Get Ready...Get Set....GO!

With four teenagers nothing is ever really that simple. Going on a Vacation is included in this. We are pretty excited because we are going on our first cruise as a family. All 6 of us are going to have 7 days of glorious sunshine (fingers crossed) on the way to Cabo and Puerto Vallarta.

Ryan and I have been on two cruises before. One was our honeymoon and the second was this Christmas when all the kids were at their other parents house. We didn't want to sit at home with no kids on Christmas and be super sad. The one good thing about having a blended family we are finally on the schedule were we have all four of them or we don't have all four of them for Christmas and Thanksgiving. We are lucky they live with us full time but its still hard to not have any of them for Christmas. Anyways...being a mom and having that oh to normal feeling of "Mothers Guilt" I felt so bad they weren't with us that I booked another Cruise for all of them to go this year while we were on our Christmas Cruise. Hey its the only way I could have fun without feeling so guilty.

The cool thing is we are going back to the exact same destination. We love it anyways! The great thing however is going on a cruise with the kids that you have already been on. We already know the destination so it becomes more cost effective. We know the places to go or not go and the excursions to go on or not go on. We are even going to be on the same ship although we did get a free upgrade to a Ocean Balcony Suite for our two rooms which we are SUPER excited about.

The kids don't even realize what fun they will be having yet. Are they excited..yes. Do they really know how excited they will end up being...no. Since we aren't going during Spring Break and are going two weeks later on the cruise we have to do Independent Study for the kids. They will be out a week and so we got all their work to do. The teachers were nice enough to give it to us a couple days early so we can try and get it all done. Its funny though because one of the teachers has all our kids. She told us that we aren't allowed to vacation together anymore because she had to do all the work for all four of them. She said it jokingly of course but it was funny. So after school for two days the kids have come home and sat to do their work for hours. They are complaining a little as they have just gotten out of school but they wont be complaining once they have a week off and not have to worry about it. Plus....we don't want to have to bring all those books onto the ship.

I am very thankful that my Mother in Law is going to watch our animals for us. We invited her of course to go but with her vertigo she decided to stay back to help us out by watching our house and the animals. I love my mother in law because she is always so selfless. We are going to have to take her on a vacation on land sometime soon though for all the hard work she does for us. She will probably need one after watching all the animals anyways.

Tomorrow we are off and on our 11 hour drive to the port. We will spend the night there and get on the ship the next day. I am still packing even though I started a couple days ago. Have to Iron the formal wear and I think I will be done. I loathe ironing! So much so that I got a dryer that has
"dewrinkle" as the kids call it. For formal night though I will become Cinderella and iron. Did I say I LOATHE ironing! :) With 6 people there is a lot to iron. Then there is my husband who packs an hour before we go, always ends up having everything he needs while I am checking down my checklist that the kids and I have everything we need. I tried packing for him but he knows what he wants better than I would.

So we are off! To Cabo. I will try and post another blog before we actually leave but then Everydayraerae will be silent for the week. Silent because I am going to be listening to the ocean sounds and relaxing while hearing my kids say "thank you for taking us on the most magical vacation in the whole wide world". Ok I can dream. It will be fantastic though and when I get back you will be overwhelmed with fun pictures! We are going to be snorkeling and swimming with the dolphins. Its going to be the best family vacation! Hope you all have a blessed week. Say a little prayer that these Baby powder looking legs don't get too burnt.

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Our Top 30 Instagram Pictures

Love Instagram! Thought I would pick a couple of our favorite Instagram pics of our family in the last say 6 months. Here are our top 30! It is a kind of get to know us through pictures type of day! With the amount of pictures I take its hard to pick different ones so I picked kinda by my mood today:) You know how that goes, right? :)

Went to NYC for the first time with my BFF

My Husband cracks me up

Looking out Kitchen Window as far as the eye can see

Our Daughter Cassies 16th Masquerade Birthday

Jackson doing Color Guard

Cassie and I at Woman's Retreat

Go Jack!

