Cruise details

I know, I've promised to post pictures of the cruise, so you will get a few installments.. I have a lot of pictures so I am going to break it down into smaller bunches. Here are some fun ones from the on board ship.

Michael and James sitting on the balcony

Annie and David looking over the balcony from the boys' room and Grandparents room

Kathleen and David looking over the balcony

David looking over the balcony

James enjoying the balcony!

The first day was the settling in day. We checked in and had the lifeboat drill. Than we got unpacked and explored the ship. The kids couldn't wait to get into the swimming pool. We were on the Empress Deck - 7th floor. So we had a lovely view from the balcony and enjoyed it alot.

That night at dinner we had our first formal dining experience on the cruise. It was very nice, the waiters even put the napkins on your laps for you! The kids enjoyed eating whatever they wanted and having cheese and hot chocolate for dessert. Our waiters were Cornelius and Alexandre. James and Cornelius formed a bond and exchanged fist bumps whenever they saw each other. Whenever Cornelius saw James on the ship, he would show everyone else how they were buddies! The other staff got a big kick out of it and by the end of the cruise, James was thinking fist bumps were the way to go! He did it with everyone!

Mom and Dad at the dining table

Carina at the table

Kathleen enjoying her dinner

Jared ate nothing but cornflakes for breakfast and pizza with french fries for lunch and dinner the ENTIRE time. We couldn't get him to try anything else.

James exchanging fist bumps with Cornelius

David expressing his opinion of having to stay sitting at the table!
Annie looking pretty at the table!

The staff of the cruise ship was from all over the world. Our housekeeping stewards were from the Philippines, Cornelius our waiter was from Martinique and Alexandre was from Eastern Europe. It was so neat to have all these different cultures combining. They all worked very hard and did a good job. I LOVED housekeeping. Every morning they came in and tidied your room and made the beds, than at night they came in and unfolded your beds, left chocolates for you (James really loved eating those and left evidence on all the freshly turned down sheets... After 2 days, I started racing him into the room to scoop up the chocolates before James found them.) Every night when the beds were unfolded, they made a towel animal for you. It was fun to come in from dinner every night and discover what animal it was that day! ( I did also have to beat James to the animals to get a picture. He thought they were great fun to unfold and love!) On the last full day at sea, Carina, Grandma, and I also took a class on how to make such lovable towel animals. It was fun.)
Towel Elephant
Towel monkey

Aldrich Family Reunion Cruise

This is the extended Aldrich family. We recently took a cruise to the Naussau, St. Thomas, and St. Martin islands. It was a fun adventure and I have so many pictures to sort that I haven't decided which ones to post on my blog. I like them all. So until or if I manage that, I just wanted to put the extended family picture online for everyone to see. We are very grateful to Mom and Dad Aldrich for making this possible!

Cub Scout Bike Rodeo

There was a Cub Scout Bike Rodeo on Saturday. It was open to all kids 6-10, so we brought Kathleen and Annie also. We loaded up the bikes and bike helmets in the van and drove to the square for the rodeo.

The kids listened to Sgt. Kurt Catudal give a lesson on bike safety and helmets.

Chaos circle. Our Sgt. Catudal showing the kids why we need rules to ride safely.

Kathleen on her bike in the circle.

Annie giving it a try.

Peter riding the obstacle course

Annie is a concentrating hard on her riding. (Look at her tongue)

Kathleen

Peter getting his certificate of completion.
We found out yesterday, he got his picture in the newspaper too!

Southern Ringneck Snake

So Peter was mowing the lawn and came inside asking that I come out and look at something freaky. So I came out and couldn't find anything. We restarted the mower and lo and behold a Southern Ringneck Snake came slithering away from the lawn mower.. He was a fast mover. We tried to catch him in a box, but didn't have any success at keeping him on the shovel. Of course, all of the other kids came running out barefoot so there was a lot of jumping around while the snake tried to escape. In the end, David ended up cutting him with the hoe and dragging him back to the forest to die. He provided us an exciting adventure that afternoon.

Poor Snake. We tried, but had to kill him in the end.

David

David is 13! Amazing to believe! On Wednesday, the 17th, David entered the teenage years. Luckily for us, David wanted things simple. He designed his cake, and had his friend Steven Putman, spend the night.

David blowing out his candles!

Happy Birthday, David!

Swim Lessons

We just finished up our summer swimming lessons. It was a long hot process for Mama and James, but refreshing and enjoyable for everyone else!

James with his water bottle

David swimming!

Peter jumping off the platform!

Kathleen swimming!

Jared enjoying his turn on the walrus!

Jared enjoyed swimming lessons, he grinned the entire time!

Annie swimming with a noodle!

Summer Fun

Oh, what do we do in the Summer time?

At our house, we play on the slip and slide!

Carina got to go on a pioneer trek for Youth Conference . They hiked around Fort Mountain State Park pushing handcarts. They had a great time.

Carina in her pioneer outfit that she made.

A New Composition on an old favorite

Sing with us to the tune of 10 Little Indians...

One little, Two little, Three little Aldriches
Four little, Five little, Six little Aldriches
Seven little Aldriches and a newborn,
Lucky number Eight!



Due January 11, 2010!

Growing up!

We were getting ready to go to church and I tried on James' Sunday outfit..

He's growing up so fast.

A few items of note..

The last day of school has arrived! Here are a couple of picture of David relaxing in the car before the school bus came.

The kids also finished up their year of piano lessons with a recital.
They each performed 2 songs and did a lovely job.

Carina's 15th birthday

Carina is now 15! Amazing! She had a quiet birthday at home. We made chicken rolls and blueberry pie to celebrate her birthday. Shield your eyes, there is a lot of flame involved below!

Carina managed to get the candles blown out!

Happy 15th Birthday, Carina!