That seemed to work...

When our kids turn 8 and get baptised, they are allowed to pick one place they would like to go and we go there as a family for a vacation.  When Peter turned 8, he chose Disney World. (At first it was Texas. I asked Whats in Texas?" and he said "I dont know, I just think it would be cool. Maybe we could see Sandy the Squirrel".  Once I told him that Sandy was not real and just a cartoon Character, the idea of Texas was no longer that appealing)

Well, after Peters trip Finn got to work. Yes, he still had 3 years before he really needed to be concerned, but he is always thinking ahead.

He, too, announced that Walt disney World would suit him just fine as his birthday/baptism trip.

I did the research, put in dates and kids ages and found out it would cost $______ amount of dollars. SO we set up our coin and tip jar. All of our change, coins and part of my tips go into this jar to help pay for some of the souveniers etc. I even made up this cool picture on Photoshop of Cinderellas Castle with fireworks etc to paste on the outside . Actually it is a giant animal cracker bin from Sams that I washed out and pounded a coin slot through the lid. It works great. I am betting we can get a couple of hundred dollars in coin stuffed into it.  Right now we have about 22$.

WELL thank you Nickelodeon channel. My kids are no longer allowed to watch you.

They showed a commercial for a Nickelodeon Cruise. Said commercial shows promises of sliming and meeting the characters and fun and Games etc. It sails to the bahamas, St Thomas and Puerto Rico. For 1 week. Finn saw this and got it into his head that the Nick cruise was his trip. He REALLY wanted it.  so being the good mom I am, I looked into it.

For a family of four, the bottom basement, cheapest rooms in steerage START at $6000!! SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!! (Oh yeah and this does NOT include airfare to Florida...or spending money...or tips) 

 And it goes all the way up to 17,000 for a royal suite...which by the way are all sold out. Wow, the economy must be suffering. Those poor people only able pay 17,000 for a family vacation. Whatever will they do?? They cant hold their heads with pride anymore.They will be humiliated at the club. (did you hear that Ken and Buffy could only pay $17,000 for THEIR vacation? Uhhhh, they had to go to the Bahamas...")

I told Finn that a Nick cruise is out of the question. It cost WAY too much money. I dont mind going to DIsney World,( which includes our dining plan, hotel, park passes etc. We can drive to WDW in 7 hours. In fact Disney world is 60% cheaper than a Nick Cruise.) In fact we could go to Disney TWICE for the amount of money we would pay for the Nick cruise.

But Finn unmoved. He persisted. begged. pleaded. bugged. annoyed. irritated.

He REALLY wanted to go on this cruise. It is all  heard. 

So I told him the boat sank.

Cruisin' on a Sunday afternoon...

After returning home from the family reunion in Virginia, I was charged with the task of planning the family cruise next year. We made the dates and destination decision and I threw myself into finding the perfect cruise to match what everyone wanted. I am a stay at home mom, I have the time to get things organized. I have been on a cruise before, and am a master at planning vacations(Read: Vacation nazi) It is the perfect fit for me, and I am happy to do it.

We knew we wanted the Caribbean. But we had half the people who wanted more snorkeling and beachy related activities.

The other half wanted Mayan ruins and Lamanite History.

We found the perfect cruise to suit everyone and make both parties equally happy. We start out in Miami and head to Grand Cayman(snorkeling and beach), Cozumel (snorkeling/beach/ruins), Belize City(ruins/beach) and roatan Island (Beach etc) So it is a really great mix for both sides.

At first I was leery of planning for so many people and wasnt sure if I would be able to make it work and kind of doubted the vacation nazi's abilities. however I have been pleasantly surprised.

I have found that throughout the past few days I have really enjoyed planning for this. I have a special talent for finding deals, bargains and dickering people down into giving me what I want(Lindsey, Busia will be so proud)

. I talked them into the maximum cabin credit that can be used towards excursions, used for tipping etc. Originally they wanted the entire $250 deposit per person by September 3rd. I talked them into 25$ per person by september 3rd and the remaining 200 by April 16th. I haggleddown an already low price of $389 per person(minus taxes fees and fuel surcharges) to $310 per person. Those poor people at the cruise agency didnt know what hit them by the time I was done talking to them. (Brother in Law)Brandon e-mailed me with a great quote from his travel agent and I used it as leverage to get more goodies for our group. So I do have to tip my hat to Brandon whose quote gave me some bargaining room and allowed the dickering goddess in me to shine forth. I would like to thank Lindseys Grandmother Busia who taught me to "dicker with them" on our last cruise and to NEVER pay brochure price or full price for anything. Without her I would be paying way more than I should. She is one shrewd gal!!

