Last summer, when my sister's family was up for a few days, we started to talk about doing a cruise. She wanted to do something for her daughter Abria because she was graduating from High School. We pitched it to our kids to see if they were interested. There was some interest, but it didn’t seem like they wanted to do it. When we went down to visit them a week later, the kids seemed more interested. Mary had never flown, so I wasn’t sure she would go. My brother-in-law, Rob, has a small airport and offered to take her up. It took a lot of prodding, but she went. She seemed to like it and in the next several weeks, she said she would fly to Miami for the cruise.

My parents are coming along. Mom and dad do not get around as easily as the old days. They are excited to spend ten days with the grandchildren. They have speculated that this may be their last "big" vacation. It seems funny to hear that from them. They have been traveling ever since Beth and I were very little.

We picked a seven night cruise to the Western Caribbean on Carnival. We will be stopping in Grand Cayman, Isla Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. Over the course of six months or more, the two families tried to work out the activities. It was not easy! It was not until a month or two before we left, that there was consensus on the activities. Some plans were finalized in the days before the trip! We will be snorkeling with Jesus, stingrays, dolphins, and a crap-load of fish. In Belize, some are zip-lining, touring Mayan ruins, and I am going diving on the reef. At the end, we will be driving personal submarines, an underwater scooter.