Our ship has sailed...

Randy and I went on a cruise this month. Yes, I did get my submariner on an ocean-going vessel that he did not have to navigate and he loved it. (Okay, okay, he was a little tense going through the narrow strait into Bermuda...)

We left Boston on October 12th and headed for Bermuda. Our ship, the Norwegian Dream, is older (and smaller) and not as modern or brightly decorated as the newer ships but since it was our first cruise ever we did not mind. It will be nice, however, to cruise in the future on something with a little more open space. (We had one stormy day on the way home and it was a bit 'busy' with everyone below decks.)

Anyway, Bermuda was bee-you-tee-ful!!! I loved it there. Everything about Bermuda is pretty. The water is a million shades of turquoise and so clear! I stood in the water up to my shoulders and could see my toenail polish perfectly!! The sand on the beach we went to was PINK! and very powdery (is that a word?). The houses are painted in every imaginable color and the properties are clean and uncluttered. The streets, although very narrow, were clean - no litter anywhere. The people were so friendly and nice and accommodating and helpful and did I say friendly? Everywhere we went we were met with smiles and hellos and conversation. I understand that their country kinda depends on tourism and keeping people happy while they are there, but their friendliness just seemed genuine to me. Maybe it was the rum.

Oh, yes, the rum. I cannot say the words "Rum Swizzle" without having a little giggle. They are good. Really good. And they go down too easily. There's a couple Swizzle Inns on the island and we visited both within hours of each other. I could've been on the Bermuda evening news that day and the video footage would have shown me holding my arms out like an airplane on the back of the scooter just before the accident. (No, there was NOT an accident, just my example of how my drunkeness, I mean silliness would've been the last thing people on the street saw before said hypothetical accident.)

We spent three days in Bermuda before sailing back to Boston. It was a great week full of eating, drinking, shopping, beaching, walking, scootering, more eating, and more drinking. I recommend a cruise to everyone. We're shopping for our next one already.

Here are some pictures of our week:

A 'moongate' in front of a 'little pink house'

St. David's Lighthouse

View from a window in the lighthouse

Gibb's Lighthouse (I didn't climb this one)

Reid Street in Hamilton with Allen, Lisa and Randy walking

Horseshoe Bay Beach

All the roofs are white and 'stepped'

St. Georges from the ship

The ship docked in St. Georges

Randy and I at Horseshoe Bay Beach (taken by the 'honeymooners')

Turquoise water

Horseshoe Bay again

St. Georges

...another beach (taken while scootering down the road)

Summer '08

The girls have gone back to school and although the calendar states otherwise, summer is over. School starting has always been synonymous with fall and I don't like fall. Well, I guess in a way, I do since I love to see the leaves turn glorious shades of red, orange and gold. But okay, if it is said that I like fall, then I LOVE summer. And summer is over.

So while I sit here and reminisce about summer and it's lazy days, I will share some pictures of our summer.

At a 'family' picnic in June. Tasty food, cool drinks (see the three drinks on the railing in the first picture? 2 of them are mine...yeah...), and good friends - the three requirements for a good time!

My mom had always said that if you couldn't afford your own swimming pool or boat, be friends with someone who can. Well, we got our own 'pool,' but do have friends with a boat! :)

Virginia Beach. Only spent about an hour there, but I just HAD to go. Nobody loved it as much as me.... While there we visited some friends and went to Busch Gardens.

On the left is Currituck Lighthouse in Corolla, NC on the Outer Banks. On the right is the reason I didn't make the climb to the top.

No, I didn't get arrested (although stuck in a car with two kids for a week, I came close a few times!), this was the view from our balcony in Kill Devil Hills, NC. And a picture of the girls in a weak moment of sisterly love.

While in NC we had dinner at Dirty Dick's Crab Shack. Shelby had to have the crab hat and wore it for two days straight. Too funny!

Our resort in Myrtle Beach, SC and everybody enjoying the pool (hel-low people? there is a perfectly good beach just around the corner!!)

Just a "few" shells we collected in Myrtle Beach.

We went camping in late August with my brother and his family. The kids had a blast and it was the most relaxed I've been in a long time.

All in all it was a great summer, but as usual, too short. 9 months and counting 'til next summer....