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cozumel, mexico  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

On Thursday mid-morning of our cruise we docked in Cozumel and stayed until the evening. We didn't participate in any of the ship's excursions, we just got a taxi and asked him to take us to the best beach. We ended up at Playa Mia, where everyone else was going! The weather wasn't predictable, but here's a recap of the fun things we did on the beach that day.
We participated in a football throwing contest.

I won! But did you see that they let me throw from a closer line because I'm a woman? I hoped no one was mad...
This was taken at the end of the afternoon...everyone else had already gone back to the ship, but since we had gone on our own, we could stay later. It was nice to have it to ourselves for a little while. Before this, almost all of these beach chairs were occupied.
The water was pretty! There were some serious rain clouds, but during the 30 minutes that it rained, we both got a massage right there on the beach under a tent. Ahhh...perfect.

There were lots of activities going on. We played volleyball with a newlywed couple from Atlanta. We also just sat and watched people and read a book.
The area right around the ships was extremely touristy....lots of shops, people calling at you to come into their store, souvenirs everywhere, and of course, a mariachi band.
We thought our ship was huge until we parked right beside this Royal Caribbean ship in Cozumel! Ours is the smaller one...Celebrity Millennium. I think there were a little over 2,000 guests on board, as well as about 1,000 crew members. The Oasis of the Seas beside us had about 7,000 people total and is considered to be the largest cruise ship in the world. !!

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on board: the millennium  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

We had an awesome time on board the ship for about 5 days. We said several times that you could almost stay on the ship the whole time and not even dock anywhere, because there is so much to do! I'll try to give a brief description of some of the things we did without boring you.

Aaron made it to the casino several times and stayed at the roulette table each time. He always bet on red. He won some and lost a lot, but ended up staying ahead by the end of our trip. I just watched and shook my head hehe
We ate dinner here each night. We had a table by ourselves, which surprised us on the first night, but we decided that we liked it that way. It was very romantic :) We loved our waiters (one from Indonesia and one from Honduras) and had the best service that you could imagine. Anything we needed or wanted, they brought! The food was AMAZING!
We stayed by the pool for most of the day on Wednesday after we got back on board from Key West. I read, Aaron watched people, and even slept a little. Talk about vacation!!


Thursday morning we took a tour of the galley, where all the food is prepared. It was interesting to see how it goes behind the scenes for feeding 3,000 people.


Aaron went to the gym on board once each day, sometimes even twice. He indulged in one of the spa's packages: to be able to use the steam rooms and saunas, and he definitely took advantage of it. He has always loved steam rooms and saunas, and is now talking about building a sauna in our basement...which bewilders me because as soon as he comes home each night he turns the thermostat down to 68 degrees and freezes me into my sweatshirt and so that I dread getting out of the covers in the morning. :) Love you, Aaron.
Anyway, I went to the gym with him once to walk on the treadmill beside him, but otherwise I found something else to do like read by the pool.

We went to most of the shows that they performed each night. There was very high-quality entertainment...broadway-type dancing and singing, a comedian, an acappella group. This picture was taken right after the crew members put on a "Millennium's Got Talent" show, and at the end all of the crew came out in parade-style. This show was our favorite...9 of the crew members performed a talent, and some of them were unbelievable, such as the small Indonesian utilities cleaner (dishwasher) guy who sang better than the professional singers on board who were doing the actual broadway shows!
This is a view of the crowd watching the show.
We also saw a cooking show, emulating the popular TV programs...what meal can you cook with the top chefs of the ship in 12 minutes?
This was the head chef, Prashat. You could tell he really enjoyed being on stage :)
One of my favorites was the acappella group...we saw them several times.
We had a great trip and are so thankful for everyone who helped us to be able to go. We missed the girls a lot but we knew they were having an awesome time as well, so we enjoyed ourselves to the max!
We HIGHLY recommend cruising to anyone who is planning a vacation. You can't beat it!

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family  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa




Surprise! Happy Birthday, Tony!








1 comments

nonstop  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Did I say I was going to post pictures from our cruise at the beginning of the week?! Oops! I'm so sorry for the long delay...it is has been nonstop since we got back last Sunday...we jumped in immediately to our weekly schedule and every night when I had a chance to get on the computer, I just went to bed instead. I've added a few things here this morning, and then hopefully later this evening I can do more. Thanks for your patience!
Here's some more evidence that it has been a whirlwind around here since we returned...this suitcase is still sitting in our living room downstairs and has not been unpacked. Ahhh!

