May... recapped...

Disclaimer: this will be a lengthy post (however, there will be pictures to accompany the writing so I'll try to make it brief)

Well, I know you all think I'm THE most unreliable blogger...but to be honest... I'm doing the best I can....to say the least...

So, where have I been, you ask? Well, the month of May has been a busy one...

-I'm down to only having 6 classes left in school before I start student teaching (hale-frickin-leuia)...

-At work I finished mentoring a group of new trainees...

-Did exactly what the President wanted and used our Economic Stimulous check to boost the economy by (finally) buying a phasing camera- Nikon D60 LOVE IT!! We are so selfless...haha

-We started a registry (#54058881) at Babies R' Us for our little girl on the way...yes, I said we started (we only got through the basics before I was too tired and back-achy to continue (more will be added soon)...

-Got together with friends to play games and to bbq (Blake is becoming quite the bbq-er)...always a good time...

-I threw my back out on Mother's Day (a lovely gift for myself)...

...And had an amazing/tiring/sick-filled vacation...

So the whole Kimball family took a cruise from May 17th-24th (courtesy of Blake's parents for Christmas 2007) to the Caribbean on the largest cruise ship in the world to date... Here's what we did...

We loved cruising...

Our nephew Parker seemed to be getting phased too...

Went to family disco (Blake loved watching his short arms bob on the dance floor camera)...

We played miniature golf...

We wrestled (WWF style) in the boxing ring...

Played around in the rolly polly kiddie chairs on deck...

We watched some pretty descent cruise shows (isn't this curtain just beautiful!)...



Our first port we stopped off on Royal Caribbean's private spot in Labadee, Haiti...

and got harrassed by the locals in the market to buy random wood carvings, imported clothes and random whohaws and whatnots... I have a hard time with this because I HATE bargaining, plus many of those things I would never actually put in my house (I would rather just give them the money to not bug me while I look)

We watched a pretty neat ice skating show (yes, on the ship there was an ice skating rink)...

We splashed around in the H2O Zone (especially Blake and Jax) ...

Our second port we went to Montego Bay, Jamaica and took a tour of the bird sanctuary...

We learned how to make the best (virgin) pina coladas (and how to enjoy them too!)...

We were educated on the many uses of bananas...

Enjoyed the lush green vegitation and beautiful flowers...

And how to properly climb a tree for coconuts... don't try this at home!!

And after our long day in Jamaica, came back onboard the ship to enjoy some FANTASTIC onion rings and a KILLER chocolate malt from Johnny Rockets (not to mention a cheesy dance by the crew)...

We watched some lovely sunsets over the ocean...

Our third port we stopped in Grand Cayman to enjoy the beach and warm crystal clear blue water...

(yes I debated whether or not to put a swim suit picture of me where I could be easily mistaken for a whale- but alas, such is life...

We even enjoyed the formal night on the ship with spectacular food...

Our last port we stopped in Cozumel, Mexico and were greeted by a very aggressive luchador and a silver street performer with a sword (I know how much Sarah would have enjoyed that)...

We watched a man fishing with straight fishing line...

and found some interesting looking somethings in this big pit by the sea...

We even relaxed on these perfectly inclined (and beautifully painted) walls...

We were awe-inspired by the ginormity of these two cruise ships...

We had some world class servers amongst us (shout out to Andy and Jeremy)...

Witnessed some amazing moonlit nights...

And were greeted every...

single...

night...

by...

a new...

towel animal character.

This was an amazing trip to say the least. I am always impressed by cruising...but am always really excited to home too... by Thursday night I had started coughing and by Saturday when we left I felt pretty lousy. This picture sums up the last day of the cruise (I know, this is another picture I debated- however it made me laugh every time I looked at it, so I figured it might do the same for my readers- or it may scare them away (one of the two- let's hope for the first option...haha)

Our trip didn't end by coming home on Saturday though...Blake and I ended up traveling up to Savannah Georgia to Blake's old missionary stomping grounds. Another post will follow about that little jaunt.

Overall- I am proud to say that normally the average cruiser gains 1 lb a day- I got home and was happy to find out that even when I craved french fries and fruit, I only gained 2 lbs the ENTIRE vacation.... LATER!! Pretty good for being prego!! I also got a nice tan and some freckles to add to my pasty body- I'll take it though.