Today is an “At Sea Day”, so we are on the boat all day long. The boat has plenty of activities to keep us busy, but I speak for the whole family when I tell you the #1 thing we wanted to do today was SLEEP IN! (Okay, not Dad, but every family has an odd ball, right? …kidding, of course! Love ya Dad!) Anyways, Em, Mom, and I slept in good and late. We’ve had a packed last couple of days so we definitely deserved it. We also played BINGO later on in the day. None of us won, but we all came very close. Wahh wahh wahhhh! Tonight was formal night, so we dressed up all fancy and had a lovely dinner in the dining room. We ended the night by watching tonight’s show, Pulse. Very nice!
Anyways, I know these blogs must get boring for ya’ll, so we decided it might be fun since we’re “At Sea” all day and on the boat to tell the top 5 funniest stories or anecdotes from the ship, so far. Sound good? Here we go…
#5 Dinner awards. Every night, there are always several choices to choose from on the ship for dinner. Every night, these choices become a fierce competition between the members of my family. It has come to the point where we won’t even willingly say what we are going to order in fear that another might copy or steal your idea. (Keep in mind we all do it and we all know that more than one person can order a selection). Anyways, when the course comes out and everyone eats their chosen dish we all spontaneously say, “I win” or “Oh yaa I definitely won”. To other diners, this may seem odd. However, it is quite clear to all of us at the table what these comments mean. We are declaring that our dish is superior to all the others, that we are the best “choosers” for that course of that given meal. Super silly Patterson family quirk/game.
#4 The broken door. Yesterday, Emily and I headed for the public restroom near the dining room. As we were leaving Em pushed the door open for us. (There was no attendant present to do it for us…you’ll hear about that later) She must be working out, because she pushed so hard the door came of its little mechanical track that hooks it to the button that opens the door automatically. Yep, Emily broke the bathroom door and we didn’t stick around to be blamed. It was a hit and run.
#3 The Sailor Picture. Every day there is a photo opp as you get off the boat onto the shore. Usually they’re very silly, gladiators in Rome, a lady with a pizza in Naples, and a sailor in Pisa. Well, Dad got away from us when getting off the ship, so he was left to deal with the photo people on his own. Usually, we all stop and pose with whatever character they have together. However, on this particular day, this did not happen. Left alone and defenseless, Dad was forced to take a picture with the MALE sailor. This alone is funny. However, the story got funnier after we went to look for the picture. What we found was priceless! Another man (who looks super European or super “light in the loafers”) happened to be in the side of the picture close enough to Dad to make them look like they were possibly together. Hysterical. Sorry, Dad, I had to share this one.
#2 The bathroom attendants. Okay, so here on the Solstice they have attendants who are paid to stand in the public bathrooms and open the doors for you and point you to an open stall. SO WEIRD. Like um what is the point?! Also, do they get bathroom breaks? If they do, do they use the one they work in, or do they go to another one with another attendant to assist them?
#1 The hand sanitizer people. Oh goodness, where to start?! Well every time you leave the ship, return to the ship, enter a dining hall, leave a dining hall, walk into a new area of the ship, exit an area of the ship, sneeze, cough, laugh, breathe there is someone there with a hand sanitizer squirter waiting to squirt your hands. At first it was no big deal, but now its just humorous. Every time we see one we all start to giggle and back away. We’ve learned if you don’t look them in the eye they don’t mess with you. You can refuse, but you feel them judging you. Emily is the first to give in. She secretly loves the sanitizer. Mom and I are highly opposed. Mom insists it dries out your hands, so she never lets them squirt her. Don’t think they don’t try, though.
We’ve got a lot more stories to share, but after a long day of relaxing I’m ready for bed, so that’s all you’re getting for tonight! I hope you all are enjoying these blogs as much as I enjoy writing them! We’re still tryin to get Mom to write one…maybe I can finally get her behind the keyboard, tomorrow!? We love and miss all of our family and friends! Oh and our doggies…Mrs. Kristi if you read this, tell Paige to the girls we miss them! :)
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Naples, Italy
What a fun day we had yesterday in Naples, Italy! We took a tour by motor launch (a boat) along the Amalfi Coast then headed to Pompeii! We had a great time and learned a lot, so without further ado let me fill you all in on our stop in another beautiful town in Italy!
Emily, by far, enjoyed the boat trip along the Amalfi Coast the most. Man does that girl love boats! :) Of course, it was next to impossible to NOT enjoy the ride along the coast. The view from the boat is breath taking! We passed by several towns on our way to the actual town of Amalfi. The cool thing about these towns is that they all seem to be built on mountains and cliffs. We noticed that they seem to jut out from cliffs…so cool looking! The views from the boat were pretty much exactly what you’d expect to see in a typical Mediterranean town. It was like looking at a postcard! Super neat! The views from the boat were cool, but the best part of the boat ride had to be the trip through a cave. Yes, an actual little cave. At first, we thought the boat driver was just getting us very close to the entrance so everyone could snap pictures of the inside, so we were shocked when he pulled the boat right on in. Em and Dad were fascinated by his driving skills. I must admit, driving the larger boat in the narrow space of the cave was very impressive. We got lots of good pictures of all the stalactites! (Mom reminded us that they were stalactites not stalagmites with a handy little saying: StalagMITES MIGHT reach the ceiling and StalacTITES hold on TIGHT to the ceiling. Cute, huh?) Anyways, the cave was the bomb dot com! It was legit, it was awesome, it was something I’m glad we got to check it! The Amalfi coast was beautiful and so was the actual town of Amalfi, where Emily and I shared a massive donut and dad snacked on some lemon gelato. Beautiful beginning to our day! :)
After the Amalfi Coast, we headed to Pompeii where we had lunch provided by the tour at a local restaurant. Lunch was very traditional Italian and very yummy. Next, we headed to a cameo factory. For those of you who don’t know, cameos are pieces of jewelry with the profile of a woman carved into them. You find these a lot in antique shops. I’m sure my Gran has a few :) They’re beautiful. We all really enjoyed learning about how they are made and how they are priced. We found out that the larger pieces are actually less expensive, because they are easier to carve. However, the smaller pieces are more expensive since they are more intricate and highly detailed. Interesting, right? After learning all about cameos, we headed to the Pompeii. WOW is what I have to say about Pompeii. It is absolutely incredible to think that a city from so long ago was preserved so well. It’s even crazier to think that people built over this city without even knowing it existed. The tour guide told us that a famous person who once visited the city a long time ago was quoted as saying no other disaster has caused given us such a great treasure. Meaning, of course, that if it weren’t for the volcanic eruption, the town wouldn’t have been preserved and so intact as it is today. That makes you think, doesn’t it? Needless to say, I really enjoyed the visit to Pompeii!
