Cozumel ~ The Boys First Cruise

This year just before the Thanksgiving break we decided to take the kids on their first cruise. We booked the Carnival Triumph sailing out of Galveston.

The boys were so excited to receive their passports!



















We weren't sure how they would do on the ship with motion sickness or just being stuck on a boat for so long so we decided to take a shorter trip, only 4 nights. They absolutely loved it though! I think having a bunk was the most exciting thing for Hayden. We had them take turns so each one got 2 nights on top. Hayden's favorite part was jumping off the top bunk onto our bed, I think.


Being mid-November it was a little too cold for swimming in the ship's pool, but Hayden insisted. We talked him in to waiting until we had been at sea for a day, hoping it would warm up some. It was chilly when we left Texas, but the further out to sea we were the warmer it was. Still not warm enough for swimming though! I stayed in the room while David took Hayden out. They weren't gone for very long at all. Hayden was just too cold. We tried to tell him, but kids are stubborn. He's like his momma, has to see for himself.


The second night on the ship was elegant night. I went shopping the week before to buy the kids appropriate attire; slacks, button up shirts, shoes and ties. While we were all getting ready David realized he hadn't packed a tie. I could've strangled him with one of the kids ties, but decided to let it go. Hopefully they wouldn't kick us out. Before dinner we tried to get some good photos out on the deck, but it was super windy and made it a little difficult.













Hayden was not too impressed with dinner. I think he was annoyed right from the beginning because we had to wait for a table to open up. Not to mention, he HATED his tie! Says he never wants to wear one again (this came in very handy as a threat mechanism later in the trip).

The ship has a daily itinerary that let's you know what is going on throughout the day. There was also an itinerary for the kids clubs. The boys really enjoyed those. They were separated for much of the activities though because of their age difference. I think the boys spent the majority of our time in those centers. There was a ton of stuff they wanted to do and since it was their vacation, we let them. They decorated t-shirts one night, had kids only parties, and a lot of other cute activities.




















We played mini golf a couple of times. We first introduced Hayden to it when we were in Florida. He really liked it then so it was a good selling point for this particular cruise.






















We arrived in Cozumel on the 3rd day and we were all really looking forward to our excursion. We chose the Dolphin Push, Pull and Swim. WORTH EVERY PENNY! I highly recommend it to anyone considering it. Anyhow, we had to wait around on the dock for a bit before our tour left. That's when David realized he left his wallet on the ship...money and all. We had already paid for the excursion so that wasn't a big deal, but we weren't able to buy any of the pictures that they take of you there. Thankfully we had our waterproof camera and they let us use that. We got some pretty good shots too. We were divided up into groups and sent out with a trainer. Our dolphin's name was Lexie. We got to pet, kiss, and "hold" her, ride on her belly and have her push us on a boogie board. Tons of fun! Hayden was a little too small so he had to have someone help him, but he was good about trying to be out of the field of view for the cameras. I thought that was pretty thoughtful of them.































After the dolphin experience, David got in the water with a manatee. Hayden and Nich didn't want to get in so I stayed on the pier with them.


When we got back to the dock we went back to the ship to change and get some cash for souvenirs. David had $90 in his wallet and we thought that would be plenty. I grabbed my debit card just in case even though I really did not want to have to use it in a foreign country. Later I would thank myself. We ate lunch then headed back out. The boys all wanted to go to the beach so they were back in their swimsuits and I had changed into dry clothes. Bad idea. When we left the ship it started raining...not drizzling, but RAINING! I was soaked by the time we got to the first covered shop.

Hayden and his love for transportation was apparent even in Mexico! He picked out a rinky dink little wooden airplane. Who knows where that thing is now. I haven't seen it since we've been home. Nich got himself a luchador mask. Haven't seen that thing either, but they wanted them and hopefully it will remind them of our vacation from time to time....if they find them.






















When all the souvenir shopping was done we headed out to find a taxi. There is not a swim friendly beach at the dock where the ships are so we had to go about 10 min down the road. Taxi ride was pretty cheap, but got us into a little bit of a frenzy. He said we could pay him when we headed back and he'd just wait at the beach for us. When we got out we paid the entrance fee plus extra for the boys to play on all their water equipment. They had a trampoline, slides, this blow up thing with different stick sticking out of it (no idea what that was) and kayaks. So David pays the guy for all of that and we realize we are now $10 short for our taxi ride back and way too dang far to try to walk it! There were no ATM's on this beach, not even at the bar where we saw these two silly parrots that acted like they owned the place. We'd just have to figure something out when we were done at the beach.






The boys all played for a couple of hours then it started pouring again. We packed up and headed out hoping the taxi guy wouldn't be there and we could just hitch a ride back with another that didn't know we hadn't already paid for the initial trip out there. No such luck. Here he comes around the corner, making sure he's the one that gets us. David asked him to take us to an ATM. Thankfully they didn't charge five million dollars to use it. It did cost me $10 to take out $40 though. Kinda ridiculous, but we had to do it.

One night David indulged in a Thriller Dance Class. So much fun to watch him do that! Nich and I took video and pictures while we made a fool of himself ;)

















Each night on the ship when the stewards would turn down our beds, they would leave a towel animal and chocolates for us. The kids liked to guess what would be left for us, but of course we were never right. I never did get my monkey, but we bought Nich the how-to book so I'm expecting one out of him one of these days! These are the animals we were given:


































All in all it was a wonderful vacation. We had some much needed family time and enjoyed each others company. I pray it is something the boys will remember as they grow up and have families of their own.

