Hola! Welcome back to reality...

Life size Chess!

The inside of the ship

The back of the ship. The very top floor is called Skywalkers Night Club. It was a fun dance club.

This is overlooking the main pool deck area.

This is a view of the ship from a little boat we were on.

This is me doing nothing all day...

Ok, so we made it back; SEVERAL pounds heavier, but we're home. Between the delightful desserts, 7 course dinners, 24 hour buffet, 24 hour room service, and afternoon ice cream buffet...lets just say I've packed on a few glorious pounds!!! What a dream vacation! There is so much to say, such a slow computer. So I'll have to divide out each day into separate posts. As much as I would love to download all 679 pictures I took, (I'm not exaggerating) That would literally take a month, so I'll try to pick my very, very favorites to share with all of you. Speaking of which, I'm not sure who reads this anyway.

Where do I begin? Let's start at day one. We fly into Long Beach airport and immediately are greeted by green palm trees and flowers blooming everywhere. But most importantly, SUNSHINE! It was still a little cool...66 degrees, but it felt wonderful. We jumped on a shuttle whose driver spoke oh so little English, more of some Asian language than English, but nevertheless, arrived to Berth 93 safe and sound. We were able to get our first glimpse of our ship from the highway and boy oh boy is it ENORMOUS!!! The size of the ship is something I don't think you're really ever ready for. I saw pictures, studied floor plans, but until I was face to face with the Golden Princess, I had no idea it's magnitude.

So we began dragging our luggage to the boat terminal and quickly left it to be loaded on the ship. We then started the check in process. Very smooth, check your passport, scan your credit card, give you your ship card, you're on your way. We arrived really early to the ship terminal so we had to wait about an hour before boarding the ship. While we waited, a live Mariachi Band serenaded the crowd. It really got me in the mood for vacation.

On the first day of vacation, you're still worrying about home, wondering how the kids are doing, hoping that they are behaving themselves, and that all is well. Each day into the vacation, you think about this less and less until you almost forget!

So around 11:30am we were able to climb aboard the amazing Golden Princess. We found our stateroom very quickly and were very impressed with the size of the room and the obstructed ocean view we were planning on wasn't as obstructed as we thought it might be. Only part of the lifeboat and a giant chain were in front of the window, so we still had a decent view out.

Then it was off to explore the ship. At every turn we were looking for a map...where in the heck were we? We never knew, and even until the last day, still could not figure out where we were!

So the ship has everything you could ever imagine. It has 4 giant swimming pools, one of which is indoor with a retractable roof; perfect for those cooler days at sea. There is one big pool in the very center of the ship surrounded by 3 decks of lounge chairs. That's where all the action happens. All afternoon a live band would play while servers brought drinks to your chair. One of the other pools was at the very back of the ship overlooking the ocean. What a great view from here! And the 4th pool is toward the front of the ship in the middle of the spa. And this one was particularly dreamy because no children were allowed here. That meant no annoying screaming, splashing in the face or fighting for the hot tub. Really quiet and relaxing. Matt and I spent most of our days at sea here at the pool, laying around, doing nothing. Boy, was it great.

After discovering the spa (and it's complete salon, massage rooms, sauna, etc.), the mini golf course, tennis courts, table tennis, life size chess, shuffleboard, dance club, full size theater, and piano lounge after lounge, we found the most important part of the cruise...the buffet. It was delightful. Everything from fresh papaya to hot ravioli was here. So naturally, we sat down for a plate or two or three...the desserts are just so yummy!

And then after more exploring, the kids places, the teen hangout, the 6 different dining rooms, the dozens of shops, and staircase and elevators galore which lead to who knows where; we made it back to our room to rest a bit and read up on the afternoon's events.

Around 5:00pm we were pulling out of port and were dancing at the "set sail" party on the pool deck. Lots of music and a bunch of people doing the electric slide, but very fun.

We stayed on deck until we decided the 3 plates at the buffet weren't enough, so we needed to get ready for dinner. We changed into our "smart casual cruise attire" and after searching for 10 minutes, found the dining room. It was definitely worth the searching because food paradise was truly found. Our server was this girl from Romania who was extremely attentive and fun to visit with. The service on a cruise is just unbeatable. My water glass was never below half way; I always had some kind of food in front of me; and I got a new fork for each of the different courses. None of this save your fork stuff. A fresh set of silverware was set before me each time I had a new item placed in front of me. It's really nice to be waited on so attentively!

The cool thing about a cruise is that there are no prices listed on the menus! Just order whatever you want...and more than 1 is perfectly ok! So we started the first night off great and ordered 4 of the 6 desserts on the menu. I had the best peach cobbler I think I've ever tasted...sorry dutch oven fans...doesn't even come close...this was way better!! SOOOOOO delicious. And then after dinner it was off to the "welcome aboard"show. We were laughing until the desserts were making there way back up; by a comedian. He used to sing with the Beach Boys for 20 years and now does these comedy/music routines. Sooo funny! The funniest song he did was "how many beans in a can of hormel, does it take to clear out a room? The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind...." I know it sounds corny with me just typing it, but the way he was playing it on his guitar like you were at a concert and then singing those lyrics...seriously funny.

Ok. So that was day 1.

Day 2: Woke up to breakfast in bed delivered by room service. Changed into swimsuit. Spent the day at the pool. Ate buffet. Slept by pool. Swam in pool. Relaxed in hot tub. Slept more. Showered, went to dinner. More awesome food. More awesome desserts. More awesome shows. Went to sleep.

Day 3: Repeat day 2.

Day 4: Our first port. You'll have to come back and read tomorrow about this day. It was another amazing day and there's so much to say!!!

So anyway, back to reality. (boy does that FREEZING Utah air hit you hard!) The dishes, cooking, changing diapers, breaking up kids fighting...but now done with a new level of patience, a refreshed outlook on motherhood. The "can do" attitude. I really did miss the kids. By the last day I was ready to scoop Sadie up and squeeze her little cheeks. The boys too. I couldn't wait to give 'em big hugs and get the latest scoop about the latest toy craze. And boy did I get an earful!

Overall, being away made me realize just how blessed I am to have such great kids and awesome husband. And what a great job I really do have....now how long this refreshed outlook will last, hmmm, just not sure. But while it lasts, I'll enjoy my job as Mom.