Tuesday, September 25, 2012

S'more cruisin'

I thought I would share some more pictures that Carly sent me.  And also, I realized I completely forgot to add our quotes from the trip:

- "You're sluffing some juicy ones." (Nick)
-"What are these muscles called?" "Trapezoids." (Carly and Lexie)
- "I am just really glad that Bradley Cooper is finally seizing his moment. Good for him." (Daniel after reading the current ship magazine).
- "Uh uh uh uh." (The man in the Love and Marriage Game on the ship).
- "I am not going to applaud farting." (Some man behind us after someone made a joke on stage about farting).
-"Welcome to hell." (David, our Belize tour guide)
- "I am like a whoppper with a lot of stuff on it." (A young newlywed who was trying to make a comparison with fast food and himself).

Nick jumping off a dock at West Bay Beach in Honduras.

Digging a hole with Henry at West Bay Beach.  The cutest kid ever.  And of course they had to dig a hole.  Nick did have to convince Daniel to participate, but we all knew he wouldn't be able to resist.

Shaking his booty onstage while having a bit of our own dance party.

Soft Serve!!!

In Grand Cayman Island, they had these cool water tables.  They were extremely comfortable.  We decided that the next time we go there we should laminate cards and play in the water for hours.

Don't know what I'm laughing at but it must have been pretty funny.

Serious card players.

Superman pose with Fast Eddie.

Doubles.

Our two guides having a contest to see who can unharness the men quicker.  There was a lot of trash talking and it was intense.




Winning a medal after putt putt golf and I am very excited about it.  This is nothing to compared to the awesome  ship trophy I won for movie trivia.  And Daniel got one as well for Sports Trivia.

Posing next to Henry at West Bay Beach.

Right before Carly slammed her head against Daniel and almost got killed.  But it was well worth it, as you can see.

Upside down pose with Fast Eddie.  This picture scares me a little bit.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Do's and Don'ts of Cruising

We just got back from an awesome cruise with Daniel and Carly.  We sailed out of Tampa and stopped in Cozumel, Belize, Honduras, and Grand Cayman Islands.  It was amazing and so much fun.  We laughed a lot, and got a lot of sun.  Pretty much two of my favorite things.   For those of you who are interested in cruising; here are some good tips for you.


Don't: Wear white saggy swimsuit bottoms because people will think that you are wearing a shirt and underwear to lunch.
Do: Eat at the 24 hour Pizza Pirate a lot.  And also eat a lot of soft serve.


Do: Hang out by the pool and get some sun.

Don't: Go down the water slide.  You will either have to push yourself all the way down or you will go so fast that you slam your foot into the wall.

 Do: Play as much Trivia as possible and wear your medals around the ship as much as possible, instigating compliments and high fives from random strangers.

Don't: Do Trivia while the annoying know-it-all plays.  Because he will beat you and you will lose.


Do: Go on a cruise with the Nielsons.

Don't: Go on a cruise without the Nielsons.


Don't: Spend two hours getting ready for dinner on a cruise ship.

Do:  Spend two hours eating 8 courses of food at dinner.

Do:  Get your picture taken with an awesome "professional" background and with some amazing poses.

Don't:  Accidentally steal cruise pictures and then leave them in the card room (also labeled the Trump Room by Daniel and Nick).


Do: Win $2.50 on the slots

Don't: Spend more than 5 minutes in the casino because your clothes will smell like smoke and may make you kind of dizzy.


 Do: Go swimming with sting rays in Cozumel, and hold a parrot after.

Don't: Feed the sting rays.  It's weird and gross.

 Do: Play on a trampoline in the water for hours.

Don't: Pee in your swimsuit while jumping on said trampoline.


Do: Dance as much as possible.

Don't: Spend more than 3 minutes in the Cruise Terminals because you will have to take 36 pictures with random tourist attractions.


Do: Play spades as much as possible.

Don't: Piss Carly and I off while playing cards on a cruise ship.


Do: Go to Belize and go cave tubing and swimming in natural spring rivers.

Don't: Give a dollar to the kid who is dared to ask you for money.

Do: Play Put put golf as much as possible.

Don't: Lose at a put put competition when another stupid girl cheats to win.


 Do: Go to West Bay Beach in Honduras. It's the most gorgeous beach ever.

Don't: Try to get four people stacked in the water.  Someone will get hurt.


Do: Go zip-lining in Honduras and hold a monkey after.

Don't: Do the superman pose; you may feel violated by Fast Eddie and the pose may hurt.


Do: Visit each town that you visit.

Don't: Walk a mile in downtown Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island when it's 100 degrees outside with about 100% humidity.  You will get tired.


Don't: Smile too much in photos.

Do: Look as angry as possible in pictures in case people think you may have had TOO much fun.

 Also another good example of a good photo pose.




Do: Visit the amazingly clear beautiful water.

Don't: Spend three hours throwing rocks in the ocean.


Do: Pick up all kinds of cool rocks on the beach.

Don't: Pick up a broken beer bottle.



 Do: Go swimming as much as possible in the ridiculously warm ocean water.


Don't: Go for more than 30 minutes without a floatie in the Ocean along the Seven Mile Beach.


Do: Take a picture with a pirate ship in the background.


 Don't: Forget sunscreen!  It's really hot.  Also, don't have bad luck and have crappy weather.  This is very important.


Do: Sing NSYNC and "It Wasn't Me" in Karaoke.

Do: Go Clubbing and gain a few random fans on the boat.

Do: Go to the comedy shows, particularly, if they involve a funny British man named James.

Don't: Hurt your face laughing too hard.

And the final one . . .

Do: Leave Briz with awesome grandparents and an amazing aunt Brit.

Don't: Miss your kid too much because they are back home waiting for you, ready to give you hugs, kisses, whine, and ask WAY too many questions.  Don't  forget to take the silence for granted!!!





Kim and Joe's Wedding

We had a great time at Eagle Crest in Central Oregon for Kim and Joe's wedding.  It was a fun little Ainge family reunion.  My favorite parts of the long weekend were watching Dane for a night and also watching Briz perform her duties as flower girl.  She loved being part of the wedding: she basically thought it was her wedding.  And she was also completely enamored with Kimmy the whole weekend.  She loved her beautiful princess wedding dress. And when she discovered that Kim has a beautiful singing voice, oh forget it, she had her new idol.
 Briz getting her directions from the Wedding Coordinator.

 She was very very focused.  We were a little nervous because we had no idea how she would do.

 But she threw those flowers down like a pro. I was so proud of my little girl.  She seemed so grown up in that moment.

 She was a little tired after her flower girl duties.

 Making out with Dad  . . . again.

 In their matching purple outfits.

 Briz' face cracks me up in this picture.  This is normally what her forced, camera smile looks like.  

 She thought her and Cami, the Maid of Honor were twins with their blonde hair and purple dresses.

 All of the Ainge siblings.  Have to take a picture because it doesn't happen that often where they are all together.

 The Michels family.  Sorry if this is a spoiler of their Christmas card :)

 Love this picture of Grandpa and Grandma.  Epitomizes them pretty well. 

 Briz and her idol.

 The August 25th couples.  

 Cousins.  I found both of their outfits at Janie and Jack.  Yep, I splurged just a bit.  I couldn't help myself.

 Some forced cousin love.