Even though we had just crossed a bridge that connected Paradise Island to New Providence Island, I felt like I had stepped into a totally different world.  It cost a dollar to cross that bridge and step on the island but nothing to leave it.  Paradise Island had every leaf in place, every area of grass trimmed, every flower in bloom.  It housed the Atlantis hotel and it's $25000/night room.  We heard about this room from our tour guide, from our bus driver to the hotel, and from the tour guide at the hotel, yet we didn't get to see into the room.  This was one place that I could have spent a week at, not necessarily spending the night but exploring the grounds.  We watched the rays swim but like they were flying in a flock.  Their wings would flap and come out of the water. They glided through the water.  There were underwater viewing windows and it stretched through out the compound.  Then there was the water park, with the river ride, the water slides that shoot you through a tunnel that passes through an aquarium with  sharks. I couldn't see any sharks while I was in the tunnel but I could stand outside and see people shoot through their tunnels and the sharks swimming around the tubes. Then there was the lagoon that we could swim in and see these yellow striped fish and a barracuda.  Atlantis also offers a snorkeling experience with faux underwater ruins and tropical fish.  Then there are the shops and the casino and a golf course and it just goes on. We had so much fun here. We just didn't have enough time.  We could have spent a couple of days to a week.

Juan's Secret Bridge Scene from Romancing the Stone Movie (1984) | MOVIECLIPS

When we reached Nassau, Bahamas we decided to take a tour.  We had arrived a day earlier due to cancelled ports earlier in the cruise.  Our tour guide so reminded me of Juan in the movie Romancing the Stone.  He knew every building, every road, every tree (no kidding) on the island.  Watch the clip above.  The driving wasn't so erratic but the commentary was something like this;  "Now Ladies and Gentlemen, you will see up on my right hand side a pink building, that building is the ..." or "Now Ladies and Gentlemen, you will see up on my left hand side a tree and that tree..."  We learned that all buildings have names and that all the government buildings are painted pink.  There are two types of houses on Nassau:  the very rich and the very very not rich - no middle. 

All kids wear uniforms to school. The Bahamas are part of the English Commonwealth but they are their own country and gained independence from Britain (but not really) in 1973.  They were getting ready to celebrate the Queen's birthday so there were posters and signs everywhere.  The island that Nassau was on isn't very big in fact it is only about 7 miles wide and 21 miles long.  Most Bahamians work in the tourist industry.  Whoever I talked to was always friendly and had a smile.  It was their smiles that caught my eye.  Often I noticed a gold tooth or a tooth partially wrapped in gold with glittery stones on them.  I'm not sure if this is a cultural thing or something else.  When we were done with the tour we returned to our ship.  We had dinner, chatted and then decided to head to the Hard Rock Cafe to purchase t-shirts.  By this time it was around 10pm.  It was fairly close to port so there was really no problem just a couple of blocks. We found it OK but it was closed.  I thought for sure that it would be open.  Nope, we missed it.  Then we walked through an argument of some sort - about money owed I think.  It was dark and people were stupid so we quickly walked to the government building that led to the port.  So outside this building are stationed guards from the Nassau Defence Force (not an army or navy but something similar).  Inside the building, is a person checking to make sure you belong to a cruise ship.  You have to show your sign and sail card and your passport/id.  They don't scan it just look at the photo quickly.   There are a couple of people behind a desk but this is a very relaxed place not like the entry to the port in Miami.  We walk in and I look over to see some American guy take a big sniff of white stuff on his hand!  Yes, there was someone snorting coke inside the government building five feet from one of the desk people.  After I announce it to the whole room what he's doing, they kindly asked him to take it outside!  Really!  I am so naive.

This is Dimitri Snuggles. He is only about
8 weeks old. He is also getting to know me better. I bought him 2 Fridays ago . He  is such a bundle of joy. He is a very stubborn and lazy hamster.He is a Teddy Bear hamster.So far he loves his ball.He is very sensitive about loud noises. Although he is a lazy hamster he really likes running in your hands. He is not a cuddly hamster if he does not know you.


