Saturday, April 9, 2011

St. Maarten

St. Maarten was beautiful! The port was on the Dutch side and the excursion was on the French side. Dad took all the girls to a beach and lunch and the guys went scuba diving.

Padded beach chairs.. it doesn't get better than that. Since the beach was on the French side there were people that wore their birthday suits. We all wore our dark sunglasses so we could watch, tap each other, and try not to laugh when someone walked by with a birthday suit. Most the people wearing birthday suits should have been wearing a one piece with more if you know what I mean. It was pretty funny but we were glad the guys weren't there.



The beach was the prettiest beach I've ever seen!


Lunch was delicious too





I have the best dad! Not only did he take our family on the perfect vacation he also is there anytime someone needs him no matter the time. Like the night my computer got a virus he stayed up and fixed it so I could finish my homework. He and my mom are also my examples for charity. Instead of being frugal with money for tips or souvenirs they would always say they need it more than we do. I also consider both of my parents friends which I know a lot of kids can't say that but they are the ones I like to hang out with when Drew is at work. I hope I can be the kind of parents they are when I have kids.
My dad brought the guys this shirt as a souvenir of scuba diving because they we're able to take pictures. I am terrified of scuba diving.. I don't like breathing my own air in a small space, I don't like breathing through my mouth period, and I don't like fish and sharks up close.. needless to say scuba is not for me. I was excited Drew had people to scuba with but terrified at the same time. I know I'm paranoid but I had a right to be because I love my husband and my brothers and have heard horror stories. I was nervous and praying the whole day but turns out they survived and had a blast! Even though Drew got sea sick and threw up off the side of the boat he also had a blast. They were able to see a shark, an eel, a huge stingray, a huge lobster, a ship wreck, and a reef.
He is wiped out
In Haiti the whole family rented wave runners. We did it on our honeymoon in San Diego but we were in a bay and so we couldn't go far or very fast. This time Drew finally just told me to be quiet and hold on. It was crazy but fun!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Puerto Rico Day

We had a half day in Puerto Rico and since most of us had already been there we decided to just wander and shop. We found sling shots which were a hit with the neice and nephews and a couple other little things.

Drew loves the architecture because it "looks like Italy" haha. Back on the boat we layed out and got ready for the second formal dinner.
I already miss having all of my meals fixed for me :)

Nats and Erin
All of the chefs
We watched the game show Quest and it was hilarious. There were teams and they would give points to the team that could find something the fastest. Some of the things they asked for were an empty woman's purse (of course the guys just dumped it up side down), a suntan line, foreign money (all money was foreign because we were in the ocean), and a sock with a hole (they all have holes for your foot to go into). The cruise director was the announcer his accent made it even better.
The castle in Puerto Rico

A hot tub that goes out over the ship's side over the ocean.
My favorite.. the frozen yogurt machine. There was at least one required a day especially because they had strawberry and vanilla swirl.. mmm.


My dad got called up to be part of the juggler/ comedian's show and the first thing he told him to do was to put this cigarette in his mouth. It wasn't lit but we all started laughing so hard that he didn't quite know how to do it. After he had it in his mouth he juggled bowling pins closer and closer to his face until it knocked the cigarette out. The second man they had come up he was going to juggle knives over. He covered his eyes with a towel and then while talking asked what he did for a job and when he said attorney the audience couldn't stop laughing. While the man's face was covered he said oops and dropped a cup on the guys stomach but the guy figured it was a knife and freaked out. Hope all that typing made sense.. guess you had to be there.
A bar tender from Belarus my dad and brother kept giving a hard time but she made great strawberry daiquiris.

Day in Haiti

Royal Carribean has a private peninsula in Haiti called Labadee. Labadee is gorgeous and has probably the best beach we went to the whole time. We all went on wave runners, had a BBQ lunch, snorkeled, floated on beach mats and went shopping. The wave runners were a blast in the ocean! I figured out the best way to snorkel.. laying on a beach mat with Drew snorkeling and when he led me to something neat I would dip my face in to see it with my mask. The shops had mainly wood carvings but the people were so pushy it made me nervous to go into very many stores. We bought vanilla and two wood cups with our names carved in them.

Pictures don't do justice for how big a cruise ship is. So pretty! More pictures to come on the wave runners when I scan them. The ground was so hot we burnt our feet walking to the wave runners and Natalie actually got blisters.
The floating beach mats which provide the perfect way to snorkel
Matt and Nats
Jay and Erin
Drew and I
Mom and Dad
There were live bands playing everywhere. I love listening to island music.
The water in the carribbean can't be compared to anything.The whole family

Drew snorkeling
The three boys snorkeling. They saw squid, octopus, crabs, and lots of fish in a reef only 2 feet under the surface.
My dad and I

We decided to take pictures while the guys watched March Madness in one of the karaoke bars. If you "get" to watch basketball I can't think of a better place than on a cruise ship with a strawberry daiquiri.
I taught my sister and mom how to do surprise face and they were pretty entertained haha.

My family
Zoned out watching the game

This picture makes me so happy
I wore Drew out by the end of everyday. No time to sleep on vacations.
The top deck of the ship at night.
How they make a monkey out of a towel I don't know but it's pretty cool.