All in all, I’d say we had a pretty good day yesterday. Today is a sea day, so I will post a blog filling you in on that in just a moment. I don’t like posting about more than one day in a blog, because I feel it gets unorganized and unnecessarily lengthy. Therefore, I will be posting 3 blogs today. I’ve just posted one on Thursday the 28th. This one covers Naples (Friday the 29th), and the next will cover today (Saturday the 30th). Once again, I will try to upload pictures, but unfortunately my blogging is a bit rusty and I can’t seem to remember how. Cross your fingers and hope it comes to me!
Emily, by far, enjoyed the boat trip along the Amalfi Coast the most. Man does that girl love boats! :) Of course, it was next to impossible to NOT enjoy the ride along the coast. The view from the boat is breath taking! We passed by several towns on our way to the actual town of Amalfi. The cool thing about these towns is that they all seem to be built on mountains and cliffs. We noticed that they seem to jut out from cliffs…so cool looking! The views from the boat were pretty much exactly what you’d expect to see in a typical Mediterranean town. It was like looking at a postcard! Super neat! The views from the boat were cool, but the best part of the boat ride had to be the trip through a cave. Yes, an actual little cave. At first, we thought the boat driver was just getting us very close to the entrance so everyone could snap pictures of the inside, so we were shocked when he pulled the boat right on in. Em and Dad were fascinated by his driving skills. I must admit, driving the larger boat in the narrow space of the cave was very impressive. We got lots of good pictures of all the stalactites! (Mom reminded us that they were stalactites not stalagmites with a handy little saying: StalagMITES MIGHT reach the ceiling and StalacTITES hold on TIGHT to the ceiling. Cute, huh?) Anyways, the cave was the bomb dot com! It was legit, it was awesome, it was something I’m glad we got to check it! The Amalfi coast was beautiful and so was the actual town of Amalfi, where Emily and I shared a massive donut and dad snacked on some lemon gelato. Beautiful beginning to our day! :)
After the Amalfi Coast, we headed to Pompeii where we had lunch provided by the tour at a local restaurant. Lunch was very traditional Italian and very yummy. Next, we headed to a cameo factory. For those of you who don’t know, cameos are pieces of jewelry with the profile of a woman carved into them. You find these a lot in antique shops. I’m sure my Gran has a few :) They’re beautiful. We all really enjoyed learning about how they are made and how they are priced. We found out that the larger pieces are actually less expensive, because they are easier to carve. However, the smaller pieces are more expensive since they are more intricate and highly detailed. Interesting, right? After learning all about cameos, we headed to the Pompeii. WOW is what I have to say about Pompeii. It is absolutely incredible to think that a city from so long ago was preserved so well. It’s even crazier to think that people built over this city without even knowing it existed. The tour guide told us that a famous person who once visited the city a long time ago was quoted as saying no other disaster has caused given us such a great treasure. Meaning, of course, that if it weren’t for the volcanic eruption, the town wouldn’t have been preserved and so intact as it is today. That makes you think, doesn’t it? Needless to say, I really enjoyed the visit to Pompeii!
All in all, I’d say we had a pretty good day yesterday. Today is a sea day, so I will post a blog filling you in on that in just a moment. I don’t like posting about more than one day in a blog, because I feel it gets unorganized and unnecessarily lengthy. Therefore, I will be posting 3 blogs today. I’ve just posted one on Thursday the 28th. This one covers Naples (Friday the 29th), and the next will cover today (Saturday the 30th). Once again, I will try to upload pictures, but unfortunately my blogging is a bit rusty and I can’t seem to remember how. Cross your fingers and hope it comes to me!
Rome, Italy
Today we were in Roma! We went on an excursion offered by the boat called “Rome, The Eternal City”. This guided tour took us all over Rome to all the “must see” sights. We visited the Roman Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Museum, and St. Peter’s Basilica. Needless to say, our day was chalked full of Roman history!
It is important at this point for me to tell you about our 2 tour guides for the day, in order for you to fully understand what our day was like in Rome. First, we had Gabriella, who was a delightful younger lady. Next, we picked up our guide who would take us through the history of the places we visited throughout the day, Gloria. Gloria was a tad frustrating, very hard to keep up with, older Italian woman, but more about her later.
First, we visited the Colosseum. As we are not Catholic and didn’t personally identify with any of the Vatican attractions, this was probably our favorite stop of the day. Gloria did a great job of explaining the use and set up of the Colosseum. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, basically the Colosseum was the first stadium. In fact, its not set up much differently than the stadiums we see today, in regards to layout, only of course. Here, the Romans would pit gladiator against gladiator, gladiator against exotic animals, or exotic animal against exotic animal. The Romans would ship animals in from all over the world, such as lions, tigers, and elephants to make the show even more spectacular. The fights were always to the death. However, the emperor was ultimately the one that determined when one lived and when one died. In the Colosseum, if a gladiator’s opponent, he would look to the emperor to know if he was to finish the man off or not. A thumbs up from the emperor meant “go ahead and kill”, a thumbs down meant “spare his life”. Interesting, right?! We had fun walking around and hearing all about the Colosseum, but by far the best part of the day was when dad informed us all that he would have “really gotten into that” (meaning the Colosseum events) and that he would have been a season ticket holder! We are all still laughing about that one, because if you know him you know its true…he loves his season tickets!
After the Colosseum, we headed to a nice hotel for a lunch provided with the tour. Lunch was very typical Italian. We started with bread. Then the first course came out: pasta! It was delicious! I don’t think there was a noodle left on any of our plates among the four of us. Next, they brought out the main course: veal served with carrots and potatoes. Just as delicious as the first course! Finally, they brought out cake and coffee. The only unfortunate thing about our lunch was that we were not given the typical Italian “siesta” after. Yes, in Italy stores and all businesses close from around 1:30-3:30 for lunch (at home) and a siesta or nap. Wouldn’t you like to have that in your daily life?! We were more than pleased with our lunch today, but very full and sleepy afterwards. We couldn’t sleep, though, because we had a big afternoon ahead of us: Vatican City!
