The start of our cruise...don't get jealous!!!

Sunday
Niel and I set the air sails this morning. We spent the day in the blue sky and in the St. Louis airport. The whole day went really smoothly and quickly, which is surprising. I had been dreading the long traveling day. The day started off just perfectly when Niel was able to get in touch with our kind neighbor, Sister Greenburg. She was willing to take our primary class full of nine, 5 year old boys. Niel had been calling with desperate attempts to find someonefor the next two Sundays. She volunteered to substitute the next two weeks. What a lifesaver!! Brooke, Rick and Brynlee met us at our door. Rick and Bryn were leaving on a jet plane about the same time we were to visit Grandma Jolene in California. Brooke drove all ofus. They entertained us on the drive up. Brynlee sang "Kiss" fromPrince, with help from her dad. It was a nice way to start the day! I had the silly song stuck in my head the next 8 hours of traveling....ha! The airport was pretty empty considering the fact itwas the weekend right before Thanksgiving. All of our flights were full though. Niel got sandwiched on our first flight. He sat in the middle of me and an extremely wide older man. He spent the entire 3 and a half hour flight squashed. How could I complain though, it meant he was squashing next to me!! We stepped off the plane into Ft Lauderdale with much enthusiasm. The air smelled muggy and musty, we could feel the humidity, yeah! We had made it! Our tummies were rumbling for some good, non-peanut, non-cracker airport food. Once we got checked into the hotel, we hit the road on foot to find some place opened late on a Sunday night. We walked around for quite a while, but most things were closed. Finally, we found a nice little family owned Italian spot, Angelino's.They served us with a smile, and went overboard in making sure we left happy customers, which we did. Yum! It hit the spot. We slept well! The bed was very hard, but we were so tired, I don't think it really mattered. Sitting all day traveling somehow makes us so tired...go figure. The boat didn't leave until afternoon time, so we have plenty of time to walk around. I think we were both anxious to get on the ship, so the few hours of wandering seemed like a very long time. We hit Denny's, a little disappointed with the service after such a wonderful eating experience the night prior. Finally, it was time to enter the ship. We were both extremely nervous and anxious when we arrived at the port. After our last experience in Port Los Angeles, we were both barely breathing for fear we wouldn't get on the ship for some reason or another. With passports and papers in hand, we held our breath. Things went very smoothly! Within minutes we were on the lovely ship, 'Enchantment of the Seas!' The ship is very elegant, a little older, but full of beauty, fun, and lots of kids, couples, and older people. We wereboth surprised at the diversity. Thus far, it's been a great trip! On the ship they have a little of everything. Plenty of places to eat! A nice little track around onthe top of the ship! A few swimming pools and hot tubs! A casino to throw our money away at!! A good size gym to work our overeating off! A karaoke stage!! Our little room has a nice sized bed. Our eating table has good people. A 4 year married couple from Pennsylvania and a 40 year married couple from Germany. They seem like very nice people. I am sure dinner will be entertaining. We sang the night away at karaoke. We haven't sang yet, but hopefully we get the courage up before the end of the cruise. We danced a little to some latin music. We aren't the best latin dancers, but that was the only music playing and we wanted to dance, so we made the best ofit! Most everyone was in bed early, so we took the opportunity to have our own hot tub on the top of the ship. The night sky was very romantic. We would have enjoyed it longer, but we got booted out after only about 5 minutes...dang it! We got dressed in our sweats and headed up for a midnight snack. The boat is quiet at night. It was nice though, to feel like we might be the only people on the big boat! We watched a bunch of young people play in upper desk swimming area,will we munched on some hot dogs, pizza and French fries. We are eating so healthy on this trip...haha!!!Sleeping in until 10:30 was easy since our room is pitch dark with no windows. It is easy to lose track of time. We are just sailing today, and relaxing. Niel is excited to relax, relaxing isn't something I am sure I know how to do, but I am sure I will figure itout!!! We are enjoying ourselves!!! Niel hasn't gotten sick yet!!