Christmas Part Deux -The Cruise

Here we are in Perth, and I've got more time and I'm more relaxed than I've been in months. I've given Ben his once a month allotted night to watch one of HIS shows rather than one of OUR {my} shows. He's toggling back and forth between the Australian Open -which he'd much rather be sitting at live... and The Journey to the Center of the Earth. I have no choice but to blog. It's working out perfectly actually. Nothing like a little time spent together!

Back to Christmas. So one week before Christmas Ben and I left the darlings with Ben's parents {THANKS!} and headed out to a cruise with my sister's, bro in law, parents, and Grandpa + New Grammie. It was awesome. If you've never done a family cruise I am here to tell you it is a must. You've probably been on the fence about it for some time and I urge you to pull the trigger on it. If these pictures don't convince you I don't know wha twill. That last one was a typo, but I kinda like it. It kinda works. I'm going to start a new word trend.

But I digress.

The ladies, catching a show

One of life's dreams fulfilled and you are now here to witness the box litterally being ticked. I swam with dolphins. This is the time the dolphin pushed my foot with it's nose whilst I rode on a boogie board. Best hundie I ever spent. Went with Sissy Kate. Sorry the pics are so far back, Ben, our photographer sitting on the sidelines {with a single tear running down his cheek for being left out] sadly could get no closer.

Rubbing her belly for good luck. Not sure if this was before or after the 18-year-old girl started FREAKING out and crying because she was scared of the dolphin. She was scared, trembling {later convulsing} with real tears streaming down. Katie and I could do nothing but snicker -not allowing ourselves to look at each other for fear of losing it more than we already had. It was pretty hilarious. Kinda like when people freak out about clowns.

Anyway, the trainer then tried to calm her down by having her swim over to her {she was standing outside the pool, yeah, she had climbed out. It was more pathetic than I can describe} and he said to the dolphin "do you like this girl?" and the dolphin shook it's head yes. And then he said "are you going to bite her?" and the dolphin shook her head no, I think a little 'uh, uh' escaped it's lips too. It was so funny, seriously, I think a little pee might have escaped. I'm pretty sure.

I DO know however this was around the time that another hilarious incident started, involving a 45-year-old-ish woman who had come with her "Mommy". Mommy was an 85 pound woman who's skin was as wrinkly and saggy as her swimming suit- of which the crotch was hanging down a good t 2-3 inches. She was a possible Alzheimer's sufferer and just stared off into space with a blank stare as she shivered from the cold of the water {as you do when you weigh 85 pounds}. She seemed truly oblivious to her older adult daughter shouting 'Mommy, Mommy, watch me! Mommy, did you see me? Did you see me and the dolphin Mommy??!"

Again, could not. even. look. at each other.

Right before our big moment -this pic, besides embarrassing me, reminds me of that one of Ben taken a few months ago. The one where it looked like his head had been photoshopped on. Here it is so you can snicker again, I know I always do. The similarities are striking.

After this we enjoyed a FANTASTIC day at my favorite place on earth, a place where if I could spend every day of my life I would truly be happy -the water slides. It was included in our ticket so if anyone is heading to Puerta Vallarta -please let me know and I'll hook you up. The cost without he dolphins is $14. A steal since the place is both deserted and awesome. You can run up the ramp like a 12 year old kid- or was that just us? and hop on slide after slide with no supervision. The slides were sick, seriously sick and the food was delicious. Possibly my favorite day, ever.

I'm not doing this sequentially, you should know. Here we are about to ride our horses. On the excursion we took in Mazatlan Look at that enthusiasm! We were humoring Mom actually. See, we had purchased this way awesome {not} excursion online and it was built up as this awesome day spend on Stone Island. Long story short, after being off the ship for 3 hours, we finally arrive to the 'port' of the island -only to find the ship was literally 50 paces away by water. It was sadly funny.

Anyway, pretty much the rest of the excursion followed suit -I do not recommend this tour unless you are with family who can make you laugh your head off at all of the ridiculousness! The horses were almost as hilarious as the fact that we were riding along this lame town rather than the beach that we could see in the distance. My horse kept being naughty and getting spankins' -not as cute as it sounds. He would jump with a stir and nearly buck me off after being spanked for eating people's front gardens. Just more fodder to laugh at.

Water Weenie. Need I say more? Here is where we really made our money back. Especially riding with Nick {brother-in-law} who's crack was in my face the entire time as he jumped up and down like a 10 year old kid. And the time my Mom got bucked off the back and called us 'jerks' repeatedly was pretty funny too.

