Vacation- Part 1

At the end of June we packed up and headed to Florida for a cruise with Dan's parents!  We stopped at their house for Father's Day and then headed to Miami ready for 5 days of relaxation on the Carnival Imagination!  Amelia did pretty good with the traveling- of course she had to start teething so that made things interesting.

Here we are leaving Miami!

Grammy, Papa, & Amelia's first cruise

Amelia had a rough first night waking up every couple of hours but after that she slept as soundly overnight and for all her naps just like at home!  Here she is playing with Dada in the morning while Mommy got ready. The first thing she always wanted to do in the morning was open the curtains and look at the water. 

After she got tired of the few toys we had in our room she quickly went to the door to the adjoining room and indicated she wanted to go into Grammy and Papa's room.  Since they didn't have the crib in their room- we kept more of Amelia's toys in their room.  Amelia thought she was such a big girl walking back and forth between the rooms. We brought about 6 or 7 of Amelia's favorite books- she LOVES books- let me just say all of us have them memorized now!

The first morning we stopped in Key West.  Dan, Amelia and I headed to find a beach while Grammy and Papa browsed some shops.

We were surprised there wasn't much of a beach- at least not near where our cruise ship docked- but luckily the tram driver that takes you into the city recommended a small section of beach that ended up working out great.

Mile Marker 0- on Hwy 1 that runs (according to tram driver) up the coast of Florida all the way up to Maine

our cruise ship- Carnival Imagination

At least one night on cruises they have a special Captain's Dinner- where you  have to dress up and they serve even better food than normal- usually lobster and prime rib.  The dinner meal in the dining hall is about a 2 hour process- from getting appetizers, then the main course, then singing/dancing with the servers, and finally dessert.  Poor sweet Amelia just had a hard time after a long day sitting in her high chair that long.  We all took turns walking with her- usually out to the elevators (more about that in part 2).

 That night during the 'dancing/singing' part they invited couples to dance but I quickly passed Amelia to Dan so he could dance with her.  It was really sweet even if Amelia doesn't look too happy- she was very overwhelmed by the darkness and loud "Amore" song.

All around the ship there are also photographers set up with all kinds of different backgrounds where you can get your picture taken.  You look at them later and can pick if you want or don't want them.  So we tried several but only ended up buying these two. This first backdrop was the one we ended up buying on our last cruise when I was pregnant with Amelia so I thought it would be fun to use it again. 

 This one didn't scan very well- for some reason the colors are not quite right but you get the idea.  She was soo tired but this portrait captured her beautiful blue eyes so well!

 Amelia LOVED playing in the seats by the windows- she was just fascinated by the water.

 

 Dan wanted to introduce Amelia to the casino at an early age.  Just kidding- he always likes to do the funny pictures.  It was funny though, whenever we would walk by the casino on our way to look at the pictures each day- Amelia would dance to the music.

 Mom's favorite place to frequent on the cruise:  of course the only place to get her soda- at the bar.  Dan and Grammy had gotten soda cards (pay a certain price up front and get a sticker on your sail card- that enabled them to get a soda whenever).  Funny thing was- the only place to get sodas was at the various bars.  Amelia often accompanied Grammy to the bar for another soda.

 This greeted us when we returned to our room that night!

 More to come in part two- this was just the first full day on the cruise!