Been Cruisin!

Well we made it home from the Brecht Family Vacation. We went on a cruise to the Grand Cayman Islands and to Cazumel (?), Mexico. We set sail at 4 something on Monday and got back to land on Saturday early AM. We were a little worried about taking care of the boys on the cruise, but they had a super duper time and took quite nicely to being serviced by all the kind staff of the Carnival cruise line. Roger and I couldn't think of a thing to complain about. Other than the fun follies we had travelling home that you'll see below. There will be more pics to come later when I get the pics from snorkeling and the sting ray city in Grand Cayman. We also had some good shots on Paradise Beach in Cazumel. I hope I'm spellin that right. I know I could look it up, but I'm too tired...

Here is only part of the ship. It was huge!

This is the whole bunch right after we got on the boat.

The purpose of the trip was to celebrate Roger's dad Jim's retirement. They brought the whole family along. All 14 of us! It was quite relaxing and we had good bonding time.

Finally on the boat and time to celebrate!

This is our first dinner night. Tate had a sore eye,
but I don't think it shows up too much here.

Here is everyone on the second night which was formal night! Roger and I each had two lobster tails a piece. We were so gluttonous, but they were so yummy!

The boys were able to go to Camp Carnival every day and play with friends and get their faces painted. This allowed Mommy and Daddy some rest time in the sun! I read a whole book! I cried because it was good AND because it's been so long since I've had a free moment to read a book. Bonus: we learned how to easily eat out with our kids. We ate in restaurants three times a day. And did we ever eat well?! I'm glad I could still fit in my jeans on Saturday. I only had cheesecake every day, but one~and four course suppers every night! Plus full breakfasts and lunches. It was soooo good and too hard to turn down!

Tigers, grrh!

Here they have dolphins over their eyes!

Pirate S.Jessen holding a Valentine's flower. He also got a "Jelly Roger" tattoo :)

Pirate Tate with our drink waitress, Magdalena from Poland. She loved Tate's cheeks!

Us with our little pirates during Valentine's dinner!

We also celebrated Mason's 11th birthday on Valentine's Day.

The most stressful part of the trip was the airports, but a lifesaver was the GoGoKidz Universal Carseat Travelmate http://www.theportablebaby.com/gogokidz.html that a friend told us about.
Here is a picture of Roger and S.Jessen pulling Tater along nicely in the airport. We did find that it was easier to remove it on the plane though so the seat could rest all the way to the back. Otherwise Tate was kicking the crap out of random strangers' backs. It is easy to take off and on though so that was no biggie! It was also a nice handle for S.Jessen to hold onto.

Here are some of the follies we had on the way home! ENJOY: I can now that we are home :)

We were off the boat around 10 or so and in the air before 2. We had three flights home and only once did I consider throwing our 3-year-old in a trash can (he had every reason to be out of sorts, but I was tired, too). Before our first flight we were fined $50 for an overweight suitcase. The boys did eat so that was a bonus. Tate pooped right away and I changed him and both boys got to play in a little playland while we waited for our boarding call. Tate literally screamed for the longest 90 seconds of my life when I was trying to put him back in his carseat to board the plane. In the mean time, Roger was running to the bathroom with S.Jessen so he didn't poop on the floor. While trying to board, an older lady told me Tate was a great future opera singer for the 90 second scream she witnessed! Thank you! Tate then slept for almost the entire flight, but every time I would try to sleep, S.Jessen would spill his ice in his lap or have to go pee!

In the D.C. airport they did really good and it was a super short layover. On this next flight, Tate pooped through his pants. I had him in the bathroom, on the changing board, above the toilet, with poop up to our ears. There's so much roomin those anyway. I had to put him in the carseat with only his shirt and diaper until his pants were sort of dry. I cleaned them, but they still stunk! They were dry by the time we landed though.

We had a larger layover in Chicago... This is when I wanted to put S.Jessen in the trashcan... but as soon as I said it out lout to Roger's mom, he got better (no, he didn't hear me)! Did I mention we ran out of diapers after Tate pooped AGAIN? I had him in a size 3 diaper (he wears 6's) for the rest of the way home and then he poured a bottle of water in his lap right when we got on the plane! AND we had to wait on the plane for over an hour which it takes only 54 minutes to fly from Chicago to Des Moines! Tate fell asleep before it started and S.Jessen cried for 20 minutes because he was so tired, but he fell asleep eventually. Once we landed we only had 90 more minutes to drive home..Needless to say the boys were ready to get in their own beds at this point, and so were we! I'm just glad we had today to recuperate a little!

WE really did have a super time, but if I didn't record all that down no one would actually believe why the travel day home was so hectic! More pics soon from snorkeling, sting rays, and the beach!