Cruise!

Well, reality is finally hitting, after our F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S seven night Caribbean cruise to celebrate our 5 year anniversary and indulge in a much-needed break from the boys!  We had a wonderful time together, reconnecting with each other, resting, and spending time with our good friends, Matt and Kris Thulson, who work on the cruise ship we sailed on…

Here is a brief photo tour of our trip…

5 years later, I still love the guy more than words can express…he makes me laugh, what can I say?? 

One of the best parts of the trip was spending time with Matt and Kris.  We’ve only seen them for brief periods over the past few years, so to have 7 days with them was wonderful! 

Sailing out of Miami, tropical drinks in hand!  I had more pina coladas that I’m willing to admit…I don’t know what it is about them, but I instantly relax while drinking a pina colada or a strawberry daiquiri!

Hans in front of the ship, the Carnival Valor.  Reily keeps saying “You went on big boat?”  Yes, it was a big boat!  “I want big boat!”  Hmm…maybe another cruise is in our future…this time with the kids!

A photo of us on the first formal night…we both had lobster…and Hans also had prime rib.  That’s in addition to the other 4 courses they served us…we definitely weren’t shy about asking for more food!  When the dining is all inclusive, and it’s food we don’t normally eat, I feel justified!  (I also came home with 10 more pounds than I went with!  Oops!)

All dressed up! 

I tried to get Hans to go down the 3 story waterslide in his suit, but unfortunately it was closed…

  

We also did a lot of sleeping and napping!!  That’s what vacation is for, right?  Truly, one of the best parts of the trip was being able to do WHATEVER we wanted, and not catering to a child’s schedule and needs.  It was fantastic to sleep in, stay out late, and nap in between!

Kris is one of the entertainment staff that does all of the games and activities on board, and Matt is a drummer, so we had fun sitting in the front rows for all of the shows and cheering them on!

Hans even got to play in the Battle of the Sexes game show that Kris officiated…

And we did all of the other typical cruise ship activities that we could never dream of regularly because we are used to having kids plastered to our legs, or because we’re too poor/cheap to hire babysitters regularly…like:  Bingo, the Vegas-style shows, comedy acts at midnight, the casino, the martini bar, the disco (dancing didn’t last very long, we’re not very good!), the piano bar, listening to all of the bands, the coffee shop, mini-golfing, the pools/hot tubs and slide, the 24 hour pizza and ice cream, the Chocolate Buffet (my favorite!), room service (multiple times!), etc… 

We traveled to four different ports of call…we agree that cruising isn’t the best way to actually travel, but for a vacation, it’s great!  Thanks to my wonderful Dad who gave us an incredibly generous anniversary present, we were able to do a ton of really fun excursions at the different places.  THANK YOU GRANDPA JIM!!!!!! 

We went to Grand Cayman first…the water was GORGEOUS!

We went to a turtle “farm” (a conservation place for turtles where they breed them and the release them into the wild) and got to hold the baby turtles…

Their shells were so intricate, they were beautiful!

Of course when I held the turtle it started flapping around and trying to jump out of my arms! 

When I cruised when I was little, we stopped in Grand Cayman and went to Stingray City, a sandbar out in the middle of the ocean with clear water and tons of stingrays that you can swim with and touch, etc.  They’re very tame and very used to tourists after so many years, but I wanted Hans to experience it too, since it’s one of my favorite memories as a child…

Getting some stingray kisses…

Of course we wanted to try some local food, so we found a little stand on the side of a road…I had jerk chicken (delicious!), and Hans had Conch…he said it was one of the best meals he’s ever had and he will remember it forever!  We give the little stand on the side of the road 5 stars!

Another stop was Belize City, Belize.  We took a bus for an hour to get out of the city and see Altun Ha, an ancient Mayan ruin site.  It was the one thing I really wanted to do since I’ve always wanted to see Mayan ruins…and it was awesome!  Deep in the jungle of Belize, the humidity and bugs almost killed me, but climbing to the top of one of the temples was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me!

     

After seeing the ruins, we took a boat ride down the river…we saw a ton of wildlife and animals, including crocodiles…

Howler monkeys (the picture isn’t very good, but you get the idea!)…there were probably 5 of them in the tree, and they were all howling at each other…they were loud and it was such a cool experience to see monkeys in their natural environment!!

and Iguanas…

Another highlight of the trip was going to Isla Roatan, an island off of Honduras, and going snorkeling with Matt and Kris.  The reef is right off the beach, and it was my favorite place because it wasn’t too touristy. 

We saw tons of the most spectacular fish, they were absolutely stunning…and we also saw a barracuda, an eel, sea stars, and a school of jelly fish!  (Thankfully Hans and Matt swam away very quickly and didn’t get stung!)

Hans having a little too much fun with the sea stars…

Riding in the cab back to the ship…

We also stopped in Cozumel, Mexico, and spent the day hanging out with Matt and Kris and doing a little shopping.  They took us to a restaurant that they like, and you could literally get up from your table, walk down some stairs, and go snorkeling off the back of the restaurant!

Here we are snorkeling…there was an old plane wreck in the water from an old movie they filmed there…it was cool to see the wreckage and the fish who were swimming around it!

The Three Amigos!

    

Enjoying the sunset…Matt and Kris got to eat with us in the dining room one night, and we got to hang out with them the entire night afterward!  They celebrated their 2 year anniversary while we were on the ship, and it was fun to be able to spend it with them!

Playing cards in the library one night…

And eating the scrumptious dessert that we shared!  I think I’ll always need to eat dessert while playing cards…it makes it twice as much fun!

On the last day we took a tour of Miami before our flight home…this is the infamous “Miami Beach.”  It was okay, I guess…I probably wouldn’t go there again…unless it’s to take another cruise!              

Well, hope you enjoyed the highlights of our trip!  It was so wonderful to get away…it was nice to come home to the boys, but if we could take a week to ourselves every year, I’d do it in a heartbeat!

Much, much thanks to everyone who watched the boys!  They were so well taken care of, and everyone said they did well while we were gone…I’m not sure if they’re lying to me, but I’ll take it!