Go Josh!

Cassie and Jason at Jack and Josh Game

Won Championships in Rain

This is what happens when you take Ranch kids to a mall...HA!

My bow hunting hottie

Apparently birds like Josh

At the movies

Jason (second from left) at 4H

Josh, Jack, Cassie and Jason This is my Favorite Pic!!

Jack and Josh making Gingerbread Houses

In Puerto Vallarta on Christmas Day (Hubby took this pic)

On the balcony of our cruise

Whale Watching on Christmas Day

My Cosplaying Daughter

Cassie, Jason, and Jack my braces kids...

Jason first year at Basketball. He rocked!

This Diablo Shrimp is WAY too spicy for me

Ryan with our baby Molly

My Chef Cassie with Homemade Chocolate Pie

Valentines in Hospital. Hubby brought Valentines to me!

Jackson and the start of why I am lamb crazy! They are so cute!

Cassie at Science Fair

 

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Cruises...Why? Pics! Tips and Tricks.

Having a family of 6 is costly. Taking a week long family vacation is even more costly:) This is why we chose Cruising for our family.

Ryan and I have been on two cruises before. Our Honeymoon was our first one. The Second was when the kids were all at their other parents house for Christmas. We didn't want to stay at home and mope without the kids. We went this Christmas. I felt so bad even though I was having fun that we booked a cruise for the whole family to go around Spring Break time. Mothers guilt works to their advantage a lot. So Back to Cabo we go!!

I used to think Cruising was soooooooooooo and I mean soooooooooo expensive and out of our league. When I heard people went on a cruise I thought to myself...WOW I wish we could go on a cruise. I started to research it and for what you get its so much less expensive than taking our family on a 7 day vacation to an ocean somewhere with hotel and food. Feeding 4 teenagers on a road trip is expensive enough ha! I don't know where the food goes. I swear they have hollow legs.

You can make cruising even less expensive than we do. You pay one price for your room, all your meals, snacks, room service, entertainment and transportation from ship to port.  We have been saving to go but there are some upgrades that we as a family chose to take because it suits us better. One is having a Balcony instead of an inside room without windows or a room with no balcony that has a window. To us that extra expense is worth it. One of Ryan and I favorite thing to do is get room service breakfast (we always get the same thing... Bagels with lox, fruit, coffee and orange juice) and we sit on our Balcony in the sun watching the waves go by. It saves us from getting dressed and we really do feel like we are vacationing.

Towel Animals on your Bed Each nigh

To be on a Cruise is like being on a Floating City. You are never going to get bored. They have activities going on all day and all night. Some days we even had scheduling conflicts of what we wanted to do because there was so much going on. I am going to sneak a tip in right now even though Ryan is going to do tips at the end of this for you all. Bring a highlighter. Every night you get your schedule for the next day of activities that are going around the ship. We highlight what we really want to do so its easier to see. With teens on the cruise this time we will also get their activities sheet to know what they want to do to. There are a lot of activities for young children....but also for ages 12-14 and 15-17 they have scheduled activities that are fun for them. This way they aren't always with their parents and can have age appropriate fun and meet some friends.

Shows every night

Family Comedy and Adult Comedy

On Ship like I said there are a lot of activities for all ages. They also have pools, Jacuzzis, Basketball Courts, Fitness Centers, Track, Putt-Putt Golf, Water Slide, Comedy clubs that have Family Comedy and then Adult Comedy, Movies on the deck with popcorn and a huge screen, Dancing, Amazing Nightly Shows, Legends Shows, Life Size Chess, Dance Classes etc. Mind you this is just some of the stuff that is always there it doesn't even include what's on the daily schedule of activities.
Some of our favorite scheduled activities to go to is the "Newlywed Game" because its hilarious or "Hairy Chest Contest" because that's funny too. They have drink competitions to make a new drink and Bingo. This is just naming a few.

