CHRISTMAS CRUISE- DAY 8 MIAMI

Today we got off the boat at round 10 am. We didn't have anything planned in Miami and our flight wasn't until 4 pm, so we went to a mall and shopped for Christmas presents.

Waiting to get off the ship and watching 'Myth Busters.'

 After the shopping we walked to a park right next door and hung out in the sunshine. It was 20˚ colder than last Saturday, so we didn't want to go to the beach, but it was still nice outside. We were laughing at the Miamians for wearing their winter coats. We thought it was a beautiful day!

Princess P rides the wave and Little C hugs the dolphin.

S, D, and A enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

Little C and Princess P pose by the palm tree for me.

Our flight took off and it took us 5 1/2 hours to get to Vegas then we had to drive 5 more hours to get home. 2:30 am!! We were exhausted but happy to be home!

CHRISTMAS CRUISE- DAY 7 AT SEA

This was our last day of the cruise and a sea day. A and I were very sick. The sea got really rough and we just couldn't handle it. We spent the day in bed, so no photos of course.

CHRISTMAS CRUISE- DAY 6 GRAND CAYMAN

Grand Cayman was clean and beautiful, but not very friendly. We took a taxi to Smith beach and snorkeled, built sand castles and baked in the sun. It was a low key day compared to yesterday.

Princess P and Little C ride a big lizard statue.

The snorkeling was pretty good. I saw a small octopus and there were big schools of fish.

The little cove we hung out in all day.

We got lots of sun!

My sand/snowman.

It was very hard to remember that it was Christmas time. We were in such warm, sunny places it just didn't feel like winter! They were getting snow back home though, because we came home to it.

At the port.

Princess P and I got sun dresses here and A bought some Hard Rock Cafe tshirts too.

Our family photo.

This was our next formal night, so I made us get a family photo. I really like how it turned out. We look all tanned and happy!

CHRISTMAS CRUISE- DAY 5 ROATAN

Roatan Honduras was our favorite place. It was pretty, the people were friendly, we had great adventures, and didn't feel quite so taken advantage of. We actually didn't have any plans, but this guy named Arnold talked us into letting him take us for the day.

The view from the top of the zipline.

First, (after a fairly scary drive through town) we went to a zipline. We were the first ones there and got half price tickets because of Arnold. It was SO fun! 

D zipping onto one of the tree top platforms.

 It was a gorgeous ride through the jungle on a series of 15 ziplines. We had a blast with our guides. They were hilarious, did all sorts of tricks and encouraged us to do the same.

Little C zipping upside down.

 There were lots of tree houses, ladders, and rope bridges to link the platforms together, so it was all quite the adventure! We felt very safe the whole time too. They were great!

D likes monkeys.

There was a monkey zoo there too and we all got to hold monkeys and let them climb all over us. That was cool too!

The snorkelers. The darker one was Arnold's son, Ritchie. He was our guide.

After the zipline, Arnold took us to a beach on the other side of the island. The snorkeling was the best on the trip! Gorgeous coral, there was tons of beautiful fish and the water was pretty clear. The kids even saw a sea snake, some lobsters and a centipede thing.

A loves the island life.

We also tried banana soda on this island and are sad we don't have it here in the states. It is yummy!!

CHRISTMAS CRUISE- DAY 4 BELIZE

Belize was the scariest of the places we went. It was also the stinkiest. We got off the boat and went to find a water taxi to one of the small islands off the reef. It was pretty intimidating. No one seemed friendly at all. We found the water taxi went to Caye (key) Caulker. 

Can't get much more picturesque than that!

The island was a cute little place that saw us coming! We paid $20 for a 5 minute golf cart taxi ride. Oh well, it was fun. They didn't have cars here, just golf carts or feet for transportation.

A very beautiful, laid back little spot.

All the roads were just white sand lined by palm trees. It was pretty and not smelly like the mainland. 