Vatican City consisted, for the most part, of us chasing (yes CHASING) our tour guide, Gloria, around the sights. She ran at a super human pace through all the famous paintings, monuments, and buildings. We spent what felt like forever in the Vatican museum following Gloria around. Most tour guides choose one or two things per room to discuss, but not Gloria! She chose to talk about EVERYTHING in EVERY room! Unfortunately half the time we couldn’t even see what she was talking about, and by the time we got there she was talking about something totally different. The tour was hard to follow, but the museum was rather interesting. We got irritated by Gloria’s chatter in our ears, so we simply took out our headphones! Ha ha, Gloria! Next, we visited the famous Sistine Chapel, which was famously painted by Michael Angelo. The most frustrating part about the Sistine Chapel was watching our fellow tourists snap pictures in the Chapel, where the deliberately asked us NOT to take photos. The policia would clap and holler “NO PHOTOS”, but still people would click away. One man actually got kicked out for taking pictures, believe it or not! Aside from the annoying crowds of tourists, the Sistine Chapel was actually very beautiful. Like all things we’ve encountered on this trip, its amazing to actually see everything in person.
St. Peter’s Basilica was our last stop for the day. The church was absolutely breathtaking. Every “painting” in the church is actually not paintings, but mosaics; places tiny tiles made them all together! However, you would never know this, because the works look like they were hand painted on the walls and ceilings. Dad enjoyed St. Peter’s Basilica the most, I believe. He was very taken with the art all around the church.
Tonight, we had a dinner reservation at one of the ship’s specialty restaurants, Murano. This was, by far, the best dinner we’ve had yet. The French cuisine restaurant was very elegant and had excellent food and service. I tried scallops and sea bass for the first time, scallops in a puff pastry for my appetizer and sea bass for my main entrée. Oh and don’t forget dessert! I had a crepe filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with a balsamic strawberry sauce. So yummy!!
I thought I’d end this blog with a funny story from the trip that I haven’t shared with you guys yet…Emily and I have been mistaken for twins about 5 times in the last 2 weeks (even before we left for our trip). The first was at Potbelly (one of our favorite sandwich shops) by the sandwich maker who said to Em, “Ya’ll are twins, right?!”. Next, by the lady working at the Subway in the airport assumed we were twins and said to Em, “You’re nice to foot the bill for your twin!” (Dad gave her the money to pay for our lunch). Then, the lady in the President’s club in the Houston Airport asked my dad, “And these are your twin daughters?” It happened again when we checked into the cruise on Monday, as well as tonight at dinner by a photographer. We’re not sure if I look young for my age or if Em looks old for her age. We’ve never been mistaken for twins…well except for the first time Emily met Eric (before we were dating). It was at a tailgate, I had just walked away and I believe Kyrie introduced my family to Eric. He said hey to Emily thinking it was me. Too funny, right? …He better not get us mixed up anymore, though! :) haha
That’s all I have for ya’ll tonight! I’m gonna try to post pictures, but I can’t guarantee the internet will cooperate! Cross your fingers, boys and girls! :) Naples, Italy tomorrow!
It is important at this point for me to tell you about our 2 tour guides for the day, in order for you to fully understand what our day was like in Rome. First, we had Gabriella, who was a delightful younger lady. Next, we picked up our guide who would take us through the history of the places we visited throughout the day, Gloria. Gloria was a tad frustrating, very hard to keep up with, older Italian woman, but more about her later.
First, we visited the Colosseum. As we are not Catholic and didn’t personally identify with any of the Vatican attractions, this was probably our favorite stop of the day. Gloria did a great job of explaining the use and set up of the Colosseum. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, basically the Colosseum was the first stadium. In fact, its not set up much differently than the stadiums we see today, in regards to layout, only of course. Here, the Romans would pit gladiator against gladiator, gladiator against exotic animals, or exotic animal against exotic animal. The Romans would ship animals in from all over the world, such as lions, tigers, and elephants to make the show even more spectacular. The fights were always to the death. However, the emperor was ultimately the one that determined when one lived and when one died. In the Colosseum, if a gladiator’s opponent, he would look to the emperor to know if he was to finish the man off or not. A thumbs up from the emperor meant “go ahead and kill”, a thumbs down meant “spare his life”. Interesting, right?! We had fun walking around and hearing all about the Colosseum, but by far the best part of the day was when dad informed us all that he would have “really gotten into that” (meaning the Colosseum events) and that he would have been a season ticket holder! We are all still laughing about that one, because if you know him you know its true…he loves his season tickets!
After the Colosseum, we headed to a nice hotel for a lunch provided with the tour. Lunch was very typical Italian. We started with bread. Then the first course came out: pasta! It was delicious! I don’t think there was a noodle left on any of our plates among the four of us. Next, they brought out the main course: veal served with carrots and potatoes. Just as delicious as the first course! Finally, they brought out cake and coffee. The only unfortunate thing about our lunch was that we were not given the typical Italian “siesta” after. Yes, in Italy stores and all businesses close from around 1:30-3:30 for lunch (at home) and a siesta or nap. Wouldn’t you like to have that in your daily life?! We were more than pleased with our lunch today, but very full and sleepy afterwards. We couldn’t sleep, though, because we had a big afternoon ahead of us: Vatican City!
Vatican City consisted, for the most part, of us chasing (yes CHASING) our tour guide, Gloria, around the sights. She ran at a super human pace through all the famous paintings, monuments, and buildings. We spent what felt like forever in the Vatican museum following Gloria around. Most tour guides choose one or two things per room to discuss, but not Gloria! She chose to talk about EVERYTHING in EVERY room! Unfortunately half the time we couldn’t even see what she was talking about, and by the time we got there she was talking about something totally different. The tour was hard to follow, but the museum was rather interesting. We got irritated by Gloria’s chatter in our ears, so we simply took out our headphones! Ha ha, Gloria! Next, we visited the famous Sistine Chapel, which was famously painted by Michael Angelo. The most frustrating part about the Sistine Chapel was watching our fellow tourists snap pictures in the Chapel, where the deliberately asked us NOT to take photos. The policia would clap and holler “NO PHOTOS”, but still people would click away. One man actually got kicked out for taking pictures, believe it or not! Aside from the annoying crowds of tourists, the Sistine Chapel was actually very beautiful. Like all things we’ve encountered on this trip, its amazing to actually see everything in person.
