Our cruise to the Bahamas: Celebrating 10 years of marriage!

We just got home from our first cruise! We celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary, which fell on Thanksgiving this year.

We enjoyed a delicious bottle of wine on our anniversary which we had bought on our 5-year anniversary in Napa Valley, California and saved for this special occasion! (In case you're wondering, it was V. Sattui Cabernet Sauvignon from 2004.)

Little Sweets enjoyed her special window seat in our cabin. I freaked out right after I took this picture--I saw dolphins playing in the water while we were still in the port in Charleston, South Carolina! One of her favorite parts of each day was coming back to our cabin after dinner to discover what animal the housekeepers had made from towels. The monkey hanging from the ceiling was definitely a favorite!

Okay, now on to the photos you all want to see: the Bahamas! Our first port was Freeport on Grand Bahama Island. We went snorkeling and I didn't bring my camera so I don't have any photos from that day.

In our second and last port, Nassau, we got an awesome tour of the island. We had lunch at Compass Point and it was definitely the most colorful place I've ever seen!

 

The water there was so beautiful. I could've eaten every meal of the cruise with this view.

I couldn't resist walking around the property and taking photos.

Our last day of the cruise ended with a beautiful display of God's creativity...

...a rainbow on one side of the ship:

 ...and a sunset on the other side:

God is good and He has blessed us so much in the past 10 years of marriage. It was so fun to be able to celebrate this milestone with our little family!

Fall Foliage in New England

It's Autumn! I was just browsing through some old pictures and found these from a trip we took to Massachusetts and Connecticut several years ago in the fall. It's amazing to see all the colors of God's creation!

The first four are from Boston and Cambridge:

Anyone on my mom's side of the family will recognize this last photo, which has a sentimental meaning to me (and probably to them, too).

It was taken near my grandparent's farm in Connecticut. I have so many good memories of times spent with my siblings and cousins exploring the woods, walking to the cemetery with the big lion statues, climbing on the giant rocks, and playing in the brook.

It was great to see all those cousins, aunts and uncles a couple of weekends ago when we celebrated my Grandma's 90th birthday in Arizona. We'll be back in 10 years, Gram!

(Linking up to Kanelstrand blog's Through the Looking Glass project.)

Travel Around the World in One Minute

I caught the travel bug when I was 20.

I studied abroad in England and traveled more than I had in my entire lifetime up til that point. That year, I fell in love with traveling. (That also happened to be the year that I realized that I was going to marry my now-husband-of-almost-10-years. Yes, it was a good year.)

We love to travel but when we can't, I'm almost as happy traveling vicariously through other people. If you're an armchair traveler too, here's an awesome 1-minute long travel video of this guy:

The story behind the video, in their own words:

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....

= a trip of a lifetime.

You'll want to watch this in full-screen HD (and probably more than once):



MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Two of my favorite reasons to travel are the titles of their other 2 videos, LEARN and EAT.

Our trip to California - Part 2: Pumpkin Patch

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Our trip to California - Part 1: San Francisco and Apple Hill

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California Love

We just got back from a trip to California to meet our newborn niece and spend time with the rest of our families. Little Sweets is in withdrawal from all the fun she had with her many cousins, aunties, uncles and grandparents!

I can't wait to share more pictures with you soon! Now all I have to do is download the rest, pick the best ones, edit them, and post them... =)

Also on the back-from-vacation to-do list: ditch the pounds we picked up feasting on our favorite California cuisine like See's candies, Baja Fresh, BJ's Pizza (or, more specifically, Pizookies) and of course, In-N-Out Burger.

Looking into the Past: Washington, D.C. Then and Now

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The other day I heard about a group on Flickr called Looking Into the Past, where people go to the original site of a vintage photograph and take a new photo there. Here's my favorite example:

Amazing, isn't it?

Since we just visited the most historical place in the United States, Washington, D.C., I was drawn to jasonepowell's Flickr photostream which is filled with amazing shots of how things have changed in D. C., like the above photo from the March on Washington in 1963.

What draws me to these photos is the feeling of standing in the exact spot where so many others before you have stood, seeing the same (but different) scene, and thinking about what else has happened there that wasn't photographed.

Here are some more of my favorites. As usual, click on the photo for a link to the original photograph as well as a description.

Thanks again to jasonepowell on Flickr for these amazing photos that allow us to look back in time at a city that means so much to our country.

Washington, D.C. - Part 3

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I can't get enough of Washington, D.C. I had never been there prior to just a few years ago, but it's one of those cities where you can discover more each time you go, so you want to go back time and time again. Here are a few more of our 1970s-style photos from the capital.

I love this last photo, which is a quote by Thomas Jefferson on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial. We watched a movie based on the book by Newt Gingrich, Rediscovering God in America, and I would highly recommend it for its "walking tour" of Washington, D.C. that focuses on the undeniable centrality of God in our nation's history.

If you missed it, Part 1 has more 1970s-style photos of Washington, D.C. and Part 2 is a collage of items from the National Museum of American History.

National Museum of American History - Washington, D.C. Part 2

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I'm interrupting our 1970s-style tour of Washington, D.C. to introduce you to the National Museum of American History. Of all the Smithsonian museums, this one is my favorite. Here are a few of the national treasures that you can find here:

1. Dumbo car from the Dumbo ride at Disneyland, 1955

2. Ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, 1938

3. George Washington's uniform, 1790s

4. Greensboro Lunch Counter from desegregation sit-in, 1960

5. Civil War draft wheel, 1863

6. The Continental Gunboat Philadelphia, built and sunk in 1776

Can you believe how many amazing pieces of our history are in one building?

