Day Four----Ocho Rios, Jamaica

We had a nice proper sit down breakfast in the main dinning room. I like the sit down breakfast better than the push-pull-trip-and-shove buffet breakfast.

Two years ago, we spent the day at Margaritaville and we would do it again this year. It would be nice to see Jamaica, but the kids love the freshwater pool and slide. We also did some shopping. B got her hair braided. She looked so cute. J even had one braid put in.

We made it back to the ship in time to play some putt-putt golf before dinner.

Tonight we saw the ice-show. It was amazing what the skaters could do on such a small rink. Before we went to the ice show, J and K were in a Pirate's parade. They both looked the part. I beat they will be pirates for Halloween again this year.

We pass the Freedom of the Seas late at night. It was sailing from Grand Cayman to Ocho Rios as we were sailing to GC. It was too dark to take a picture. I have a feeling FOTS will be the next ship we sail on in 2010.

Next Stop: Georgetown, Grand Cayman.

Day Two--Sea Day

This morning was the Meet and Mingle for the "Hurricane Dodgers". That was our cruisecritic.com nickname. We had over 40 people meet in one of the bars. RC gave out some prizes. The fun came after the RC people left and we had time to meet the people we had been talking to for the last year.
The 6-9 year old kids club had a circus parade toady. K was a magician and he made his asst. disappear. It was cute. T went to a wine tasting seminar. B and J went for a quick swim before getting ready for the first formal night. The boys (me included) dressed in tuxedos for both formal nights. The girls looked lovely in their dresses.

Day Three--Ladabee, Haiti

Ladabee is RC private Island. B went ashore early with my aunt to play in the water park. The rest of us made it ashore to watch B in the park. We swam for an hour or so and had some lunch. I did some photography around the island while the kids went to kids club.

T and I had dinner with Craig and Martha at Chops. It was nice to have a kids free dinner. B watched J in our room. He fell asleep at dinner. This was the first time we let her watch her brother. She ended up calling us twice, but we were happy with her babysitting J.

I will keep adding more about the trip so check day in a day or two.

My first teacher day was last Friday. I have another one tomorrow. Kids will arrive on Tuesday.

We went to Atwood today. We went down just for the day. The kids swam at Boater's Beach. I was glad to be back at the lake. It has been about 6 weeks since we were there. We will be back down there in a couple of weeks. There are only a few camping weekend left.

Some score from Friday night:

Mogadore 27-7 over Mineral Ridge
Perry 48-14 over Barberton
Massillon 48-24 over Butchel

We had a small delay getting onto the ship. B was staying with my mom and my mom was on her way from Orlando. RC would not let B board until the adult in her room checked in. I finally talked to the Pier Coordinator and B received her Seapass card. We boarded about 12:30. The Ocean Adventure crew greeted us as soon as we stepped on to the ship. B, K and J all signed up for kids club. After they signed up, we headed to Windjammer for lunch. During this time I was talking to my mom to see when they would arrive. My aunt from Texas was going to surprise my mom by cruising with us. She booked the trip in January and only I knew about it. I am a great secret keeper. Once my mom arrived, she headed to the WJ for lunch. I waited in our room for my aunt who was checking in at the pier. I finally met up with my aunt and my cousin's 2 kids and took them to WJ. My mom was on the phone with Kerri. Mom could not believe what she was seeing! She was almost in shock! After a quick bite for the Texas travellers, it was off to see Dawn. It took a second to sink in, but she realized who was knocking at her door. You should see the video. I might have to put it on youtube.

The sail away party was fun. We were on the pool deck with Craig and family. We had some time before dinner so we explored the ship.

Dinner was good. The Texas travellers had their own table tonight, but it was changed for the rest of the cruise. The kids checked out kid club.

Bayou, DDS was put into action. I pulled one of M's (my cousin's son) front teeth. Not, to be outdone, my mom pulled the other one. The "cruithfairy" left 5 dollars for him.

We did see some of the "Hurricane Dodger" on board. We all were wearing our bright teal blue t-shirts. It was fun meeting people we talked to on-line for the last year. If you are going to cruise anytime, check out cruisecritic.com. It has all the answers for cruisers. There is a section for meeting other cruisers that will be on your ship.

Day One ended and we all fell asleep in our very comfortable beds. More tomorrow.

--Bayou Cruiser

The kids are off to school. I will be off to MHS shortly as well. I am going up to drop off stuff for my classroom. My first teacher day is Friday and I will have students on Tuesday.