The Teens even have their own spot they can go to. Its called the O2 club. They even have their own dances with a juice bar. Lots of stuff for them to do with new friends and activities. Our plan is they can sleep in unless we are at port of course. They have to be there for dinner as a family and go to the Show of the night with us. The rest of the time they can choose to be with the O2 club and staff or with us. At ports though of course they are with us those whole 3 days.

Teens Chilling Area

Speaking of food. You cant go hungry on a cruise. They have dining in the ballroom for every meal. We chose to just go for dinner. They have 24 hour room service, small bistros around the ship, and buffet. They also serve pizza, hamburgers, soft serve etc 24 hours a day in case you want a midnight snack or two. The only food you pay for is if you decide to get reservations at their famous Steakhouse. Even then its only 35 dollars a person for HUGE, amazing steak that makes Outback look small. You always get tea, coffee, lemonade, water, ice tea for free anywhere on the ship. Soda and Alcohol drinks are extra. You can get an unlimited Soda Card though for 35 dollars for the week and have all the soda you want. Alcohol drinks is where the price can go way up for your cruise so we choose to not drink or maybe have one at the show. We aren't big drinkers anyways so this doesn't bother us at all. Here is a menu of the Ballroom for one of the days. You have EVERYDAY which they always have on the Menu and then the other side which changes daily. I have never heard of someone going hungry on a cruise. I think that's why they have so many activities because you probably gain weight lol. Did you know that you can order two dinners if you cant decide and no one will look at you sideways. On Steak and Lobster night we order two lobsters. It doesn't cost anymore. Its all included. Once my husband got three desserts because he wanted to try them all. HA!

For Dinners they do have scheduled dinner times. I believe its 6 and 8 o'clock. You are at the same table and have the same waiters each night which is pretty cool. Sometimes they even do dance routines (the waiters). This cruise since we are going as a family we chose the 6 o clock dinner time. So we can all eat together and go to a early show. (The shows are twice a night). When we didn't have kids with us we did Anytime Seating. So you can go whenever you want during the 6-9 period. Just know that dinner will always be at least an hour long. You don't notice it but it is. Appetizers, then the main course, then dessert each night. The food is good. They make it to order too so you don't have to worry about the masses.

Dining Hall

One of the Dinners

Melting Choc Dessert!

I want to go back to the Cabins. The staff around Carnival Cruising are amazing. The staff that attends to your room or your waiters etc will remember your name. You feel very special. They will remember your kids names, what drinks you want or allergies you have etc. You have housekeeping each morning or afternoon and turn down service at night where they make a towel animal. I always get excited to see what is coming that night. I know I am a dork. Although your tips are 12 dollars a day per person as apart of the cruise, we always tip extra to our waiters or stewards. They work 14 hours a day sometimes with no days off and are away from their family. We always tip them nicely the first night too because its just something we don't mind spending extra money on. We already told our kids too they don't have to keep their room perfect but picked up because its the nice thing to do. Just be happy I am not making them make their bed every morning. ha! Here are the rooms that we upgraded too. We have adjoining rooms so even though you see two separate rooms here we are able to see and hear everything. We have adjoining balconies too:) Ryan and I have cruised before so we actually got an upgrade from the Balcony rooms we paid for to Ocean Suite Balconies. Let me tell you how happy we were to have 100 extra sq feet in each room with extra storage, longer balcony and actually have a tub instead of just a shower. Pretty excited!

We have an extra bed in case someone gets sea sick.

Kids room Its a bit bigger than this. Attached to our room

So as you can see there is a lot to do, to eat and places to relax. This is just on the ship! In our 7 day cruise to Cabo and Puerto Vallarta we have 3 days on land. You can choose to save money and not get excursions but since this is our family vacation we decided to get an excursion each day that we are on port. It helps us to get off the ship faster, we get to learn more about the port with locals and have activities that we would enjoy with lunches etc. One of the ones we want to do as a family is Swim with the Dolphins. We also have plenty of time to go and do what we want too. Its really exciting!