The museum also displays beautiful dresses worn by the First Ladies to the Inaugural Balls, relics of scientific history like Thomas Edison's lightbulb from 1879 and the original polio vaccine, modern history pieces like fragments of the Berlin Wall and pop culture items like Michael Jackson's hat. The museum also has a sense of humor, housing Seinfeld's "Puffy Shirt" (1993) and R2-D2 and C-3PO from Star Wars (1982). And the most American of all American symbols, THE Star Spangled Banner!

I could go on and on about this museum. A complete listing of the museum's collections is here. If you're ever in Washington, D.C., the National Museum of American History is a must-see!

We'll be back to our regularly-schedule program (Part 3 of our 1970s-style tour of Washington, D.C.) tomorrow.

Washington, D.C. - Part 1

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Despite it being back-to-school time for most of the U.S., I'm in a vacation mindset because I'm still playing laundry catch-up from our last getaway of the summer. We had an amazing week in Washington, D.C. and the only thing that could've made it better is if I'd found these awesome Food and Games To-Go ideas before we went!

{I gave my photos a retro vibe using the Photoshop action "Seventies" by the Pioneer Woman. I love her actions!}

Check out Part 2 - A photo collage of items from the National Museum of American History and Part 3 for more 1970s-style photos of D.C.

What do you think of the Seventies action? Would you rather see traditional travel photos next time?

Food and Games To-Go (Road Trips with Kids)

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We got back last week from a trip to Washington, D.C. (pictures are here, here and here) and it was an awesome week. I made use of my own travel trips and I got to thinking about all the creative travel products I've seen online lately, thanks to Pinterest and Etsy.

Here are some creative travel food and game ideas for the little ones:

Choose to Thrive's Road Trip Car Snacks

Plum Organic's Baby/Toddler Food Pouches with Spoon

Family Chic's Feeding Kids on Car Trips

The Spoon Sister's Reusable Finger Spoons

Those Greathouse Women's I Spy Bags

Emilee Rose's Paper Doll Sets

Housing a Forest's Travel Timeline

WeeKnit's Finger Puppet Sets

Oh Dee Doh's Bubble Wrap Travel Game

AshleyAnnPhotography.com's DIY Notebook & Crayons

MomsMinivan.com's Printable Travel Games

Melissa and Doug's License Plate Game

Cake's In-Flight Airplane Favor Printables

Prudent Baby's DIY Nap Mat/Bed Roll

JSorel's Spool Knitters: Teach Your Child To Knit

Do you have a last-minute summer vacation planned?

Birthday at the Beach - Wrightsville Beach Part 2

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The other day I shared a few of our photos from our weekend in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach. Here are my favorites from the rest of our trip.

The morning of my birthday was spent at the beach. The water was warmer than it was a month ago and this time, Little Sweets declared (over and over again), "I do like the ocean!" I'm pretty sure that boogie boarding is the best way to spend a birthday morning. The last time we boogie boarded, I was 2 months pregnant with Little Sweets... oh how I've missed it! That's me out there waiting for a wave.

I just love the "East Coast-ness" of this next picture. I love the long boardwalks out to the sand and the tall grass on either side, and that you'll only find that on the East Coast.

Here's the view from the water towards the houses (with a little help from a few Photoshop Actions):

After afternoon naps and my walk around downtown Wilmington, we went out for my very special birthday dinner at The Melting Pot. We haven't been to a Melting Pot since 2003. It was time.

We got the best booth in the corner with this view of the wine racks. Or maybe it was the most secluded booth since we requested a booster seat when we made the reservation. Either way, it was awesome. And Little Sweets was on her best behavior.

We were so stuffed by the time the dessert course arrived, but of course we made room for it (we are Americans, after all).

Best birthday in a long time...probably because it was the first birthday I've spent with my husband in 3 years. It was so good celebrate with my two favorite people.

Wrightsville Beach - Part 1

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Last weekend, we celebrated my birthday with a little trip to Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington, North Carolina. It was such a simple, sweet weekend with my little family yet I felt overwhelmed by how much God has blessed me.

We saw a beautiful sunset on our first night in town. This is near our hotel in Downtown Wilmington, which was next to the Cape Fear River. (Side note: do you remember that scary movie, Cape Fear? Whenever I hear the name of the river, I think of that creepy guy under the car.)

Back to the pretty sunset. =) See the U.S.S. North Carolina reflecting the sunset on the left side of this next picture?

The next day was my actual birthday and we spent the morning at the beach. Check out our photos from Wrighstville Beach here, but for now here are a few from my afternoon wanderings around Downtown Wilmington.

During Little Sweets' naptime, my Sweets (who is definitely a WonderDad, by the way) offered to stay at the hotel so I could have some relaxing time to myself. Is it sad that I was really excited to have some alone time on my birthday? I'm sure most moms can understand that. =)

While I was strolling, the skies opened and there was a huge thunderstorm, so these pictures made the town look very dreamy. For those of you who have never been to the Southern United States, it stays very warm on rainy days (it was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit). It was so humid that my camera lens kept fogging up.

I'll leave you with one more glimpse at the Battleship North Carolina. Pictures from the beach are coming soon!