Freeport Bahamas

Our first stop was Freeport, Bahamas.

They had live music and a bunch of little shops for the tourists.

Ashlyn loved the vibe and danced away while we waited for the rest of our group to get off the boat.

Garrett spied "a real coconut" and decided he had to try to climb up and get it.

Victory!!  He found a guy in one of the shops to cut it open for him.

When the rest of our group was ready, we piled into a couple of shuttles to take us to a beach.  We were all hot and sticky and there was no air conditioning.

I don't remember the name of the beach we went to, but the thatch umbrellas and aqua water screamed tropical vacation!  The beach, like the port, was set up for the tourists.    There was a bar and music, over priced beverages, and locals trying to sell hats or purses to souvenir shoppers looking for something "authentic".  

The sand was hot, the water was warm and the air just barely warmer!

Everyone was all smiles and barely left the water.

Wes got out long enough to have his hair braided.

When we were all dried out from salt and sun, we packed up and took the shuttle back passed the run down towns and chain linked fences to the boat.

Let's Cruise

Paige seemed fine when she woke up and we decided it must have been a fluke.  Jeremy called in a prescription for some anti nausea medication just in case.

The kids were so excited to check out the boat!

 All of our rooms were pretty close to each other.  Jason and I put the three older kids in a room and had the little girls in with us next door to the big kids.  We set a few rules for kids.  1. Always have someone with you.  ALWAYS.  2. Never go to anyone's room that isn't in our group.  3. Have fun!

I think that is Jeff and the teenage girls dancing in the glass elevator!

At dinner the first night, they brought out a cake to celebrate Talli's and Jason's birthdays.  The kids loved being able to order anything on the menu!   Paige was happy to look around and watch all the commotion, but when a server or other passenger tried to say hello or talk to her, she scrambled into my lap!

Paige LOVED the towel friends we found in our room each night!

After dinner, we went back to our rooms to get our swim suits on so we could find an open hot tub.   After all the people telling her how cute she was or asking how old she was when we were in the elevator or in the hall, she wanted nothing to do with leaving our room!  I was a little bummed, but decided maybe it would be better to stay back and get unpacked and try to get her to bed early.  I sent Jason out to represent for us.

Our room was cozy (small),  but comfortable.

Paige was so happy to just jump on the bed and play with her towel friend.

After I got us unpacked,  I put a show on the DVD player for Paige and sat on the balcony and watched the waves as we pulled out of the port.

Getting There is Half The Battle

We were so excited to finally take the kids with us on a cruise!  We love our time as adults, but always miss the kids when we are gone and think about how much they would love some of the places we have been.  This time, we were meeting some of our favorite friends in Florida and taking them with  us on a Caribbean Cruise!

I felt like a circus show as people watched our family of seven navigate through the airport!

   

Austin was so helpful with Paige.  I love how cute he is with her.

I was worried about taking a 2 and 5 year old on a 5 hour flight, so I bought lots of little activities and snacks.  Each of the kids had their own snack bag and backpack with things to entertain themselves.  We put the three big kids in a row, Paige next to me on one row and Ashlyn next to Jason on another row.  It worked out really well.

Paige was entertained for over an hour with the molding clay!  The kids were great on the flight!

We all had reservations through Magical Memories for two bedroom condos.   When we finally found it, it was not at all what it advertised to be!  I think it was someone's actual condo!  We were in a sketchy part of town and the condo was old and gross!  We all decided we were not staying there and found the closest Embassy Suites!  I don't think they knew what they were getting into with so many kids excited to see each other!

We stayed up visiting until we couldn't keep our eyes open and called it a night.  We googled the nearest church building and found out what time sacrament meeting was for the next morning.  We arrived at the church, filed in and found some seats near the back.  We took over a couple of rows.  The speakers were great.  One was in Florida on a summer internship and the other was a student.  It was unusually quiet during the meeting.  We started looking around and realized there weren't any other kids.  As the meeting was almost over, we realized we were in a single adult ward!  Oh well!  I hope our kids weren't too disruptive!

We stopped at Target to pick up some last minute things.  I just kept smiling as I would pass my friends pushing their red cards through the isles!  I missed those faces!  It was so fun to see the teenage girls run off to try on clothes and the boys laugh together while they wandered aimlessly, just killing time.   Some how we managed to leave with carts full of stuff.

Paige didn't have a lot of energy in the evening and rarely left my arms.  It was hard to know if she was just tired from traveling and not sleeping in her own bed or if she wasn't feeling well.    Just before bed, she threw up.  She didn't throw up very much and she didn't seem to have a fever, but we couldn't tell if we were trying to convince ourselves that she wasn't sick or if it really was just a coincidence that she seemed tired that evening and her burp was more than she bargained for.  We didn't know what to do.  We were supposed to get on the boat for our cruise the next day.