158 DAYS AND COUNTING...!

For those of you who don't know me very well, I am SUCH a planner. I love schedules and to do lists and my Dayplanner that is broken down by 30 minute intervals at work. I have to know where, when and why everything is happening. (I blame this all on my dad, who I remember always giving us the 'plan' for the day on weekends. ha!) So, I started to think about planning a vacation for Spring 2009. I have a week of 'vacation' scheduled off for Christmas this year but this will be more of a 'last minute Christmas gifts, wrapping, packing and heading to Vidalia' ordeal. (Which will be more of a task this year with Avery and all of her things plus all of her gifts...we may need to rent a Uhaul! : ) ) So I was deciding if we should go on a 'real' vacation next year. At first, I just decided we could go on the same cruise we went on in 2006 (same port, same ship, same destination). But Charlie thought that was a little boring. The more I thought about it, the more I agreed. You'll only take so many vacations in your life - why go the same place twice??? : ) So, this began the search. We were looking at the Sandals resort in Jamaica, the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, any cruise to anywhere and Austin, TX (thanks to Charlie's new obsession w/ the TX Longhorns), among other places! After much searching and calling and pricing and budgeting and asking for advice: I made a decision!!! (Charlie got so tired of talking about it, he told me I could choose whatever I wanted!)

At one point I got so tired of thinking about it, we both decided we would wait another year. But the more I thought about 2008 the more I knew we both need a getaway. It started with a 2lb baby and a 2 month NICU stay. And right now, our work schedules are basically opposite so that we can take care of Avery ourselves because she cannot go to daycare. So we see each other a total of about 10 hours a week. We definitely need some time away. I also had some guilt about leaving Avery. But I decided in a few years, the vacations will be ALL about her (Disneyland, waterparks, zoos, etc.). So there are only a couple of years left for us to get away by ourselves! We booked the vacation for the week of my mom's spring break so she is more than thrilled to keep Avery while we're away! :)

So....(drumroll please)...on April 9th we will leave Jacksonville, FL to travel to Nassau and Freeport Bahamas on a Carnival Cruise. I heard some scary things about Jamaica and read one too many terrible reviews about that particular Sandals resort. Atlantis is very pricey and once you add airfare to the Bahamas it was too much. Austin seemed much too boring to me. We've been on a Carnival Cruise and it was the BEST vacation I'd ever taken, so I know what to expect. The cruise we went on was to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico so this one will be to the Bahamas. There is nothing special about Jacksonville except that it is the closest place to cruise to the Bahamas with Carnival. (Galveston, New Orleans and Mobile only go to Mexico). So, I have been super excited and we are REALLY looking forward to it. 158 days and believe me, I'M COUNTING THEM DOWN!

Our Ship...

The Carnival Fascination

Our first destination

Nassau, Bahamas

Our Second Destination

Freeport, Bahamas

Our Excursion...Swimming with the Dolphins!

The best part? The dinner menu! HA!