Cruise 2014 with some of our Best Buddies the Lindquists

Cruise 2014! (June)  

After our cruise in 2011 we loved it so much that we started talking about our Cruise 2014!
And it totally happened. YAY!  

We went to some new places, did some fun stuff and hung out with some of our very best friends.  

(The picture below is kinda weird and smooth--it was the setting on my camera--not sure how many are like that :)

Our first 2 days on the boat were ship days. We filled it with eating the most amazingly delicious burgers (honestly...The Best), relaxing in perfect weather, and talking with great friends.  On Monday night we went to their HASBRO Show.  It was set up like a game show and they had giant versions of popular Hasbro games.  They started with Scattagories and asked for anyone on our side off the room who could think of something underground that started with the letter "T".  I jumped up and said, "The Tube" and boom!  One of the contestants!  Woo Woo  (I totally jumped up before I thought of anything...so Jess supplied me with the Tube...he's cool like that)

My team was so cute. It was an old man named Vincent, a cute young girl who was sooo mature and sweet, and 7 year old Ethan, (first words from Ethan were, "If we play any dodge ball I'm your man!")   We were the red team and our game was Connect Four.  But since it was giant we used bouncy balls and had to shoot from a certain line.  I didn't make any winning shots--but I did block the other team twice--so that was a pretty big deal :)  Just say'n  (both flukes--I'm terrible at basketball).  At any rate we totally won! YAY!  They pulled out giant cards that had Monopoly symbols on them (thimble, car, cannon.....and the such) and we were each supposed to pick one.  They each had an amount electrically fixed to them that no one knew.  I picked the Iron--because I always pick that one when we play--on account of it has a handle :)  So we sat down on the winners line and waited for other games to go on.

And what should happen next?  But my very own Jessica gets picked (2nd from left).  Woo Woo. She played a game where they had to run around and get into patterns with there team. And guess who won?  Their team did! Awesome.

Next they had all the winners come on stage and put their card into this big machine to see what the value was.  When I went up I had some giant amount so everyone after me kept getting sent down one after another.  Then Jessica was last.  (ha)  (Incidentally she'd picked the thimble because she's a sewer.)  Mine was the highest amount so the machine started shooting out fake money and it was really exciting :)  Woo woo!  So my prize was a $150 gift card for Hasbro games!  WHAT?  YAY! Cause here's the deal...me and the kids La-UV games.  Best prize ever!

Then the game show played all week on the tv's.  That's where this  pic was snapped for us by Jessica and Adam.

Tuesday we stopped at Half Moon Cay Bahamas.....now turns out this is an island owned by the cruise industry and so there wasn't much to actually DO on the island--but it was INSANELY beautiful!  Also so incredibly hot.  Jess and Adam went for a walk around the island to explore and jump off stuff, while Jessica and I tried to just relax--but ended up just hanging out in the water talking and laughing and dying of heat (it really was hotter then I've ever been)  Jess and Adam both had sunblock on but both got really burned this day.   

One of the reviews I found when I was trying to figure out what to do here said that this port should be skipped because you just become cattle.....they herd you off the boat, feed you, and herd you back on the boat.  And besides the beauty..that is kinda what happened here.  The line to get back on the boat was sooooooo long. Like I had to laugh out loud when we went to find the end of it to get back on the boat (they also scare you that you'll be left if you don't come at a certain time ya know?....) 

So I'd have to say that this place was probably the most gorgeous--but was the least climatic day of the whole week, and June was fairly....warm...there.  

But look how amazing this sand was?!!!!  It was perfect for playing in!  Adams Turtle was kind of awesome.  It's funny how in a place like this, when you are so happy that you don't have to worry about any of your small children drowning or needing diaper changes or getting sand in their eyes..... that you just would have LOVED to have your kids with you.  They would have loved it here!  But more so if it was October maybe...or December :)

Does that look like a magazine picture?  It totally does.  