Princess P and Little C watching 'their' hermet crabs race.

The snorkeling wasn't great. The reef ended up being too far for us to swim out to, so we just snorkeled around next to the island. We did see a sting ray and star fish- things I'd never seen before, so that was fun.

CHRISTMAS CRUISE- DAY 3 COZUMEL

Our first port was Cozumel, Mexico. Big C had plans to water kite here, but as luck would have it, the wind didn't blow (that happened to him in Maui too- maybe he's not supposed to learn how...). 

Our ship, the Carnival Liberty, with the fam. (S taking the photo).

We rented a car and dropped Big C off to get his lessons. The kids and I drove to some Mayan ruins on Cozumel called San Gervasio and had a look around. It was super hot and I loved it, but the kids got a little bored (esp. Princess P). On the way out the kids did some shopping. The boys all bought luchador masks (picture Nacho Libre), S got a blanket and Mayan chess set, Princess P bought a necklace and I got a bag.

The biggest temple we saw.

After were were done with ruins we went to snorkel at a beach called Beach Corona. It was a little Mexican bar, so we had to buy some sodas, but it was fun. We tried a Mexican soda called Cristal and loved it.

My kids try to figure out their snorkels and masks.

The snorkeling wasn't that impressive, but the kids had a good time and the water was warm and lovely, so no one complained. At about 1:30 we went to pick up Big C. He had paddled around on a stand up board all day and was VERY burned.

A beach by Punta Sur.

After we grabbed Big C we took a drive all the way around the island. We stopped at a beach by Punta Sur on the south end and played for a while. The sand was super fine and great for sculpting so the kids built lots of stuff. Big C and I looked for shells and found amazing ones! We were sad we didn't have more time there. Over all, Cozumel was a very fun experience!

CHRISTMAS CRUISE- DAY 1 MIAMI

We didn't sleep a wink on the flight from Vegas. The plane was completely full and we were scattered all over. It was the first time most of my kids had ever flown and not a real fun flight to take through the night in the dark. 

There's no better way to kill time than at the beach!

We got to Miami at 6:30 am and rented a car. We drove around Miami Beach and then went swimming and played on the beach until 12:30. It was fun! The water was warm and there were hardly any people around. (I think they think it is cold). 

Miami Beach with my family.

When we couldn't take any more salt, we would get out and walk or play in the sand. 

Our buried children.

 We all ended up buried at one point or another. (Probably my least favorite part of the day. I hate sand in my swimming suit)!

Little C with an amazing sand castle.

This sand castle was on the beach. It had some sort of cement in it or something to make it permanent, so I had Little C pose by it with some shovels to make it look like he made it. :) Also, notice the water kite in the background. Cory was loving it and wishing it was him. We were able to finally board the ship at 1 pm and we were ready after having had no sleep the night before.

CRUISING FOR CHRISTMAS

I just put a 7-night cruise for 7 people on my credit card!! Yikes!! We are officially going to the Caribbean! I am very excited, but also very nervous. It is going to cost a lot of $money$ and we are sending missionaries out soon. I know it sounds crazy, but that is the main reason we are doing it.

Our itinerary. It looks SO fun!!

We probably won't be together as a whole family again for 4 years! And by then many of the dynamics will have changed too (my kids might be getting married! Double yikes!). 

Our ship!

So we are going to do one last hurrah before we send S off on her mission. One of the funny things about our trip is that our port is in her mission! She's excited to get a tiny preview.

Tulum ruins.

I would love to see the ruins at Tulum, but I don't know that we'll make it work. Hopefully we will get to see lots of ruins at some of the stops. I LOVE ruins and seeing Book of Mormon ruins as always been a dream of mine, so hopefully we'll get a few in.

Snorkeling is one of my favorite things!!

I am also very excited to just hang out on the beach and snorkel the days away! My kids are excited just to ride on an airplane, let alone go on the ship and see all the sights. We are going to make some serious memories!!