Cruising can be affordable. More so than you think. You can make it as inexpensive as possible or expensive if you want. We are kind of in the middle. The one thing I know though is Cruising is FAMILY FRIENDLY. Lots of onboard activities, tons of amazing people and lots of FUN! Lets be real too......where else can you see multiple destinations and only have to unpack once?

Handing it over now to my hubby Ryan for some Cruising tips and Tips to save money. P.S. He didn't know he was doing this till just now! Thank you HUBBY! If you don't see tips below he said no ha!

Well I didn't get to say no.......

There are some things that people just don't know about taking a cruise, I am no expert, but am willing to share what I have learned.

 

Tips and Tricks:

1.First, yes it was mentioned earlier in this blog, you can order more then one dinner. If you see something you really like, order 2, or if there's more then 1 thing for dinner you can order different things, same with dessert, or as I call it "DESSERTS" you want ice cream and pie, go for it. You already paid for your meals, its not going to cost extra if you order more. It's not like you would get money back if you skipped a meal so make it worth it !!!

2.If you drink soda, you can bring a six pack per person, treat it as luggage, or just put it into your luggage. Bottled water is a good thing to bring if your going to Mexico, bring it off ship when your visiting a place that you shouldn't drink the water. If you purchase bottled water make sure the seal is still on the cap. Better safe the sorry. Also if you go out to eat, be careful what you order, a drink with ice, where do you think that ice came from? I have yet to meet anyone that makes ice cubes from bottled water? Think about your salad's, when the lettuce is rinsed off, the water comes from a tap that we shouldn't be drinking from. I'm not sure its enough to make you sick, but why risk it? Don't want to ruin the rest of your vacation.

3.There is an all you can drink juice, lemonade, and cranberry juice. Bring your own large re-usable water bottle, the cups on the ship are pretty small. Also all the coffee or tea you want. Bring your own large coffee cup. A Starbucks tumbler works great for keeping things warm or cold.

4.Yes we order room service, lots of room service. We would order breakfast each day. On the days we would be off ship we would order breakfast and lunch. Bring some collapsible Tupperware to put an extra sandwich in to bring off the ship for a snack. We would bring the lunch with us to the beach or where ever we went. It helped save on costs and sometimes we didn't know where we would be to grab a snack.  Remember to have a few extra bucks so you can tip the room service.

5. Most places you can find a restaurant at or near your port of call that has free WIFI. This saves on paying crazy cell phone rates when making calls from abroad. Plus its more fun to Skype or Face time family or friends back home. Check with your phone company about rates when travelling, also ask about texting, it may cost extra. Maybe purchase pre paid calling cards. If you don't use the card you can give it as a tip to pretty much anyone that works on the ship. They all have families and a home to, they are also traveling.

6. Go to the steakhouse on the first night. Why the first night? Because you don't miss Steak and Lobster night in the main dining area. (Order at least 2 dinners that night). Also the first night you get a free bottle of wine in the Steak House. Make reservations, and dress nice, its not a T shirt and sandals kind of restaurant.

7.Carnival offers a "Faster to the Fun".   You and your cabin mates get express boarding, luggage delivery, etc.  This is so worth it and you get on and off ship first to the ports. You don't have to wait in the long line on day 1 when the hordes of people are all trying to get on board at the same time. Its only $49.95 per room. Only 1 person per room has to pay this fee, then everyone in that room gets the same treatment. Be sure to let the guys know when you check your luggage, then you skip the lines and they handle the rest.

8. MARK your bags as fragile and they will show up to your room quicker because they put it on the top of the pile, so its the first off the pile and shuffled in.  Also bring a carry on with a change of cloths just in case your bag does show up late. Be sure to put any medication you need in your carry on.

9. Don't get a massage on the ship, its 130 dollars.  You can get a 1 hour massage on the beach in Cabo or Puerto Vallarta for 20-40 bucks. There is always a bar near by, so while she has a massage you can get a few Cerveza's for pretty cheap (When in Rome do as the Romans do).

