Part 3 ~

And once again, going to try & wrap up Part 1 & 2 today with Part 3!  Let's see if I can! ;)

The last week of July was VACATION!  My sisters & their families (minus 1 husband, he was working) and my husband & my boys & me (10 total)  ALL headed to Ft. Lauderdale for our big trip!  We stayed there overnight, got up bright & early the next day to head for the cruise ship that would drop us off in the Bahamas for 4 GLORIOUS, STRESS FREE, BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL & FUN FUN FUN DAYS!

Breakfast as we were setting sail... all 10 of us here!  My sister, her 2 sons, my other sister, her husband & son, of course, RW, me & our boys 

First of all, I had never been on a cruise ship (none of us, but my nephew had) and the first thing I was looking for was Capt. Stubbing & Julie, Isaac & Doc!  (Anybody??? LOL! )  Yes, in my head I was boarding THE LOVE BOAT & me and sistas proceeded to sing it all the way down the corridor as I spotted a blonde & would call her, Julie! (of course!) I found an Isaac, a Doc, but never saw my Capt. Stubbing!  Thankfully he was steering the ship... :)  We made a big to do waving as we pulled out of the port... the poor working men below us that were messing with the technical stuff on the dock were really forced to wave bye to us as though we were family ~  I got photos of them & their bewildered look... but I was convinced they would miss us! ;)

Sailing on... the most beautiful day... the water was so blue... royal blue!  Now y'all know there is always fun & games on a cruise... well, all they had to do was say HULA HOOP CONTEST & I was ALL OVER IT!  I always wanted to be in a hula hoop contest on a cruise ship! (yes, we have pictures!)  Well, I was one of the first in line, and Lynette joined me!  There I stood in my bathing suit (when they called for the contest I ran straight from the deck where we were tanning) and was holding a hula hoop- (keep in  mind my injuries... cannot feel my feet, the backs of my legs, and I could go on...) and I hadn't hula hooped in like forever!  BUT I was determined to do this! BRAVELY I started moving as the music started!  I looked around at the crowd & I could hardly hula hoop BUT there I was doing it! And oops, one by one, my fellow hula hoopers (losers) got knocked off!  Yes ma'am, even my sweet sister... (LOSER!)  :)  It was me and 2 others... omgoodness!  I was flipping out! But I was the next to go... okay, LOSER! But on the contrary, I was such a WINNER! I had know idea if I would fall or what would happen, but I wanted to LIVE & I just said if I fall or something else happens, I will never see these people again in my life, although you prob would have seen me because everyone was recording this!  I am sure a good fall in a chic in her bathing suit would have been pretty good for you -tube! Thank God, nothing happened, but a huge sense of accomplishment would set me up for the next FUN thing on the agenda! ~ A BEAUTY PAGEANT!

This pic, well, you just had to be there! :)

This is sis singing her talent! :)  

Yep, a beauty pageant!  Lynette was in the pageant & I went to the back of the ship so I could take pics & they needed one more person & pulled me up there... so it was once again me against sis... (not to mention 4 other beauties! :)  I laughed and laughed as we had to do a talent... I chose to sing... MISSISSIPPI GIRL by Faith Hill!  SO I grab the mic, & proceed to look around at all of the video cameras & belted out "A Mississippi girl don't change her name... just cause everybody knows her (pause) name?"  BOMB!  I totally forgot the words & when I said that my nephews on the front row were rolling they were laughing so hard, so I turned it around and started singing You Are My Sunshine! The crowd joined in & loved it! It was so fun... but for the remainder of the cruise & trip, I was asked to sing MS Girl while everyone would sing the line I messed up!  Laugh at my expense, it's okay, if it made you smile!  It was great fun & I  LOST!  And my beautiful sister beat me!  But totally okay with it, because I owned it in the hula hoop round! ;) LOL

In the Bahamas, we had the most awesome vacation ever!  I did a lot of bucket list things that I never imagined I could physically do... I even took windsurfing lessons! (I didn't have the strength to make it in the water, but for a split second I held the sail!)  We all took lessons & laughed so much as each of us took a shot at withstanding the strong wind with the sail! FUN!

Kayaking!  Oh how we all loved that! Especially when big sis flipped in knee high water!  We were tolling & had video to watch (and we did) over & over & over of that moment! Good times!

Snorkeling... another 1st for me.  I put on my gear & headed into the beautiful ocean along with RW, Nate & Todd.  Nate & Todd were way ahead of me & RW... I was freaking out!  (stepping on coral and seaweed) (when you cannot feel your feet or back of legs & have those big ugly shoes on, it just feels weird)  So, I made RW carry me out to the reef... yes, he had to swim with me on him.  (attached like a jellyfish!) He would say I am sinking & I would climb on him more. Probably dangerous, but I couldn't help it! I was  ninny, but had to snorkel... you know, bucket list! ;)  So we get to the reef & I decide I can see fish in aquariums without wearing big ugly yellow shoes so after a few minutes I wanted to go back.  I told RW & he, well, he was like... HUH??? (he knew I wasn't swimming back alone!)  SO I watched Nate loving this & said, Okay, gotta go!  RW so sweetly swam me back 1/2 way & stopped.  WHAT WHAT??? Why was he stopping?  He said "Lori, you can swim the rest of the way" - I looked at him through those unattractive yellow goggles & pulled my goggles  up & asked him if he was crazy.  He shook his head & said swim.  I said "Okay, but if I get bitten you are in trouble!"  I looked at the shore, I looked at RW & said, okay, I can do this!  I started swimming & swimming faster & faster & faster... I was getting close & when I thought whew I am close enough to walk in, I tried to stand up & well with the big ole ugly shoes and the large pieces of coral under me that I couldn't feel, guess what happened... can you imagine it... not to mention I was in knee deep water!  I fell... those doggone shoes!  It was hilarious! And I know the people on the beach were having a big time watching me try repeatedly to get up, fall down, get up, fall down.  I am telling you Jimmy Choo needs to make a "water sandal" then & only then will I ever wear another pair of those again, because at least then when I 'gracefully' came out the water I would have looked good!  It was crazy fun!

We ate & topped everything with coconut!  And ate & ate & ate!  And laughed & smiled & had the best time!  Will did the trapeze!  I wanted to do it sooooooooo bad but had my big interview in just a few days that I was worried I would hit the net & scratch my face (like Todd did! oops!)  Sorry Todd!  (Todd won the dance contest on the cruise & at our resort!) SO fun to watch him dance ~

I picked my first coconut on the beach early one morning! That was awesome too!  So many things I could tell  you about that trip- memories of a Lifetime, moments that are forever embedded in my heart & smiles that I will remember for my lifetime.

One very special moment~  Will & I were building a sandcastle & I was thinking how I wish Matthew was there... and how Matthew is what brought us to that place together (for we planned this trip when we scheduled my interview on The Balancing Act for  Facets of Life since we would be so close to the Bahamas)  It was an incredible moment... all of them were.  None of us will ever forget this trip! Or what would happen  next... stay tuned... Part 4 coming soon!

I knew I wouldn't be able to conclude with just 3 parts! :)  One more, I think!

xoxo!