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a sunday afternoon...  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

...playing outside at Papa and Gramme's house

Last Sunday afternoon, we were invited over for a huge dinner...Stephen and Michael were in town, I think we were also having another celebration for Aaron's birthday, and we had just gotten home from our trip so we wanted to tell about it. Good reasons to hang out with everyone and relax!

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'tis the season  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

One afternoon last week, we decorated pumpkins. Vivian took hers very seriously and concentrated on every little thing. Kate lost focus within a few minutes and spent the rest of the time trying to undo what Vivian and I were doing...the difference a year makes! She cracks me up :)
But Vivian was proud of the finished product!

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daddy date  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Last night Aaron took Vivian out, just the two of them. Vivian talked about it and asked about it for two days leading up to it. She was excited about dressing up to look pretty for him and I know she felt very loved.
After this picture was taken, I put on her cardigan sweater. She said, "Mommy, please don't cover up my pretty dress." :)
She got to ride in his truck! Big treat.
They went to see The Lion King in 3D. Aaron said they had an excellent time. She ate half of a tub of popcorn and Skittles :) We'll see how she feels today.
Last night when Aaron walked past their room after we put them to bed, he could hear Vivian giving Kate the play-by-play of their date. So sweet!!!!

2 comments

groundhog day  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

(caveman voice) Me manly man, me kill groundhog on my land with bare hands.
Well, not with his bare hands, but Aaron did kill a groundhog two Saturdays ago in our backyard (shooting from our bedroom window!). He has been eyeing it for a couple of months, and had discovered his burrow in the bushes in front of the porch. The groundhog had been digging all over the yard, causing problems, and Aaron was so proud of himself for finally catching it!

Kate went outside with him after he shot it...saying, "Can I hold it, can I hold it?" until she saw it up close and then she said with a sour face, "I don't like it."

3 comments

traveling: abuse to our car  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

This is what our car looked like this morning after traveling from NC yesterday:
front seat
floorboard in front of one of the carseats: yes, I see some french fries, too. And maybe a half-eaten sandwich?
In between the seats in the back: On Sunday morning we left the Fernandez's house in somewhat of a rush, and so all of the random things that we saw on our way out just got thrown into this bag, and after only 30 minutes in the car it was overflowing.
I didn't unpack anything yesterday when we got home because we had a busy afternoon, so this morning when I went to get groceries, this is what the back looked like!
Thankfully I had these cuties riding around with me to distract me from the stress of such disorganization and chaos. It's going to take me a few days to get all this stuff from our trip put back where it belongs...I'm trying to pace myself. No need to be uptight about it, right?
We hope everyone else has had a great start to the week!
I will try to edit our vacation pictures tonight and post them tomorrow!
We had an amazing trip. Thanks to everyone for being excited with us :)

1 comments

praying for daddy  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Psalm 1: Vivian and Kate's birthday gift to Aaron. They have been working on it for a couple of months and were excited to make a video of it to share with him on his birthday. Huge thanks to our awesome friend Darren for editing the video!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMj9UHxWO0I

Just a note: we are serious in our prayers for Daddy each morning...not just a flippant, fun idea for a birthday present. We have used this Scripture daily, that God would continue to make him a man of the Word. I've also been thankful that V and K are learning that Scripture memory is not just in your head and something to spout out, but for Spirit-led prayer and application during the day. We are all being encouraged!
One more thought for moms with daughters: I have been reminded often of my responsibility to teach these girls how to respect and honor and pray for their Dad so that when the time comes, they will be godly help-meets in the same ways for their husbands. I fail a lot because of forgetfulness or busyness or unfortunately, by poor example. But I lean on grace!

1 comments

best friends?  

Posted by Aaron and Lisa

Tonight at dinner I witnessed this conversation (word for word):


Aaron: Vivian, who is your best friend?
V (with no hesitation/instant response): Julia and Mason. Both of them.
Aaron: What about Kate?
V (again, instantly): She's good enough, but she's a little bit selfish.




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Fernandez Family

  • About
      This blog is a way for us to journal about the fun events and milestones of our days as husband and wife and new parents. Enjoy catching up with what's going on in the Fernandez family!

      Aaron and Lisa
      Married December 18, 2004
      Vivian Gray: born June 18, 2008
      Kate Leigh: born August 5, 2009
      Hank Michael: born August 8, 2012
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