Day 7-8: Day at Sea and then Home Sweet Home!

Saturday was a lazy day at sea. We tried to sleep in but for some reason it never seemed to work...We went to breakfast....by the way the most awesome part cruising is the full breakfast. I hardly ever cook a big breakfast at home so it's nice to enjoy it when you are on vacation....sorry honey!

That night we decided since it was the last night we would all dress up again one last time and take some pictures of each other since the ship was no longer taking formal portraits. We enjoyed a fantastic dinner in the main dining room (this night was probably my favorite....everything on the menu was delish and all my favorite things I would order at a restaurant back home). We said our last goodbyes to our wonderful waitstaff and I wondered if they would come home with us....lol. We also enjoyed one last performance by our new buddies, The Mickey Utley Band. They were fantastic as always and we shut the place down. We even brought some cornmeal from the dining room for the dance floor.....funny story but the previous nights we and everyone else complained about how sticky the floor was. It was almost impossible to dance and so we all joked that we really needed some cornmeal or something to put on the floor. Our last night in the dining room I thought Chad was kidding when he asked Miheala if she had some cornmeal. She gave him a very funny look and asked what we needed it for. He explained and a few minutes later she came back from the kitchen with a cup of cornmeal! It was so hilarious when we all showed up at High Notes and showed the band what we brought. We weren't the only "regulars" on the ship that came to hear the band every night and every one of them asked why we hadn't brought the cornmeal earlier in the week....lol.

We got into port early Sunday morning and once we got through customs we were on our way back to Carter and Laura's so they could drop us off to get our car and our dog. We then headed on to Palestine to meet up with Mom and Dad to pick the kids up. I felt like such a mom when I cried part of the way home just looking at the kids. Kyleigh's top 2 teeth began coming in while we were gone and it made her look completely different. Cooper was so excited to see us that it just warmed my heart. I can't believe our kids are growing up this fast.....

We appreciated SOOO much the ride back and to Carter and Laura for taking care of Maggie Mae all week! I know how much she enjoyed playing with her cousin CuCo. I also have to say a humongous thank you to MiMi and Pop for taking care of our little angels. We wouldn't have been able to enjoy our vacation as much as we did had you not taken time out to spend with your grandchildren.....we love you so much!

Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico

Cozumel is like the token place for cruise ships. I have been to Cozumel on almost every cruise I've been on. BUT, I actually love it and it's one of my favorite places to go. The shopping is AH-mazing and we love LOVE to eat fabulous mexican food at Panchos Backyard. We decided that we wouldn't book an excursion in Cozumel because we had made our minds up that we wanted to go to the beach and then go eat. Almost every night on the ship, there was a country band, The Mickey Utley Band, that played in a bar on the top of the ship. They appropriately named it "The Country Bar in the Sky" or something like that. We loved their music and went to hear them every night. We kind of became their groupies and every night they would play their new single, Cry Like Memphis, and dedicate it to us...lol. It was such a great song and I really hope he is on his way to making it big! Point to saying all that is this.....We got to know them pretty well and so they suggested we go to San Francisco Beach Club in Cozumel. They had been there several times so we trusted their suggestion.

I'm glad we did because we had an amazing time and the people there were awesome. Because this was becoming the "adventurous" vacation we decided to do one last hurrah and go parasailing. It's something I've always wanted to do but never had the guts to go through with it because well I'm afraid of heights! Amy convinced me I had to do it so I agreed once Daniel said he would do it with me. Chad and Kellie decided to do it as well because neither one of them had done it either. I'm glad I did it because it was beautiful and there's no better way to see the gorgeous blue and turquoise water than from the air. BUT I will NEVER do it again!!! I was so scared and they all thought it was hilarious so when they were wheeling us back in to the boat Chad thought it would be funny to tell the guy to dip us in the water. I on the other hand did not find it as funny.....

After we finally made it back to shore, we caught a cab over to Panchos Backyard where we enjoyed some wonderful mexican food and delicious margaritas. After lunch, we caught a cab back over to the port where we finished up our day with some shopping before getting back on the ship. It was such a great day and we all decided we should do a vacation someday just in Cozumel!

