Some of the guys at the fire house love fishing. Charlie's been off work (work related injury) and has spent some time with his buddies when they've gone out fishing. He used to go fishing occasionally years ago, before we met.
Charlie went to Walmart while the kids were in school yesterday and bought them each a fishing rod. Tabytha has been fishing before, but, John and Jessi have never been fishing. They were super excited to try it.
Charlie took us to a pond close to our house after the kids got home from school. Hooks were batted with worms and lines were cast out into the water. The kids were having a great time. Of course the first few casts didn't get any bites from the fish and they started getting discouraged. A little more time passed and Tabytha got her first bite. She hooked her first catch of the evening.
A little while later John caught his very first fish. He was ecstatic! Laughing and cheering his catch. He didn't even mind tossing it back in the water. Jessi wasn't able to catch anything, but, she still had a great time. When all was said and done Tabytha had caught a total of 4 fish and John was content with the 1.
Charlie and I just returned home from a week away on a cruise. It was fantastic. We went with 2 other couples we're very good friends with. My mother-in-law came to our house to watch the kids for the week we were gone.
Charlie and I boarded the Carnival Glory May 19th in Norfolk, VA after a 4 hour drive with Drea, Ronnie, Mike and Lisa from Mike and Lisa's house in Denton.
We found our room, unpacked and went exploring the ship. We all met up for dinner together, ate, laughed and talked about the fun we were going to have throughout the week aboard the ship and at the beaches in the Bahama's we were sailing to.
Dinner each night was incredible. We were fortunate to have the same waiter each night and he was beyond phenomenal. Each night we were greeted with genuine smiles from the wait staff, they pulled the chairs out for each of us ladies, placed our cloth napkin in our lap and opened our menu for us. The food on the ship was amazing. Trying things we've never tried before and enjoying foods we have had before.
Tuesday morning our ship arrived in Nassau Bahamas. Fortunately for the 6 of us, Drea's childhood nanny lives in Nassau and she gave us directions to a beach only the locals go to away from other tourists. We found our way to the beach, set up our lounge chairs and enjoyed the crystal clear blue waters. Ms. Elease met us there a couple hours later and it was a lovely reunion for Drea and me. I haven't seen Ms. Elease in 16 years and she had a little difficulty remembering me specifically after so much time, but, she was thrilled to see ALL of us none the less. Ms. Elease even called a friend of hers to bring us all lunch from KFC. The sky opened up on us and we all took cover under some trees on the beach and chowed down on our fried chicken. The rain was a bit of a bummer, but, it didn't dampen our spirits. After lunch we caught another bus back into the city and did the tourist thing, snapping pictures and buying knick knacks from the locals.
After a couple hours of playing tourist we said our goodbye's to Ms. Elease and made our way back on the ship. Wednesday morning we awoke in Freeport Bahamas. We left the ship and found our way to another picturesque beach. We were the first to arrive and had first dibs on the best spot to settle down on the beach. Drea and I took about a million pictures. After a couple hours the rains found us again and we took shelter inside the covered bar. The rain cut our beach day short, again, so we took a bus back to port and got back on the ship.
Wednesday evening and all day Thursday were spent on the ship on our way back to Norfolk, VA. There was a lot to do on the ship so we never had a chance to get bored. We spent a little time in the casino (where I won $458!), saw a couple live shows, lounged around on the lido deck and ate more food than anyone should eat in a month (!!!). Thursday afternoon/early evening before dinner we all went to one of the theaters to play bingo. None of us won the $1,000 jackpot, but, we had fun. After bingo was an onboard "Game Show". We stayed for that and I was even chosen from the crowd to participate. It was so much fun! The team I was on didn't win the round, but, I went away with a small parting gift and awesome memories.
Charlie and I were more relaxed during our week on the cruise than we have been since we got married. We came home with some trinkets from the Bahamas, spectacular pictures and a lifetime of unforgettable memories. It was a truly wonderful and amazing time and I'm so glad we were able to enjoy it with each other and share the experience with our dear friends.
