Flag Day

The Swamp House is decked out in Red, White and Blue for Flag Day. We are proud of Son#3 as he prepares for deployment. He will leave Thursday for NJ, then his National Guard Unit will be sent to Iraq. God Bless the USA!

Thrifty Thursday

It is time for Thrifty Thursday! I have been MIA for a few weeks from my favorite thrift stores! This week a friend and I went on a trip to Strickland's Fabric Barn in Eclectic, AL. Our purpose was mainly fabric for a Porch Tour project. I did buy a few pieces to save for my own projects.....may be a while before I get back to them! On the way home we did detour by an estate sale. It was an overwhelming collection of collections. Since it was the first day, I thought some of the prices were a tad too high for me. I did find 2 things that I needed for a project floating around the blog world. I got a large quilt hoop and a pair of pinking scissors. As much as I sew I should have the scissors but I didn't!

Here is my thrifty rag wreath X 2:

With double doors I always need 2 door decorations. I also need something light weight because I just hang it with those suction hooks. There is a lot of dog walking going in and out of these doors daily (not to mention the herds of teenage boys! )

It was a simple project. I just used fabric on hand: old jeans, red gingham scraps and tulle. I tied the scraps in knots around the hoops until they were full. And it fit my frugal budget-$2 for the hoop and $3 for the scissors!

My other recent purchase from Goodwill is this cookbook:

How could I resist this title? Many of the recipes involve peanut butter....I mean really??? Baked Peanut Butter Chicken, Broiled Ham with Peanut-Orange Sauce, Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Peanut Butter The majority of the recipes are just good old fashion Southern food like this delicious peach cobbler I made last week!

So, so gooood!!!

Kennedy Space Center

We headed to the Space Center as soon as we left the boat. We walked around and looked at the exhibits. Saw an IMAX movie about the Hubble Telescope and the boy did the Shuttle Experience.

This is the side of the building with the early space exhibits- I lived in Huntsville growing up. This paper is dated 1958, before we moved there.

Gemini- fitting for the 2 of us- born in June!

We were ready to go home! Uggh!!! - 7 hour drive ahead of us!!

Cruise Day 4

The last day on the ship was a full day at sea. The boys slept late. I got up and found a spot by the pool. It was very crowded and many activities were taking place: ice carving, belly flop contest, male model contest, Black Forest cake demo and the never ending buffet.... I read and grazed. The Black Forest Cake demo included taste testing- it was soooo good.

When the boys joined me it was time to climb the rock wall. We sent the boy up because we are chicken. He was not. He went up like a squirrel climbing a tree. This was on the top deck of the ship - Deck 12!!!

This was the best band on the cruise, Temperature. They played at the party the night before and several other times during the week. I wish I had a CD of the music to play by the pool!

By evening the cruise was over for the Hubby! He had an earache and the ship started rocking big time! The Boy and I went to a show and dinner and did some last minute shopping! We were some of the first off the ship in the morning to head to the Kennedy Space Center.

Cruise Day 3

By the time we woke up, we were docked at Nassau. We decided to spend the day exploring the city.

Dad conquered the Straw Market! Or visa versa!

We visited the Pirate Museum....

Saw lots of colorful buildings...

And Queen Victoria...

Bought some souvenirs....

Then headed back to the ship to party all night!

Cruise -Formal Night

Hubby looks mad, but , he wasn't! He was tired and trying to tell the cameraman to make sure and get Mommy's cute purse in the picture!

There it is!

All dressed up for the formal dinner. We decided after this night to skip the dinner seatings. There was so much food all day that we were just not hungry at night. There was always a buffet somewhere so we could eat between activities.

They just dressed up to make Mama happy!

Cruise Day 2

We woke up bright and early on day 2. The ship was anchored at a small private island, Coco Cay. Because there is no port we rode small boats, Tenders, to the island.

They were packed, everyone wanted to get off the ship! The waves had the ship rocking the night before. At anchor everything was calm. The short boat ride was not rough. Thank Goodness, because I was afraid that the Hubby would not get back on it!
The Boy had no problem at all with sea sickness!
Our ship from the island-

No one lives on this island. The workers all come to the island when a ship is scheduled to stop. Only the passengers from our cruise were there that day even though there was another ship anchored off the island.

There was even a mini straw market to buy souvenirs- which of course we did!

After looking around to see what activities were available, we decided to snorkel. They had jet skis, a small water park, para sailing, scuba, nature hikes, floats, etc.... The activities cost $$$$ but the food and drink (non-alcoholic) was included.

At the snorkel hut we picked up our gear and had a short orientation. Then we were on our own to explore the area marked off by buoys. There were rafts out by the lifeguard stations to rest on. We saw tons of fish. Some were really big and they were not shy! There was an airplane, cannons, anchors and boat parts in the deeper areas. This was our favorite part of the whole cruise. We all got a little sunburned because we did not feel anything under the water. We snorkeled for about an hour and a half before lunch and another hour after lunch.

This is the other boat that was at anchor. You can see how far out one of the lifeguard station was.

Lunch was a buffet at Blackbeard's Grille. The food was abundant, to say the least, we were always snacking. By evening we were not hungry for dinner!

The buffet was set up under tarps. Hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, salads, mac and cheese, fruits,cookies, cakes....tons of things...I think that any one could find things to eat! Lots of vegetables and a station for sugar free things.

We had to be back on the ship by 4:30. So we headed back to hang out at the pool. This was formal night and the Captain's Welcome Reception.

We docked at that little hole in the middle of the ship! That was deck 2. Our room/closet was on deck 4. Most of our time was spent on deck 11- pool and buffet restaurant!