cruising the caribbean...

We just got back from an amazing, exhausting and sun-filled cruise of the Caribbean. It was a 7-day cruise with stops in Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and finally Cozumel. We got to see a hunted plantation, swim with turtles and dolphins and do some shopping.

We were on the Carnival Magic and I have to say, this ship was beautiful! It's only a few years old and one of the giants. We took both the girls and also my mom and aunt. We had adjoining rooms which was a lifesaver when the girls Annabelle was napping. Baby relish decided sleep was for the birds and she wanted to party. She had quite the fan club and wanted to get out to greet all her fans at 5 am every morning. Thankfully my mom was willing to take her to see her peeps. She would actually get annoyed if someone didn't give her googly eyes...rotten! I would even go to the bathroom alone and someone would know baby relish and ask me where she was....seriously! She has since let the air out of her big cute head and has realized napping and sleeping is a good idea. In fact, she slept the entire car ride home from Galveston to Dallas (5 hours).

Here are some of the pictures I captured during our adventure....


The girls on deck voyage day!


Annabelle and Sherry which she like to pronounce it more like "Cherry"...lol. Big thanks to my aunt for putting up with my crazy kids!


Sister!


Annabelle is quite the slide enthusiast...she will try any and all slides no matter the size. I think she went down this one at least 50 times and that was just the first day.


Here if a view of the Lido deck. For all those unfamiliar with crusing terms, the lido deck is usually where the pools and buffet areas are. We spent a lot of time here.


Everyday, they have a "drink-of-the-day" on the ship and one of the days it was a drink in a coconut monkey head...so we got one for Annabelle with a virgin pina colada. Her expressions are priceless sometimes.


Getting of the boat in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We then hopped on a bus to head over the the Rose Hill Plantation.


Rose Hill Plantation - you can read about it more here. This was a beautiful place even though it's said to be haunted. I wish we could have spent more time here, but the girls were not enjoying the heat so well.


Annabelle watching the carver put her name on the back of her turtle.


Saying goodbye to Jamaica.


On the ferry boat to get to shore looking back at the ship. We are now in the Cayman Islands.


Feeding the turtles at the Cayman Turtle Farm. This place was very cool. I loved seeing all the turtles and even holding the baby ones (see below).






Annabelle getting her hair braids. We should have done these in Jamaica or Cayman, but there was never a chance. We finally got them in Cozumel. She has never sat that still getting her hair done in her life. She is still strutting her stuff in these braids.


Getting her picture taken with an Aztec Indian...she's not sure what she thinks of this.

We ate lunch at Three Amigos and they had this giant chair for photo ops. I decided we needed to get some fun pictures of Harper since she was usually sleeping in her stroller for the fun parts of the trip. She liked to save her energy for her fan club on the boat...figures!





Annabelle showing me her braids.



We could not get her of this dang Zonky (donkey x zebra). Not sure if that is a real animal, but Annabelle was thrilled to be on it.


Seriously, we had to drag her off this thing.




Oh, yeah....Mr. Relish was there too. LOL



Favorite Moments:
1. Annabelle watching the glamorous shows at night. She had to take a nap in order to go to the show. She was absolutely mesmerized by the dancing, lights and singing. So was I.
2. Swimming with the dolphins. We weren't able to take pictures since we were all in the water and they wanted you to buy the pictures they took. That part was a bit annoying.
3. My mom not able to find me on the boat (I was on a deck in the shade with a sleeping Harper (finally) in her stroller while reading a book) and she went to the front desk to have me paged. Not only did they page me, they sent all security on an official man-hunt to find me. I had to write a statement that I was okay. This became the butt of many jokes the rest of the trip.
4. My mom winning over $2,000 in the casino and treating us to a game of bingo. Guess who won $120? She did!
5. Annabelle singing Tomorrow from Annie during our Muster roll call. We were required to meet at a designated muster location the first day on the boat. Our location was in a conference room that had a small stage. Annabelle took the pre-assembled audience of 100 people as an opportunity to practice her dramatic arts skills. I didn't get any pictures or video, but I will remember that moment forever!
5. Annabelle getting to sing karaoke this time to Tomorrow. There were strangers even recording her. We DID get some video of this! I love that she is so fearless!
6. Shopping and haggling with vendors in Cozumel. I'm ruthless! I got some beautiful dresses for the girls and jewelry for me.

Now it's time to get back to sewing, crafting and quilting! Next week is teacher appreciation week and I need to get started! If you are not family, and therefore, not obligated to read this blog post, I would love to say thank you for getting this far!

Melissa










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