Did I mention I am planning for a group that may possibly include 40+ people??

We have a confirmed "I am paying my deposit right now" 24 people(12 rooms) and an additional 18 possibly's.(9 rooms)

Every day I am getting emails from family saying "Oh we want to come too, can you include us, or "Can we extend the invitation to so and so?"

Heck yes. The more the merrier. The more people we book, the more free cruises we get, the more cabin credits we get and the better stuff they throw in. You dont have to associate with us...just let me use you for more goodies.

Charles and I will be celebrating our anniversary together as well. Nothing more romantic than 40 McBrides stuffed onto a boat!!

Come get me out of this dress!

A few days ago my BF Lindsey wrote a hilarious Blog entry about the time we went on a post graduation cruise. Before we went our separate ways for college, we decided to have one last Sarah and Lindsey hurrah and go on a Caribbean Cruise to St Maartens, St John and St Thomas.

It was 1994 and we were 18 years old. We had smoking hot bodies and low self esteem.(a great combination dont you think?)

Anyway we knew that there were going to be 2 formal dinners, and several other events and fun things aboard the ship. So like two hot blooded teenage girls we set out on a shopping expedition of epic proportions. We bought Bikinis(which never made it to the cruise. They were strictly for pre cruise tanning on the top of Lindseys Roof. A bottle of Qwik Tan MAY have been involved. Dont ask)

We shopped for shorts, shirts, bathing suits, formal wear, sundresses etc.

One day we went to Marshalls. We were feeling good. We found 2 red brocade dresses, 2 black spandex hooker style slip dresses(which, looking back, mysteriously disappeared after my mom went through my closet "looking for old clothes to donate) and a few other goodies for the final touches to our Last Hurrah Cruise.

Well this particular day in Marshalls I found a cute sundress I really liked. It was a white with Pink and green and blue florals. It had kind of a flouncy skirt and a narrowed waist with a real June Cleaver sleeveless bodice with a shallow scoop neck.. It was just so cute and bright and cheery, and it was in my size. i took it to the dressing room to try on.. I unzipped the back, slid it on and had Lindsey zip up the back. It was really cute, but I have a very long torso so the skirt kind of ended ABOVE my waist, which was a real shame. So Lindsey unzipped and went back to her dressing room and I started to take the dress off. I started lifting from the bottom hem and pulled the skirt up over my head. The bodice started to follow, but was quickly caught on something...my chest(which over that summer decided to show itself a little more prominently). I tugged again. Nothing. It wouldnt budge. I tugged ever harder and the bodice kind of flew up and stuck, right up over my chest and around my shoulders, pinning my arms into the air.

"LINDSEY!" I whispered as loudly as I could without the entire store listening in. "Lindsey, I'm stuck!"

"Whhaaaat? She asked, confused as to how I could get stuck in a dress. "what do you mean you're stuck? The zipper is stuck?"

"NO. I am stuck. Me. Stuck. Inside this dress and I cant move my arms. COme here and help!"

She finished changing and hustled over to my dressing cubicle. She took one look at me and lost it. She was convusling against the wall, laughing so hard she was crying. Every time she would try and talk her voice would get about 14 octaves higher(dog whistle register here) and she would just crack up again and again. She could only get about 3 words out at a time she was laughing so hard. And not giggles either. Loud everyone can hear us from 3 miles away kind of laughter. I was standing there, in this dress my arms above my head, stuck by this STUPID DRESS (I hated the dress by this point.). My hair had gotten a little caught on the zipper so it was sticking out the top like a flaming fountain.

I couldnt get my arms up or down to try again. I couldnt move. I had visions of having to call security and having people cut me out of this dress. Finally Lindsey sprang to action. I concaved my chest and hunched my back as best I could and she yanked. The dress came whooshing off and I was free. I was like the butterfly emerging from the cocoon.By the time the whole thing was over we were laughing so hard. We had tears streaming down our faces, I was standing there with my legs crossed so I wouldn't pee myself, and we had salesladies popping in and out asking "Are you girls alright in here??"

Now as some of you know Lindsey is a very talented artist. One thing she is REALLY good at is Charicatures and cartoons. In fact we have a whole notebook full of funny drawings from all our expolits, lists of inside jokes(257 to be exact) and funny poems and stories we have written.

I happen to be the keeper of the notebook right now, so i DO happen to have a cartoon of this funny event.

This Artist Rendition of events is copyright Lindsey Aramburu 1996 from the 2nd journal of Lindsey and Sarah. Please to enjoy.

I miss you Lindsey, cant wait to fly out to Spokane and see you nad the trip to Vegas in Feb!!

May we be able to add many more drawings to the Journal!