Well, the anticipation of the last seven months is now at an end. This past week we went on our Caribbean cruise with my whole family. I think everyone is a little sad that it is over, however I believe we all had a blast. Here is a run down of the week...
Sat, Aug 25, Flying...
Jessi, AJ, Monica, Johnny, Marcus, Oliva, and I flew to San Juan via Atlanta. We flew all day long, but luckily the baby was very cooperative and played and slept on the planes. Once in San Juan we met my parents at the airport and went to a hotel for the night. My poor parents lost ALL their luggage, but I will let them share that story on their blog. Everyone except my parents went out to eat (at midnight) that night because we were starving. The official language of Peurto Rico is Spanish, so it made ordering a little tricky. Luckily everyone except Marcus and I knew some Spanish so we had translators.
Sun, Aug 26, San Juan...
Everyone except my little family went to church in San Juan on Sunday morning. (You parents who have ever spent a day flying with church falling at 9am the next morning will understand why we didn't go.) The seven of them split up into two cabs (they opted not to walk 3 miles each way in a place they were not so familiar with.) My parents driver knew immediately what building they were talking about and told the other driver where to go. The other driver must have misunderstood because AJ, Jessi, Monica, and Johnny all ended up at a Baptist service. They did find their way to the LDS church, luckily I think it was just down the street. They all attended sacrament in Spanish and then came back to the hotel to get ready to board the boat.
Mon, Aug 27, At Sea...
Monday was a sea day, as we needed to travel to the south end of the Caribbean islands. AJ tackeled his main goal of trip that first day, ice skating on the boat. He was also very excited to find out that the people in charge of ice skating were mainly Russians. (For those of you that don't know, AJ served his mission in the Ukraine and speaks both Ukranian and Russian.) He confused the people there by speaking to them in Russian, but then they enjoyed talking to each other for a while. (Most of the emplyees on the boat speak English as a second language, and usually just enough to communicate. I think it was nice for them to have a conversation with someone that involved more than, "What size skates do you need?") Luckily my parents bags made it to the boat about 30 minutes prior to sailing, so they didn't have to wear the same thing all week long.
Tues, Aug 28, Barbados...
I know Tuesday was a highlight for me. My parents rented a Catamaran for just our family all Tuesday morning. It had a net in the front of the boat that you could sit on and the waves would lap up on you while sailing. (Unfortunately the water was very calm that day so there was very little sea spray.) They also took us snorkeling at two different sites. The first had some beautiful fish and a shipwreck. The second, turtles. Olivia obviously couldn't snorkel, however at the second site I strapped on a life vest and took the baby into the water just behind the boat. She loved it! I wish I had had my camera with me, but it wouldn't have lasted long in the water. She was smiling and splashing and thought that it was just amazing. Just like a huge bathtub! Also on Tuesday night we went to an ice show on the ship. Due to the fact that I didn't have a baby monitor and I didn't want to go across the ship to check on the baby every 15 minutes or so during the show I decided to take her along. It was amazing! First of all the rink was much smaller than what you normally see. They had professional skaters who did the show. It was accompanied by lights and music and Olivia watched the whole thing in amazement. During the show there was a trick where the one guy flips a girl over him and she lands behind him (all while moving of course.) She slipped on the trick, and we later found out that when she slipped she broke her wrist! Ouch. No one had any idea though, they skated through the rest of the show like nothing had happened.
Wed, Aug 29, St. Lucia...
On Wednesday we were supposed to have a girls day doing a 'Scenery, History, and Art' Tour. We were so excited, and then it was canceled. I guess not enough people were as excited as we were. So instead we all walked into town and went shopping for a while. After a bit I decided to take the baby back to the boat because it was so hot. AJ, Marcus, and my dad all took a taxi up to the George F. L. Charles Airport later that afternoon.
Thurs, Aug 30, Antigua...
On Thurday everyone except my mom, the baby and I went Kayaking. Monica and Johnny even won a race against all the other kayakers. They all said that the water was just beautiful. Afterwards, we all met up and went into town again. Here, Marcus and especially AJ found one of the 'trip goals.' A steel drum. We also got the baby a maraca. We decided they should all start a band together. We also tried another of everyones 'ship goals,' rock climbing. They had a big rock climbing wall on the top deck of the ship. It was a lot of fun.
Fri, Aug 31, St. Maarten/St. Martin...
On Friday everyone except the baby and I went and did a canopy tour. It was a series of bridges, ropes, and zip lines up in the canopy of the trees. I think that everyone loved it. Again after the canapy tour we all met up and went shopping.
Sat, Sept 1, St Thomas...
Saturday was the last day of the cruise and you could deffinately feel it in the air. Everyone was a little sad for it to be over. That morning my mom and dad went parasailing in the harbor. Daredevils! We went shopping again afterwards.
We spent most nights together playing games and sitting on my parents balcony overlooking the ocean. It was so much fun to be with everyone. Our wait and room staff were all excellent. Every night our stateroom attendant would make something out of towels for us. We also learned some words and phrases in Indonesian. Our waiter was from Bali and we enjoyed learning things about his country.
Sunday as we flew home everyone was just exhausted.
