Spring Break- Day 1

I can’t even express how excited I was for this trip  We have been planning for it and counting down for over a year!  We had such an amazing time and it confirmed my desire to do a 4 month cruise when we retire, travel the world, and retire in the tropics by the beach!!!

Friday afternoon we drove 1 1/2 hours to Moline, flew to Chicago and then flew to Orlando.  The flight to Orlando was delayed because they overbooked. It was over 12 hours of travel and we were exhausted! We styed at a pretty crappy hotel but they had a shuttle to the port so that was good!

We went to Amber Cove (Dominican Republic), St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, and Grand Turk (my new favorite place in the world!!!!)

The view from the plane of Chicago:

We met up with Hal an Corey for breakfast and then drove to Port Canaveral. I will say we prefer the Miami and Tampa ports over Port Canaveral but it was fun to try a new one!

Look at all the food they loaded!

This ship was so cool! Lots of new things… full basketball court, track, workout areas on track, ropes course, etc.

Heading into the open sea!

Chocolate melting cake

Oh the germs…

It’s been a tough couple of week health wise. I had a stomach virus and missed work (the day before that we had 17 teachers gone). Then  I was pretty sure I had strep and an ear infection. I went to the walkin clinic where the dr told me he was pretty sure I had influenza A and I should go home The test results were negative so it ended up being a virus that mimics the flu. I was miserable all the same.  I had forced relaxation which I desperately needed- but man have i sick issues this year!  Alayna also came down with the same thing and missed a day of school. Ugh!

Netflix, meds, weighted blanket, apple cider, toasted Velveeta sandwiches and soup….

Then Tyler went down hard!  I took him in and he tested positive for Influenza A.  He was down for an entire week!  We quarantined him downstairs and thank heavens none of us have gotten it yet!

We've had crazy weather here, as always, and Im really looking forward to sun and sand in the Caribbean soon!

More snow today…

But look these beautiful flowers are blooming!

Bob took me to Ihop over the weekend for Valentines day and he got me this super cool 3D card!

Happy to get pics this week!

2 of me new favorites: Those faces!!!

Long week…

We didnt have school on Monday so I was super excited to get projects done! I asked Tyler and Alayna to help me move some stuff in the living room.  Tyler fell over backwards across the treadmill and then said he was bleeding.  We thought he was crying wolf again until Alayna went over and said he really was bleeding. He ended up slicing his toe pretty badly and deep.  So we had to take an unplanned trip to urgent care where he got 7 stitches and a tetnus shot. 

On Tuesday, we heard that the Cedar Valley Humane had taken over 1000 animals our of 1 home in Vinton (the number is now up to over 1200). Over 400 were guinea pigs and bunnies.  The shelter doesnt have much experience with small animals.  So they let us come in and help.  It was a nightmare.  They were all dehydrated, dirty, and starving.  Heres what I wrote on fb:

“Just went through one of the most bitter-sweet experiences of my life. As many of you know, CVHS just had one of the largest animal rescues ever- over 1000 animals taken from this home. We were honored to be let in to help with all the guinea pigs and bunnies. I have never seen anything like it in my life. I would have cried but there was too much to do! While my heart ached, I was so touched by the massive amount of items donated and the tireless work of those at the shelter. Most of all, I was grateful for the opportunity to hold, clean, love, and help care for so many abused and neglected animals. It was amazing to watch Alayna nurse a small listless baby that grabbed the bottle while she fed her. It was exciting to see bunnies jumping around and guinea pigs popcorning when their cage was clean. They were eating and drinking like crazy! We couldn’t keep them full.”

We helped as much as we can.  It was exhausting work, but by Friday most had been seen by the vets, got Vitamin C and antibiotic shots, and were sleeping, eating, drinking, and moving around.

This is one of the rooms

We also made the news- here is the clip

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hTb6rahP_91quV0tqGKgyD5rUzcZ-xdI/view

After a long tough week, Bob knew exactly what I needed! Flowers, a clean house, and 26 hours of sleep in the past 2 days.  Counting down to the cruise!

Home sweet home!

The trip was long and gross but we did get to see the Super Moon! But my camera couldn't capture the beauty.

Welcomed home by nasty temps

Frozen windshield and 2 late starts

We are in a fun family competition called “New Year New You”.  Its been a fun competitive week so far. Along with the new me, I told Bob I hated my hair and gave him scissors.  He chopped it last week for me.  This week I went to a shop to have it evened out.  I absolutely love it!

Straight:

Curly:

Blessing luncheon

Blessing day- Part 3