Happy Birthday to me!

After my grandma died my parents got some money.  My mom started thinking that she wanted to use some of the money to take us on a big family vacation this summer.  They decided a cruise would be perfect for our big group.  Miraculously we were able to find a week that worked for everyone.  A few people had to skip girls camp (including Caitlyn), but beyond that it worked for everyone.  We did miss Earl, Caleb and Dante though.

On Friday June 21st, we drove to Irvine California where my parents had booked all of us from Utah a room. Gary and Matt drove and flew into California the next morning.  Kyle rode up with us.  Keith is awesome and drove the whole way.  We stopped once for lunch and gas.  The drive didn't seem too long, which was nice.  

After we got settled we all walked to Sweet Tomato for dinner. The weather was cool and overcast, perfect for the walk that ended up longer than we thought it would be!

Saturday morning while I was getting ready there was a knock on the door and the family was there to sing Happy Birthday to me. It was so nice!  Birthdays are pretty boring when you get older, but this birthday was far from boring.  I think I should go on a cruise every year for my birthday. 

The hotel was so nice.  Caitlyn was off with the girls, but I wanted a picture outside our room.  It was the nicest hotel we have ever stayed in!

We all enjoyed the breakfast at the hotel.  

After breakfast we packed up and drove over to the cruise terminal to park our car and get ready to get on the boat.  We were so excited to see Gary and Julie when we got there. It was a little chaotic trying to find Caitlyn (she rode over with my parents) so we could show our passports and boarding passes. It was a relief when we finished the check-in process and we could get on the boat.

Here we are ready to board the boat.  I was getting more excited by the minute.

Caitlyn and Alexys were so excited.  They kept saying, "I can't believe we are actually doing this!  I'm so excited!"

When we got on the boat we went up to the Lido deck to get lunch.  We found Matt and Lori up there.

Everyone was excited when they saw all of they yummy food.  

While we were eating they announced that the rooms were ready.  We headed down to check out our room and drop off our bags.  We had an adjoining room. Keith and I slept in the king bed and Wyatt slept with us on a twin bed.  Caitlyn, Jonah and Hallee all had a twin bed in the next room.  It was great to have two bathrooms.

We loved having a window to look out.  Hallee liked to sit up there and color.

Matt and Lori are expert cruisers and helped us make sure we were prepared.  They ordered these lanyards for the kids, that way they had their phones and sail passes on them all the time.  We got the texting app for $5. It was so nice to be able to communicate with each other and keep track of the kids.  I felt good about letting the older kids go off with cousins since I could get a hold of them.

We made it through the muster drill and then went up to the lido deck for the sail away party.  We watched from above for a little while. You can see Caitlyn and the girls down there.

It was pretty windy up on the deck.

I love hanging out with my siblings!

We had fun watching for a little while and then we decided that we wanted to go down and join in the fun.

The cruise director was leading us in different dances. It took the little kids a few minutes, but then they got into it too.

I loved seeing everyone have so much fun together.

The energy was so high and everyone was so excited.

I had fun watching and taking pictures for a little while and then I surprised Keith and myself and joined in on the dancing.  I don't usually enjoy dancing, especially in front of people, but I was so excited I couldn't help myself.

They did a few dancing contests, that was fun to watch.

The girls loved all of the dancing on the boat.

After that I told Matt I was going to stop for a pina colada.  Matt said he wanted to treat me to one for my birthday.  He is always so generous.  We got drinks and sat at the bar and visited for a while.  It was nice to have that one-on-one time with him.

Lori brought supplies and got the girls to help decorate my door for my birthday.  They also decorated my parents door to say thank you.  I'm not going to lie,  it was really fun to have everyone make a fuss over me on my birthday!

Gary and Julie's cabin was down the hall from us.  Mel and Tiff were on the same floor on the other side of the boat.  

Every night we had dinner in the dining room at 6 PM.  We got to sit at the table with the Barth's. We loved eating with them every night. 

We had three tables next to each other.

These two tables switched around every night.  We all loved the food, the waiters and the time to relax and visit.

Wyatt and Rockwell loved eating together every night.

Tessa and Hallee love playing make believe.  They talked all through dinner every night.

Caitlyn and Jonah loved ordering and trying new foods.  I was surprised with some of the things they were willing to try.

Everyone told the staff that it was my birthday, so they brought me this cake and sang to me.

After dinner we went upstairs with Paul and Tiff to finish registering the kids for kids camp.  The sun was setting and it was beautiful. 

After that we took Hallee and Wyatt down to bed.  Keith stayed with them while I went hung out with the family.  Poor Wyatt had a rough night.  The boat was rough and the adjoining door slammed shut. Luckily he was okay after the first night.  I think he just had to adjust to the sounds and movement of the boat.

I went to a show while Keith was getting the kids to sleep. 

Later we all went to karaoke.  It was getting really late and we were all tired, but Caitlyn and Jonah signed up to sing so none of us wanted to leave until we heard them.  They wouldn't tell me what song they were going to sing.  I was shocked that Jonah would sign up to sing.  When they got up there Caitlyn told everyone that it was her mom's birthday and asked them to help her sing happy birthday.  It was the perfect end to a wonderful birthday.  The first day on the boat was a blast!