Day 5: Belize City, Belize

The next port of call was Belize City. From what we researched and read online, there wasn't much to see in Belize City. Belize is made up of several different private islands so you have to take a boat to go anywhere that you would want to go. We decided to book an excursion through the ship which took us to Bannister Island. It was a quaint island where we could kayak, lay on a float, or enjoy a relaxing swing in the hammock. They had a bar area and a place where they were cooking but since our excursion was so early (we had to be downstairs ready to get on the boat at 7:45 am) and would be coming back to the ship by lunchtime, we decided we would just eat for "free" on the boat.

The water was beautiful there and we could see several feet down. It seemed like cold bath water. We all decided to keep our adventurous spirits going and go kayaking. None of us had ever done it before so I thought it would be interesting to see if we could balance the kayak without falling out! It also enticed me to do so once I heard that close to the island was a popular hangout for manatees. Sadly, we saw no manatees so I'm not sure if the guy was telling me the truth or just feeding me a line of bull so I would get in the kayak. Even so we had a great time and spent the rest of the morning laying in the hammocks and on the floats in the water.

Up next....our last port of call, Cozumel, Mexico

Day 4: Roatan, Honduras

Roatan was our first stop on the cruise and Amy had booked us a driver for the day who took us ziplining in the jungle, sightseeing, to a beautiful beach, shopping, and then back to the ship at the end of the day. I must say that I was more than nervous about the ziplining. The older I get the more afraid I have become of heights but I knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so I agreed to brave it! I am so glad that I did.....it was AH-mazing! You are so SO high up and can see so much and it's strange to say but it's almost peaceful as you are gliding through the air on these cable lines. The real trick I found out was stopping yourself so you wouldn't run over the men trying to help you get from cable to cable. I figured that out on the second run because I pretty much clobbered the guy.....he laughed thank goodness.

We went from ziplining to a beach club called Las Rocas. The people there were so nice and we ended up having lunch there as well. We enjoyed just lounging and walking the beach to see what we could find. We also decided to have a little photo shoot...ha. After enjoying the beach for a few hours, our driver Lincon took us way up on top of this mountain that overlooked almost all of Roatan. It was beautiful up there and we were able to see this amazing private island where he told us the mayor lived. He also told us there was a zoo on the island! After taking a few pictures of the beautiful scenery, we headed back towards the ship. We stopped off at a few little shops and I was able to find Kyleigh the cutest little mexican dress that she can wear next summer. I was even able to negotiate the price down to almost 1/2 what was marked! I love being able to make deals.....only in foreign countries are you able to do that!

Stay tuned for Day 5: Belize City, Belize......

Days 1-3 of Caribbean Cruise 2011

We booked this cruise months ago and the time had finally come! I was more than excited to get away for a week of R&R with the hubs and great friends! We dropped the kids off on Saturday with MiMi and Pop, headed back to College Station to pick up Maggie Mae, and then went on to spend the night in Pearland with Carter and Laura.

Sunday was so nice because we were able to relax and enjoy the morning with Carter and Laura before it was time to head over to the port. Amy, Clifton, Chad, and Kellie picked us up at their house and the 6 of us headed over to check-in and load on the boat! Check-in was not so bad because the line moved pretty quickly. Once we were on the boat we checked everything out before going up to top of the boat to eat lunch. We then decided to relax on the lounge chairs and do a little "people watching". There is something about people watching on a cruise ship. You will see anything and everything.... We enjoyed a nice dinner that night in the main dining room where we met our waitstaff for the week, Sylvester and Mihaela. They were great and we really enjoyed getting to know them throughout the week.

The next couple of days on the ship were pretty much spent laying by the pool and getting a tan as it took us two days at sea to get to our first port, Roatan, Honduras. We also had our first of two formal nights where we got all dressed up, took pictures, and enjoyed a really nice dinner in the main dining room. Stay tuned for all the excitement of Roatan!