Pre-cruise drive to Florida. We left on Thursday, August 7 at 10am and arrived in Fort Mill, SC about 7pm. We took our time and ran into some traffic. Missy's girls were happy to see the kids. We visited the rest of the night with them. On Friday (08/08/08) were did some swimming in the neighborhood pool. B loved the 2 water slides. After dinner, Tim and I went golfing at Carolina Lakes CC. It was a challenge to golf with someone else's clubs on a course I have never played. It is a tough course, but we had fun. We spent the night playing Rock Band all night long. We were up early on Saturday morning for the drive to Port Canaveral. It was about a nine hour drive due to a couple of traffic tie-ups. The Radisson at the Port is a beautiful resort. The kids loved the pool and the food was delicious. We meet up with Craig and Martha. They arrived about 10 minutes before us. After dinner, we did see Sue and Rick. We had driven a bag of theirs down because they flew down.
I was up at 6am on Sunday morning ready for the cruise. I wanted to go out to the beach and see the ship come in, but they were already in port. The Mariner of the Seas made the other two ships (Disney Wonder and Carnival Sensation) look so small. We had breakfast at the hotel and then it was hang out until 11:30 to get the shuttle to the port. We waited with Sue and Rick. Craig was on the 12:00 noon shuttle. Finally, our names were called and we boarded the bus for the short ride to the port.

Next entry will be the first couple of days aboard Mariner of the Seas.

Here are a couple of pictures from the cruise

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/08cruise_350.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/08cruise_537.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/08cruise_551.jpg

I will start writing about the trip later today or tomorrow when the kids are in school.

Bayou has reutrned, but is way too tired to blog about our 7 night cruise. Please check back in the next few days to read about our vacation.

Bayou has left the building.

Bayou has left the building.

It has been a couple of days since my last post. I was busy Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon with weddings. The weddings went well and the pictures turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

Sunday we were invited to Lake Mohawk with the Poormans. We had a picnic lunch followed by tubing. Everyone had a couple of turns riding the 2 person tube. K was not going to ride the tube, but he finally gave it a try and loved it. The Poormans have a beautiful 24 foot pontoon boat with a 90 horsepower engine. It was fast! We are use to 25 horsepower engine on our boat at Atwood. Both T and I woke up this morning a little bit sore in the back and arms.

Today was golf day. I think I need a week off. I played 3 holes really well, but the other 6 were not good.

Update on the San Angelo Colts. They are in a tie for first place. They are going to be the second seed in the post-season even if they finish in first place. The regular season ends on August 18. I might need to head to San Angelo for the playoffs later this month. I have been know to do crazy things like that in the past.

Here are a couple pictures from the last two Indians game I attended.

From Sunday
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/20080727_037.jpg

From last night with my nephew
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/20080729_002a.jpg

I was wearing a t-shirt my friend is selling in Detroit. So don't think I was rooting for the Tigers last night.

I would write about my golf game, but it is not worth it right now.

The parties yesterday were a fun time. The baseball party was from 1-4pm and the 80's party started at 4. It was fun to see everyone in 80's dress. Matt and Lauri won the trivia contest. The Hallgrens won for Best Dressed and my sister won for Best Hair/Best Food. She made McRibs sandwiches! My mom even went as far as buying a pack of cigarettes to complete her dress. Here is a picture of her: http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/20080726_011.jpg
I dug out my Bill Bates jersey I wore in my senior pictures. T wore her Kent State tank top she wore to the first day of band camp in 1988.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/20080726_023.jpg
Our cruise friends from the Youngstown area made the party. They were happy to meet some more cruisers.
The only downside was the rain storm.
K and I went to the Indians game today. They lost 4-2 to the Twins.

--Bayou

Here are a couple of pictures. Just click on the links:

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/20080723_021.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/20080724_121.jpg

We watched an amazing t-storm hit the area. It dumped an inch of rain in a short period of time causing flash floods. It was still raining when we got up in the morning. We left for Shea and it took us almost 2 hours to get to the Journal Square PATH station. We wanted to go to Ground Zero before the game, but due to the massive traffic jam, we passed on visiting the WTC site. We made it to our seats at Shea in the bottom of the first. It took us over 3.5 hours to get there. It should have taken, maybe and hour and half or so, but traffic was bumper to bumper and stop and go. It was a quick game, lasting only 2 hours and 20 minutes. We left Shea at 2:30pm and we were home 10 hours later.

It was a fun trip and I just might have to plan one next year.

I arrived home early this morning. We had a safe trip. I think, for the most part, we all had a fun time. There are many reason why I would never want to live in the greater New York area. I don't want to list them, but I would start with the traffic.

The drive to NY was smooth. The boys watch dvds or play video games most of the trip. J only took a small nap during the drive. We ate dinner at a local mall. We did some shopping and picked up some All-Star stuff 50% off. I did not book a hotel with a pool. I cant believe there is a hotel without a pool anywhere. But, that was the only downside to the hotel.

