Yeah, yeah! Let's face it, I'm horrible at keeping up the blog. I'm working on a posting about our cruise. It is taking me a while to get all the pictures organized the way I want them. A new post is coming soon, I promise. In the meantime, here's an update on the Pope family.

Connor and I went for a 13 mile bike ride today with Mom and Bob. Thanks for including us! We had so much fun, even though I started it off with falling off my bike!! It helps when your tires are actually attached to the frame.

Dale has caught a cold, it probably has to do with coming back to cool weather after being on the cruise.

Connor is infatuated with Sponge Bob. I'm not a great fan, but it's OK in small doses.

Connor had a great time at the St. Patrick's Day parade with Grandma Dean, Aunt Pam, Erin, Addison, Leslie, Grace, Luke and Baby Drew. He has lots of candy, that he asks for a couple of times each day.

I tried to grow my hair out long again, but I had an appointment with Ryan this weekend!! I just couldn't stand the awkward stage any longer, thanks Ryan!!

I will try very hard to get the cruise photos posted this week. I hope every one's week is as great as our weekend has been.

Cruise

Here are some picks and an overview of our wonderful cruise vacation. It was by far the greatest vacation I've ever been on. I surprised Dale with this vacation for his 30th birthday, he turned 30 on December 30th. We haven't been on a vacation since our honeymoon, which even then we took a small honeymoon with intentions of going on a tropical vacation after I finished school. So 5 years later, it was well past due.

We left on Saturday February 28th to fly from St. Louis to Miami to spend the night before boarding our ship on Sunday. We tried our first dish of Cuban food. It wasn't bad, but definitely not something I would want on a regular basis, heartburn at 4am is not a good thing!

We boarded our ship, Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, on Sunday afternoon. It was amazing how big this ship is, 15 decks total, with a guest capacity of over 4,000. We thankfully had a cabin with a balcony. Before we were allowed to set sail, the entire ship had to do a practice emergency drill, with life vests and all. Needless to say, it was quite uncomfortable and crowded.

Our first full day was spent at sea. Dale and I participated in "Walk for Wishes". We walked a mile on the deck track and donated money to Make a Wish Foundation. Our sailing made over $2,000 for the organization. After the walk, Dale and I attempted the rock wall. Dale succeeded, I did not. It is way harder then I ever thought. I couldn't keep my fear of heights in check after I got half way up!! That evening we had our first formal dinner. Dale tried escargot and roasted duck for dinner. I'm very proud of him for trying many new dishes. Dale is typically a very picky eater.

Our next day we awoke to our first port of call which was Labadee, Haiti. This beach is a privately owned beach by Royal Caribbean. It would be beautiful in the sunshine. Maybe someday we will see that. It rained all day!! Dale and I walked around in the rain and overcast skies for a couple of hours. We weren't going to let some rain drive us away. We waded in the ocean, visited Dragon's Breath lookout point and shopped the market. We purchased a soap stone carved turtle.

The next morning we arrived in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was raining and overcast, the same as the day before. It eventually stopped raining later in the day. We had an excursion booked to visit Shaw Park Garden, climb Dunn's River Falls, and do a little shopping. We met a really great couple from California on our outing, Dale and Sherry, whom we hung out with the rest of the day. The botanical garden was beautiful, even on a rainy, overcast day. Climbing the falls was a blast. The water was freezing but the view was spectacular. I can't wait to get the pictures from the water camera developed. We stopped at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville before going to a local restaurant to get some real Jamaican jerk chicken. It was a great day.

The next day we awoke to the sun shining over Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We were so excited to see the sun. We had such a wonderful time in Grand Cayman. We were a little disappointed because part of our excursion was cancelled due to strong winds and rough water. We had planned to swim with stingray's at Stingray City, which is a large sandbar in the middle of the ocean. We did get to visit 7-mile beach, which has to be one of the most beautiful places on our planet!! Dale and I tried coconut water, straight from the coconut. Our next stop was a turtle farm. We were able to hold 6 month old sea turtles and see many more. We also made a stop at a Tortuga Rum Cake store where the famous rum cakes are made. Our last stop of the day was Hell. There is a unique rock formation in the town of Hell that has become a tourist attraction. We were able to mail a postcard from there as well. After a fun and sun filled day we did a little shopping on our own and had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. We had to be back on the boat by 3pm, but I could have stayed forever. I kept telling Dale, "Let's just have Connor put on a plane and sent down here, we don't ever have to go back to cold weather, right?!" We laid on the deck for a couple of hours before getting ready for our pre-dinner show. It was so amazing to me the costumes and set that went into the shows. How all of that is on a boat is amazing.

Our next port of call was Cozumel, Mexico. We rode 4-wheelers for 2 hours through the "jungle". Our tour guide informed us that all the vegetation of the island was destroyed by a hurricane 3 years ago, therefore it was more like riding through very dry brush. We had a blast. We were filthy dirty after riding the 4-wheelers. Our next stop was a two hour beach break. We were able to lay on the beach, drink icy drinks, and eat the most wonderful nachos in the world!! We were planning on snorkeling during the beach break, but that portion of the excursion was cancelled due to high tides. Dale and I did finally get in the water at the beach, even though it was pretty rocky. That night we were able to watch a magic show right before dinner. I'm still amazed at the quality of the shows on the boat. After dinner we went to see "The Quest", an adult scavenger hunt. Our cruise director yells out items she needs and it is up to the team captains to find them. Items may include a man's belt, a man with lipstick on, a women's bra, a man dressed as a women, false teeth, and people actually hand these items over. It is so comical. Dale ended up on the game floor when she yelled at that she needed the largest and smallest man from each group, only to inform them that they needed to dance together once they were on the dance floor! We laughed very hard that night!!

We spent our last day at sea. Dale and I just relaxed in our room most of the day. We laid out on the deck for a couple of hours in the morning and pack everything up in the afternoon. We watched the farewell show that evening and enjoyed our last great dinner. We went to bed early that night and woke at 5:30 the next morning to get ready to disembark from the boat. We were of the boat by 8am, and spent the rest of the day in the airports. We finally arrived home around midnight. I could wait to get my hands on Connor. He didn't wake up when we got home, but was very surprised to see us the next morning, probably more shocked than surprised. It took us a few days to get back in the normal routine. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back. Thank you to everyone that took care of Connor so that we could go on this cruise!!