We don't call him Monkey Boy for Nothing!!!

For the last month or so Joey has been climbing out of his crib. Initially he would get out of the porta crib when we were away from the house and then his crib at home. The thought of putting Joey in a bed was giving me agita. Once he figured out how to open his bedroom door and would climb into bed with us in the middle of the night we knew we had to do something. The plan was that when we returned from our cruise we would convert his crib into a toddler bed. Which is exactly what we did:
Our little man is growing up so fast. He now sleeps in his bed and we even put a gate up in his doorway after he goes to sleep. He still climbs out of the bed and i've found him at 5am sitting in the middle of his room playing with his toys. But, at least now there is no fear of him hurting himself climbing out of the crib. Time goes so fast!!!!!!

Fun Phrases from our trip

So many fun things happened while we were away that I tried to compile some to share:

Me: "Hailey, you were a fish today"
Hailey: "No Mom, I was a mermaid"

Aunt Danielle: (calling front desk in an effort to try and find my mom) "Um, if I can't find my mom, is there any way that you can paige her"
Front Desk: "Well that depends, How old are you?"
Aunt Danielle: (hesitantly) "19"
Front Desk: (I'm sure fighting back their laughter) "No sweetie, I'm sorry"

Hailey: "Mommy, can this be our house"
Me: "I wish!!!"

Me: "Hi Hails, how was camp today?"
Hailey: "Mommy, they let us walk outside without our shoes on"
Me: (laughing)

Cruise Days 8&9

Our last 2 days were spent at sea on our way home to Cape Liberty. Here are some highlights:
Joey would climb behind this couch and get stuck everyday. Ron and I would watch him and say "no, Joe" and he still would do it. Finally, we decided to leave him there and take this picture.
We got to enjoy some Johnny Rockets...yummy!!!!!!

Our vacation came to an end with tons of pictures to show for it. It was a great trip and we have already begun discussing the next one in 5 years. Hawaii, maybe!!!!!!!

Cruise - Day 7 Puerto Rico

Today we arrived in Puerto Rico. Since we were only there for a short amount of time we decided to just take some time off the boat and hit the shops. It was very hot and since shopping is not one of my favorite things to do, I could not wait to get back to the boat. It was nice though to check out Puerto Rico. The roads were very narrow but it was very pretty.

And so our shopping trip came to an end and we headed back onto the boat for some pool time and dinner.

Cruise - Day 6 St. Thomas

Today we headed to Meeghan's Bay in St. Thomas for another beach excursion :) . Again there was a bus that picked us up on the docks and brought us to the beach.

Because this was a bay there were no waves and the kids were able to sit right in the sand and run back and forth into the water on their own. There were also these schools of silver-ish fish that would swim all in between us.

Cruise - Day 5 St. Maarten

Today we pulled into St. Maarten. As we waited for the boat to doc we decided to take advantage of the free time and we headed for the arcade. I'm not sure who had more fun Dad and Aunt Danielle or the kids.

Finally it was time to get ready to leave the boat.
We had chosen to do a beach excursion today. So we were picked up at the dock by a bus and driven to Waikiki Beach. Just like in Bermuda the kids had a great time. Aunt Annemarie and Aunt Danielle went parasailing and they were flying right above us. We adults enjoyed the unlimited free Rum Punch :)

Cruise - Day 4 At Sea

Today we were at sea again traveling to St. Maarten. We did our usual routine. Hailey headed to Aqua Tots and we hit the pool. Another good day spent staying cool and trying to work on our tans. The even had the mens belly flop contest over at the big pull, which gave us plenty to laugh and cheer about.

Cruise - Day 3 Bermuda

Day 3 came and we awoke to find that we had already docked in Bermuda. We all met for breakfast at 9:00 and then heading off the boat. When we got off the boat we jumped online to hitch a cab which would take us to HorseShoe Beach.

Since "Mr. Masto" reared his ugly head when Hailey was just a baby we had been advised at that time that going to the beach would not be a good idea. Soooo, neither Hailey nor Joey have ever been to the beach. I guess saying that your first beach experience was in Bermuda isn't such a bad thing. The kids absolutely loved it. They were in the water for most of the day, jumping waves, laughing, playing in the sand and loving every minute of it.

After getting back to the boat we got cleaned up and enjoyed a late afternoon snack on the boat, otherwise entitled "room service". They had the best Chili and Charizo dip. We liked it a lot!

Our day in Bermuda ended with dinner on the boat and a good show afterwards.

Cruise Day 2 - At Sea

For the start of our 2nd day, we decided to order in room service and have breakfast out on our huge balcony. This was truly enjoyed by the kids and became Hailey's favorite place to eat. Anytime we ordered room service she told us we had to eat outside, We didn't mind!!

After breakfast I took Hailey and we went to register her for Aqua Tots. This is the onboard camp where she can go to play with the other kids, do arts and crafts and all sorts of fun stuff. She was very excited and one of the main reasons she agreed to be potty trained. After registration Hailey gave me a big kiss and hug goodbye and said, "see you later Mom" and headed off to join the other kids. So, back to the room I went to pick up Joey and headed to the pool for some one on one time. It was great and we basically had the entire kiddie area all to ourselves.

Luckily, our children love the water. They were in the water from the morning until about an hour or so before we would get ready for dinner. Joey would even nap in the stroller by the pool. There was even a few days where Hailey opted out of going to Aqua Tots and stayed with us at the pool instead. Whenever I would say to Hailey, "you were a fish today", she would say "no mommy, I was a mermaid". Now, who can argue with that.

That night was the 1st of our 2 formal nights. We got all dolled up and headed to the Magellan dining room. The kids did great and so did we adults as we took advantage of being able to order more than one meal off the menu.

The picture above was the window that was right next to our table. After the kids would eat we would let them hang out there. I ended up dubbing this the "hamster wheel" cause surprise surprise, Joey would try and run run run around it.

Carribean Cruise - Day 1

It has been planned for over a year and the day has finally come for us to get on that big boat of fun and sail away. I was so excited that I was running around the house yelling "we're on vacation, we're on vacation". Finally Hailey picked up on this and whenever I would say to her "why, Hailey???? about anything, she would sing back to me "we're on vacation, we're on vacation". This continued for the entire 9 days. Day 1 started with us getting ready at home, picking up the gang at Grandma and Grandpa's, seeing Lolo and Lola send us off at Cape Liberty, and then that's right, BOARDING THE BOAT.

July 2008

Okay kids so Mom has been a big slacker in the blogging department. Not really sure why but maybe its because i've been too busy getting ready for our long awaited VACATION!!! Hee Hee..More of that to follow.

This month was not short of activities however. July 4th came and went and we spent the day at Aunt Tracy and Uncle Mark's. As usual the kids were in the pool all day and we even got to see some fire works at night. This year we were on dessert duty and Dad suggested we buy some pizza dough and make zeppoles, which we did and they were a big hit.

The following weekend we went out to Aunt Fran and Uncle Richie's for their annual Woolfson family bbq. It was lots of fun to see everyone and eat lots of good food. Again the entire day was spent in the pool.

Well thats it for now. Vacation here we come!!!