Over the course of a month my Mom and I spent a lot of time on the phone and Internet researching where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do on our cruise.  At first we didn't think we wanted to go on a cruise and then we decided that it would be fun to go to different ports so that meant a cruise.  I'd get on the forums and read about first time cruisers, what to bring, what to expect, how to tip, etc.  We'd then get on the phone and chat about information I had and the information she had.  At first we wanted to leave from New Orleans but the cruises didn't go where we wanted to go so that left Miami.  After a day in Miami, we took a shuttle to the port where we checked in our luggage, went through the port and our luggage through the x-ray (for alcohol).


Note: There are to be no photos in this area, oops!

Next we checked in to receive our sign and sale card.  Our sign and sale card is like an ID and credit card.  You can't purchase anything on the ship with cash or credit card.  You have to use your sign and sale card.  It makes it easy to purchase anything.  After boarding and eating we found a deck chair to relax.  Our boat was to leave around 4pm but there was a mechanical problem and we didn't leave until well after dark.  We found our rooms, our suitcases were at the door so we brought them in and unpacked.  We met our room Steward.  He was so nice.  He provided our towels daily, made up our beds (but my Mom and I did that), and resupplied the toiletries.  He also left chocolates with our towel animals everyday and dropped off the daily news letter. 
We came to find out that the crew worked very hard.  They tended to put in 14 hour days with 5 hours a week off for 6 to 9 months.  I know that we expect a couple of days off not a couple of hours off.  What I thought was exemplary was their attitudes.  No matter who you talked to, they had a smile on their face.  They had attitudes that put us to shame.  They worked hard and were courteous and caring. 

On top of that there was the restaurant that served classy dinners.  We were assigned to a certain dinning room that allowed us to have a flexible dining time.We were assigned a certain area to sit in and were able to get to know our waiter, our server, and our barman. After two nights they knew our names and what we liked to order. Out of all the people on the ship we just thought that was amazing.  Every night they had two dinning options, the everyday option which was the same thing every day and the specials of the day.  They each included appetizers/salads, main course, side dishes, and desserts.  On the daily specials I tended to chose the "Dija ever" appetizers.  Dija ever try ... and we tried to guess what the offering for the next day.  They had alligator, escargot (snails), frog legs, salmon (I thought that was strange) and sushi.  I tried all but the salmon and sushi.  That stuff is readily available here in the Northwest so it was so different.  The food was excellent. The dining staff would also put on a little show every night and they would dance, sometimes on the tables, sometimes around the room with guests.  We had fun and our Maitre D was cute.

The water in the pool was sloshig out due to the storm we were having.

We had a formal night in the dining room.  Larent was our server and in Nassau he went clubbing to shake it Mambo style.  We just laughed.

Recently my mother and I went on vacation together.  We really haven't spent this much time together since we took too many high schoolers to Europe.  That was nothing like this trip.  We met up in Houston and flew into Miami together. We had decided to arrive a day early for our cruise.  That gave us some leeway to make sure we had our luggage and anything else we may need to purchase before getting on the boat.  We quickly found our shuttle to the hotel, checked in and I promptly crashed.  Exhaustion had set in at that point.  The day before I was up at 6am and packing our belongings up to head home from the Firs Chalet.  Upon arriving at home I quickly started laundry, went grocery shopping, visited a little with John's brother who was in town, and finished packing for Miami.  I took the shuttle to Seattle but it left at 1:40am to arrive at 4:40am.  My plane left at 7:40.  Continental and United had merged that night at midnight and all boarding passes that were issued on line had to be reissued.  Some people were having major problems and were waiting over 1 hour.  I just walked up, scanned my passport, they called for my luggage, I checked it walked through security without waiting and was at the terminal.  I think it took me all of 30 minutes.  Piece of cake. 
But this is about Miami.  I think that I have found a city to love.  Oh, I like Bellingham.  It's great but Miami was beautiful.  We toured the everglades.  That wasn't what I had imagined.  It was grasslands with some hummocks.  I pictured something more like the swamps in Pirates of the Caribbean.  Lots of trees, vines, darkness.  Nope.  The water in the Everglades at least the part we toured was about 15" deep with lots of grass growing through the water.  It is part of the Miami River which happens to be the slowest moving river in the world.  It was a cold day in Miami in the 60s and it felt chilly.  The animals in the everglades agreed which is the reason we only saw one alligator during our airboat ride. Still it was amazing.  Once done with our tour, we asked our tour guide to drop us off at South Beach.  We'd catch another taxi to the hotel later.
We quickly found our way to the beach but with the cloudy sky and the wind blowing it was too cold to hang out there even though the water was warm.   We then wandered up Ocean Drive.  It is lined with cafes, restaurants and hotels, music blaring from many establishments and girls dancing in scanty outfits.  People were everywhere.  Turns out there was a festival going on that weekend.  We continued to wander and down the street looking for a place to eat. Finally we walked by one that didn't have loud music with dancers.  We were told it wasn't that kind of restaurant so in we walked.  It was classy.  Free first drinks and then two for one.  The food was delicious the desserts were divine. The meal was expensive but no more so than any other cafe/restaurant that we had passed.  Bice is the place to eat at South Beach. 




