Cruise part 1

In August Blake and I decided we wanted to go on a cruise that would go to Israel. Eric wanted to go too, so we booked it for Blake, Eric, Kelsi and I and got a babysitter for the rest of the kids. When Broden's accident happened we didn't know if we would make it or not. When he got out of the hospital we were still questioning if it was going to happen. Broden was still really weak and tired. But he progressed really fast and started going to school full days a week after he got out of the hospital. Things were looking good. We got clearance from base to travel to all the places and made sure our shots were all up to date. We even took the kids in to get the flu mist before we left. I asked the nurse if Broden was ok to get it even though he had just had a major surgery. She said he should be fine. That was the Tuesday before we were supposed to leave.

That night, Broden started getting a fever and saying him tummy hurt. His fever kept getting higher and higher, so finally at 4:00am, Wednesday morning, Blake took him in to the ER. After tests, IV's, meeting with the surgeon and multiple doctors they decided they thought it was just a reaction to the flu vaccine. But, they wanted to keep him for evaluation. They ended up releasing him because the doctors trusted us enough to take care of him and bring him back that afternoon to check his vitals. Poor Broden was in a lot of pain. We don't really know why, I think he just had a tummy ache because he was hungry and at the hospital didn't have anything to distract him from it. When we got home and he was distracted he was fine. When we took him in that afternoon they said he was fine. His intestine was working fine and hadn't reopened. What a huge relief!!!

So Thursday morning we woke up and got ready. The babysitter got here and we said bye to the kiddos and we were off. We drove to Stanstead and on our way we got a text from the babysitter saying that Eric sent Blake a facebook message that he couldn't make his flight at Stanstead, so he was flying into Italy somewhere and renting a car to drive to Genoa. We had a nice relaxing flight though. We landed in Genoa with plenty of time to catch a bus to the port and explore a little. We got some chicken kebobs for lunch. We were starving! Then we made our way to the boat.

We checked in and let them take our luggage. Then we found our room and explored the boat, finding a pizza buffet that was open all the time! At 5:00 there was a mock fire drill kind of thing where we were supposed to grab our lifejackets and meet on one of the decks. When we were leaving our room with our lifejackets Eric was walking down the hall towards us! He cut it close, we were leaving at 5:30. I'm pretty sure he was the last one to get on the boat! 

After the fire drill we went and had some more pizza, took some pictures, then went to dinner at 6:30. The restaurant was really fancy. We could order whatever we wanted off the menu and however much we wanted. We all tried a few new things that night and decided we aren't really sea food people. It was good to try new things, though, without having to not like it and still be starving like at a normal restaurant. 

From the first few moments on the boat we realized it would take us a while to get anywhere! Kelsi was a celebrity. Most of the people on the boat were from Italy and most were old retired people. Everyone stopped us to say hi to her and tickle her toes and kiss her. I think Italian people must not have babies very often anymore, because it was really like they had never seen a baby. Crazy!!! So, now Kelsi speaks Italian, "Chow Bella," 

The port city was Genoa Italy

The first stop was Rome, Italy. We had all been there before, but decided to go in and get some Gelato at our favorite Gelateria. We rode a train in and just walked around for a while. There was one sight we hadn't seen the last time we were there, so we tried to see it this time. It was the Pyramid of Caius Cestius. We thought it looked cool and we should get a picture of it. It was under construction though, and you couldn't even see it. So we got some gelato instead and wandered around the Colosseum then headed over near the Vatican and got more gelato at Old Bridge. It was just as yummy as we remembered and they give you lots too! Then we headed back to the port city Civitavecchia. We needed diapers for Kelsi and Eric needed basics, toothbrush, deodorant, razor. We had to go into 3 different stores and they finally told us about a pharmacia across town that might have diapers. They had them, but the were super expensive. It was our only option though, so we got them. The deodorant was like 11 dollars for a miniature deodorant and like 6 dollars for some little cheap disposable razors. Crazy! We have it nice I guess to get basics for cheap.

The next day our port was Messina, Italy at 1:00pm, so we relaxed in the hot tub in the morning and met a girl from Germany named Maya. She was lots of fun and spoke great English. When we got to Messina we thought about hiking up mount Etna, a live Volcano, but it was too expensive to get there and a very cloudy day, so we wouldn't be able to see anything. So instead we went to Taormina. It was a taxi ride away and had a great Greco-Roman theatre. When we got off the boat all the Taxi drivers were waiting for people and offering to take us up to Taormina. They were all really expensive. So finally we talked one of the drivers down to a cheap price if we got someone else to go with us. So we went back towards the boat asking people if they were going to Taormina. It was a little difficult because most didn't speak english. Then we found a family of 4 who wanted to go there, but thought it was too expensive. We told them the price we got and they jumped on that idea. We got to see Taormina and a few other sites for much cheaper than the original price!

The city of Taormina is up in the mountains overlooking the beach. On clear days you can also see Mt. Etna, the volcano. We didn't' get to see it, but it was still a beautiful view. We toured the theatre, then walked around the city a bit. Then we went to another lookout area over the beach. Then our taxi took us back to town and let us get out to take pictures at a few different places in Messina. Then took us back to the port. It wasn't time to leave yet, so we decided to go to the aquarium Blake read about that was "free." We figured out where we were on the map and headed to the aquarium. We got there and walked in and the man stopped us and asked for money. Blake said it was free. Then we saw the sign saying how much it cost and that it closed in an hour. Blake pulled out his paper again and realized it said "fee" not "free." We had a good laugh and walked back to the boat.

The next day was a day at sea. We were a little frustrated because we wanted to do mini golfing, or shuffleboard or foozeball, but they were only available during certain hours. So we waited until they were available and tried to check out the stuff and they told us it was too windy to do them. We were a little confused about not being able to play somethings, like foozeball in the wind. But we found other things to do and eventually convinced the play team we would be ok playing foozeball in the wind. At night we would play 500, or other card games, go watch the broadway shows and listen to the singers and sometimes dance. Kelsi was such a good baby too. She would just play on the ground with a package of baby wipes for hours, or fall asleep in her stroller.

Monday we arrived in Rhodes, Greece. It was beautiful! The weather was beautiful, the water was beautiful, and the town was beautiful! We planned to tour the city for an hour, then head to the famous snorkeling beach. The town is was an ancient walled city that is the oldest inhabited midieval town in Europe, with over 4,500 years of Minoan, Greek, Roman, Persian, Arab, Turkish, and Italian cultures. It was still early in the morning so the shops were just opening up and it was still slow and peaceful. The perfect time for strolling through.

After that we found the bus station and caught the bus to Kalithea, where we could snorkel. The famous beach was a little pricey for us, so we just went to the identical beach next to it that was free. The boys snorkeled down by it and it was the same. It was a perfect day for laying on the beach, reading a book, snorkeling and relaxing. We enjoyed our bread from the boat and fruit for lunch. The snorkeling was awesome! It is so crazy that there is a whole other world under the water. Blake and Eric also enjoyed hiking around the cliffs by the water. We were sad to leave this little beach. It was so peaceful. Such a fun day and so nice to be in the sunshine!!!