We left bright and early for Florida and the boys were stoked about their vacation on the big boat. They loved riding on the train throughout the Denver Airport terminals and were great on the plane rides to Fort Lauderdale. 
Eban was so cute as he would say thank you to all the men and women in uniform. He’d look at us and say, “I’m saying thank you to the army.” I just hope the Marines or the Coast Guard personnel didn’t take offense to being called Army.
Anyway, both 
boys loved reading the emergency pamphlets in the seat pockets of the airplane and wanted to know more about crashing in case we did. They wanted to know about water landings and oxygen masks. It was great that they were asking questions but they would get excited about “crashing” as they love to play “crash” with their toy trucks. Ugh…
As we arrived in Florida, the weather greeted us with a torrential downpour. We could barely see six feet in front of the rental car’s dashboard. It was delightful. We should have predicted the rest of the trip was going to be like this but we were unaware of the premonition of the first day. After being in the car for only 5 minutes, we heard on the radio - - FLASH FLOOD WARNING and TORNADO WATCH. The sideways glances we gave each other were hopeful. We got to the hotel without hydroplaning or getting into a wreck so it was a success.
We couldn’t decide what our alternative plans should be due to the excessive rain so we opted to hit a local Chucky Cheese where the kids could run rampant and get some energy out. It wasn’t the option we would want - - but the kids loved it and they were able to run around in circles and play games. Some of the roadways became impassable due to the water that evening so we found a way back to the hotel where we knew the next day would be beautiful. Alas, our first full day in Florida was miserable. 
It rained cats and dogs. We even hit up a Starbucks on the beach just so we could go to the ocean and say we hung out there - - even though we were inside. We went over to the local children’s museum which was nice and interactive. Following that short excursion, we went to the airport to pick up Tutu. Of course, there were more tornado warnings as it was time for her flight to arrive - - what luck! She arrived – albeit late - - safe and sound. This is the second time she has had to arrive during a horrible storm. She landed at Denver last summer during a tornado and was diverted to Texas or something like that. Again...I should have known this was our omen.
We headed up to Delray Beach to see Aunt Ruth, my 98-year old great aunt who was the first Wesson Oil culinary demonstrator in the United States during the Great Depression. She was thrilled to finally meet Ryan and Jack and we caught up for only an hour. She tires easily so we took off after that. The boys enjoyed listening to the music that the assisted living place had playing because it was their Christmas program. They wanted to listen to music rather than visit with their great great aunt.
That evening, Tutu was tired so she took it easy while we went downtown to find some seafood. 
I, of course, had crab legs, and the boys delighted in eating half of my meal. Jack called the crab legs, “shark” and Eban just enjoyed eating them. We hit up a quaint little local place called Southport Raw Bar. If you’re ever there, I recommend that you eat there as it was fun and good food! 
The next morning we prepared to go on our first cruise. We headed to Miami and returned the rental car and went to the port. It was overwhelming witnessing all the grand ships and the amount of cars and people who were doing the same thing we were. There were lines everywhere – to check our passports, to check us in, to take our photo, to get on the ship, to wait for an elevator. I realized that “lines” were something I should get used to real fast. A vacation with lines and a two-year old and three-year old - - wow (please hear me saying that unenthusiastically). We finally left the port of Miami for the worst vacation of our lives. It was a glorious sunset and the kids seemed to love it. In fact, they loved their vacation.
In the next post - - I'll try to relive the first full day at sea and Camp Carnival and Cozumel 
See the beautiful weather Florida gave us - it's reflective of the two days we were there - ignore the commentary