South Beach Miami is home to the largest neighborhood in the Art Deco Style.  But like anything else, Miami changed it to be more like Miami - they added color and lots of it.  The Art Deco Style originally was introduced in Paris but it caught on in Miami South Beach like nowhere else.  The rounded corners, geometric lines, glass blocks, and decorative symbols are all indications of Art Deco. As with the bright and pastel colors that Miami added they added something else to many of the buildings.  Since there wasn't any air conditioning in the 1920s when the Deco Art building were constructed they created these "eyebrows" over the windows to produce shade and decrease the amount of heat inside.  Art Deco isn't really my style but I do appreciate the style now that I know more about it. 

This year we had the opportunity to stay at the Firs Chalet at Mount Baker.   We arrived Monday afternoon and settled in.  This was interesting for us in that we had to bring sleeping bags, pillows, blankets, and towels.  Essentially it was like camping without cooking.  The food was good and I loved not having to cook or think about cooking.  Most of the other families had been attending this little gathering for years; like 15 to 20 years.  The kids all knew each other and my kids had a hard time breaking into the group.  It was a different situation for them.  At one point Lona was in tears.  I don't think that the others really thought about what they were doing but we discussed that only she was in charge of her happiness, others couldn't dictate how she felt.  Often times that is harder to carry out in reality.  During the days we skied and that was great.  I think they received a foot of snow each night.  I love to ski in powder.  I just wish I wasn't such a chicken.  We placed Job in a lesson, there was just some fine tuning for him to do on his snowboard.  Everything just came together for him with the lesson and now he boards pretty much anything we ask him to.  Isaac has been up to the hill the most out of all of us this year.  He loves it and each day he pushed himself more.  We rented poles for Lona the last day and it took 30 seconds of John showing her how to use her poles.  She would follow right behind John, turning in the tracks he turned in.  The last day she skied with a friend and followed her no matter what the run.  Lona skis black diamond and I didn't even try.  We have this little run that has some steep parts with tight corners and moguls.  We all call it "Lona's Happiness".  Although it isn't my happiness.  I borrowed a friends GoPro and now want one.  It is one amazing camera!  The highlight of the trip was the days spend skiing and the last night at the Firs, the kids built a snow cave.  I think it held 10 kids.  John and our friend Charlie were out with the kids.  John came in, grabbed a thermos full of hot chocolate and a bunch of little cups.  There they are all huddled in the cave drinking hot cocoa until 11:00 at night.

So after a couple of hours helping the boys clean their room.  I found this posted on our white board written by little mr. anonymous.  There is only one little mr. anonymous that can spell anonymous so he really isn't unknown in our house.

Apres quelques heures que j'aide les garcons nettoyer leur chambre, je vois ce messages enbas.  "Merde est la dunette, n'est pas notre chose."  signe anonyme.  Il y a seulment un monsieur anonyme chez nous qui peut ecrire correctement le mot anonyme.  Alors il n'est pas vraiment anonyme.

Happy Valentine's Day.  All decorated and no party in sight.

