Michael Allie

On Easter morning, 2010, we headed down to Miami to jump on board the Liberty of the Seas, the second largest cruise ship in the world.  It was quite a ship with capacity for 4400 guests and 1400 crew.  We visited four ports: Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; and Grand Cayman.  Our parasailing at Grand Cayman was probably our biggest adventure, but every day was wonderful as we had perfect weather and smooth sailing!

Liberty of the Seas - The world's second largest cruise ship.

Mayan Ruins at Costa Maya, Mexico

Parasailing at GrandCayman

Sunset in the Caribbean

For quite a few years I’ve done an annual update on this blog to share with friends and family what has happened during the year.  I always intended to have postings throughout the year, but rarely did.  Instead, I just did an annual “letter” with a few pictures.

This year I actually updated with events as they occurred, though a few of them got posted late.  So I’ll just let you scroll down below to see what I’ve been up to during the year.

I’ll also add that Cheryl & JT are both doing well, continuing in their same jobs and generally enjoying a busy and active life.  They travelled a couple of times this year for weddings including one in Florida in which they tacked on some vacation time.

Alan continues to live and work in Ann Arbor.  He and I have taken some investing classes together and he also continues to educate me on how to get the most out of my Mac (for those of you that are still using Windows, you really need to make the switch)! LOL

Mostly, in this difficult year for so many people, I am thankful that we all still have our jobs, our health, our family and our friends.

Have a Happy Holiday Season and may 2010 be your best year ever!

Late September found us in Chicago.  What a great place to spend a weekend!

We started with an afternoon at Shedd’s Aquarium, followed by the White Sox playing the Tigers at U.S. Cellular Field.

The next morning we took a two hour tour of Chicago on a Segway.  Have you ever ridden one?  It’s a blast!  If you get a chance, do it.  It takes about 90 seconds to learn how to operate it.  Very intuitive, nimble, and agile.

We were lucky to time it right to see our hometown team play the White Sox!

The view of the Chicago River and downtown from our hotel room.

I’ve been to Shedd’s Aquarium a couple of times before this, but I am always amazed at what I see.

I wish I knew the names of all these sea creatures in the aquarium.

One of many colorful views of Shedd's Aquarium!

Riding the Segway around Chicago was a blast!!!

Summer vacation was spent in Jamaica this year.  Late July found us at Ochos Rios and what a great time it was. The weather was high 80s, sunny every day, a walk up Duns River Falls, two and a half hours bicycling down a mountain, and zip lines over the rain forest.  In between was a lot of time laying around pool, a bit of sailing and other assorted means of relaxation.

Above are some views of the resort where we stayed in Ochos Rios.

We took a bicycle tour down the Jamaican Blue Mountain where they grow the Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee.

Above, you see us walking up the Duns River Falls.

This is where we did the zip lines over the rain forest.  What a blast!

Our last night on the island.

My children know that on Father’s Day, my main interest is spending time with them and so we have done various activities over the year on Father’s Day.  This year we did miniature golfing and go-karts!  It was a great time!!

Me with Cheryl & Alan

JT, Cheryl & Alan

Cheryl takes this turn with gusto!

JT Leaves Me in the Dust!!

Have you ever thought about skydiving? Do it! You can do a tandem jump (that means you are attached to an instructor) and it is very easy and safe.  Susan and I went to Skydive Tecumseh on the Friday before Memorial Day. We flew up to 14,000 feet, did a 120 mph free fall for 60 seconds. Then the instructor pulled the rip cord, out came the chute, and we spent about five to six minutes floating down the last 5,000 feet. It was a blast. There are pictures below.  You can click on any picture to see it in a larger size!

Over a couple of years I had quite a bit of content out here on my blog. Alas, the hackers got to me and corrupted the site. I had to start over with new software. Stay tuned — more content will be coming soon!