St. Peter’s Basilica was our last stop for the day. The church was absolutely breathtaking. Every “painting” in the church is actually not paintings, but mosaics; places tiny tiles made them all together! However, you would never know this, because the works look like they were hand painted on the walls and ceilings. Dad enjoyed St. Peter’s Basilica the most, I believe. He was very taken with the art all around the church.
Tonight, we had a dinner reservation at one of the ship’s specialty restaurants, Murano. This was, by far, the best dinner we’ve had yet. The French cuisine restaurant was very elegant and had excellent food and service. I tried scallops and sea bass for the first time, scallops in a puff pastry for my appetizer and sea bass for my main entrée. Oh and don’t forget dessert! I had a crepe filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with a balsamic strawberry sauce. So yummy!!
I thought I’d end this blog with a funny story from the trip that I haven’t shared with you guys yet…Emily and I have been mistaken for twins about 5 times in the last 2 weeks (even before we left for our trip). The first was at Potbelly (one of our favorite sandwich shops) by the sandwich maker who said to Em, “Ya’ll are twins, right?!”. Next, by the lady working at the Subway in the airport assumed we were twins and said to Em, “You’re nice to foot the bill for your twin!” (Dad gave her the money to pay for our lunch). Then, the lady in the President’s club in the Houston Airport asked my dad, “And these are your twin daughters?” It happened again when we checked into the cruise on Monday, as well as tonight at dinner by a photographer. We’re not sure if I look young for my age or if Em looks old for her age. We’ve never been mistaken for twins…well except for the first time Emily met Eric (before we were dating). It was at a tailgate, I had just walked away and I believe Kyrie introduced my family to Eric. He said hey to Emily thinking it was me. Too funny, right? …He better not get us mixed up anymore, though! :) haha
That’s all I have for ya’ll tonight! I’m gonna try to post pictures, but I can’t guarantee the internet will cooperate! Cross your fingers, boys and girls! :) Naples, Italy tomorrow!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Nice, Cannes, Pisa, and Tuscany!
Hellooo! I’m back! We’ve (finally) figured out the Internet situation! Wahoo!! I will be typing up my blogs in Microsoft Word then posting them online to save time.
We’ve been very busy these past few days and are having an absolute blast, you guys! Barcelona, Nice, Cannes, Pisa, and Tuscany these are all the places we have been in the past 3 days! Who in the world can say that?!
I’ve already given you guys a brief recap of Barcelona, so let’s go right into our day yesterday…Nice and Cannes, France! I felt very in my element in Nice and Cannes, because I could understand the people! That’s right, I might be a little rusty, but I still can whip out my French when I need to!
For this day, we chose to do a shore excursion that the boat offered called “Nice and Cannes on your own”. Basically, a tour bus took us to a Nice, left us for 2 hours to explore on our own, then took us to Cannes, and sent us out on our own for 3 hours. In Nice, we walked through a flower market that goes on every morning until about 12pm in the square every day. WOW! The market was beautiful, so fragrant and fresh! Not near as big as the market we visited in Barcelona before boarding the ship, but still very captivating. We all remarked we’d never seen flowers, fruits, or vegetables smell so good or look so vibrant. After strolling through the market, we walked to a local Patisserie (pastry shop) where we bought sandwiches and Cokes for lunch. Yep, that’s right…I got to use my French speaking skills to order lunch for everyone. I started out a like rough, but I got better and we got exactly what we wanted! Pretty sure I surprised and impressed the fam, which was an added bonus. (Mmk, let’s be honest, I surprised myself by being able to successfully recall my French speaking skills after a year of not using the language!) We ate our sandwiches on a ledge that sat above the beach. Beautiful lunch local! We were surprised to see that the beaches in Nice had rocks in the place of sand. Ouch! Didn’t look too comfortable. No sand castles there, I suppose! After lunch we strolled around the town square and took in the sights, sounds, people, and various shops. Nice was beautiful and such a fun place to spend the morning.
Next, we headed to Cannes. Some of you may know this famous city from the famous film festival that takes place there every year. The tour guide described Cannes as the L.A. of France. The similarities were endless: the crowded streets, fancy cars all around, streets full of high-end stores (you know, like Gucci, Prada, Dior), and their equivalent to the stars on Hollywood Blvd: hand prints of famous stars all around the main strip in town. We took pictures on the red-carpeted stairs leading up to the theater where the film festival is held every year. Em and I struck a pose, of course. (Are any of you surprised?!) We also walked around and looked at all of the stars’ handprints. We found Sylvester Stallone’s, Sharon Stone’s, Angelina Jolie’s, and Meg Ryan’s to name a few. While in Cannes, we also walked around and looked at all the massive yachts parked in the famous port. We ended our time in Cannes by sitting at an outside café enjoying Cokes and a crepe for me! :) Parfait!
We were all so pooped by the time we got back from Nice and Cannes that we ate dinner and spent the rest of the night in our beds preparing for the next day! What a day! Nice and Cannes were beautiful!
Now, let’s get to today’s excursions: Pisa and Tuscany! Everyone agreed that today was the best stop, thus far! We booked 2 half-day excursions today. The first took us to the town of Pisa, where, of course, the Leaning Tower of Pisa stands (crookedly) in Miracle Square. Everyone has seen a photo or drawing of this famous landmark, I’m sure, but let me assure you, you cannot fully appreciate it until you stand in front of it! As we rounded the corner and looked up to finally catch our first glimpse of the tower all of us were scrambling to get out cameras or tell another our reaction to seeing it for the first time. It is so crazy! Its literally leaning! The lean is so insane! I believe the lean is now 14 degrees and experts thought it was finally going to fall a few years back and shut down tours going up inside of it. However, it didn’t fall and they once again allowed tourists to go up in the tower. Guess what….WE CLIMBED IT!! Yep, all 294 steps to the top!! The spiral staircase was crazy; you could feel the lean as you walked up. It got easier when you got to the leaning side and harder to climb when you were on the side not at a tilt. The climb was long and quite challenging. The steps were made out of marble, which is already a very slick surface, but add in all the wearing that has taken place over the years and you get very indented and slick stairs to climb up and down. In places the stairs got VERY narrow. I wasn’t sure I was gonna make it through the skinny-minny opening! In the end, we all made it to the tippy tippy top and got some really neat pictures! Oh and of course we got a pictures pushing the tower over and holding it up, as did every other tourist in the square! Our trip to Pisa was a complete success!! Before I go on to tell you all about our trip to Tuscany, let me tell you guys a joke our tour guide in Pisa told us. She said the tower is not the only thing that leans in Pisa, the cathedral leans, the baptismal leans, ALL the buildings lean, and so you can see why the most popular name in Pisa is Ilene! (Cheesy, yes. Funny, definitely!)
