jordan didn't want to wear most of her Hermione costume and decided as the evening wore on the she was a "business woman" instead. And Jensen was Snow White...just one of many princess choices she had in her repertoire.
Went to the Texas Renaissance Festival on Sunday and took two of the kids' friends...Austin and Kristina. Please remind me not to do this again. The kids do have fun...especially the boys with all the knights and jousting, etc. But the costumes that some people wear who attend these types of festivals are just ridiculous...so risque. Plus, some of the people are dressed in really scary costumes and Jensen was afraid of several of them that we saw. Plus, it's ridiculously expensive and it's an hour and a half drive each way. I don't think I need many more reasons than that for not going again.
Jensen had her first preschool field trip. It was to the fire station. She wasn't really all that interested though in the fire engines or squirting the water out of the hose like most of the other kids. The other girl in the picture with the hoses (Grace) is so into it and Jensen looks completely indifferent. This fire station we go to for field trips has a cool "smoke" room. It's a room that's filled with furniture like a living room and they can pump non toxic smoke into it. The kids and parents practice the "fall and crawl" to get out of the room. Very cool learning experience although a little scary for the kids. A little scary for me to given our experience of actually being in a fire. We were so lucky to get out of our house when we did becuase you really can't see at all when the room is filled with smoke.
Jensen also got bit by another girl at school this week. This is the first time any of our kids has been bitten by another kid. It didn't break the skin but you could very clearly see the little circle of teeth marks on her arm. Her and the other girl were both trying to see something through a window and were pushing each other to get a better view when the other girl just leaned down and bit Jensen! I think Jensen was pretty shocked. I really hope that doesn't happen again.
Had craft night with the girls where we embellished t-shirts using hot-fix crystals. Really cool and fun technique. I made a halloween theme shirt. Maybe I'll take a pic of it and post.
Today the kids had no school so I tried my best to fill up their time. We went to the Mudpie Co., along with half of Kingwood, to paint pottery. The kids have been bugging me to go. Jackson's had his eye on this big dragon head to paint for months since Jordan went to a party there and we went to pick her up. The kids each painted something and I started on gifts for the teachers. Thanks to Heather I've got tons of gift ideas for people. I hope to get back to finish my project next week.
I've been feeling more despondent lately about our housing situation. It appears we won't be in our house until well after the new year I'm sure. We've started legal action against our contractor and that seems to really drag things out. He's stopped all work on the house so...we're faced with another holiday season not in our own home. I really miss my house and all the space and comfort we had. I miss my neighborhood, not just for myself but for the kids. They really can't play outside here and they don't have their friends around them. I try to keep them connected with our street and we really are over there all the time, but it's just not the same. I think I've been pretty upbeat and positive for the most part about our situation but, frankly, I'm just tired of it. I want my house back.
And that's been my week.
I'm the "R" Rita and my 4 "Js" are my awesome husband Jim, my daughters Jordan and Jensen, and my son Jackson. I love them all.
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