That night we went to a piano bar that was on the boat.  This guy was INCREDIBLE!  He could play anything and had such a fun crowd around the piano.  Everyone was singing and laughing---very fun.

Day 4:

On June 11th (Jess' birthday :)  We were jet skiing in St. Thomas Virgin Islands.

Rick was our instructor.  We rented 2 jet-ski's between the four of us.  The guys drove on the way out, and girls on the way back.  SOOOOOOOO FUN!  Jess was going so fast and every bump I was scared for my life.  I think I was nervous/crazy laughing probably the entire time.  And he TOTALLY threw me off once by turning too sharp!  AH!  I should have just held onto him and taken him with me. Bwa ha ha--but that thought didnt' cross my mind--just, "Don't Die" did.  What do you do.
Now, driving that bad boy was an entire different experience!  I loved it...but I also wasn't incredibly amazing at it! HA HA. I dropped Jess once too....but not on purpose--just cause that's what happened. (he he--but that was okay) On the way back the waves were soooo much higher and it was a constant 'upward, and CRASH down below the wave' motion...each time I was sure I was going to wreck somehow or drastically shift the steering so that we'd somehow both hit a blade and die.  So instead I'd just stop the gas and so it was fast up.....then crash and stop, fast up.....crash and stop. I think Jess liked that part of his birthday the best.

(We're not in a gang like you're thinking---that's just the V.I. sign I guess :)
(side note--get this, we pay a bazillion dollars* to go jet skiing online before we get there. (*amount slightly exaggerated for effect) Then when we're meeting our instructor he tells us that he doesn't get paid at all. That he and the other guy that mans the booth only work off of tips and they have to share them......um......okay.....and we're supposed to tip them first....um....okay...so if we don't we get the crappiest tour ever probably. So,  we decided to pay a real good tip instead and just feel ripped off.  Vacations! :/

Ahhhh. So so so so beautiful!
We just relaxed and read and felt the warm sun afterwards (well, we meaning me and Jessica and Adam. Jess had had enough of the sun and was under the pavilion behind us.  He runs hot that one.

Found this guy just wondering around.
Well, Jess did. I was pointing out to him this teeny lizard  and he pointed off to this one in the distance. It's so weird to see them just lounging about.  They kinda scare me is all.

First Fancy night--woo woo.

I LOVE these chilled soups!!!!  They're my favorite appetizers of all! Chilled Fruit Soups!  This was strawberry.  I'd say it tastes like strawberries and cream...or melted cold ice cream.  Or heaven?  Whatever is in them, I love them!

This dancing looks pretty intense..ha!  100% or nothing :) That's Jess' style.

mmmmmmmm.....soooo good!

My 'After Dinner Slouch'..... I ate WAY WAY too much. (read: I ate way way too much EVERY SINGLE NIGHT--ha--YAY!)  And all of it was amazing.  And I'm not even sad about it.  Only I'm pretty sure I was maybe slightly sad at that moment.

Only a kind-of 'uncomfortably-pleased' kind of sad :).

He's pretty fancy.
(after watching their Diva's show.)

Day 5: Puerto Rico: Repelling, Off-roading, and Zip-lining

Here we go!

Jess used to instruct repelling so he zipped down with so much control and speed! It was pretty impressive.

We hiked into this cave..where we learned that bat poop is one of the main ingredients in mascara--so that's something everyone should know....and saw giant toads and bugs like this one....(so so gross)

that happened.

Zip lines...

 It was all very very pretty--not the most thrill seeking day (we're not that thrilled with zip lines --kind of slow most of the time it seems like) But it was an interesting tour and of course the company was great as always.  We love those Lindquists!

The last zip line was straight into their little restaurant area.  They had a meal prepared for us--and the food was SOOOOO good- I never knew there were so many different ways to make beans and rice and make them all delicious!

Plus they had this pet goat that was ADORABLE.  Cute cute cute.