10. On formal nights walk the ship, the ship will have photographers all over offering to pictures of you, take all the pictures you can, it cost nothing to have pictures taken, the only time you pay is if you decide to buy one.  You will find at least one you want.

11. Wait to the last day to buy anything from specialty shops they will be 50 percent off.
If your going to buy a watch or jewelry, ask when they will be on sale, there is always a day that things are on sale.


Okay now for the room

1. If you have a balcony bring a bungee cord, you can hold the door open all day or night so you can hear the ocean and have fresh air.

2. Bring a power strip. There are very few plugs in the room. Most rooms should have a plug under or near the bed, so bring a power strip that has a long cord.

3. Push your luggage under the bed to save room.

4. Flip through the Bible in your room, previous cruiser that didn't use a free drink or free photo ticket will put them there for the next lucky person.

5. You can bring an oversized beach towel, or use the towels supplied by the Ship, but its not as big.

6. Bring extra hangers. Can't bring an iron on board, so if you need something pressed have the ship take care of it.

7. Bring post it notes so if you are in or out of the room you can leave a note for your roommates.
Most rooms have metal walls, get souvenir magnets to hold the note on the wall. If you have your balcony door propped open things will blow out if the main door is open at the same time.

8. The best thing we brought with us was a blue tooth speaker, so you can play music in your room.

9. Bring a hanging shoe organizer to put on the bathroom door to hold all your little things like sunscreens, lotions, watches, razors, etc.....saves a lot of room.

10. Call into the morning show to say hello....they will leave you a surprise in your room


MOST IMPORTANT:

RELAX!

HAVE FUN!

IT'S YOUR VACATION!

YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE SO MAKE THE BEST OF THE TIME WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN!

SUBSCRIBE TO MY WIFES BLOG BY GOING TO THE HOME PAGE AND PUTTING YOUR EMAIL IN! COMMENT FOR CHANCE OF ONE OF THOSE GIFT CARDS SHE IS GIVING OUT!




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YEAH! Another cruise! and cruising tips

Its Monday and while most people would be cringing that they are starting their week....I am excited!
Today has been a long day and its only 445pm. Ryan went to go pick up the kids since he is home early while I just booked our third cruise but first one for our kids! Excited doesn't even describe what I am.

Ryan and I went to Cabo and Puerto Vallarta on a cruise for our honeymoon years ago. Then this Christmas since all the kids would be at their other parents houses we decided to do another 7 day cruise to the same place for like a second honeymoon. Plus lets face it...I didn't want to stay at home sulking without all the kids here. We knew they would be having fun, so we decided to get out of Big Valley for awhile and get some sun. 10 degrees to 86 degrees sounded like a good start to the vacation.

Christmas in the Sun

The problem with loving your kids is the whole time you are gone having fun you want them to be there with you. So today I booked another 7 day cruise but all 6 of us will be on the ship and going to Cabo! I am so excited. With Jackson going into his Senior year next year and Cassie her junior, Josh his sophomore and Jason his freshman I really wanted to have a family vacation that would allow us to have fun and see a new place. Funny how we keep going back to Cabo but we enjoy that particular cruise and know the sites so it makes it much easier to have fun and be less expensive. We already know where to go and where not to go. We already know which excursions we like and the ones we don't like. I am all about trying to have fun and save a dollar. With a large family like us you just have to have that.

From the Ranch to Cabo! Cant wait

The kids are pretty excited. We got two adjoining balconies with the boys in one room and Cassie is the room with us. Its not like you spend much time in the rooms anyways.

I know some ppl who put their kids across the ship. I am not that person ha. I think I would classify us as strict parents but fun. I want our kids to grow up to be respectful people who knows right from wrong. They all make mistakes but I have to say that I am one lucky mom because basically 95 percent of the time they are great! Good grades, good attitudes and helpful. Good Teens.

