Spring Break!

As a kid, I remember that giddy feeling of Spring Break. That awesome feeling knowing that you have no school, no homework and no schedule for an entire week. As a parent, it turns out it's just as fun! During the midst of January snow storms, we booked a cruise for Spring Break. After 2 snows, this Canadian girl was  ready for a warm beach.

Since the boys had never been on a cruise, and Scott and I had only been on one, we booked a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Sky. We stopped in Freeport, Nassau and on NCL's private island called Great Stirrup Cay. We were lucky enough to have Scott's sister Donna and her husband Ross come with us, which really made the vacation.

We left Friday afternoon, and drove to Jacksonville, FL and then finished the drive to Miami on Saturday. We stayed at a great 5-star hotel for under $100/night (thanks to Priceline!) We spent Sunday in South Beach and in true Steffen style had lunch at the 11th Street Diner(http://eleventhstreetdiner.com/) as featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives (one of Scott's favorite shows on the Food Network). Then, on Monday we boarded the ship.

Here's a slideshow of the highlights:



On the drive home, we spent a night at the Nickelodeon Hotel in Orlando. Will had seen a show on the Travel Channel about the hotel and had been asking to go for a while just so he could get slimed. It was a great way to break-up the drive back (and extend our vacation).

Overall, it was an awesome vacation. After we came back from our first cruise (Feb 2006) Scott and I agreed that we'd like to do another one someday, but we weren't sure we were cruise people. Now, after this I'm starting to rethink things. The way I see it, a cruise is one of the only types of vacations that forces you to relax. Your Blackberry doesn't work, you don't need your car keys, you have a "cabana boy" to deliver your drinks, and as my brother-in-law so cleverly put it "the most stressful part of your day is putting on the sunscreen".