Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Days at Sea


Our days at sea were both enjoyable.

Our first day the weather started to get warmer which was nice.  It was chilly in the morning as you can see.

I was up early so I went for a run.  What a nice view I had. I only ended up running 2x this trip.  But that is more than I usually do on vacation:)


We went to breakfast in the dining room and sat with a very nice family.  We always meet such nice people when we cruise. 

We played some giant chess after breakfast.


Then we took the kids for the first day at camp carnival.  The kids ended up loving it here and spent a lot of time there.  They ate dinner there almost every night which let us have a nice relaxing dinner those nights.  They spent several hours there on sea days and I almost felt bad.  But they asked to go. 

While they were in kids club I relaxed on deck and read my book.  Mike and his friend larry played basketball. 

Later we picked up the kids and they were excited to show us their faces were painted.


We took them to the water slides.  This was a favorite with the kids. 


For the first formal night the kids did not join us.  I had a very bad flat hair day so I wasn't happy.  Ha ha. 

 

After our dinner we picked up the kids and did our evening ritual of getting late night pizza and ice cream.  The pizza on the ship was very good.  This late snacking was a favorite with the kids also.


We even watched the football playoffs on the big screen.


We did the hot tub again.  Then off to bed.

Some days we took cheesy cruise pictures like this one.  We did NOT buy these.  :0



Our last day on the cruise was also a day at sea.  It was warm and sunny but so windy.  We hid out under cover to avoid the wind that day.


For breakfast I decided to try the fun French toast in the dining room.  It was covered in frosted flakes!  Mike had steak and eggs.  Hayden had his favorite mac n cheese.

The kids went to kids club that morning and enjoyed the activities, especially the magician and making t shirts. 

We relaxed on deck again.


The hot tubs were busy that day but we managed to squeeze in.

We enjoyed the chocolate buffet at lunch.  Lots of cake for us. 

We rode the water slides for the last time.



Here is a funny picture of Hayden and Bryton fighting over the wheel on the slides.  They were either best friends or fought like brothers. 

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Later Took some naps. 

The kids stayed in the kids club that evening until late so we went to some game shows and gender wars.  And had our last late night pizza and ice cream. 

We saw a beautiful sunset.


And got these good pics.



The next day we were the last ones called off the boat since we had a later flight. 

The kids were exhausted and slept the entire flight.  That has never happened in my five years of having them!  It was so nice.  We came back to cold temperatures and snow.  Yuck.


Overall we had an awesome time.  And hope to take the kids on another cruise in the future.  It was the perfect mix of family time, and alone time. 

Hopefully I will have the pictures from the islands up in a few days.


 

  
 




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Saturday, February 1, 2014

Our Caribbean Cruise


We went on a 7 day western Caribbean cruise in the middle of January.  We had a great time.  We met up with our friends and their little boy.  We went to 4 islands and had 2 sea days.  Our boat was the Carnival Dream.  It was the biggest ship we have been on so far (this was our 5th cruise first with the kids ).
We visited Cozumel, Mexico   Belize,   Roatan, Hondorus,   and Costa Maya Mexico. 

We flew into Orlando super early the day before our cruise (we had to get up at 4:15am).  The kids did good considering.   I saw a fellow soccer coach i know on our flight.  It was 35 degrees when we landed in Orlando.  What the heck!!!  We got a rental car and had lunch and went to the hotel.  Later took naps.  Then we got to visit Aunt Quinn.  Sadly I have no pictures of the kids with her.  I must have been tired!


We got some dinner and then watched a movie in her back yard.  Mike was sitting in one of her Adirondack chairs with Hayden and it broke sending mike backwards.  It was funny.  The kids were a little scared of her dogs.  They warmed up a bit but never did like the big one.  Amelia liked the cat though.

The next day we were off to the boat.  The kids were super excited.  We had to drop the rental car off and wait for a shuttle.  Then you go thru security.  Then you stand in line to check in.  Then you wait for your boarding number.  So it was hard for the kids.  The lines for lunch was crazy and we all quickly were getting cranky.  The kids wanted to swim but it was way too cold  Not even 50 degrees yet. 

We got settled into our room.  It was very big for a cruise room.  The kids enjoyed the ocean view window. 


Later we met up with our friends and went miniature golfing.  Hayden and Bryton quickly became friends.

We also played some foosball.


We went to the muster station safety drill and Amelia fell asleep.


We were signed up for anytime dining which worked out well during the week.  We waited for our friends the first night but had a miscommunication.  Then the wait was too long so we went to the buffet.  It was gross.  So now everyone was really cranky. 


Then poor Amelia got her fingers stuck in the elevator and had her skin ripped off.  Then she pooped in the tub. 


We did go in the hot tub that evening.  It wasn't really hot though.  Kids liked it.

They came back to the first of many towel animals.  They were always a hit.


So our first day was a little rough.  But the trip definitely got better.  Stay tuned for more!