St. Maarten

This was one of our favorite islands on the whole trip. It was just neat and pretty and, hey, you can can't beat hitting up two countries in one stop! The island of Sint Maarten-St. Martin is the smallest area of land which two countries own a part of. The French side is a bit bigger than the Dutch, but who's counting? The Dutch side uses the Netherlands Antilles Guilder and the French side uses the Euro, but they take U.S. Dollars, too, of course. The whole place was beautiful and we had wonderful weather while there.

We took a "See and Sea Tour", where we boarded a bus and took about an hour tour around the island. Then, we drove to the French side and got on a semi-submersible boat for a tour of the sea. The only complaint was we didn't have enough time on the island!

One of the more interesting things we tried on the island was the guavaberry liqueur. Yum!


The duty-free shopping area in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, where we came ashore first.



A coconut palm.



Our ship is on the right and looks smaller, but it is just moored back a bit farther.






Workers were always doing repairs on our ship. These are some of the bravest guys, I think. They were bobbing about on a metal raft with these huge poles with paint rollers on them, painting the side of the ship!



This sign is all that separates the Dutch and the French sides of Sint Maarten-St. Martin.



An old sugar cane plantation house on the French side.



An old church on the French side.



A pasture on the French side.



The area where the boat was moored.



Dave, me, and our friends above deck as the boat started out.



We went on a semi-submersible boat out to a little coral reef to see what marine life was out there. You sat above water for about 10 minutes, then they told you to walk down a set of stairs, and sit on benches with glass surrounding you. You could then see out on all sides. It was pretty interesting, but I wouldn't recommend it if you get seasick! I don't normally get seasick, but that sure tested me. I was happy to get out!



Diver feeding the fish for a "photo op".



Diver with a sea urchin. The striped fish there are called "Sergeant Majors"-how cute!






Our cruise ship.

Formal Night

We had a couple of formal nights on the cruise. It was fun to get all dressed up! The particular cruise line we went on, Celebrity, did not allow shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, flip-flops, etc in the evening at all, which was a nice touch. You had a few people who did not follow the rules, but, overall, everyone spiffed up for the evenings and it was very glamourous.


Fancy!



Our table.


A larger view of the main restaurant.


Everyone at our table.


Our waiter, Ottoneil, from Guatemala, with our Baked Alaska.



Not the best photo, but it shows the glitz in the casino. It literally hurt my eyes everytime we walked through there (and we had to to get to our restaurant!) I told Dave it is like "Ocean's Eleven". :)



Waiting for The Naturals to sing.



Dave and Alex with "Brad Pitt". :)

The Naturals

While on the cruise, we had the pleasure of listening to an a capella group called The Naturals. I love a capella singing anway, but these guys actually interacted with the audience and made it very fun. We ended up going almost every night, which got us noticed by the group. Our friend Alex was expecially noticed, as he almost always showed up with a huge bottle of water. One of the singers, Michael, singled him out and from then on worked Alex and his water into their songs. It was very hilarious! It would be great if these guys came out with a cd some day...


The Naturals doing their "rooster song".



Michael with Alex's glasses. :)



Michael, Shawn, Scott, and Rob.

Back in Port-Ft. Lauderdale

I was able to get a few photos of the sun coming up on the last day of our trip, as we pulled back into Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, FL.

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!

Here are a few photos of our quiet little Christmas together. Every year, I try to take some photos of the kids together. With the addition of each child, the logistics of photo taking have gotten harder to say the least. I usually just madly snap about 30 photos then pick the best one or two. Trust me, the rest of these looked like blurs with eyeballs in the middle of them.




See what I mean? I give up! Ah, well, these kind of photos are more fun in my opinion than professional ones any day. One of my grandmothers (who is now deceased), told me she always liked the candid photos I would send of our family better than the professional ones. I think most people feel that way!



One of my favorite presents. :)



Rachel being a good mama to her new toy.



Stephen and his "lomster", a favorite gift from grammy and grampy. :)



Rachel overjoyed with her bird that plays (relentlessly, I might add) "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".

Rachel

When I went to get the mail out front one day, I noticed Rachel was getting ready to follow me. I grabbed my camera and decided to take some photos of her reactions to the open door, noises outside, etc. I also love using natural sunlight to take photos-that was a bonus! :)

She is getting too big!











A motorcycle decided to drive by at that time, and scared Rachel. She will get a concerned look on her face, start fussing, and stomp from foot to foot until the threat is gone.


Mwwwwaaaa!



Safe back inside...

Dudette

Engineer

Matthew came across a box of special Legos Dave had as a child a month ago. They sort of look like K'Nex, and you can build all sorts of things with them. There is even a little air pump that comes with them! Matthew can spends hours with these things...