CARIBBEAN CASTAWAYS

Oh its a wonderful world out there!!
We just got back from our cruise in the caribbean - and it was fabulous!!! We had such a blast with our girls and dan's mom. There just wasn't enough time to do everything we wanted, but we did do a couple very awesome things - Dolphin Swim, swimming with sting rays and snorkeling. The places we went were Labadee, Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The cruise ship was fantastic too. Definitley kid-catered! They had the surf wave, rock wall and miniature golf, basketball courts, ice skating, you name it, its on the ship. Definitely needed more time to do things, I barely had time to get some shopping in! And another thing we came to realize, next time its adults only! (While the kids had a blast and we enjoyed the excitement of our first cruise together, cruises are much better enjoyed and more relaxing without kids!) So who's up for the next one?!?

We took some pics, but they just don't do justice (plus, we suck at picture taking)....here's a few we took...

We found it - Hemp Heaven! needless to say, we didn't go into the store because we had girls with us, but that's a good thing I guess.

Bob Marley statue was pretty cool, he truly is immortalized in Jamaica

Inside the Royal Promenade of the ship. It did look really cool, it was so huge! Every night they had a different theme where they decorated and put on a huge show. They also had another huge auditorium where they had shows everynight, and an ice skating rink/auditorium. We saw a spectacular ice show and magic show.

Our ship out in the ocean. This was in Labadee where we had to tender into the island - very beautiful!

We got some cool pics of the stingrays in grand cayman. They were just unbelieveable! We got to kiss them and hold them. They were just everywhere you walked in the water. They were so playful and just fun to be around. You could grab a squid and feed them, but none of us dared to do that (squid, gross!!)

Labadee

Kaitlyn holding an alligator in Miami

Ashlyn holding parrots in Miami

Leaving the Miami port on our first cruise day (notice we're kidless)

Kait and Ash got some cute casual portraits. There were photographers everywhere. Unfortunately our "Prom" pictures didn't turn out of all of us, so I didn't get them. They were too cheesy!

pic of kait - I just like how clear blue the water is! It is absolutely amazing out there

Ash posing with our new towel friend. We had different animals every night, lobster, stingray, swan, monkey, armadillo and other ones. Boy, that definitely takes talent!

Beautiful sunsets and sunrises! That is why you should have a balcony suite on the ship to look out onto, it is so worth it! We sat out there in the mornings with our coffee and in the evenings - so serene...

Dan and I chillin by the pool. We sat at the pool both days that we were on sea. It was the best! We did manage to get an afternoon together to go have massages (they have an awesome steam room!). We put the girls in Adventure Ocean camps, which are free activity programs for kids and are very cool (built in babysitter, can't beat that!).

Another cool stingray pic

This is a cute dolphin pic I just had to show. The dolphins were my favorite by far!

This is just priceless! Ashlyn riding the Dolphin - LOL!!

Kait really enjoyed swimming with the dolphins. Have you seen that cruising commercial with the young girl who never smiles and the mom finally catches a glimpse of her smiling on the waverunner? - well this was our shot of kait! heehee

Totally cute huh

Ashlyn snorkeling (I think you're supposed to keep your mouth closed! :)

Kaitlyn loved snorkeling - she was all over the place

Grandma and the girls in Cozumel. This was a little beach off the dolphin place. Absolutely beautiful!

Another beauty - Miami! This was from our hotel room the morning we had to say goodbye :(