We Are Back!!!

Dear friends, we are back from our travels and had a most amazing, fun, exciting and relaxing time! It was hard to choose just a few of the many, many photos we took, but I just wanted to give you a short impression of where we were and what we did...

We spent some time in Tampa before boarding a most lovely cruise ship to sail off into the sunny and warm Caribbean!

The sky was spectacular as we took off on our journey!

Our first stop was in Key West, somewhere we had not visited before. Such a pretty place!

In the evening we ate in the ship's restaurant with the best view ever as we sailed away from Key West toward Jamaica.

Jamaica awaited us with beautiful waterfalls,

colorful birds,

and lush, tropical foliage! Every house plant we have, I found there - only much bigger!

From Jamaica we arrived in Grand Cayman Island and had a most amazing adventure swimming with - and petting - the giant stingrays!

We had never seen water this clear,

nor had we known that these giant fish are so gentle and love to interact with humans. We could have stayed forever...

In Cozumel, we finally experienced the highlight of our trip - meeting up with my cousin, who had moved to Playa del Carmen just a few months earlier. It was sheer coincidence that the trip we had booked much before then would actually make a stop where we could see her! (For those of you who speak German, you may enjoy visiting her blog. Click here!)

It was wonderful!!

And today is her birthday. Happy Birthday, Britta!!!

On board of the ship, we did lots of lounging and reading - I read four books in six days,

much admiring of the view,

a bit of knitting while listening to an audio book,

more lounging and reading,

ooohing and aaahing over sunsets and sunrises, 

and, of course, much, much good eating!! Cheers!

Back home, we did some more sight seeing,

playing with Winslow and Ramses,

walking around the neighborhood (and sampling the kumquats which are starting to get ripe),

and, of course, more eating before my dad is making his way back to Germany! It was wonderful!!

But I have missed you all and my blog! I didn't realize how much I like to stay connected to what's going on in blogland. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying this busy and magical time of the year. I'll try to check in with you all during the next few days!!

It sure feels good to be back!