Our 40th Anniversary Cruise!

On October 16th we boarded Royal Caribbean's Allure Of The Seas in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  It was the most amazing ship I had ever seen! There were 5800 passengers and 2500 crew members. Our ports were Nassau, Bahamas St. Thomas and St. Marteen.  

Can you believe this?

We had a suite with a balcony.  The only thing missing was pink! lol

Pillow top Mattress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Granite counter tops in the bathroom!

Not your typical ship bathroom...it was huge!

The concierge sent us these beautiful roses for our anniversary.

The head waiter from the dining room had these sent to us one evening.  It's very easy to get spoiled while on a cruise! 

These were inside cabins with balconies over looking Central Park.

People hanging out in Central Park.

Looking down on Central Park from the buffet.

The Aqua Theater...they show movies there every night.  There's another big screen on the left side.

The rock climbing wall...no Mike and I did NOT try it!

Miniature Golf

Can you believe even basketball courts!

The flowrider!  This looked fun!

The carousel on the Boardwalk...this was the deck our cabin was on.

We had lunch at Johnny Rockets...for 4.95 you can eat everything on the menu! lol  

Johnny Rockets waiters doing their dance!

Lots of activities for the kids!

Yes we even had Starbucks!

They had great pizza...specially for a midnight snack! lol  

Finally some pink!

After pizza at midnight you need something sweet right?

These two are lucky...they never have to get off the ship!

To keep from boring you all at once I'll be back tomorrow with more.  I still have another cruise to show you.  We went on a Malt Shop Memories cruise to the Bahamas 4 days after this one.  We were surrounded by the most amazing music groups from the 50's and 60's.  It just happened to be my birthday...what a way to celebrate!

Have a great day!

I think It's Been Forever!

I can't believe how time flies!  My last post was October 3 when I told you about my little girl being sick and my son's very dangerous mission he was sent on.  After that post my time was spent trying to get Sophie well again.  It was a huge struggle!  She was very very sick but that little girl is quite a fighter even at 16 yrs. old.  We were also trying to prepare for our 40th anniversary cruise we had been planning for the last year.  The timing was really really bad to say the least.  My heart was not in it because of Sophie.  I was blessed with a wonderful vet who helped a little 16 yr old girl get through a very bad case of pancreatitis!  Sophie quit eating and drinking.  She had to be taken to the vet everyday to receive antibiotic shots and fluids.  Her blood sugar dropped to a very dangerous level of 50.  Their blood sugar readings are just like ours.  Being diabetic I know what 50 feels like.  One day she was so lethargic I couldn't get her to wake up. :(  Her x-rays and ultrasound showed no signs of cancer so we knew we had to keep treating her for pancreatitis.  

I finally got her to eat baby food that I fed to her from a spoon.  It's not easy since you can't just open their mouth and shove it in! :(  I had to sit and patiently wait for her to want to lick it off the spoon.  Each day she would eat a little more but also our trip was getting closer.  We decided to shorten our trip by a few days since she was finally starting to improve.  It was so hard to drop her off at the vet Friday night for her 17 day stay there.  Thank goodness for cell phones and the internet!  On the days we were at sea my doctor and I emailed back and forth. Sophie didn't eat for the first 3 days she was there and my vet was very worried about her.  Finally on the forth day her hunger won out over her stubbornness and she started eating.  

She has lost 4 lbs and a lot of her hair has fallen out from her huge ordeal but other than that she is doing good!   When we picked her up from the vet she weighed 10.5 lbs and she is now at 11 lbs.  not as much weight gain as I would hope but it's a start.  We are just so thankful we still have her with us!  :)

You can see how thin her coat is with all her pink skin showing through.  

I promise to post some pictures of my trip this week but I wanted to share this one with you.  This is the ship we were on for our first cruise.  Royal Caribbean's "Allure of The Seas".  It's the larget ship in the world besides it's sister ship the Oasis Of The Seas.  There were 5800 people on board.  It was soooo amazing!

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

A Test Of Ones Strength!

 If you saw my recent post then you know Mike and I went to Vegas for our 40th anniversary.  Sophie (our precious shih tzu) stayed with my sister while we were away.  She got stick suddenly with tummy problems.  It's a huge worry when they get sick but even more when they are 16 and you are away from home.  When we picked her up on Tuesday she looked rather worn out.  I figured we would give it a day to see if she felt better.  Well she got sick to her tummy again so off to the vet we went.  They gave her an anti-nausea shot and hydrated her.  Boy she perked right up!  About a week later she got sick again!  The doctor said if she did he would then do blood work to see what's going on.  Her blood work came back with her liver enzymes higher than he said he has ever seen.  NOT GOOD!  His biggest fear was liver cancer.  He told us to bring her in right away for x-rays to check for a mass.  He called me that afternoon with great news that he didn't see any mass.  So she is being treated for pancreatitis and hepatitis.  After spending the day there on an IV and shots she came home with more energy than I've seen in a while!  Unfortunately that didn't last long when I tried to wake her in the morning she was so tired she didn't want to open her eyes.  Of course it was Sunday and no one is there to talk to!  I believe she is having a reaction to her medicine.  :(  

My precious little girl!

Okay now if that wasn't enough to deal with I was put to the test again on Thursday.  My son who is the K-9 officer for Sacramento County was called out on a manhunt to find a guy who has been hiding in  Ft. Bragg, California (the redwood forrest).  Now my son is not on the swat team but they needed some experienced K-9's too.  He quickly packed up and left for his drive north along with 27 other officers from the county.  The guy they were looking for has been hiding in the forrest for 6 weeks living on food he was stealing from peoples homes and cabins.  Needless to say all the residents had left in fear with this dangerous man on the loose.  He killed a man the beginning of August and also killed a councilman (former mayor) at the end of August.  He was armed and very dangerous!  In the 15 yrs. my son has been a deputy this was by far the scariest!  They were dealing with a very sick and dangerous man in a very dense forrest.  Shortly after I received the call from my Vet that Sophie didn't have cancer I got a text from my daughter in law that the manhunt was over!  Without giving you details he won't be able to hurt anyone ever again and all the brave law enforcement officers came home uninjured!  For that I am truly grateful!

I had never seen spanish moss used this way!  

All this for one man!  Unbelievable!  

Saturday was Mike's birthday...one he will always remember I'm sure.  We were able to have a great family dinner last night to celebrate Mike's birthday and Brian returning home safely!  Hearing him tell the story last night was like something from a movie (a very scary movie)!  

Wishing you all a wonderful week!   

My Very First Blog Award!

I received my very first blog award!  I am so thrilled to receive such an honor from Mariette of Mariette's Back To Basics.  

Have a wonderful day everyone!