Finally, I’ve created a photo gallery from the 300 or so pictures I took while on vacation. That’s the beauty of the digital camera – complete lack of discretion as to how many photos you take, and of what. That one sucks? Gone. Got the back of someone's head again? Gone. I can't believe I waited so long to get one. (Simeon, shut it.)

Anyway, to accompany the photo gallery, I thought I'd recap the trip. Our entire family went, to celebrate my parents' upcoming 40th anniversary. We had a rough start at EWR. My older crazy nephew hates airport security and was disgruntled with the entire process, which resulted in some inhuman shrieking and the eventual assault of a male security officer. But it was smooth sailing from there. We arrived in Miami and had two days before setting sail Saturday afternoon. Most of that time was spent on the beach. Saturday afternoon, we got on our ship, Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas, and set sail at 5 p.m., as the sun started to set.

I'd taken a cruise to Canada a few years ago and really enjoyed it, but this one was even better. The ship was amazing, as was the food and the options of activities. You could do a ton of things, or you could do nothing. I, on the whole, opted to do a whole lot of nothing - never visited the ship's gym, or did any of the structured activities like the basketball tournament or the mini golf tournament. We did a few things. One night we went to an ice show. Every night, we went to the casino. Several times each day, we went to the bar.

We awoke in Nassau, Bahamas, Sunday morning and spent a few hours there. On Monday we enjoyed a full day at sea and arrived in St. Thomas on Tuesday morning. We visited an aquatic sea park on the northern part of St. Thomas, which included a ride in a glass-bottom boat. Wednesday we arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where we spent the morning shopping and wandering through the town. On Thursday, we made what was my favorite stop, in Labadee. Each cruise line apparently has its own private island, and Royal Caribbean’s is Labadee, just off the coast of Haiti. I thought it would be cheesy and overrun with cruise-goers, but I was mistaken. The island was gorgeous and the whole day was extremely relaxing.

Friday was another full day at sea, sailing back up to Miami, where we arrived Saturday morning. We then spent another day in Miami before heading north, where we spent a day at the Kennedy Space Center. We also visited family friends in the Daytona area before flying back, sans airport assault thanks to some masterful child management, to Jersey.

For once, it was an injury-free vacation, but there were two near misses. My right elbow started to ache near week's end, but I truly think that was just from resting it on the tables in the ship's casino for hours each night. Then, there was what we've come to call the "Bathing Suit Episode." My brother and I were standing on the balcony and I was wearing my new bathing suit with a fancy halter top. Apparently, there is a design flaw where the clasp on the top is concerned, which led to the suit springing open while we were facing each other. Fortunately, he slammed his eyes shut quickly enough to not cause blindness or passing out.

Because I'm subscribing to the theory that you can't take enough vacation, tomorrow I'm heading to England to visit my friend David, who is studying at Cambridge for a year. We're going to spend a few days in Cambridge and then head to London. I'll try to check in if I'm not too busy eating fine British cuisine.

Before that, however, KJ and I are heading into the city this afternoon to watch a little Big East hoops. Seton Hall forgot it had a basketball game yesterday and therefore Rutgers is playing Villanova tonight. On paper, the State University of New Jersey should lose by 40, but the last time the two played, Rutgers lost by six in overtime, so who knows what will happen.