Cruising-Key West

Our first port was at Key West.  Dave and I did some research and found that we could save $140 by not doing a cruise excursion to go parasailing, but by going directly to the company. We were glad we did it!

Here we are waiting for our turn.  You can see our cruise ships "tail" in the far distant background.  

Please note our AWESOME burns on our arms...we are really cool.

And going up...

...getting dunked...

 ...enjoying the BEAUTIFUl view...

 ...the landing...

Seriously, so fun.  It was even better that we got to go up together. It was cool to see where we were and the beautiful water that surrounded us.

After parasailing we walked around Key West.  We debated going on a number of tours, but after looking at lines and price decided to just enjoy the town.

Here we are at the southern most point of the United States.

Then on to get some Key Lime pie.  Dave and I are big fans of Key Lime pie (it was served at our wedding luncheon).  So we were looking forward to it.  Dave got the classic pie, which was pretty darn good.

 And I got the Key Lime pie on a stick dipped in chocolate...it was amazing.  

We walked back to our ship, had lunch and enjoyed the afternoon basking in the sun reading books.  

Before dinner we went to change and found the "housekeeper" dude had left us this little towel creature...wearing my sun glasses.   

Growing Up and Getting Away

It is so sad to see Aliyah grow up.  She is not a baby, at all, by any means, whatsoever, and yet...we still call her baby.  Here she is eating an apple like a big girl--just picked it up from the fruit bowl and started eating--and she loved it.  (and she'll pick up a new one without getting very far on the other, so I have to watch her!)

Here's Aliyah playing with Dave.  She told them where they were supposed to hide and then just laid their and snuggled together.

The Monday before Easter we had our Easter FHE lesson (Dave and I would be gone on Easter so we wanted to make sure we taught Aliyah a little something!)  I filled some plastic easter eggs with scriptures and candy and then "hid" them around the living room for Aliyah to find.  After explaining just once she knew what she was supposed to do and found all of the eggs (except one that even I had forgotten where I had hid).  She loved finding the eggs and putting them in the basket.

                    

                    

After she found the basket we opened all the eggs and read through the scriptures and talked about Christ's last week before His Resurrection.  At the end I asked Aliyah if she would follow Jesus and she said, "No."  We asked her why.  She said, "Because Jesus was crucified."  Uhhh, what! That's a pretty good reason.  We then explained about how Christ was resurrected, perfect, and all better, then asked once again if she would follow Jesus example so she could live with Heavenly Father again.  She said yes!  Whew...

On to the Getting Away part...Dave and I had to get away.  So over Dave's short spring break and in celebration of our 5 year anniversary, Dave and I went on a west Caribbean cruise.  We left Aliyah with Dave's sisters family. We were so sick to our stomach that morning we dropped her off!  We knew she would be fine, but she was out of our control...terrible feeling!  We got over it soon enough.  The 8 hours of flying/layover was even a welcome retreat as were able to relax, read, talk, watch a movie.  The hotel we stayed in not so welcoming.  The room was tiny, had tile floors (so we could hear people rolling their luggage down the hall at 3 and 4 and 5 pm) and thin enough walls to hear people talking on the other side! It was a rough night...but made the cruise itself even that more wonderful!

Here we are on the cruise ship with the Miami skyline in the background.  Do you see how happy we were!  We didn't even leave the port for another 4 hours after this...we just were on the ship, eating food, reading books, and getting burned...it was awesome!

More of March

Aliyah went to her first friend birthday party.  It was for our neighbor with a Tinkerbell theme.  The invitation invited the girls to come dressed up as a fairy or princess.  So we used the ballet costume Aliyah got at Christmas...she was a hit.  Aliyah loved the party and was thoroughly entertained with the  activities, entertainment and food.  I had to do some choreographing so Dave went with her.  She looks all grown up trying to carry the present!

 

We also did a little shopping with some Christmas money (3 months late...we like to lengthen it out and enjoy Christmas longer!)  And by we I mean I bought stuff while Dave and Aliyah played.  They went on the train that rides around the mall.  Aliyah LOVED it and cried hard and loud when she had to get off.  Dave and I are learning how parents can spoil their children so easily--it is purely to see the joy and happiness on their faces.  Unfortunately it only last while she was on the train.  That's the other thing that we learned...happpiness you can buy only lasts as long as you're doing it--at least in a 2 year olds mind!

We also saw the Easter Bunny!

We then went to dinner at Chuck-a-Rama (another Christmas gift!)  Aliyah loved the ice-cream.  She saw Dave's bowl and wanted it for herself.  She ate the whole thing and wanted more.

 Good family, good fun, good food!