Last weekend we went on one last beach trip with our friends, The O'Farrells. We are so sad that they are moving! We went to Atlantic City, New Jersey. We had a great time walking the boardwalk and playing on the beach. One thing all of us didn't quite understand was all of the lifeguards on the beach. There were like 4 of them every 20 feet(why not just post a sign that says "no lifeguard, swim at your own risk"? Sometimes i still do not get the East). They had this little rowboat that they took out to go "save" people a couple of times we were there. It was weird, none of the people looked like they were in any trouble. The boat itself seemed kind of dangerous though, it could really do some damage if it came down on someone' s head or someone got hit by the oars I thought the boat was pretty great, so while Jeremy and Mike were out swimming, I asked the lifeguards if they would go out and pick them up as a joke. They told me no. Here is a picture of them frolicking in the water It was nice to just have a day to relax in the sun and fly a kite. We'll miss you O'Farrells!
They say if you marry in June you'll be a bride all your life. I'm not quite sure what that means, but regardless, I think June is the perfect month for a wedding! I got to be a part of two this month. Two weekends ago, I was in my friend from work, Jess's wedding. She was a really gorgeous bride and it was fun to see a bunch of people from work there. Her cake was amazing. It was inspired by Cinderella's castle Last weekend, I got to go home for my good friend, Cami's wedding. The night before her wedding, "the quad" (my best friends from high school and college, and yes, I realize that there are 5 of us :) got together for a bachelorette party. It was so good to see all of them, it was like no time had passed since we had seen each other. I think it's been almost 3 years since we've been in the same place. It was really special that we were all able to be in the Boise temple together for Cami's wedding. She was such a beautiful bride! Cami had her wedding reception at the Boise train depot. That's always been one of my favorite places in Boise it has a really great view of the whole city. This is a picture of me, Brooke and Merilee up in the bell tower. While I was at home, I went through some old pictures and found a few gems. This one was actually taken at the train depot almost 8 years ago I think this one is from new years eve maybe 7 years ago It really doesn't seem like that much time has passed. It was so good so see friends and family last weekend. Hopefully it's not 3 more years until the whole quad is together again!
These last couple of weeks have been a little bit crazy for us. Jeremy had been sick for a little while and actually had to go to the hospital for 3 days with pneumonia last week. We were supposed to leave for New Orleans Saturday morning with Jeremy's family but we weren't sure if the doctors would release him by then. On Friday, Jer took matters into his own hands, he got dressed, shaved, told all the nurses he was being discharged that day, and even walked out into the hallway to greet the doctor. Luckily, the doctor agreed with him that he shouldn't be in the hospital anymore and we were able to go on vacation with Jeremy's family. We are so glad that he is feeling better! We had a great time in New Orleans. The first day we were there, we went to Jazz fest. We saw Jimmy Buffett and the Strokes.
That night, we walked down Bourbon Street to find somewhere to eat. I don't get the fascination with Bourbon street at all. It's crowded and it smells like a lovely mixture of body odor, urine, and garbage. Pretty sure being there for Mardi Gras would be my worst nightmare. The next day we went to the Cafe Du Monde for beignets.
They were delicious and definitely lived up to the hype. Also that day, we visited the aquarium and went on a walking tour of the French Quarter. The French Quarter is such a charming place. It has such a rich history, even long before it was a part of the United States. While we were walking in the French Quarter, I stopped and had my palm read. Here are a couple of the things that I learned about future...I will get married in the next five years, the man I am currently involved with will stop playing so many mind games with me, hehehe.
That night, we went out for a mother's day dinner to the Commander's Palace in the garden district. Jeremy and I agreed that this is one of our favorite restaurants of all time. The Bananas Foster we had for dessert was to die for!