Let’s talk about Tuscany now. Our excursion in Tuscany was a wine tasting tour. As you guys may or may not know, Tuscany is famous for their wines and olives, and olive oil. The tour took us to a vineyard in a town in Tuscany called Monte Carlo (not the one in France), where we were able to taste 3 of the 4 wines produced there. I must tell you that we had no time between the 2 tours, so we had no time to grab lunch. Needless to say we were STARVING! Another dirty little secret about the Patterson family is that we all get very mean when we are hungry. Luckily, though, we all kept it together until we got to the wine tasting and were offered a buffet of meats, cheeses, biscotti, breads, and olives. All very fresh and all very tasty! Unfortunately, our tour was a bit rushed and parts were cut out due to rainy weather. Still, we had a really great time in the Tuscanny countryside.
Tonight we had dinner in the main dining room. The food has been very good so far and the servers are friendly. After dinner, we watched Claire Maiden (from the UK), who works as a vocal coach on the X factor and Britain’s Got Talent, perform. She is a beautiful singer and brilliant pianist. Since we still had a little energy left after the show, we headed to deck 15 to the “Lawn Club”, where they have real grass growing, to watch the Blown Glass Show that is set up on the boat. We went last night to watch the guys blow glass and were in awe, and were dying to go back. Their work with the glass is completely amazing! All in all, its been a great day and an awesome first few days on our trip!
We have an early morning tomorrow, we have to be ready at 7:25am, so I better get some sleep. We are in Rome, Italy tomorrow, so we’ll be visiting the Vatican museum, Coliseum, and St. Peter’s Basilica. Look for a blog about our day sometime tomorrow night! :)
We’ve been very busy these past few days and are having an absolute blast, you guys! Barcelona, Nice, Cannes, Pisa, and Tuscany these are all the places we have been in the past 3 days! Who in the world can say that?!
I’ve already given you guys a brief recap of Barcelona, so let’s go right into our day yesterday…Nice and Cannes, France! I felt very in my element in Nice and Cannes, because I could understand the people! That’s right, I might be a little rusty, but I still can whip out my French when I need to!
For this day, we chose to do a shore excursion that the boat offered called “Nice and Cannes on your own”. Basically, a tour bus took us to a Nice, left us for 2 hours to explore on our own, then took us to Cannes, and sent us out on our own for 3 hours. In Nice, we walked through a flower market that goes on every morning until about 12pm in the square every day. WOW! The market was beautiful, so fragrant and fresh! Not near as big as the market we visited in Barcelona before boarding the ship, but still very captivating. We all remarked we’d never seen flowers, fruits, or vegetables smell so good or look so vibrant. After strolling through the market, we walked to a local Patisserie (pastry shop) where we bought sandwiches and Cokes for lunch. Yep, that’s right…I got to use my French speaking skills to order lunch for everyone. I started out a like rough, but I got better and we got exactly what we wanted! Pretty sure I surprised and impressed the fam, which was an added bonus. (Mmk, let’s be honest, I surprised myself by being able to successfully recall my French speaking skills after a year of not using the language!) We ate our sandwiches on a ledge that sat above the beach. Beautiful lunch local! We were surprised to see that the beaches in Nice had rocks in the place of sand. Ouch! Didn’t look too comfortable. No sand castles there, I suppose! After lunch we strolled around the town square and took in the sights, sounds, people, and various shops. Nice was beautiful and such a fun place to spend the morning.
Next, we headed to Cannes. Some of you may know this famous city from the famous film festival that takes place there every year. The tour guide described Cannes as the L.A. of France. The similarities were endless: the crowded streets, fancy cars all around, streets full of high-end stores (you know, like Gucci, Prada, Dior), and their equivalent to the stars on Hollywood Blvd: hand prints of famous stars all around the main strip in town. We took pictures on the red-carpeted stairs leading up to the theater where the film festival is held every year. Em and I struck a pose, of course. (Are any of you surprised?!) We also walked around and looked at all of the stars’ handprints. We found Sylvester Stallone’s, Sharon Stone’s, Angelina Jolie’s, and Meg Ryan’s to name a few. While in Cannes, we also walked around and looked at all the massive yachts parked in the famous port. We ended our time in Cannes by sitting at an outside café enjoying Cokes and a crepe for me! :) Parfait!
We were all so pooped by the time we got back from Nice and Cannes that we ate dinner and spent the rest of the night in our beds preparing for the next day! What a day! Nice and Cannes were beautiful!
Now, let’s get to today’s excursions: Pisa and Tuscany! Everyone agreed that today was the best stop, thus far! We booked 2 half-day excursions today. The first took us to the town of Pisa, where, of course, the Leaning Tower of Pisa stands (crookedly) in Miracle Square. Everyone has seen a photo or drawing of this famous landmark, I’m sure, but let me assure you, you cannot fully appreciate it until you stand in front of it! As we rounded the corner and looked up to finally catch our first glimpse of the tower all of us were scrambling to get out cameras or tell another our reaction to seeing it for the first time. It is so crazy! Its literally leaning! The lean is so insane! I believe the lean is now 14 degrees and experts thought it was finally going to fall a few years back and shut down tours going up inside of it. However, it didn’t fall and they once again allowed tourists to go up in the tower. Guess what….WE CLIMBED IT!! Yep, all 294 steps to the top!! The spiral staircase was crazy; you could feel the lean as you walked up. It got easier when you got to the leaning side and harder to climb when you were on the side not at a tilt. The climb was long and quite challenging. The steps were made out of marble, which is already a very slick surface, but add in all the wearing that has taken place over the years and you get very indented and slick stairs to climb up and down. In places the stairs got VERY narrow. I wasn’t sure I was gonna make it through the skinny-minny opening! In the end, we all made it to the tippy tippy top and got some really neat pictures! Oh and of course we got a pictures pushing the tower over and holding it up, as did every other tourist in the square! Our trip to Pisa was a complete success!! Before I go on to tell you all about our trip to Tuscany, let me tell you guys a joke our tour guide in Pisa told us. She said the tower is not the only thing that leans in Pisa, the cathedral leans, the baptismal leans, ALL the buildings lean, and so you can see why the most popular name in Pisa is Ilene! (Cheesy, yes. Funny, definitely!)
