Tuesday: more fun in the shade

My day today was rather similar to yesterday's. I spent the morning on the beach in the shade reading ( although I didn't go in the ocean). Some people got kayaks for a little bit. I thought it would have been fun to kayak to the Eye of Saroun, who was also here on vacation, with his sunglass, but due to the reef they couldn't do that.

(To see the Eye well, you need to enlarge the picture)

But it does mean that they paddled past me so I got to see them. Then three of the five and Katy walked by on the beach. Hmmm. Why didn't they stop? Then three different people and Katy walked the other way on the beach. Hmm...that probably isn't good. It turned out Dusty and Laura's kayak had a leak in the bouanancy part of the boat and it flipped and was just a pain to deal with. So while it is almost a fun story now, everyone was exhausted when they got back to me because they had either paddled a sinking boat or walked the beach a gazzilion times.

lunch was hot. It was then that I realized that I probably should have gone in the ocean, although it was nice to be dry for most of the morning. We all went and took naps (yay a/c) and played Dominion before adventuring out again.

We adventured in the pool.

The Italian restaurant was very good, but I ordered the ravioli and got five raviolis. I'm happy with small portion sizes, but that was a little bit too small. nicely, Ben gave me some of his dinner too.

And this evening Laura sang Karoke and did a pretty good job...definitely better than the guy before her. While we were waiting we played pool and ping pong. It was rather dark and the ping pong ball was the same color as the walls, which made it rather hard to play.

Monday: Happy July 4th

Today was also very pleasant, although it started out a little rough. I thought the buffet in the special place was going to open at 7:30, but it didn't. I don't know what time it opens. I was able to swipe a yogurt and then went to the big breakfast buffet. I got my food and ordered a water. It never came. Sure, I wasn't there for very long, but long enough to really want the water. Needless to say, I was a little grumpy when I got back.

Anyway, the day proceeded at I quickly got into a better mood. The girls played in the ocean and took jumping pictures...You know, the ones where everyone is up in the air at the same time? turns out that I'm really bad at jumping and the four of us were really bad at coordinating. But it was fun. We ate on the beach for their 4th of July cookout.

Then we started a large game of dominion. multiple people had brought their decks and we modified the rules a bit, so it worked out just fine having more people than suggested.

We went to a Japanese hibachi for dinner...it was ok. They were liberal with the soy sauce(on everything) and it was loud. Then we saw a circus act. It was fun sitting next to Katy as she had a running commentary and things that were hard and easy and what she could do. She said the difficulty level was beginner-medium, but at the same time they werent working with a stage set up for circus so it's understandable.

Saturday: we made it!

We made it to the resort! It's dark out so you can't see much, but the place looks very and and the rooms are great! We all congregated inDusty and Laura's room after getting settled in for a nice time of talking and eating ( and drinking). Well, the food wasn't great. We just ordered a bunch of room service and it left quite a bit to be desired. But there were plenty of things to drink and some chocolate in the fridge to tide us over.

We found the Minnesotans in the Chicago airport and it was a lot of fun traveling with them. It's been a while since I traveled in a group and while only being with Ben is nice, it's also nice to be in a group...especially of people that you haven't seen for a while.

Sunday: having fun

Today was a wonderful (and relaxing) day. We swam in the ocean (the sand is so soft), swam in the pool, had a nice dinner, and enjoyed being with friends. One of the reasons that it is fun to be with other people on a trip is that you aren´t the only one taking pictures. At one point people were doing crazy jumps into the pool and so if two camera took pictures on burst mode we could usually get a good shot. (This is a public computer and I don´t have the correct cable, so I can´t put any pictures up right now.)

So it´s really Monday morning and I came down to the lobby way to early to make dinner reservations (early but neccessary). Room service leaves something to be desired so I thought I´d pick up breakfast while I was down here. But the breakfast isn´t out yet and I still have 15 minutes. So now do I stay or do I leave? Stay tuned.

Saturday: hurry up and wait

Yesterday we made it to Chicago with ease. We were super glad that we werent going out of chicago though, as we saw three long backups. The worst, on i80 probably went on for half the time we were on it.

Then this morning getting to the airport went amazingly smoothly. We did a stay and park, so we got dropped off exactly in the right spot. We got seats for the first flight (they Weren't assigned online so we were a little nervious) and all the lines went quickly. Now to find a few more of our party and continue on!

Friday: and we're (almost) off

We're about to leave for vacation! Just a few last things to do and then pack up the car with our bags and we're leaving!

Woo-hoo! I'm super excited for the trip.

Thursday: hearing test

Today I took a hearing test in preparation for my new job. (Some workers are around loud noises a lot, so they want to get a baseline. I doubt I will be around loud noises that much, but they probably do it for everyone.) Anyway, I was put in a sound reducing booth and tones were put through headphones and I had to click when I heard a tone.

My biggest complaint? Most of the tones were quieter than swallowing, so I was trying not to swallow. So now I'm not sure if swallowing is really loud and we just don't notice it all the time or if my hearing is really good.