The Most Expensive Sea World Trip EVER!!!

Last October/November we went on a trip to Orlando hoping to see one of the last shuttle launches. Discovery was set to launch on November 1st, but because of complications it was delayed. Launch viewing attempt #1...failure! So after much debate, David decided we should try again for the Endeavour launch. He put his name into the lottery drawing for tickets, but wasn't selected. He read about a few tour bus companies that also had tickets for sale. David sat on their website for nearly a full day trying to buy tickets before he finally received confirmation. Set of 4 launch tickets $600!

April 27th
We had planned to have the car packed and ready to go when Nich got out of school at 3pm so we could surprise him on the way. Unfortunately, two days before, my car decided to leak oil into the brake system and needed to be repaired. We were told it could possibly be ready to go by 4pm. We finally got a call at 5:45p saying it was ready. We ended up leaving 3 1/2 hours later than planned, but Nich still had no idea. He saw that the car was packed, but wasn't sure where we were going. I made little clue cards for him and every hour that he was awake he was given one. He's smart I tell ya! Had it figured out by the 5th clue and they weren't super easy either!



April 28th
We pulled into our hotel in Orlando around 3pm. Today would be a lazy day. David and I both needed the rest after driving straight through, almost 20 hours.

April 29th -- Launch Day ...more like wasted day!


The bus was set to leave at 6am. First we'd be taken to the KSC (Kennedy Space Center) where we could look around for a bit while the bus went through security. Since we had been there only a few months before nothing was really new so we just walked around for a bit until it was time to board the buses again. We were told to be back at our boarding site by 9:45a. That was the most unorganized mess I have ever seen! 5,000 people all trying to get back on the same bus of 50 people they rode there with (a requirement) at the same time! Crazy madness!!


After weaving through a line for what seemed like a million miles, we were eventually back to our bus. We had to sit on this bus for another 2 hours in the parking lot before we even moved an inch! Finally we started to move, thinking we were on our way to the Causeway. The Causeway is an area 6 miles from the launch pad. It's the closest the public can get to it unless you are media or family. Their VIP viewing site is 3 miles from the launch pad. Anyhow, we start to move and our tour guide comes on the speaker saying the launch was scrubbed. There was an issue with the heaters on one of its power units, critical for powering the hydraulic system on the shuttle's return to Earth.

So here we were on a bus for the majority of the day, all for naught and we still had to make the trip back to the hotel. Going to KSC wasn't that big of a deal. Going back to the hotel was another story. Imagine all expected 700,000 viewers trying to take the only 2 roads out of the KSC area. The trip back took 5 hours! I had never been more ready to get off of a bus than then! Where's that private jet when you need it?!

We were told the earliest the shuttle would launch would be Sunday afternoon. Only a short time later it was moved back even further to Monday at 2:33p. If it did indeed launch on Monday, David and I decided we'd go ahead and wait it out. At this point I was frustrated. I had already planned to spend Saturday and Sunday with Sherman, Nichole and Kenzi at the beach. I hadn't seen them since Christmas and was really looking forward to it. Those plans were scrubbed right along with the shuttle. I was not a happy camper!

April 30th


We decided we'd make the most of our trip since we had some time to kill. NASA wouldn't be making a final decision until the next morning and we were all tired of being in the car so we wanted to find something local. On our last trip we went to Disney so this time we decided on Sea World Orlando, about 15 minutes away. The kids really enjoyed it. We sat in the "Soak Zone" for the Shamu show. About halfway through Hayden had enough of that so we moved up a bit.

We all rode the Shamu Express and David and Hayden rode one of the water rides while Nich and I waited. I'm not fan of walking around in wet jeans and my shoes were already soaked, icky!


We saw a featured Jack Hanna show. He brought out a bobcat, a lynx, a marmoset, a couple of foxes, a few owls, a sloth, and a cheetah. All pretty interesting.

The kids got to pet some sting rays, tried to pet dolphins, and fed the sea lions.


The dolphin show was incredible! They had so much going on at once it was sensory overload! Flying parrots, jumping dolphins, acrobats, music. Fascinating! We all really enjoyed that one.

Overall we had a great time, but the turtle exhibit was pretty disappointing. I was expecting to see a few sea turtles, but all they had were two little land tortoises.



After Sea World we had dinner at Cracker Barrel. Nich and I watched some sky writing then went for ice cream. Then we waited for it to cool down some before taking the kids to play miniature golf. They had so much fun! It was Hayden's first time and he loved it! I still suck. David and Nich both beat me. I barely beat Hayden....he's 4!
























May 1st
Woke up to the news that the shuttle would not launch on Monday after all and since Nich couldn't afford to miss anymore school we had to head home. Second attempt at seeing the launch...failure! There's always a silver lining though. I got to see Sherman and his family! On our way back home we stopped in Pensacola to have dinner with them at Logan's. So happy to see them even though it was only for a couple of hours! Miss them like crazy!!






















Maybe we just weren't meant to see the launch live. Thank goodness for NASA tv! We'll enjoy the launch from home now and, although it's not the same, at least we can say we tried....twice!