Joyeux jour de le saint valentin.  Nous n'avons pas un fete mais peut-etre jeudi.

At some point we've decided to make it a priority to make Sundays a friend day.  The kids get to invite other kids home after church.  We pile the kids into the van and have some fun. It gets a little crazy when the boys invite boys and Lona invites three girls all at the same time!  We had to have another parent drive some kids over to our house.  We ended up with four boys and four girls.  Boys and girls are different.  The boys watched a show about the sun and solar wind.  The girls jumped on the trampoline, played Barbies, and a board game.  The boys wanted video games.  They played ping pong and risk.  Then they wrestled.  I mean moved furniture, had a ref and set a timer.  Guess who was the ref.  Yep - Isaac.  A couple girls went home for dinner, others stayed for dinner.  It is always exciting to have four kids to every one adult.










A un moment, John et moi decidons de faire une priorite que les dimanches sont pour inviter des amis chez nous.  Notre enfants invitent leurs amis apres le service d'eglise.  Nous mettons tous les enfants dans notre voitre.  C'est fou quand les garcons invitent leurs amis et Lona invite trois filles!  Quand ca passe, il faut qu'un autre parent conduit a chez nous aussi.  L'autre dimanche nous avons quatre garcons et quatre filles.  Les garcons sont different des filles.  Les garcons regardent le tele pendant les fille jouent a la trampoline, avec des Barbies, et avec un jeu des cartes.  Les garcons veulent jouer le Playstation mais je dit non, alors ils ont joue le ping pong, et Risk.  Apres un temps, ils ont commence du catch.  Ils ont deplace les meuble de faire ca.  Isaac etait l'arbitre.  Ce n'est pas un surprise.  Quelques filles depart avant dinner, les autres enfants restent jusqu'a apres le dinner.  Il y toujours excite avec quatre enfants par chaque adulte.

John is an engineer.  It is part of him just like his brown eyes and hair.  He can't help being analytical.  It's not a bad trait but it is a trait.  It's not that he doesn't just color inside the lines but that he makes the lines other people color.  He has a work flow that he usually follows when making decisions.  This comes as natural to him as an artist being able to sketch an outline of an apple.  We have three children.  One of them has the engineering trait to the 10th power.  It just comes natural to him.  Job's always thinking of what people need to create.  He wanted to invent a device for the post office so that delivering mail would be easier and they wouldn't have to purchase special vehicles.  He also questions things such as why does sound change as it gets closer and farther.  His favorite books are science books.  Lately he has been reading his algebra book during lunch.  It's a basic algebra book and just introduces algebra but he loves it.  These are some of his strengths and his weaknesses.  What this means is that he splits hairs. Things are black or white but there isn't much grey in his life. Anyhow I was cleaning up papers the other day and I found a work flow chart in Job's handwriting.  It just came natural to him.  We had kids over and he was explaining to them how he creates his Legos. He used a work flow chart to show them.  I have never taught that to him.  John has never taught that to him.  It just comes natural. 

John est un ingenieur.  C'est une partie de lui comme son cheuveux et ses yeux.  Ce n'est pas possible de penser autrement.  Ce n'est pas mal, c'est juste lui.  Il ne couleur pas a l'interier des lignes, il cree les lignes.  Il a graphique de flux de travail qu'il utilize quand il faut faire un decision.  C'est naturale pour lui de penser comme ca.  C'est comme un artiste qui peut deseiner une pomme.  Nous avons trois enfants.  Un enfant pense le meme comme John mais plus encore. Il toujours demande des questions des chose autour de lui.  " Pour quoi des bruit change quand il deviens plus pres ou plus loin de moi? "
Il aussi pense des chose que nous avons besoin.  Il veut creer quelque chose d'aider le poste alors le poste factor n'a pas besoin une voiture speciale.  Ses histoires favorite sont des livres de science, mais recemment il lit son livre d'algebre.  Ces sont des traits bon et mal.  Il aime des chose noir ou blanc mais pas au milleu.  L'autre jour je nettoye des papier et je voir un graphique de flux de travail que Job a faire.  Je ne l'enseign pas ni n'a John.  C'est natural pour Job de penser comme ca.