On the way back home everyone was tired and hot and ready to get back on the boat. I really wanted to try another Puerto Rican dish called Mofongo  before we left. It didn't look like anyone else wanted to...and it was a bummer.  But them BAM!  Jess found a place right before we got on the boat and decided he wasn't tired hot and cranky (he maybe had to try really hard--and that's why that was so nice) and that we could stop and try this thing first.

So it's made out of fried mashed green plantains, mashed garlic, and....other stuff for that little bowl.  PLANTAINS! Isn't that kind of interesting?  So it's a savory type shell filled with any kind of pork, seafood, chicken--whatever.  It took a long time for them to make it, and wasn't my favorite thing ever? but I'm glad we stopped for it, cause that's what you're supposed to do in other country's right?  Eat their food?!  Yup.  Thanks Jess.

Day 6: Day at Sea
We filled it with ping-pong, eating amazing hamburgers, going down the water slide (surprisingly fast :) reading, laying in the sun talking (again--Jess was in the shade...), playing a giant game of Chess (Jess may have won...) and just relaxing.

Went to our second comedian show :)

And that night I ate frog legs......AHHH! Out of all the things I've ever eaten I don't think anything has weirded me out as much as these. All I could picture, as I was contemplating eating them, was the singing frogs on Meet the Robinsons.  Can  you believe how FROG LEG-ish they still looked? AHH! So so crazy.  In the end we all ate them and I'm sure they were delicious. But I couldn't take a second bite.  It was just....really strange....

And then games all night.  YAY!!! I LOVE GAMES!

....but also I got a little sleepy after it got real late... 

Nothing that a little hot cocoa and ice cream can't fix right up though. YAY for cruise food!  

(I like food a little mmkay? :)

Day 7: Paddle Boarding and Snorkeling in Grand Turk

We did a little shopping for the kiddos, 

ate a few new things: Fried Conch (kind of rubbery, but good-ish)

So I LOVED this.  The day was so nice, the ocean was awesome, and I really like paddle boarding turns out. Jess thought it was okay--not bad, but he has had his feet cut into so many times that he can't actually feel the bottoms of his feet that well anymore.  So he just kneeled and paddled most of the time.

This is my fancy snorkeling gear pose. (Cause that's how you feel when are actually wearing  snorkeling gear :)






Jess and Jessica snorkeling.  We found some really cool fish and had a really great time snorkeling. (Adam got at least 80% of the way thru without getting sick :)!  Way better then last time :)

  Our guide pointed out a Sea Biscuit on the ocean floor

and Jess dived down to get it.  Then we found one more as we were on our way back to the paddle boards to give to Adam and Jessica!  

(We brought it home for the kids...and then it broke a week later--(on account of we have 4 boys and sea biscuits are fragile hollow things.  But we were just glad it made it past the suitcase.)

 Goodbye Grand Turk!

Our cruise with Jessica and Adam was so so so fun and relaxing and funny and awesome.  We love these guys!

But, for all the fun we had--we were SOOOOOOOOOO excited to get home to the boys!  I was all about paying a couple hundred dollars to move our flight up (we had to wait till 7:00p.m. to fly home and we were off the boat by 9:00 a.m.....) but Jess talked some reason into me and we waited...... and waited and waited.....

The next morning with some of my boys! YAY!!!! LOVE THEM!  We were so so happy to see the kids again.  We love them lots turns out :)

They were a little (read: a lot) excited about the fact that I won the game show and we bought games right away.  Here they are when their stuff arrived!  

(Rhett isn't sad...he just had been in swimming lessons for 4 days and hadn't worn goggles...so his eyes are burning! Sad, sad, sad--but happy about the games right!?)

The boys in their Iguana shirts from Puerto Rico! 

They are adorable and we love and had missed them sooooooooooooo much.  We've finally decided that maybe cruises aren't just for grown-ups...maybe we'll bring a couple of those cuties next time. YAY! I can't wait for that day.