Cruizin'

We're back from our week long caribbean cruise aboard the Caribbean Princess with Clark and Martha, Mike, Amber, Davis and Sam. We made stops at the Princess private island, Princess Cays, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, and Cozumel, Mexico, plus 2 whole days at sea. If you've never been on a Princess cruise, you don't know what you're missing! I'm not just saying that because I work for them, this was my second one with Princess and Clark and Martha's 3rd. The service, the food and the ship are all first class. Austin would say that the "Fun Zone" or Pelicans Perch for children 0-5 was first class! He begged to go there everyday, sometimes a couple of times a day!

We had a balcony cabin which was wonderful! It was so much bigger than I imagined it to be. It was so nice to have the extra outdoor space. Every morning we would have a small continental breakfast brought to us and eat out on the balcony. Every night Steve and I would sit out there and talk and read the Princess Patter for the next day and find out when, where and what was going to be happening on the ship. We also received shopping guides with maps for each port we were stopping at that also told us about taxi's, pricing and security.

The ship has a giant outdoor LCD movie screen over the pool that plays movies all day and late into the night. One night we watched Happy Feet and ate hamburgers, pizza and ice cream. We have this movie at home and knew Austin would get a kick out watching it outside and with some of his favorite foods!

Austin really had a good time playing with his cousin Davis who is 2. They both really love cars, trucks and trains. Dylan also enjoyed meeting his 6 month old cousin Sam. It was obvious the two babies were excited over seeing another baby. They crawled on and around each other and tried to chew on each other(they're both teething)! They're favorite was trying to chew each others heads!

It rained part of the day in Ocho Rios and almost all day in Grand Cayman. Steve and I climbed up Dunn's River Falls which was really cold so when it started to rain at the end it was actually warmer than the water in the water falls. The people on that island were so very nice and accommodating. There were no pushy people, nor did we ever feel unsafe. When we got back from the falls, Steve went back onto the island and shopped with Austin in tow. He said everyone was gaga over Austin and his blonde hair and blue eyes. One lady wanted to take him home and when Steve told her his wife would have something to say about that, she said in a very Jamaican accent, " we know who runs the family, Mon".

On Princess Cays(pronounced keys) we all rented a bungalow/cabana which was way down away from the hussle and bussle of the rest of the crowds coming off the ship. We had an air conditioned room w/ a table and chairs. Outside we had a fresh water shower to rinse off salt water. We had our own waiters that brought us drinks and loads of food. We were right in front a beautiful reef with lots of beautiful fish. Amber and I went snorkling together and it was so relaxing. We just let the current take us around the reef. It was so peaceful.

Since it rained most of the day we were in Grand Cayman, I chose that to be my spa day. The Lotus Spa on the ship is fabulous and I had one of the best pedicures ever, while there.

Years ago Steve and I went to Cozumel and while there we went to Xcaret which is an eco-archeological park. It was just beautiful. We knew we wanted to go back this trip. I'm so glad we finally convinced Clark and Martha to come with us. The park has really come a long way since we were there ten years ago. They've added so much more. We first took a guided tour to see animals such as the endangered Scarlet Macaws, a Puma, Spider Monkeys, the biggest Tapier I've ever seen and many more. The guide also showed us some ruins contained within the park (there are alot more within the park) and told us about them and then he took us through the butterfly pavillion which was beautiful. We then went swimming in the underground river that runs through a series of caves that sometimes open up to the outside. It's a very slow moving river so we took the kids. Dylan did really well until the very end. Austin loved wearing a life jacket for the first time. He was spinning in circles. The only floating device he's ever used before that was a swim board. I guess that's why he's such a great swimmer, however he didn't want to let go at first while wearing a life jacket because he didn't get the concept. Afterwards we ate lunch then went to see the Dolphins, the aquarium and then the Sea Turtles. There were tanks containing little bitty baby Sea Turtles all the way up to big giant tanks with giant Sea Turtles. What I found most exciting and Steve found very frightening was there were no barriers for the Sea Turtle tanks or the Stingray tanks, you could fall right in. This gave great perspective.

The caribbean was very hot and beautiful. We're having a hard time being back with no one to wait on us, prepare and serve us food, do dishes. What a rough life, being common people again! In the 9 years we've been married we've only had 3 real vacations(this was #3) that didn't include flying and driving all (and i mean all) over Texas. Therefore, I feel like we needed to do this for ourselves and should continue to try and do this in the future. Plus, it doesn't hurt that I get a great deal through my work. So do all my friends and family, if there are any takers out there!