Grand Cayman

Our second stop was Grand Cayman.  What a difference from Jamaica.  It is gorgeous and so, so clean!  It was the kids & my favorite island.  We got to swim with the stingrays & snorkel (Carter's favorite excursion!)  First, we took a relaxing boat ride . . .

to the famous "stingray sandbar". . .

 where we got to swim, feed, & interact with hundreds of Stingrays!  The water was warm, crystal clear, & only waist high.

We even came prepared with our waterproof video camera . . .  

 And we got some pretty cool underwater video . . .

 

And lots of great pictures . . .

 Lauren & Carter even got their first kiss!

 

If you kiss a stingray, you get 7 years of good luck.  So, we were all game!

 

  After that, we headed to the "coral gardens" & got ready . . .

to go snorkeling . . .

~ Taylor ~

~ Dave ~

 ~ Halli ~

 ~ Lauren ~

~ Carter ~

 ~ Lauren & Carter ~

 

 We all had a great time! 

 It was a perfect day. 

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! :)