Jamaica

Our first port day was Montego Bay in Jamaica.  We arrived at 9:00 a.m. & left at 6:00 p.m.  We got up, worked out, had breakfast, then jumped on a bus . . .

 to go zip lining!

We all zip lined but Dave had the camera so unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of him!  But, I promise, he did it too!

 

Lauren . . .

 

Taylor . . .

 

Carter . . .  

 

Halli . . .

  It was a blast!  Afterwards, we headed downtown to browse through the flea markets & see the beach. 

We didn't stay long as we were hot & hungry.  Not to mention, all the locals were very pushy trying to get you to buy their merchandise which was a huge turn off.  We loved zip lining but Jamaica is not what we expected at all.  It is very ghetto & not the safest place for tourists.  I don't think I'd ever go back. 

 

We barely got back to the ship before it started pouring rain!

 

The kids headed off to hang out with their new friends while Dave & I took a nap!

I love vacations. 

Western Caribbean Cruise

 We took our kiddos on a much needed vacation last week!  We went on a 7 night Western Caribbean  cruise.  We had a great time & loved every minute.  We were able to board the ship at 12:30 Sunday afternoon.  We spent the rest of that day getting acquainted with the ship . . .

We were on the Carnival Magic.  It was huge & so much fun!

 

The kids were all in a cabin together & Dave & I had a cabin down the hall from them . . . 

 

  

The first 2 1/2 days we were at sea.  The kids all met friends & were busy swimming & hanging out at the kids club which gave Dave & I a lot of time to relax.  It was fabulous! 

 

The second night on the ship, was "formal night" so we all got dressed up for dinner . . .

 We all ordered lobster.  Yum!

They had family friendly comedy shows, adult only comedy shows, & magic shows that we went to every night as well.  It was just what we needed!  Next up, our day in Jamaica!

Funny Carter!

We were driving by the elementary school that my kids went to and the conversation went like this:

Carter:  "Hey Lauren, do you remember that school?"

Lauren:  "Of course I remember that school Carter."

Carter:  "That's the worst school ever.  It looks like a prison."

 

Me:  "No, it does not.  I don't see razor wire."

Carter:  "Well, it has double fences, just like prison."

Me:  "And how do you explain the playground?"

Carter:  "That's for all the crazy inmates."

Me:  "I've never seen a prison with a playground."

Carter:  "Well, it sure felt like prison."

 

Funny Carter!  I'm so glad he had such a great experience at his elementary school! :)

Spa Girl Triathlon

Last weekend, my friend Laurie & I . . .

did the Spa Girl Triathlon!  It was so much fun!  It was at the J.W. Mariott Resort & Spa in San Antonio.  We took our families and stayed Friday & Saturday nights.  The race was Saturday morning.  Laurie & I got up super early (5:00 a.m.) and headed down to get our "body markings". . .

(race numbers)

(our ages)

& fuel our bodies . . . 

The race didn't start until 7:00 a.m. but the transition area closed at 6:30 a.m. so you had to have all your stuff ready to go . . .   

We lucked out as it had rained the previous two days and most of Friday night.  We were worried we were going to have crappy weather but it turned out to be perfect.   

 Our next door neighbor, Mo (she lives right in between Laurie & I) was there too!  We didn't even know she had signed up & was doing it too!

~ Halli, Mo, & Laurie ~

The thing that made this triathlon so much better than previous tri's I've done is that we did not have to swim in the lake!  Instead, we swam (400 meters) in the lazy river at the resort . . .

It was so much better! 

 then we biked 10 miles . . . 

(Isn't this picture hilarious?!)

 And ran 2 miles . . . 

 Last year, 300 women participated in the race.  This year, there were 900 women.  We loved it and plan to do it next year too!

Laurie's husband, Gary, was the designated photographer (thanks Gary!) while Dave & the kids all slept in.  This is what they were doing when I got back to the room . . .

We spent the rest of the weekend chillin' with our families!

~ Katelyn & Lauren ~

It was a fabulous weekend with fabulous friends!