Grandparents are The Best

The kids went to the grandparent's house over the long weekend in September.

As always they had a great time doing all the things they can't do at home. like watch endless T.V. drink lots of soda, eat lots of ice cream and strawberries and stay up late.

They each had to pick a dinner to help prepare.

Marisa helped grandma sew teddy bears to donate. And grandma helped Ezra re-stuff his pillow.

Roman helped fix up the Hymn Books at the camp.

Then we all met up for a family dinner on Monday night.

It has been so nice to have them close by to play with the kids and us now and then.

First Day of School 2018

They are off!

Ezra is in 4th grade

Marisa is in 6th grade

Roman is a Freshman! Holy Cow!

The kids decided to be twins with their friends. So far they are having a great year.

Trip of a Lifetime

So, I decided that I wanted to spend some of my mom's life insurance money on a family vacation. Not just any family vacation, but a good, long, fun one.

Mission accomplished.

We decided on a cruise from San Juan Puerto Rico down the West Indies and back. It was great. Let me tell you.... and show you about it.

We arrived in San Juan Sunday morning after a grueling red-eye flight. Oh I hate those!

We dropped our bags and set out on foot to Old San Juan.

It was HOT! It was like my clothes were melting on to my body. It was also windy so we look pretty beat up in the pictures, but oh well.

We started along the old city wall.

From there it was to the El Morro Fort. This fort is on the coast, surrounded by large grassy fields. It was kind of amazing!

From there, we walked to the other corner of Old San Juan to San Cristobel Fort

By this time we sufficiently sweat soaked and hungry so we headed back to the boat and checked in so we could eat some food and start the party.

Of course the food is one of my favorites.

Monday, our first stop, was St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. 

Our first adventure was a van ride to Magen Bay. (you can see it down below)

The water was gorgeous and warm, the sand was lovely, and we had the place nearly to ourselves.

We saw fish, turtles, hermit crabs etc. and two hours flew by. 

From there, our ride took us to Paradise Point, where we rode a tram to the top of the hill for some great views.

By that time,we were starving so we rode the tram back down and walked back to the boat. St Thomas was great! So pretty!

The rest of our day was spent on the boat. The kids went to the kids clubs, we took naps and enjoyed the food of course.

At dinner we always tried the exotic fare. This night it was rabbit and lamb. 

We also watched Hasbro the Game show that night. Despite trying really hard, we didn't get picked to play.

The next day was our one day at sea. We took advantage by sleeping in. 

After breakfast we tried to play mini golf, but it was TOO windy! So we tried to swim and I guess that was a popular idea because it was too crowded.

After lunch, Ezra decided to swim anyway.

That night the kids opted out of the dining room because they were afraid I would try to make them eat Lobster. LOL. 

After dinner Roman and I went to the comedy show while Ezra and Marisa took advantage of the empty swimming pool. They swam for almost two hours!

Roman endured a show with me before heading to the teen center for the evening, 

You know.... I don't care for day at sea days. But this one wasn't too bad.

The next morning we woke up in Barbados. This was the surprise of the cruise for me. I wasn't quite sure what we were going to do there, but I made a small plan and it turned out to be perfect!

It started with a taxi ride to Carlisle Bay.

We ended up on a beautiful beach with gorgeous pink sand that is as soft as flour! It was absolutely perfect!

We played in the sand, and the crystal clear water. 

Then we swam out to where paying customers were feeding the turtles and we had a great time (without spending a dime) watching the turtles and touching them as they glided past us. SO COOL!

we gathered all sorts of stinky coral before the storm clouds caught up to us. 

We decided to hoof it back to the boat instead of paying for a taxi. 

About half way back, the clouds let loose and it started pouring!

We got completely soaked! It was fun!

After getting back to the boat, drying off and eating lunch, Marisa and I headed back out to spend some money. 

Marisa got her hair braided which she loved because her hair was always out of her face and there were less tangles which was great when doing all this swimming and beach-ing.

Reality came for a visit while I did the laundry and everyone napped.

That night we had ox tongue at dinner. Ew!

The kids swam again in the evening when the pool was completely empty while Shane and Roman went to a juggling show. Then Roman headed out to hang with friends for the evening. What a great day! I can't get over that beach. I want to go back!

Thursday was spent in St. Lucia

This was the disappointment of the trip only because the really unique stuff was too far to walk to and too much hassle/money to want to pay to get to. I was bummed about not seeing the piton's up close and personal. Or scuba dive (I had this as a back up plan, but I must not have been too excited about it cause I forgot my certification card). Guess I'll just have to go back. ;)

We walked into to town. It was another cooker. SO HOT!