We drove over to Staten Island and caught the ferry into New York. The sky was hazy and overcast. We did see the Statue of Liberty and the skyline. We caught the 4 to the Bronx. The Yankees beat the Twins. After the game, we ate dinner at the ESPNZone in Time Square.

More later...

Bayou is taking a couple of days off from blogging. Please check back on Friday.

I am just checking in from Ann Arbor. I golfed in the rain today and it show. My team did not win the outing toady. We were only 18 shots off the lead. I did golf with my buddy Jared. We had a good laugh throughout the day.
My back held up really good during the drive Michigan this morning. I did hit a few golf balls once I arrived at the course. I was pain free and remain pain free now. I hope that is the case tomorrow for the drive back to Ohio.

--Bayou

Bayou, DDS was not needed to remove K's tooth yesterday. He lost the tooth to the right of his missing front teeth. So, he now has a 3 tooth gap! I told him he will need to eat dinner through a straw. He was playing on a float toy in my parent's pool. Thankfully, the tooth was sitting on the float and not on the bottom of the pool.

My back is feeling much better. The meds are doing their job. I hope I will be able to swing a golf club this weekend.

The kids are in Bible school this week. They are having a good time so far. B went to the Great Lake Science Center today. Tomorrow she is working at the Calvary Mission.

Of course with this warm weather, we are spending more time in the pool. This is the weather we have been waiting for all summer along.

I went to BW3 tonight and won more glassware for the TX Hold'em tournament. It is fun going out with my brother and meeting some new friends.

Til next time,

Bayou

No trip to Atwood seems complete without some rain. After having a nice dinner with the Buss's, a t-storm rolled in. It lasted about half an hour but it was long enough to flood everywhere. Then, more fun on Sunday morning. I sprained my lower back to the point I could not move. T had to help me get into the camper. I could not help her pack up and head home or unpack when we got back home.
I did go to the doctor's this afternoon. He gave me some anti-inflammatory drug and a pain killer. I hope I am able to golf this weekend. I will be staying off my feet for a couple days, except for some exercises the doc wants me to do every day.
The kids have Bible School this week. I am sure they will have fun.

Here are a couple pictures from my last two games at Progressive Field. The Indians beat the Rays in a 4 game series.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/20080710_004.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh172/bayousteeler/20080711_013.jpg

---Bayou

K and I went to the Indians-Rays game last night. The Tribe scored 13 runs, en route to a 13-2 victory. It is by far the most runs I have seen the score all year. I will post a picture of me and K with our Tampa Bay hats and Indians jersey when I get a chance. My brother was also at the game with Marc and his mom and step dad. Marc is not a blood relative, but we have called him a cousin. So my aunt in Texas had her sister, brother-in-law, 3 nephews and a grand-nephew at the game, while she was home in Fort Worth.
Speaking of Texas, the San Angelo Colts made the playoffs. They tied for second place in the first half of the ULB season. But the league awarded playoff spots to both teams in second place. Who knows, I made end up travelling to TX for a championship series like I did in 2005.

Til next time,

See you Down by the Bayou

Week in Review.

Wednesday. We headed down to the camper earlier than we originally planned. Dad was not going down because he picked up an extra day at work. We made it to Atwood in time for dinner.

Thursday. We had a nice family boat ride in the early afternoon. We were going to swim, but the rain started and did not ended after dinner time. The Buss's came over and enjoyed our fire after the rain.

Friday. Happy Fourth of July. B marched in 2 parades. I went to the first parade. T's parents drove down to see her march. I then went and shot a fraternity brother's wedding. The weather was great. It was at a local golf course. I made it back to Atwood about 11:30pm. T let the kids stay up until I returned. They made it back to Atwood to see their fireworks.

Saturday. The weather was fantastic. Sunny and in the 80's. We went to Boater's Beach on the Buss's boat. I enjoyed riding in the pontoon boat. I'm normally the driver and don't get to just relax and let someone else drive.

Sunday. The Necko's came down for the day. We had fun with them. Christy is one of just a handful of friends from Perry I see and talk to on a regular basis.

Monday. The boys and I did some fishing in the morning. I was the fisherman of the day with 4 fish. K and J did not catch anything this time. We packed up and made it back home by 3. B went to baton and I went to golf in the evening.

So there you have a recap from last Tuesday to today.

I was not surprised when I heard the Indians traded CC. I was surprised it was to the Brewers. I figured it would be the Cubs. I figured the Cubs would do just about anything to win a World Series this year. It has only been 100 years since their last championship.

Our cruise documents have not arrived yet. They should arrive soon.

--Bayou