The next day, we took a swamp tour at the Jean Lafitte national preserve. We saw tons of alligators. They just came right up to the boat. I guess they used to feed them marshmallows, but they aren't allowed to anymore. I wonder how long it will take the alligators to figure that out. That night we went on a ghost tour of the French Quarter. I think that was one of my favorite things that we did on the trip. New Orleans is thought to be one of the most haunted places in the world. This is the old Lalaurie mansion. According to story, the LaLauries conducted horrible experiments there on their slaves. When they fled the country after they were discovered, they buried 30 of their slaves alive under the floorboards.
This is an old Catholic Abbey. There is an old story about vampires coming over in the 1700s from France. Supposedly, vampires still live in the attic of the church, that's why the shutters on the dormer windows are always kept closed.
On the tour, we learned that there is actually a group modern day "vampires" that live in New Orleans called sanguiners. They drink human blood from willing donors. I guess recently, when they were putting up power lines along the Mississippi river, a group of these sanguiners came to protest at a City Council meeting because they were worried that they would get tangled in the power lines during their nighttime flights.....right. On our last day in New Orleans we went on steamboat dinner cruise down the Mississippi river.
We had a wonderful time in New Orleans and a great time seeing Jeremy's family. Thanks for a great vacation!
Yesterday, Jer and I got home from our cruise to the Caribbean. We had a perfect vacation and are both in a little bit of cruise withdrawal right now. We sailed aboard the Crown Princess. It is a really beautiful ship My favorite part of the ship was the atrium where there are two beautiful spiral staircases.
Preview
Also in the atrium is the International Cafe where they had every kind of pastry you can imagine. Jer and I stopped by there several times each day. The first night on the ship was "formal night." Some people got really decked out in evening gowns and tuxedos. Every night it was like going to a nice restaurant with a four course meal. We had lobster, scallops, fillet mignon...I think both of our bodies were a little bit shocked when we came back and it was fast sunday today! Here is a picture of one of their signature desserts, "the Love Boat" The first stop on our cruise was the Cayman islands. We went on a boat out to "stingray city" which is a sandbar a couple of miles out into the ocean. They are surprisingly docile animals. They rub up against you like a cat and even let you hold them. On our way back, the captain of the ship said, "See! No one get hurt! Now you must all spread the good news of stingray city." So I guess that's what I'm doing! After stingray city, we swam with dolphins. This is Pepe the dolphin I think this was maybe my favorite thing from the whole trip. They are just such happy animals! Our second stop was Roatan Honduras. On Roatan, we went to Gumbalimba bird and monkey preserve. On the way to the monkey preserve, we had to cross a rickety hanging bridge. Jeremy did his best to terrify me and make the bridge swing back and forth as we were crossing The monkeys were really cute. Our guides told us to leave everything on the bus because the monkeys love to grab anything loose, run up a tree, break whatever they have, and then throw it back to you. Our third stop was Cozumel Mexico. We decided to be a little bit adventurous and rent a convertible smartcar. It was so tiny! We drove around the island, visited some Mayan ruins, snorkeled, and found a yummy taco place on the beach to eat lunch. I think my favorite part of Cozumel was actually watching everyone reboard the ship. One of the veteran cruisers we talked to told us to board early, go up to one of the higher decks and watch all the drunk people come down the gangway. It was pretty entertaining. We were docked right across from a big Carnival ship. As the ships were about to close their doors, two drunk men came running down the gangway and barely made it. They got a round of applause from all the people on the decks on both ships.
On the last day of the cruise, we stopped at Princess's private island in the Bahamas. It was a great day to swim, relax, and read under the palm trees. On the ship, they gave out an award for the person who had been on the most cruises. There was one old lady who had been on a cruise ship for 864 days total!! Who knows...maybe someday I will beat that old lady! Probably not, but we had a great time and would love to go on another cruise someday!
I thought the boat was pretty great, so while Jeremy and Mike were out swimming, I asked the lifeguards if they would go out and pick them up as a joke. They told me no. Here is a picture of them frolicking in the water
It was nice to just have a day to relax in the sun and fly a kite. We'll miss you O'Farrells!