We shopped at the local open air market where we got most of our souvenirs. It was fun to let the kids experience the rows and rows and rows of basically the same things and of course, the bartering. 

We headed back and took advantage of a less full boat by swimming and eating, playing chess and going swimming. 

The younger kids also participated in the hula hoop contest and both won in their groups. 

We all went to the show that night, but everyone was tired so we put the younger kids to bed, Roman went off to play with his friends and Shane and I went to watch Karaoke to end the night.

Friday we woke up in St. Kitts. This was our most anticipated day because it was in St. Kitts that we had planned to swim with the dolphins. 

Oh my heck! This day did not disappoint! So much fun, if ever you get the chance to swim with dolphins. DO IT! It was magical! Shane didn't do it because we had read that you couldn't wear glasses, turns out you could, but he hadn't come with us so he missed out. DRAT!

We got to experience about 10 different behaviors with them including holding on to their fins while they swim, and being pushed by them while on a boogie board.  

Everyone loved everything about this and it was really hard to quit when our time was up. 

Along the way to the dolphins we saw the cutest green velvet monkeys and when we got back we discovered that many locals would bring their pet monkeys down to the cruise port and charge an arm and a leg to let you hold it. 

I found the cheapest one I could and the kids got to hold a monkey. Can you imagine something like that here in little old Utah. Someone charging you money to hold their pet for a few seconds. Ha! Oh well, it's vacation and there aren't any monkeys at home to play with. He was a cutie!

We met back up with Shane and did a little shopping before heading back to the boat. 

That evening we made Marisa and Ezra go to the kids club (they didn't really like it much) for craft time. 

Roman and I played a game of Yahtzee and almost won. Then we begged Shane to come help us with the 80's music trivia. He missed the first few songs so we didn't win, but would have if he had been there.

Then Roman and I played Sorry and totally smoked everyone! We won this awesome plastic trophy!

Then we headed outside to watch our neighbors on RCI set sail, then we watched ourselves leave port. Not sure why, but I love that part.

The kids then went to play mini golf while Roman headed to the teen center for their activities. 

That night at dinner we had Escargot! We washed it down with some Caribbean chicken wings. 

The younger kids went to the kids club for a movie while Shane and I went to a Latin Music show. 

Roman stayed out till 1:00. Crazy Kid!

St. Kitts was a winner!

How was it possible that our trip was almost over? I was worried 7 days would feel too long. It did not. I think having a new port to explore almost every day made the time just fly.

Saturday was our last full day of vacation. We spent the day in St. Maarten. 

We didn't have a plan for this day either, but I wanted to go to the Moho beach, so we asked about a taxi and it turned out to be borderline affordable so we did hopped in. 

We first went to Mullet Bay which is just around the corner and not quite as loud and crowded

The waves were a bit strong but we saw more cool things as we swam and snorkeled in the bay.

As Marisa and I puttered about we were able to spot a barracuda as well as a small octopus that was hanging out on a rock. It was so cool because at first sight it just looked like part of the rock, but both of us though "hmm... that rock almost looks like an octopus" under closer inspection, we saw one of it's tentacles pop out. I was amazed.

After a bus full of people showed up, we hiked about 1/2 mile to Moho Beach. This is the beach that is famous for being at the end of the airport runway. The airplanes come flying right over the beach when they are landing and give a nice blast when taking off.

We only saw a couple big planes and many little island hoppers but it was really fun!

From there we got a taxi ride back to Great Bay which was just a small walk back to the boat for a little souvenir shopping. 

I think because the waves were stronger at the beaches on this day there was sand EVERYWHERE. Seriously.... EVERYWHERE!!! I felt bad for our room steward who had to deal with all the sand we brought back with us. 

At dinner that night we tried some Alligator. 

Marisa and Ezra had another night with the pool to themselves and Roman enjoyed his last night with his new friends. 

The next day was all business with getting off the boat and heading toward the airport. 

There was a little excitement in Orlando with bad weather that forced us to land in Tampa Bay to refuel before we were able to get to Orlando. All the up and down and round and round nearly had Ezra tossing his cookies but he was able to keep it down. Whew! Luckily the plane from Orlando to Salt Lake City was delayed as well so we made it home, just a couple hours later than planned. 

It was such a nice vacation. I won't say that I love cruising with kids because it takes away that total relaxation that I enjoy so much but it was still pretty darn great! I hope my kids know how lucky they are.