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!