These next shots are for a calender the "Gildea" men are secretly putting together. I've probably said too much. Since Nick is the sexiest, it is mostly of him. Shoot them things straight Nick!

"When in Rome!" was Nick's reasoning for this picture taken in Cabo

This one is very Art Nouveau

The crew, including New Grammie at a Cathedral in Mazatlan.

Mom and Dad's Prom Picture. Sexy.

Nick and Ben's Prom picture

Is that it? It feels like I'm forgetting something. Is there anyone still reading this post?

-

busy.

Some crazy people think they want to put up with this jack hammering and drama... so we are out of here! I kept praying and praying that everything would work out with a move -especially since Laine starts school next week so we really needed to be somewhere and have it figured OUT! And oh beauty has it ever worked out. We found this awesome house who accepted our total lowball offer and could vacate in the 2 minute's notice our agency gave us. They've been a dream to work with, which we really deserved after the beyotch of a peach we've been working with the last year.

It is in an awesome little town close to Ben's work and in a beautiful area with a funny name {Rouse Hill, yeah, we sound like hillbillies}. But we just couldn't be more excited and just when it seems like things couldn't get better -great new ward {we hear} awesome schools, duck pond and nature reserve close...then we find out that we live across the street from another American family who are in our ward. Hi, perfect.

So I'm in the midst of moving and knee-deep into a trip across the country to Perth for a few days. I'll be all alone until February 7th since Ben will be traveling from now until then. But things are good and I'm feeling truly blessed and grateful for all of the good friends and support I'm getting here through all of this.

Sorry I keep giving empty promises about what is to come -am I the only one who is losing interest in blogging? Please tell me I'm not alone. I'm sorry, but besides having to move with 2 weeks notice while you've got a 5 day trip planned in the middle and your husband will be gone for the whole thing, it's summer over here ya'll! And that sunshine just calls me a lot more than the radiating heat from off of the computer desk! Seriously, it has been so hot. The towels feel like they're fresh out of the dryer, not exaggerating! The whole house just radiates HEAT.

Okay, no promises this time, I'll be back when I can. It might be March, but I will update Christmas and all things Perth and the move.

Merry Christmas everyone!

What? I missed it? I happened already? So you're saying I'm too late? Shoot.

I had these pics uploaded and all ready to go, they're now almost a month old, I've got a lot of catching up to do. I'm not going to miss out on telling you one moment of our trip, so I guess this is part 2 {or is it 3?} in a 15 part series. Buckle up folks, it's going to get a little bumpy.

So this was a month ago {as afore-mentioned} at my Dad's Firehouse Christmas Party. It really took me back being there, since again, it was something we never missed when I was a kid growing up. All that was missing was the already-over-sweet punch that had 2 cups of sugar added per gallon. Other than that it was just about as I remembered. Gabey seen here treating Gaengy like a buckin' bronco

Laine and Santa, pretty explanatory

Gabe and Santa, not so much. Maybe next year

What says Christmas like a Creepy Santa man, 2 gals +kid and an old-timey firetruck?

Mom and I bakin' away. We made cute treats to spread holiday cheer, the kind that last the whole year through.

This was the day Laine slept with Cujo, funny story.

I used to sleep with Cujo, the family dog, when I lived at home. She's so sweet! Anyway, when Ben and I had been married only a couple of months, we took a weekend and slept at my parent's house. We slept in my old room in my old bed in the basement. Cujo was so excited, she thought she was in on the party. And see, I'm forgetting an important part of the story. Ben had tricked me. He had pretended that he and not only Cujo were bff's, but he and ALL animals were bff's. Not so. He hates them. He is a clean person. He doesn't do dog hair nor does he want to go around smelling like a monkey's butt. But he allowed me to believe he did when we were dating so that I'd think we were mfeo and both animal lovers.

But I digress... so we head down to bed for the night and Cujo is trailing right behind, her ears perked up and her tail a'waggin'. Until Ben shuts the door behind him, all but hitting her in the snout. I was sad, really sad, but not near as sad as Cujo who sat outside the door whining and scratching, too naive to understand things weren't the same anymore.

I was so sad at this point, probably a good 20 minutes into Cujo's antics, and I began to cry. Think of me what you will, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I knew I had to choose my new marriage over Cujo, but the wine was bittersweet...

Anyway, so for old time sake I let Laine sleep with Cujo. It was so precious!

Okay, and this last one REALLY takes me back! Little girls earnin' their keep. Yup, that one rings a bell. I think washing walls and baseboards was next...

And who could forget the day Laine slept in her funny glasses after removing the slinky eyeballs

K Peeps, stay tuned, TBC...