Miami

Here we are in Miami for 3 days before the ship sails to the Eastern Caribbean. We stayed at the Marriott in South Beach and the kids loved it! I was relaxing until our favorite middle child Milla got the stomach flu the night before boarding the ship. Let me say that was a treat! It is always someone but usually her. She was so sick that when we went to get on the ship they sent us to the nurse to make sure she did not have Noro-virus. The first day was just getting to know the ship and emergency protocol. Amelia did not feel well until the next day. The first few days were a little rough-8 foot waves. I was uneasy, to say the least. I am not a boat person and I was on edge. Once we got to Puerto Rico, the conditions were better! We walked around there in the evening and basically saw some shops and street vendors. We then went on to St.Thomas. It was very nice there! The kids enjoyed the town and got their hair braided. The next stop was St. Maarten. That was beautiful! They swam in the ocean with their cousins and played on the beach. It was a very nice destination-my favorite of all! The next 2.5 days were sailing back to Miami. The days were filled with pictures, fancy dinners, sing alongs in the lounge, pools, shopping for inches of gold, getting nails done at the spa, and more! It was a fun time for Grandma and Grandpa Jaworski's 40th wedding anniversary. It was all that they could ask for and I think they thoroughly enjoyed it. It was even better that our friends from Germany, Kristina and Annika could join us. Oh, and I forgot to mention, we did have a traditional turkey dinner on Thanksgiving! Yum! The best part of the trip was just being with family. The kids went nuts to be with their cousins for a week and I (as well as the kids) enjoyed being with my amazing husband for a week. Yes, with no computer, no phone calls, NOTHING!! Cannot wait until the next vacation...

To Do Lists

So four children is definitely wonderful and fun but packing for all of these munchkins is not so much. Here is my list for preparing for the Thanksgiving festivities. 1. Go to Walgreens. 2. Go to Target. 3. Get more hamster and rat bedding. 4. Write instructions for hamsters and rats and hermit crab. 5. Pack the kids. 6. Re-pack the kids (suitcases too heavy). 7. Pack Scott and I. 8. Re-pack Scott. 9. Annie to Mimi and Papu's. 10. Decorate house for Christmas. 11. Go to 3 doctor appointments with Ollie, Belle and Preston. 12. Pack nebulizer, meds and appropriate foods for Ollie. 13. Call Miami Whole Foods and get food for the ship. 14. Get doctor note to take Ollie's food and drinks on plane and ship. 15. Call Carnival and pre-order meals for Ollie 16. Follow up with Carnival with special paperwork 17. Arrange transportation to and from airport and ship. 18. And more...

Locks of Love

I am really behind on the blogging, as you can see. Since we had been getting ready to go on the cruise, I knew that haircuts were definitely needed. Of course everyone loves them BUT Isabelle. She was concerned to even get a half of an inch off. Amelia knew exactly what she wanted: stacked in back. And, you better believe she must have asked Mary 5 times during the cut "are you making sure it is stacked in back?" For whatever reason I mentioned to Isabelle that there were children who were sick and lost their hair due to very strong medicine they had to take. She immediately asked if she could give her hair to those children and if her hair would grow back. Our answers were yes and yes! That is all it took for her to selflessly give to these little children. Here are the pics to prove it.