Caribbean Cruise

And the final vacation for the summer has come to a close. It was truly a vacation to end all vacations. This was cruise number two for Dave and I but there is something really fun about cruising with a large group. Especially when that group is family! The only thing that would have made it more perfect was if Steph and Blake could have made it!




When on the boat we spent alot of time hanging out at the pools, hot tubs, buffets, rock climbing wall, flo rider, and just relaxin and reading lots of books! Every night we would all meet up for a nice dinner complete with multiple appetizers, entrees, and desserts (..time to diet now) then head over to the entertainment for the night.


When we weren't cruising through the ocean we were enjoying beaches, tours, Mayan Ruins, shopping, scuba diving, and more beaches in Labadee, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.





On the boat there was so much to do with endless entertainment and activities but one really sweet moment was when we played a "Scene It" gameshow/competition and we won! Our super, awesome, generous prizes, as you can see from the pic, were mini baby sized backpacks! Woo hoo!












We really had a great time on this vacation thanks to Chris and Linda! Thanks for all the great memories! Here are a few moments that I had to write down to be remembered:

• 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts each
• Eat, sleep, repeat
• Sprinkles!
• Riding a bike on the ocean floor
• Illegal touching of the sea turtle
• Run in with the mysterious stinging algae
• Being named the "Scene It" champions by a land slide
• 11:59 pm room service
• Behind the scenes "TOUR" of the mineral springs in Jamaica
• Booty song retelling
• All night KB and Sorrentos pizza
• Dinner theater book club
• unlimited diet coke (if thats what you want to call it)
• Seeing Monique and Ivan at dinner
• Our matcing silver bracelets
• Love and Marriage Game Show
• Funniest Cruise Director ever
• Waking up 6 hours after Chris's early morning run
• Mike's llama drama and Russian bride
• Our champion dodge ball team
• Nightly hot tub club
• Meaty meat entrees
• Mini golf on the high seas
• Jason giving Aaron a piggyback across sand
• shuffle board on a rocking boat floor
• Stealing each other's jokes and adding spoken footnotes to give them credit.

Footnote A: I stole Jamie's blog idea to make a list about fun moments on the cruise!! :)

My favorite activity while on the week long cruise was the scuba diving!! Chris, Mike, Aaron, Dave, and I are certified divers (though, sadly, Mike was unable to go) so we booked a private charter and excursion while in Grand Cayman. We did a 100 ft coral reef dive and a shallow shipwreck dive back to back. Both dives were breath taking. However, my favorite of the two was the shipwreck.

One of the items on the ocean floor near the shipwreck was a bicycle. It was very amusing to watch each other try and pedal under water.

In these areas of the Grand Cayman waters the ocean is just thick with sea life. I have never seen so much variety of life living in such close proximity.

My favorite sights were the sea turtles, spotted eels, barracudas, sting rays, giant fish, Silver Sides, and Scuba Dave!!

I wish I could have captured the beauty of the sea life in pictures, but without a flash they came out blurry and in dull colors. In person, the coral life is all bright colors and striking patterns.

The Silver Sides fish were small but they traveled in such huge schools that they were one of the most interesting sites.

My two favorite "mother nature events" that I witnessed: A barracuda eating a smaller fish.
A large fish riding on the back of a sting ray. (Just like in "Finding Nemo"!)

Kathy the Local Hero!!

Kathy is my hero!! It all started when...Before leaving on a Caribbean Cruise, Dave and I stopped in Chicago on our way to Florida. We were dropping off our little Lizzie to stay with her Grandma. In our flurry of excitement and unloading suitcases, my parents left their garage door open. You wouldn't think that it would be a big deal having the garage open for a couple hours, especially considering it was still daylight.
However, soon we get a phone call from the neighbor across the street, Kathy, telling us that some guy just walked into our garage and stole my mom's bike. So, immediately, we all fly outside and see him riding away with my mom's bike just a couple blocks up the street. Now, my snap reaction was to scream my lungs out at him telling him to drop the bike before we chase him down in our cars. Apparently, the whole neighborhood heard my warnings because people all down the street popped out of their houses to check out the commotion. Meanwhile, my Dad and Kathy simultaneously hop into their cars and peal out after the thief.

Somewhere along the line, my dad loses the guy's trail and comes back to tell us that he lost him. However, we hear some far away, incessant honking and soon get a call from Kathy telling us that she caught the thief and the police have him in custody. Leading up to this point Kathy fills us in with what happened: She continues to follow along side him telling him to drop the bike. The thief refuses and even threatens her and trys to approach the car in a menacing manner. So, she backs up and starts to follow him again when he gets back on the bike. While, at the same time laying on the horn and telling all the neighbors to call the police. The thief then starts to cut through a park, where Kathy's car can't follow; but another helpful neighbor runs out of his house and chases after him on foot. Just then the police finally arrive (this is when Kathy calls us).

As soon as we got the phone call my mom and Dave drive over there to see the thief put into handcuffs. According to Dave it was "..Sweet justice to see the thief taken away in handcuffs." In the end we were all very pleased to get my mom's bike back and very proud of our neighbor who not only spotted the theft, but caught him too! Way to go Kathy! Myself, just having moved into a new place and neighborhood, I can say that you are truly the kind of neighbor that we all wish for and hope to have!