Wrapping it Up: Caribbean Cruise Part 3

Family Pictures

{Caroline is getting so tall}

I think I'm still the tallest!

Cozumel Mexico was Caroline's favorite stop.  We went to a great splash park that was just the right size for her. 

Still rocking her Valentines glasses from the Hendricks family! They really came in handy this trip.

The place we went to was all inclusive so we ate a great fajitas and real authentic hot sauce. 

I stopped counting the number of times she went down that slide by herself. We stayed and played until nap time and then headed back to the ship.

The rest of the crew went to either the tequila tasting or golfing and had a great time.

By about the 3rd night our waiter brought strawberries and carrots out immediately for Caroline and then about 10 minutes later a plate full of fries and chicken fingers. 

"Does this hat make my head look small?"

She went shopping with mommy on the ship. They actually had a few shops that some cool shops in them.  My dad ended up buying his sons -n- law watches.

My Uncle Jim goes to Haiti about once every 3 months for an organization he and my aunt Carrie started called Health for Haiti. His group is building a hospital there.  He takes other doctors and they do preventive screenings, major and minor ER work for the Haitian people.

Very cool what he is doing but all that to say is he supplied the Cigars this trip from Haiti.

On Saturday a few of us entered a 3 on 3 basketball tournament.

First game:

Chris, Eric & Jordan

Vs

Dondi, Kyle & myself

I was sucking wind and walked away with a monster bruise on the top of my right leg but over all we all played really good.  Chris, Eric and Jordan edged us out and probably won't let us forget it anytime soon.

Bad losers: Worse winners

We spent the last warm hours of Saturday on the deck playing outside.

and again drove the arcade games.

Caroline was funny she had Lolly blow on the veggies because she kept telling us the veggies were "hot". 

That night we stayed up way too late talking with my cousins but it was worth it!

 Sunday we got up early and departed the boat.  We flew home and Caroline got her own seat on both flights. We made it home safely and Pip was glad to see us.  She hasn't let us out of her site since we got back- afraid we won't come back I guess.  

It was a great Christmas with the family!  We all had so much fun!!

Excursions: Caribbean Cruise Part 2

We woke up on Christmas day and won't you believe it Santa came! He brought Caroline some art supplies, an Elmo ornament and 2 books!

We docked in Jamaica and headed to a beach. Jacee and I made snowman in the sand to make it feel more like Christmas.  Instead of a top hat we garnished his head with seaweed.  Caroline finally warmed up to the water.  It wasn't like the ship pool or the the bathtubs she is used to so she was a little reluctant to dive in.

Her favorite thing was to fill her cup up with sand.  I let her use her Elf on Shelf cup {Her favorite cup to drink milk out of} because it could hold more sand.  Sadly Elf on Shelf was left on Red Strip beach by accident. Maybe some crab made it his new comfortable home.

Caroline didn't meet the age requirements for a lot of the strenuous excursion but most of the family went on the Jamaican bobsled! Apparently it was this ridiculous fast roller coaster down the Jamaican landscape.

My Mom always in the Christmas spirit! When we got back on the ship we took Caroline back to the arcade and another round of putt-putt.

Don't worry we didn't spend a dime at the arcade- Caroline was just happy to push buttons and steer.

All the family for Christmas dinner!

The next day we were in the Grand Caymans and went to a turtle farm. Caroline thought the turtles were pretty cool.  Our guide told us they were like Crush on Finding Nemo. These turtles in that tank were about 60 to 70 years old. 

Chris got a chance to hold the turtles & Caroline got chance to pet the turtle.  The turtle sanctuary had a couple of other marine life in tanks.  One was a shark!  That's all Caroline could talk about the rest of the trip.

There were wild chickens running around everywhere.  We went on a hike and started hearing rustling in the bushes.  All of a sudden 2 fighting chickens emerges and scared us {Better then a black bear though!!}

Princess Kiss!

When we got back Lolly played with us in the afternoon. 

Another round of golf and drove the cars

 Tanner is going to school to be a vet so there are not a lot of animals that scare him so when given a chance to hold a python he jumped at the chance!

 Caroline helped Jacee during a song trivia game. 

After hours:

Chris and I would put put Caroline to bed and lay in bed and read.  I read the Divergent series {my students have been talking about it} & Chris read Count of Monte Cristo.

  Lolly would stay out as late as she wanted, then would get ready for bed and come and stay in the room with Caroline while Chris and I ran and played.

Every night all the cousins {Chris and I included} played cards, went to all the game shows and karaoke nights, and just hang out and laughed till my sides hurt.

Dondi and Kylie - Eric and Jordan auditioned for the Newly wed game show by making out in front of everyone.  Dondi played Minute to Win it.  Jacob sang karaoke 2 nights. Eric was on the list to sing Garth Brooks & Jacee was going to sing Ace of Base 'I Saw the Sign' but they both ran out of time.

Tanner and Jacob played battle of the sexes.

I ended every night with a chocolate milk shake from Johnny Rockets!