Let’s talk about Tuscany now. Our excursion in Tuscany was a wine tasting tour. As you guys may or may not know, Tuscany is famous for their wines and olives, and olive oil. The tour took us to a vineyard in a town in Tuscany called Monte Carlo (not the one in France), where we were able to taste 3 of the 4 wines produced there. I must tell you that we had no time between the 2 tours, so we had no time to grab lunch. Needless to say we were STARVING! Another dirty little secret about the Patterson family is that we all get very mean when we are hungry. Luckily, though, we all kept it together until we got to the wine tasting and were offered a buffet of meats, cheeses, biscotti, breads, and olives. All very fresh and all very tasty! Unfortunately, our tour was a bit rushed and parts were cut out due to rainy weather. Still, we had a really great time in the Tuscanny countryside.
Tonight we had dinner in the main dining room. The food has been very good so far and the servers are friendly. After dinner, we watched Claire Maiden (from the UK), who works as a vocal coach on the X factor and Britain’s Got Talent, perform. She is a beautiful singer and brilliant pianist. Since we still had a little energy left after the show, we headed to deck 15 to the “Lawn Club”, where they have real grass growing, to watch the Blown Glass Show that is set up on the boat. We went last night to watch the guys blow glass and were in awe, and were dying to go back. Their work with the glass is completely amazing! All in all, its been a great day and an awesome first few days on our trip!
We have an early morning tomorrow, we have to be ready at 7:25am, so I better get some sleep. We are in Rome, Italy tomorrow, so we’ll be visiting the Vatican museum, Coliseum, and St. Peter’s Basilica. Look for a blog about our day sometime tomorrow night! :)
Monday, July 25, 2011
Days 1 and 2...the "Reader's Digest Version"
Well the internet is tricky here on the Celebrity Solstice. Tricky and costly. Soo blogging might be a tad bit more challenging than I thought. That being said, don't be too bummed if the blogging is less than stellar for the next few days. Cut me some slack, I'm racing the clock to get this written! :)
Here are summaries of our first 2 days out of the country:
Day 1- Sunday (Barcelona, Spain)
Ah the day of the jetlag. Yesterday we managed to take a double decker bus tour around Barcelona. We saw lots of sights. What a beautiful town!! We had lunch at a cool place next to the hotel. Between the four of us we shared lots of different tapas. Great meal! After lunch we all hit a wall and went back to the hotel and passed out. Em and I woke up at like 9:30 pm starving. Mom and Dad were still sound asleep, so we ordered room service. Our first dinner in Barcelona was a hamburger and fries in our hotel room. YUM! haha
Day 2- Monday (Barcelona, Spain...Depart for Nice, France)
Today we walked through a really neat market in town before checking out of the hotel and heading for the cruise terminal. We enjoyed seeing all the vibrant colored fruits, smelling the fragrant spices, and hearing the sounds of the market all around us. Finally, we got on the ship! WOW its huge!! Massive!! We explored the ship a lot today, but I'm pretty sure we haven't even seen all it has to offer!! We planned excursions/trips for most of the ports...very exciting! We're going to have a very eventful next several days! :) Dinner was great and so was the show! (The shows at night are my favorite parts of cruises!)
There is SO much to tell, but sadly I don't have enough time :( I promise you guys I will figure this nonsense with the internet out and get back to my lengthy, over-detailed blogs ASAP! :)
Here are summaries of our first 2 days out of the country:
Day 1- Sunday (Barcelona, Spain)
Ah the day of the jetlag. Yesterday we managed to take a double decker bus tour around Barcelona. We saw lots of sights. What a beautiful town!! We had lunch at a cool place next to the hotel. Between the four of us we shared lots of different tapas. Great meal! After lunch we all hit a wall and went back to the hotel and passed out. Em and I woke up at like 9:30 pm starving. Mom and Dad were still sound asleep, so we ordered room service. Our first dinner in Barcelona was a hamburger and fries in our hotel room. YUM! haha
Day 2- Monday (Barcelona, Spain...Depart for Nice, France)
Today we walked through a really neat market in town before checking out of the hotel and heading for the cruise terminal. We enjoyed seeing all the vibrant colored fruits, smelling the fragrant spices, and hearing the sounds of the market all around us. Finally, we got on the ship! WOW its huge!! Massive!! We explored the ship a lot today, but I'm pretty sure we haven't even seen all it has to offer!! We planned excursions/trips for most of the ports...very exciting! We're going to have a very eventful next several days! :) Dinner was great and so was the show! (The shows at night are my favorite parts of cruises!)
There is SO much to tell, but sadly I don't have enough time :( I promise you guys I will figure this nonsense with the internet out and get back to my lengthy, over-detailed blogs ASAP! :)
Friday, July 22, 2011
Packing day for the Pattersons
Tomorrow we leave for Barcelona, Spain!! After a very long week of prepping and packing I can say with some confidence that the Pattersons are ready to jet set off to the Mediterranean for our 2 week cruise. Knowing us, though, I can say with 100% confidence that between the 4 of us we have forgotten something when in our preparations...what that is none of us know yet. Stay tuned! hehe
On the eve of trip I suppose it is a good idea to let you all in on a dirty little family secret of our's: the Patterson traveling curse. This curse has been going on since my parents' honeymoon when my dad's luggage was run over by the plane. My parents stood at the baggage claim, happy go lucky newlyweds, laughing about a passenger's luggage that kept going around in a black trash bag, little did they know the sack contained my dad's possessions. (I must note that this story might not be entirely accurate, because I was not actually there or even born yet, but I have a memory like a steel trap and have heard the story many a time, so I believe I'm close to correct on all that) Later down the road dad got the last laugh on a trip to Hawaii where the airline lost my mother's bag which coincidentally contained both Emily and my possessions. (Keep in mind this was back in the days where all 3 Patterson women could fit their things in one bag. Those days have long since past!) Emily and I are sitting in my room brainstorming the many misadventures we have had as a family and it would take all night to fill you all in, so just trust me when I tell you that traveling with the Pattersons is not always easy. We are hoping that age and time will have ridden the family of the curse, though. Honestly, though, its the misadventures and WGC's (wild goose chases) that make for great stories....after the fact. All that being said, I'm sure this trip will give us LOTS of funny Patterson traveling stories and memories and I will be blogging all along the way so you guys can share in the fun!
