Southern Caribbean Cruise

We met John at a hotel in Puerto Rico...I WAS SO EXCITED I COULD HARDLY CONTAIN MYSELF! The hotel was gorgeous so we were glad at least John got to enjoy it, since we didn't get in until really late. It was right on the beach and was huge! John of course found the closest fast food and ate till he was sick. The next morning we all headed off for our voyage.



The first day out on the ocean we layed out until the rain storm came in and made us run for cover, thankfully we didn't get rain the whole rest of the trip.

First fancy dinner night, shows and fun...
(I was so excited to wear my fancy austrian crystal necklace my aunt lois gave me from when they went on a cruise/and thank you Farr family for my fancy dresses!)




Barbados was our first stop and boy did we fill our day full of adventures. First we started off going to see stalagmites and stalagtites at the Harrison Cave. It felt like jurassic park taking the elevators down to the entrance. We took a little cart and got wet along the way deep under ground. We then took a quick stop at a beach while our lunch was ordered. At lunch a local went and climbed a coconut tree so Ty could have some of his favorite fruit. We were off to the animal reserve where we got to feed little monkeys. Con said he could go home after that because his dreams had come true. It was adorable the way they would take the food right out of your hand, one little monkey would even lick it off my hand...I kept thinking it was going to bite me. Then we saw turtles, snakes (the biggest snake I have ever seen in my life), deer, aligators and lots more. Then we headed to the beach for some snorkel fun. There were so many turtles it was hard to jump into the water from the boat; I was a little freaked out with them swimming all around me that I didn't notice I was drowning John by using him as a life preserver. Then we went to another area where the boys saw tons of fish. My mom and I sat on the boat and threw bread out in the water and the fish would swarm. It was amazing. The boys all took their turn swimming under the boat; it had a clear bottom so you could see the fish swim right under it. What a day...and we LOVED every minute of it!



















We started off in St Lucia going on a small hike to a beautiful waterfall. As we were leaving they later told us they wanted us to get into the taxi quickly because there was a giant boa-constrictor in the trees. We traveled almost the whole island to see the great Pintons. We went to the beach where the boys skipped rocks and then we did a little shopping before getting back on the ship.





John is so strong...





Night games and midnight buffet...(so proud of myself for staying awake!)






The day at the beach in Antigua was very relaxing until John and Ty flipped their wave-runner over and caused an uproar with the locals. John was stuck under it with the engine still running, thankfully Ty saved John by turning off the engine and then flipped it over off of John. The water was so warm and the sand was so soft, can't beat it!




"flipped wave-runner"





Fun at dinner...

Moses-head waiter from Jamaica

Philip-waiter from India/Alfrado-assistant waiter from Columbia

More golfing...



We have actually visited St. Maarten multiple times, so we wanted to do some new things. Dad and Ty took off early in the morning and went diving while the rest of us took the boat over to the island to start with shopping along the pier. I ended up getting a alexandrite necklace... John joked I bought the heart of the ocean necklace-like the titanic one. Then we took a taxi over to this beach where literally airplanes take off and land. The boys stood right in the path of the engine and got blasted by sand pellets, it was hilarious!!

















Fancy Dinner night...



Listening to music in the lounge...


St. Croix was our last stop on the cruise. Sadly we waited around for our jeep mudding tour and they never came. So we spent time at the beach within walking distance of the ship. John saw lots of little creatures and fish and Ty learned how to be an islander on a surf-board. Then we took a taxi to the other side of St. Croix where half of us toured the city or what there was of it :( and then we took a boat to the little island where John and Con went snorkeling and found many baracudas...scary!












"the island within an island"




Usually it's sad when vacation is over and it is time to go home...but I was so excited to have John for one more whole week. On our way out of customs the officer asked me if we had anything liquid in our bags and I sat there for a minute deciding if our barbeque sauce counted, she proceeded to ask if I spoke english. The family had a good laugh! We were the last plane out of Puerto Rico, as we were up in the air the pilot told us all to look out our windows at the hurricane below. We couldn't figure out why the fire alarm was going off forever while we we waiting to board, but they later said the power lines were going out and they could not scan our boarding passes. Thank heavens we got out of there! After a long day of flying Nickels picked us up from the airport, John was so excited to be home and see his baby. He couldn't believe how much our little Pockets had grown and how much she loves me!

Con would even miss sleeping like this...