Joe and I took a much needed vacation the last week in April. We left our house in Davenport on Friday the 23rd and drove to Chicago. We flew out of Midway and started the whirlwind trip heading first to Vegas!
We flew out to Vegas Saturday morning for Deb and Steve's bachelorette/bachelor party. We got to see Joe's whole family! Besides Deb and Steve (who had been in Vegas partying since Thursday) Judy and Dave flew out Friday (the day before us) and met up with and Jim, Marianne, and Alden. Jason and Lindsay arrived just a 1/2 hour before us! It was so great to see everyone! I did a whole lot of hanging out in the hotel room at the MGM with Marianne and Alden but that was ok with me since I don't drink (anymore) and I don't gamble!
We left for the airport at 8am (PST). It was 7 hours of flying to make it all the way across the country to Ft. Lauderdale. We didn't arrive at our hotel until about 8:20pm (EST)!! I was so exhausted by the end of the day. I kept telling Joe... "no doctor is going to have to tell me not to fly in the 3rd trimester, the 2nd was uncomfortable enough to make me never want to do it again".
Since our vacation was a package deal to promote timeshares we weren't expecting much and good thing..b/c otherwise we may have been disappointed. The hotel was OK, the complimentary food was OK, the rental car was really nice, but that kinda topped the list early on in the trip.
We spent the rainy Monday morning sleeping in and catching up from our double cross-country flights. The timeshare presentation was in the afternoon and it was fun finding all the different ways to tell them we weren't interested in buying anything...we were just here for the cheap vacation!! Monday night we had a great dinner our and went to the movie "Date Night".
Tuesday was snorkeling and beach day. I got really tired really fast, much faster than I expected, but it was still a lot of fun. The last time we had gone snorkeling was on our honeymoon. I keep thinking that I need to get Joe to get scuba certified with me but it doesn't really sound like he's all that interested.
The boat that took us snorkeling had a glass bottom which was really neat. Then after I was too tired to swim anymore I just climbed back in the boat and watched the fish from inside!
We spent the rest of the afternoon reading on the beach. It was so relaxing and warm. After that rainy Monday we had perfect weather.
Wednesday we boarded the cruise ship for the two-day excursion down to the Bahamas. It was a very small ship, with not a whole lot to do, but at least it was relaxing...and it wasn't work! ;)
Thursday was another beach day, this time on the white sands of Freeport, Bahamas. Joe and I spent the day relaxing and reading at a resort owned by the same company as the boat. We came ashore and used their 7 pools, 2 hot tubs, waterslide, and beaches (or so they said that's what they had! haha) There really were 7 pools...they just didn't want us using any of them...I didn't care. We went were we wanted. And as a result I got bit by sand fleas....AGAIN! You would think that I would have learned...me and the beaches of the Bahamas don't get along. Hopefully this time the lesson will stick. I'm not as badly eaten as I was on the honeymoon but still unpleasant.
Thursday night we went to the fancy dinner on the cruise which was really yummy. We got dressed up and just enjoyed the night.
After dinner we went to the show where, as usual, Joe is pulled up on stage to participate!
Friday sent us off the boat and heading for Orlando. The 3 hour drive went really quickly but the hassle of the drive and then checking into our new hotel left me totally wiped. We ended up not going to the museum that we had planned on and just napped the afternoon away. That evening we went to a "who-done-it" comedy theater and dinner show. It was so much fun. Afterwards they had improve night, and since I was well rested from my nap, we decided to stick around and watch that too!
Saturday was by far our most favorite day. We went to Aquatica, the water park owned by Sea World and located just right across the street from it. I forgot our camera that day but we had a blast. There was about 7 big slides and a few other attractions and we spent the whole day playing around like little kids. Again, I got tired (are we seeing the theme) and was lucky enough to have thought ahead this time and rented a lounge chair under an umbrella where I could sleep while Joe kept playing. After an hour I was ready to go again! It was a beautiful 91 degree day, with minimal clouds in the morning, just enough to keep the park a little emptier until afternoon. We went and saw "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3D that night. Highly entertaining!
Sunday was the big trip back home. When we finally arrived at the kennel to pick up Jericho he was soooo excited to see us. I thought he was gonna wiggle right out of the lady's arms. I don't think he slept very well while he was there, that or he truly missed us, because he has been so cuddly and sleepy for the last two days.
Ok, one more update to go.... bump pictures await.
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