For those who have been asking where exactly the Celebrity Solstice (the name of our ship) is taking us these 2 weeks, here is our complete schedule:
Mon Jul 25 Barcelona, Spain
Tue Jul 26 Nice (Villefranche), France
Wed Jul 27 La Spezia, Italy
Thu Jul 28 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
Fri Jul 29 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy
Sat Jul 30 At Sea
Sun Jul 31 Dubrovnik, Croatia
Mon Aug 1 Venice, Italy Arrive
Tue Aug 2 Venice, Italy Depart
Wed Aug 3 Kotor, Montenegro
Thu Aug 4 At Sea
Fri Aug 5 At Sea
Sat Aug 6 Barcelona, Spain Arrive
If anyone has been to any of these cities or knows a lot about them and has any as a result has suggestions as to what we should do/see while there, please comment and let me know! :) We're open to any and all thoughts and ideas! We want to do and see EVERYTHING...who can blame us?!
As I've said, I will be keeping up with this blog the whole time we're abroad (July 23-Aug 7). Unfortunately during this time this blog, twitter, and facebook will be my only forms of communication with America. (sad) So as Andy Cohen (If you're unsure of who I'm referring to you need more BravoTV in your life ;) ) says tweet me, post on muh facebook wall...and comment on my blog. Do not, as Kim Possible says (Disney reference for the younger generation) call me, beep me if ya wanna reach me, because I will not respond/answer! :)
One last important announcement before I end this blog...over the next 2 weeks I will be having GUEST BLOGGERS! Yes, not all these wonderfully entertaining (Ha-ha) blogs will be written by me, as been the norm over the year. Instead, other family members have shown an interest in rambling on about our lives and travels in a blog, but they're too shy to get their own blog (Shhh...don't say I said that!) Mom has said that she wants to blog on days when there are lots of funny things to talk about, so we'll see when she'll make her debut as a blogger. I'm sure she'll be a natural blogger! We may even be able to convince Dad and Em to take a crack at blogging by the end of the week! We shall see! :)
Next time I blog we'll be in Barcelona, Spain! Eeeek! SO EXCITED!! Nighty Night America, last time I'll say that for a while!
On the eve of trip I suppose it is a good idea to let you all in on a dirty little family secret of our's: the Patterson traveling curse. This curse has been going on since my parents' honeymoon when my dad's luggage was run over by the plane. My parents stood at the baggage claim, happy go lucky newlyweds, laughing about a passenger's luggage that kept going around in a black trash bag, little did they know the sack contained my dad's possessions. (I must note that this story might not be entirely accurate, because I was not actually there or even born yet, but I have a memory like a steel trap and have heard the story many a time, so I believe I'm close to correct on all that) Later down the road dad got the last laugh on a trip to Hawaii where the airline lost my mother's bag which coincidentally contained both Emily and my possessions. (Keep in mind this was back in the days where all 3 Patterson women could fit their things in one bag. Those days have long since past!) Emily and I are sitting in my room brainstorming the many misadventures we have had as a family and it would take all night to fill you all in, so just trust me when I tell you that traveling with the Pattersons is not always easy. We are hoping that age and time will have ridden the family of the curse, though. Honestly, though, its the misadventures and WGC's (wild goose chases) that make for great stories....after the fact. All that being said, I'm sure this trip will give us LOTS of funny Patterson traveling stories and memories and I will be blogging all along the way so you guys can share in the fun!
For those who have been asking where exactly the Celebrity Solstice (the name of our ship) is taking us these 2 weeks, here is our complete schedule:
Mon Jul 25 Barcelona, Spain
Tue Jul 26 Nice (Villefranche), France
Wed Jul 27 La Spezia, Italy
Thu Jul 28 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
Fri Jul 29 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy
Sat Jul 30 At Sea
Sun Jul 31 Dubrovnik, Croatia
Mon Aug 1 Venice, Italy Arrive
Tue Aug 2 Venice, Italy Depart
Wed Aug 3 Kotor, Montenegro
Thu Aug 4 At Sea
Fri Aug 5 At Sea
Sat Aug 6 Barcelona, Spain Arrive
If anyone has been to any of these cities or knows a lot about them and has any as a result has suggestions as to what we should do/see while there, please comment and let me know! :) We're open to any and all thoughts and ideas! We want to do and see EVERYTHING...who can blame us?!
As I've said, I will be keeping up with this blog the whole time we're abroad (July 23-Aug 7). Unfortunately during this time this blog, twitter, and facebook will be my only forms of communication with America. (sad) So as Andy Cohen (If you're unsure of who I'm referring to you need more BravoTV in your life ;) ) says tweet me, post on muh facebook wall...and comment on my blog. Do not, as Kim Possible says (Disney reference for the younger generation) call me, beep me if ya wanna reach me, because I will not respond/answer! :)
One last important announcement before I end this blog...over the next 2 weeks I will be having GUEST BLOGGERS! Yes, not all these wonderfully entertaining (Ha-ha) blogs will be written by me, as been the norm over the year. Instead, other family members have shown an interest in rambling on about our lives and travels in a blog, but they're too shy to get their own blog (Shhh...don't say I said that!) Mom has said that she wants to blog on days when there are lots of funny things to talk about, so we'll see when she'll make her debut as a blogger. I'm sure she'll be a natural blogger! We may even be able to convince Dad and Em to take a crack at blogging by the end of the week! We shall see! :)
Next time I blog we'll be in Barcelona, Spain! Eeeek! SO EXCITED!! Nighty Night America, last time I'll say that for a while!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Fun with the Fams
This blog is appropriately titled since Eric and I have spent the last 2 out of 3 weekends with either his family or mine. First there was the 4th of July with my family at our lakehouse, then this past weekend we attended his family reunion in Waco at Moon River Ranch. This blog is all about our weekends with our families!
