Dancing

The last day was at sea. We had fun on both "Days at Sea." That night most of us was sitting on the deck & they were dancing a lot of different types of dancing. It was fun for most of the people in the family and all around us. It's really fun on the ship. You could have as much fun or be just as bored. I had fun taking photo's of the dancing. You really don't want to see me dance. I'm better behind the camera than in front. Especially dancing. It was a cool evening, a fun evening. We are looking forward to going on another cruise. We thank the cruise director for the fun.

Easter 2011

This past Sunday was Easter. As usual the party was at the Sirrines. In attendance was Opa, Bob, Karen, Brian, Jackie, Terrence, their boys, Judy, Jack, Laura, Jennifer, Justin, Ady, Kirsten, Christian. We of course had a lot of food. Did I mention we had a lot of food?
After we ate we played "Minute to Win It" & we had fun. Ask the neighbors what they thought of the Hicks in the cul-DE-sack?
Did I mention We had a lot of food? Some of the games needed no talent what so ever. But! they did require some kind of cordination.
There is never a dull moment during that game. Of course the weather cooperated. We always want to have cold, windy and wet days when we have a party outside dont we? We like to thank everyone who came and made Easter of 2011 a fun one. Until next year.

Carving

On our cruise we seen a lot of fun things. One time as I was watching a hot game of scrabble, they started a food carving event. We were in the Atrium. The game was over but the carving was just beginning. Even though I was watching them carve, I was still amazed how they did it. At your right are the carvings. You have to be amazed that wat you see are food! They would display them at the meal times or at Princess Cays. This is truyly amazing art.

One of the fun things to do on the cruise is entertainment. You have it in the theater, the lounges and etc... I realize that even though the talent is pretty good, I usually don't hear from them outside the cruise ship. There is one sad story. Hate to tell you. Our first cruise there was a singer/comedian named Blair Shannon. He was a really good singer and was pretty funny. Sad was that his wife died 6 months before of Leukemia. Well, I thought I'd check him out before we went on our cruise to see what he's up to. I met him so, I was curious. I found out a couple of years ago he & his girlfriend was in their Miami hotel when an argument was going on outside their room. He stepped out to see whats going on and was shot and killed. Sad. But when his wife died they had a 6 month old daughter. He mainly played the Cruise line circuit. Now back to our time at hand. We had some good talent on the Ruby. We say a great magician named David Cats. There he is above with Laura and Braylee. He did things that you looked and said "What the Heck? How did he do that?"

Then there were the 2 comedians that we liked. There's Carlos Oscar above and Darrell Joyce below. They were in the Explorers lounge. They had a 1-1and a half hour show. They tried to show you how funny life can be. Ask Judy about people under 5' are like?

We really enjoyed the shows. It was a great way to unwind.

After we got off the ship the fun continued. We found our way to the Everglades. On the 3rd of April we left the ship in our rented vans and found our way to Gator World. Here we rode the air boat. If you seen Flipper, same kind of boat. were all able to go on the same boat. They are good about it. He started out slow. We had to clear the area. As we went along he would explain a lot of newt things. Then he got out in the open and let her go. They go pretty fast. We noticed that you could get lost really easy in that place. When we got back we ate some Gator. Well, a little gator, a lot of Pork. Some liked it, some not. To each there own. After the show we were able to see the show about the Gator, and other things of the Swamp. 'Yes there were Karioki also. Below is Brian. He loved it! He really enjoyed it. I enjoyed watching him. Karioki is getting to be tradition. Brian & Jack are the only ones who did it this time. No way for me. I don't sing!

This is an Air France A340 that flew right over our heads. I have never experienced anything like that before! The beach is at the end of the runway and the planes fly so close that you think you can reach out and touch it. No matter what it's not a good idea. This is in St. Maartin. The sand was perfect along with the company.

Our stop on St. Maartin was a blast. We rented a van & drove around. This time no topless beaches.

We found a place that was still destroyed by the storm from before we were there in 98. We found a foundation that overlooked the beach & the shell of the pool was still there, Then we went to the beach. Now this was no ordinary beach. This beach was at the end of the runway of the airport! It was great! We would get blasted & planes flew over our heads. Bob & his sons were on a excursion.

Cruise #2

It was fun having dinner. We had the Botticelli Dining room. Our time for dinner was 6 PM. It comes with a 4 course meal. By the time we got thru the week our wait staff knew what we wanted. I always had ice cream added. Jack usually had 2 or more to see if he liked it. I really enjoyed the Steak & potatoe most of the time. Pam likes her cheasecake. The girls liked there speciael drinks. We all really enjoyed dinner. I don't know what the other table did, so I can't report what it was like there. Until the next blog, good-bye

Cruise #1

On the 27th March some of the familt loaded up on the Ruby Princess. The Sirrines, Pam, Mike, Matthew, Michelle with the Lutz's, Bob, Karen, Brian, Jason along with the Walsh's, Jack, Judy, Laura & friend Braylee, along with Mary Jane, Josh Johnston. The 1st day we loaded up on the boat but, it didn't leave till 5:30. We had a long time to get to know the Ship. At 6 PM we had Dinner. That was our time every night. The Walsh & Sirrine family had table 21, the rest hade table 20. Our waitress was from Romania. The 1st stop was Princess Cays. We did a lot of snorkeling. We did some of the VanderHoeven Amazing Race. One task was to write your name in the sand. We had a difficult time at that. We thought that the Island was beautiful! It was in the 90's with the humidity almost matching! After what we heard it was a great week to leave Seattle! This was the 1st 2 days of the cruise. We loved it.