The only part of the Cruise that I dislike is we have to take them out of school. We will have to put them on independent study and will have to do their work for the week before they leave. Most ppl would just take them on spring break but that is when they have time with their other parents. Summers we really cant vacation because Ryan is too busy with work and next year it will be Jacks senior year so we don't want to mess with that. An added bonus is.....the cruise was 1000 dollars cheaper because we were doing it right after spring break time.

We want to go some shore excursions with the kids. Ryans dad and stepmom gave us 600 dollars for Christmas so we are going to book a shore excursion with that money. Then we will probably do another excursion. Ryan and I have been scuba diving, snorkeling, whale watching, shopping (that one we wouldn't do again they just take you to where they want you to go), rhythm of the nights and sailing on yacht on the different times that we have been on cruises. I cant scuba dive for two years because of my brain surgery so we definitely will be snorkeling, going to rhythm of the nights tribal dance show and boat ride, and since we have the kids we would like to do a tour of the ship that's behind the scene. That would be a good learning experience and they can see how much others are doing so they can have an amazing vacation.

In Puerto Vallarta Dec 2014

Ryans way of Snorkling

Its going to be exciting.

Some tips for cruising:

1. If you have a balcony bring a bungee cord so you can hold the door open at night to hear the ocean or have fresh air.
2. Bring a hanging shoe organizer to put on the bathroom door to hold all your little things like sunscreens, lotions, earrings, razors, etc.....saves a lot of room.
3. Having a power strip because they only have one or two plugs to charge all your stuff
4. Bring ones so you can tip room service
5. Bring zip lock bags for wet items or to bring sandwiches off ship
6. Call into the morning show to say hello....they will leave you a surprise in your room
7. Bring water bottles and a six pack soda per person on board to save money. One bottle wine per person over 21
8. Bring meds and change of clothes on carry on
9. Wait to the last day to buy anything from specialty shops they will be 50 percent off
10. Go to all the shows....they are worth it and you would spend 100 dollars going to one on land
11. Comedy clubs are great. They have family ones and 18 and over ones.
12. Put your name in all the raffles....win some fun stuff
13. Don't get a massage on ship its 130 dollars when you can get an amazing one on the beach in cabo for 20-40 dollars an hour.
14. Formal nights....take all the pictures you can. You will find at least one you love
15. Look in your bible.....cruisers leave free drink and photo tickets
16. Go to the steakhouse on the first day...its. 35 dollars a person but SO worth it. Why the first night? Because you wont miss Steak and Lobster night. The first night you get a free bottle of wine also.
17. Cool thing about the dining room....you can order two appetizers or even two entrees if you wanted and they wont bat an eye....and its free. Fun for when you want to try something new.
18. It's often cheaper to buy a bottle of wine than a few glasses -- but what do you do if you don't finish the bottle? Cruise ship waiters can mark the bottle with your room number and save it for another night, even for dinner in another onboard venue.
19. Most cabins are made of metal…and therefore they're magnetic. Bring along some magnets (or buy some as souvenirs) and you can keep all your invites, and daily planners hung up on the walls and doors.
20. We snap a photo each morning of the daily agenda newspaper. That gives us a memory anchor for the day's pictures, a digital reminder of what's happening on board that day, and the ship's info should we need it while on port.
21. One thing new cruiser might not know is that even your largest suitcase will easily slide UNDER you bed on most cruise ships making your room area much more spacious
22. MARK your bags as fragile and they will show up to your room quicker because they put it on the top of the piles.
23. Bring post it notes so you can say where you are to your cabin mate.
24. Wear a watch so you know when to be at dinner or a show.
25. Tip your steward the first day in cash and it makes a big difference.
26. You probably will bloat.....bring some shoes that are larger or one bigger outfit.
27. Many pools and Jacuzzi on board but there is an adult section in the back where no kids are allowed.
28. Bring extra hangers.
29. You don't need an alarm clock, your phone has one.
30. Carnival is now offering "Faster to the Fun". For $49.95 (per room) you, and your cabin mates get express boarding, luggage delivery, etc. This is so worth it and you get on and off ship first to the ports.