Meet the Pattersons:
Eric flew in on Friday and we headed to the lake. On the way, we stopped in Round Rock to eat at a little restaurant we ate at as a family years ago. Dinner was excellent and dessert was out of this world!! Day 1 at the lake consisted of cleaning around the house and preparing for the family to get there. Day 2 everyone arrived. We had a huge crowd: my grandparents, aunt, cousins from Mississippi, cousins from around Texas, and my gran-c's sister and brother. We had over 20 people at all times throughout the weekend, even though people came and went. We spent most of the first day with everyone hangin out in the lake on the Colosseum, which was a big float that held 8 people! SO MUCH FUN!! Our 3rd day was the 4th of July, so we all participated in the annual "Lake McQueeny" water balloon fight! Everyone got really into it...even the big (grown-up) boys! Unfortunately, there weren't any fireworks this year...stupid drought! haha It was still a really good 4th of July, though! The last day with Eric there we went to Schlitterbahn with about 1 million of our closest friends. SO CROWDED! We stood in lines for the majority of our day, but that didn't stop us from having fun! I must say that without Eric there to keep me calm and in a good mood I wouldn't have been able to deal with the crowds and longgg lines! (Thanks, babe! :) ) That night after dinner, Eric and I went into town and watched "Larry Crowne". It was nice to get away and have some time alone, without our sweet little chaperone, my cousin Shelby! She followed us around the whole time Eric was there. He was so sweet with her. We had fun with her, but I will say it was nice to get to talk to him and have a chance to have a little "date night". Wednesday morning, we dropped Eric off at the San Antonio airport. I was sad to see him go, but very happy he got to come and stay for as long as he did! The rest of the week was a lot of fun. Overall, I'd say Eric meeting my extended family went well! He hasn't run for the hills....yet! I was also so happy I got to spend time with the family members I never get to see. Its so neat we still all get together as much as we do!
Meet the Schmeltekopfs:
I thought my family was big...until I met Eric's extended family! Wow, I met A LOT of Schmeltekopfs this weekend! Anddd...I loved them! They were all so welcoming and sweet to me! Oh and the place we stayed was amazing! Nice rooms and on a huge, beautiful piece of land! I was so happy to get to be a part of their family reunion! They have so many fun family traditions and an interesting family history. We watched a slide show with pictures and family history, which was narrated nicely by his aunt, Cynthia, and little cousin Michael. Michael knew absolutely everyone in all the pictures, even though he's little and most of the pictures were in black and white. My favorite comments were about a picture of kiddos and a slide of family connections that explained how everyone was related. About the pic of the kids he said, " I think these kids go to my school, but I'm not sure of his names". In regards to the slide of family connections he said, "This looks like a list. Its probably a grocery list." He was precious!! We did Zumba one morning, led by one of Eric's little cousins. That was fun and a good workout! Two nights we did Karaoke. I got talked into singing a song with Eric. He chose Sweet Alabama for us, even though I don't know all of the words. Even though I was insanely embarrassed, I have to admit I had fun and I'm glad his family talked me into it. We also played charades, which was SO much fun! Oh, and pictionary! I have to say they are probably a tad more fun than my family in some ways! (Not that my family isn't fun!) I met so many great people, Eric has an awesome family. I was so fortunate to get to know everyone this past weekend.
Spending time together with our families brought us closer and was a whole lot of fun! The past few weeks/weekends have been so much fun! Its only gonna get better...we leave for Barcelona and our Mediterranean cruise this Saturday! I'm so excited!! Stay tuned for the low-down on our trip!! :)
Meet the Pattersons:
Eric flew in on Friday and we headed to the lake. On the way, we stopped in Round Rock to eat at a little restaurant we ate at as a family years ago. Dinner was excellent and dessert was out of this world!! Day 1 at the lake consisted of cleaning around the house and preparing for the family to get there. Day 2 everyone arrived. We had a huge crowd: my grandparents, aunt, cousins from Mississippi, cousins from around Texas, and my gran-c's sister and brother. We had over 20 people at all times throughout the weekend, even though people came and went. We spent most of the first day with everyone hangin out in the lake on the Colosseum, which was a big float that held 8 people! SO MUCH FUN!! Our 3rd day was the 4th of July, so we all participated in the annual "Lake McQueeny" water balloon fight! Everyone got really into it...even the big (grown-up) boys! Unfortunately, there weren't any fireworks this year...stupid drought! haha It was still a really good 4th of July, though! The last day with Eric there we went to Schlitterbahn with about 1 million of our closest friends. SO CROWDED! We stood in lines for the majority of our day, but that didn't stop us from having fun! I must say that without Eric there to keep me calm and in a good mood I wouldn't have been able to deal with the crowds and longgg lines! (Thanks, babe! :) ) That night after dinner, Eric and I went into town and watched "Larry Crowne". It was nice to get away and have some time alone, without our sweet little chaperone, my cousin Shelby! She followed us around the whole time Eric was there. He was so sweet with her. We had fun with her, but I will say it was nice to get to talk to him and have a chance to have a little "date night". Wednesday morning, we dropped Eric off at the San Antonio airport. I was sad to see him go, but very happy he got to come and stay for as long as he did! The rest of the week was a lot of fun. Overall, I'd say Eric meeting my extended family went well! He hasn't run for the hills....yet! I was also so happy I got to spend time with the family members I never get to see. Its so neat we still all get together as much as we do!
Meet the Schmeltekopfs:
I thought my family was big...until I met Eric's extended family! Wow, I met A LOT of Schmeltekopfs this weekend! Anddd...I loved them! They were all so welcoming and sweet to me! Oh and the place we stayed was amazing! Nice rooms and on a huge, beautiful piece of land! I was so happy to get to be a part of their family reunion! They have so many fun family traditions and an interesting family history. We watched a slide show with pictures and family history, which was narrated nicely by his aunt, Cynthia, and little cousin Michael. Michael knew absolutely everyone in all the pictures, even though he's little and most of the pictures were in black and white. My favorite comments were about a picture of kiddos and a slide of family connections that explained how everyone was related. About the pic of the kids he said, " I think these kids go to my school, but I'm not sure of his names". In regards to the slide of family connections he said, "This looks like a list. Its probably a grocery list." He was precious!! We did Zumba one morning, led by one of Eric's little cousins. That was fun and a good workout! Two nights we did Karaoke. I got talked into singing a song with Eric. He chose Sweet Alabama for us, even though I don't know all of the words. Even though I was insanely embarrassed, I have to admit I had fun and I'm glad his family talked me into it. We also played charades, which was SO much fun! Oh, and pictionary! I have to say they are probably a tad more fun than my family in some ways! (Not that my family isn't fun!) I met so many great people, Eric has an awesome family. I was so fortunate to get to know everyone this past weekend.
Spending time together with our families brought us closer and was a whole lot of fun! The past few weeks/weekends have been so much fun! Its only gonna get better...we leave for Barcelona and our Mediterranean cruise this Saturday! I'm so excited!! Stay tuned for the low-down on our trip!! :)
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