Missing the Boat

Last week my awesome husband and I were out of the country on our summer vacation. Wait you didn't know? Oh my gosh we totally (intentionally) didn't put it online. Anyway- we had a wonderful getaway from the world- my favorite part was not hearing my husband's cell phone go off all hours of the day and night.

We set out on the road Saturday to not have to wake up as early on Sunday and drive down to Florida. We made a few childhood stops in my old hometown of Baxley, Georgia before finding a nonsketchy hotel in Jacksonville (ps- that was hard to do).

Here is the house I grew up in from 3rd to 6th grade. I remember a much prettier yard and it had white shingles.

My daddy built that wood fence. Still standing years later.

Here is Kevin at his favorite restaurant from going to the beach with his family every year when he was young- in the place where I grew up- small
world. I'm willing to bet we could have been in the same place at the same time sometime during his vacations!

Before we set sail- we had a major  huge tiny set back. I had sent off my passport to be updated the very first part of July. It didn't make it back in time. And I realized when we got to Jacksonville that I needed my birth certificate. Crap. So- after calling Carnival and explaining the situation- things were looking really grim for me to get on the ship. Even though I was a past cruiser- they weren't going to let me on without some kind of proof of citizenship.

Enter panic. We only had ONE week the entire summer to go on vacation. ONE week y'all. This was it. We had patiently waited allllllll of summer seeing our friends and family on trips for our time to come. And it was about to happen without me. I did manage not to cry, but I really wanted to. I just felt bad for being a horrible wife who managed to pack everything for my husband- and forget the one thing to get me on the stinkin' boat.

So- what did we do? We called our mommas- that's what we did. I called my mom and asked her if she somehow by the proper planning of a good momma had a copy of my birth certificate. She could tell I was in panic mode. She said she would look and call me back. I then proceeded to call my Milly and ask her if she would go on a treasure hunt in our house for a piece of paper that may or may not exist. My mom called back and said she had a certified copy of my birth certificate. Hallelujah!

But- we were still in the car and I needed a copy in my hands. 10ish that night we finally received a fax from home at our hotel and I could semi- relax for the trip.

The next morning- I tried to check us in online- and apparently we missed that option at midnight. The lady (on the phone) told Kevin we needed to be at the port at 11:30. We were still 2 hours away and it was 10am Sunday morning. Not going to make it. (ps the cruise had called and said don't get here before 12:30 because of inspection..so we were really confused).

We set out and I'm in freak out mode again. We finally made it- and got through with no problems and were on the ship by 1:30-2pm. They were more concerned with my pregnancy release form than my birth certificate.
In all my panic and lack of planning- we finally made it on the ship and once we got here- there were no more worries about missing summer vacation.

Our room was the same size as on our honeymoon- minus the balcony- but had a window! even though we booked an interior. Thanks God for working that upgrade out!

We set sail and the world drifted away for 5 days. We had a great time and I can't wait to go on our next adventure.
Here are the 'lights of the trip. You determine high or low:

• Kevin broke up a FIST FIGHT *with blood* (in the buffet line) before we even left the dock- ps it was between TWO WORKERS- not guests. I told him he should've stuck his face in the middle of it so we could have cruised for free. He knows now for next time. 
• Kevin got food poisoning (from the ship's prime rib) the 2nd day. It was awful.
• We decided to go to dinner when we wanted- not during the time we were given and the people we had dinner with turned out to be our next door neighbors to our room. Crazy.
• We snorkeled with our own gear twice and it was awesome. So many cool fish. 3 beaches in 2 days. Either Blue iguana tacos or ice cream every day.
• Kevin sang karaoke. I have a video- but I will see if he wants it posted. 
• We did shows, comedy, and piano bars. And a movie by the pool for dinner. 
• I got sick on the last day thanks to no air conditioned taxis and heavy exhaust fumes.
• Oh. And Kevin watched as I told off a kid about 8-9 years old on the last day to quit jumping over my head and stop hanging from the hot tub window to jump in a pool that clearly said do no jump and no horse playing. Had the little joker made contact with me when he threw his hands up to splash me and stick his tongue out at me- I'm pretty sure SACURITY would have been called. Kevin was watching him like a hawk. Needless to say- he left the pool after I told him he needed to respect adults and when he turned 21 then "he could teach me a lesson". 

So even though the chance to miss the boat was severely high- it all worked out in the end.  It was a fun trip and I can't wait til the next one!

Freeport, Bahamas  22 weeks