Our Cruise

This month Johnathan and I celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. We try to do something big every 5 years, and this year we decided to try a cruise. We really wanted to go to Hawaii, but the Caribbean was about half the cost, so we went with that one. (Hopefully Hawaii will happen in 5 more years) We had such a fun time!

My mom stayed at our house with the kids so they wouldn't miss school- THANK YOU MOM! She got to see how crazy her grandkids are in "real life"... Okay, actually just how crazy Jacob is. The other two are usually pretty good. When we got back, she even admitted she was TIRED by the end of the week. I felt a little justified for feeling tired every day. I should also thank Julieann and Jamie because they helped out a lot too!

Here's a run-down of our cruise on the Norwegian Pearl. We flew to Miami and set sail on Sunday. On Monday we anchored off the cruise line's private island in the Bahamas and we had a beach day and snorkeled, if you could call it that. The water was so murky you couldn't see anything, and I was trying to not hyperventilate- I have a fear of dark water and not being able to see what's in there with me...

Our HUGE cruise ship

Us in the Bahamas- Isn't the water BEAUTIFUL
I was so amazed at the color of the water

Tuesday was a day at sea. Wednesday we stopped in Jamaica. For our excursion we kayaked in the Caribbean over to Dunn's River Falls. Its basically a river waterfall that people hike up and play in along the way. We had a lot of fun until we met all the Jamaicans that try to sell you everything and are VERY overbearing about it.

The Falls we just hiked up

At the top

A Beautiful Caribbean sunset

Thursday, which was Johnathan's birthday, we stopped at Grand Cayman. We got to drive Jeep's and tour around the island. We saw a beautiful view of the ocean, the rum cake factory (woo hoo...), and Hell (an actual place on the island where you can send postcards from- Haha). After that we went to the beach where Johnathan convinced me to try snorkeling again. This time the water was crystal clear and I was able to do it! It was really fun to see all the fish. I was sure I wouldn't like it, but I actually do!

Johnathan's b-day present- driving a Jeep
Now he wants to buy one even more

Friday we stopped at Cozumel Mexico. Our excursion this day was riding 4-wheelers through the "jungle" and then going to the beach. I was most excited about this excursion, but was quite disappointed with it. We went really slow because we had to stay in a line and the road was super bumpy. We were supposed to see a Mayan ruin, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. We saw a cenote, which is a deep water hole the Mayans used for water. They would also sacrifice people in it. Then we saw a Mayan hurricane shelter, an underground cave. After that we went to the beach and snorkeled again. Johnathan followed a sting-ray around in the water and then found a conch shell in the ocean. We snuck that baby home!

I seriously LOVE the color of the water!

Now he can say he wrestled an alligator

Johnathan says I looked like a gangsta!

I learned I have super crazy Caribbean hair. I COULD NOT keep
it under control. I finally just gave up...

Saturday was another day at sea, and Sunday we returned to Miami. It was such a relaxing trip and we are glad we got to go. I'm glad I didn't stress at all about kids at home, like I normally do.
We decided we really like cruises and can hardly wait till our next one! If anyone is thinking about doing one, DO IT! I think you'll love it!