Travel & Vacation: Cruising with the Family
Snapping a picture of Jake from across the table
After a fun full day at Labadee, Haiti swimming in the Aqua Park, zipping down the giant water slide, and time at the beach while some people went parasailing. We enjoyed some evening activities on the boat after our great day at Haiti. That night the girls ate lobster, tiger shrimp and steak for dinner. They had a grand time hanging out with the entire family.
Karlie was so happy! She got her own lobster tail (and she eat it all)! 🙂
One kiddo down during dinner….it’s been a busy day!
Singing “Happy Birthday” to Amber! Happy Birthday Amber!
Singing “Happy Birthday” to Josh! Happy Birthday Josh! Amber and Josh got an awesome piece of cheesecake in celebration of their birthday.
Family at evening dinner
Zach and Nicko hanging out at the table
Leo all smiles
Karlie Kool Kat
Hanging out with my sweet nephew!
Do you see the girls in this picture? They are on up a floor higher than us.
Travel & Vacation: Spending Time with Our Family
Someone’s looking pretty chipper first thing in the morning. Karlie loved that her bunk bed was above ours so she would lean over when she woke up to see if we were awake yet. Most days she was up at 6 am and ready to go!
We most of the day in Jamaica but later that afternoon and evening we had fun on the boat. It was a more relaxing day, we played cards by the pool while the kids swam, talked, walked around, did activities, and went to the Love & Marriage show after the kids were in bed for the night.
Relaxing and playing cards with Josh, Dad, Mom, Lee, and Jake on the pool deck while the kids were swimming. The girls realized we were by the “Sprinkles” ice cream machine playing cards and stopped swimming long enough to have an ice cream cone.
Karlie on a mission!
Brina pushing Nicko in the stroller down the hallway
A guy from the table next to us brought over glow sticks for the kids. Nicko loved his!
Sweet Karlie girl
Brina enjoying her dessert
Eeek! There’s a bat in our room! The girls reassured me that it was okay because the bat was really just a folded towel. They thought it was pretty cool!
The Royal Promenade was all lit up at night. It looked beautiful. This is one end of it. It had stores and restaurants on the main level and room balconies overlooking too. They head a couple different dances, parades, and various activities at night in this area too.
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Travel & Vacation: Road Trip Snack Bins
Karlie and Brina’s travel snack packs
When we go on a road trip I pack the girls snack bins and put them on their seats the night before. They always enjoy checking out the goodies in their snack bins as soon as they get into the car. The nice part about having snacks always in the car on road trips is it saves time and we don’t have to stop as often along the way for a bite to eat.
Items that we packed for this road trip:
- Homemade Popcorn
- Dried Cranberries
- Chocolate Covered Raisins
- Fresh Pecans
- White & Pink Flowered Shaped Marshmallows
- Foot Long Fruit Chew
- Mint Chocolate Marshmallows
- Raspberry Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Fresh Cashews
- White & Pink Heart Shaped Marshmallows
- Chocolate Covered Cherries
- Seasoned Peanuts
- Graham Crackers
- Mini Oreo Cookies
- Fresh Almonds
- Cheetos
- Fruit Flavored Marshmallows
- Whole Shell Peanuts
- Ginger Snap Cookies
- Mini M&M’s
- Cheese & Peanut Butter Crackers
- Mixed Berry Granola Bar
- Kashi TLC Chewy Granola Bar
- Strawberry Nerds
- Pez Candy
- Orange Starburst
- Fruit Punch Powdered Drink
- Fresh Pistachios
Goodies for a road trip
Travel & Vacation: Always Something Fun to Do
Brina hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma before breakfast
We had a blast on our first full day on the ship. The girls were up early before breakfast even opened so we hung out with Grandpa and Grandma a little bit. We went swimming, ate great food, went to the Freeze Frame Show, had our first formal dinner, relaxed, attended the Once Upon A Time Show, and not long after that the kids crashed. They were sound asleep within minutes of getting back into the room, cleaned up, and into bed. Thankful for a great time with family during our time on the boat.
Where is Karlie?! Oh, there she is up in her bed reading a book! Karlie loves to read. She finished a couple chapter books while we were on the cruise.
Relaxing for a few minutes before taking off to the next activity of the day
Pizza and fruit were always a hit for lunch at Windjammers!
Reading “Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing” to the girls while we wait for the rest of the group to get ready
Travel & Vacation: First Cruise Dinner & a Swim in the Pool
Nathan and Brina ready for their first dinner on the cruise! The girls were excited to have some extra time with their cousins.
After getting on the Independence of the Seas, exploring it, and waving goodbye to Fort Lauderdale, Florida we headed to find our assigned seats in the dining room for our first evening meal on the ship. Everyone was excited about the cruise and thrilled that we were off. The kids had a blast enjoying the amazing food and afterward a group of us decided to try out some of the neat pools on board too.
Karlie so excited to be on her first cruise!
Nicko, Becky, and Amber ready for the first dinner on the boat
Always an adventure….Leo being silly….
Amber, Nathan and Brina at dinner
Brina and Brandon at dinner – all smiles
Jeremiah
Someone’s all tuckered out after a busy day! Jake has always been good at getting little ones to sleep!
Karlie and Brina so excited to be on vacation and cruising!
Best way to end the day….according to Karlie….is to go for a swim at night before bed!
Our sweet Brina Bee relaxing in the jacuzzi!
Travel & Vacation: Waving Goodbye to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
One of Karlie’s favorite places on the boat….yes, you guessed it! The LIBRARY!!! I think she read several books from the library and even checked out one to read in the room too.
After getting onto the Independence of the Seas, eating lunch at Windjammers, and exploring a little bit we take a few minutes to sit down and relax in the library. The kids read through several of the books while some of the adults talked and others take a nap in the soft comfy library chairs. Once the kids have picked up library books to read for the week we are off to watch the ship leave the Fort Lauderdale port. It was really neat hearing all the kids comments and seeing the cruise adventure their eyes.
Brina pausing for a moment to read a book at the library
Karlie and Brina enjoying the breeze on the top deck over looking the H2O Zone (which was a very popular spot for the kids)! It was windy as we were leaving but the kids seemed to love it.
Jeremy and Amber’s family…all ready to go cruising!
Our family, super excited about our first cruise together
Watching the cruise ship ahead of us going out of the Fort Lauderdale port
It’s a bird….it’s a plane….it’s both!
The kids were fascinated by the draw bridge at Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Watching the ship leave the Fort Lauderdale, Florida port. You think the ship’s horn is loud on shore, try standing right in front of it when the boat blasts off, it is really LOUD!!! The kids stood on the chairs so they could see a little better as we took off.
Fort Lauderdale Skyline as we were leaving the port
When the sun goes down and the wind picks up near sunset it can get a little chilly on the top decks of the boat. Brina is using Karlie as her human wind shield to help her stay warm, ha!
Travel & Vacation: Exploring Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas
Looking out over the port in Fort Lauderdale. There were several other cruise ships leaving the same day as ours.
Once on the Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas the older four kids were ready to explore everything! We were all over the ship in a matter of minutes from looking over the top deck to walking down the Royal Promenade (aka Main Street). The kids were very excited to check out all the neat places on the ship.
Checking out everything on the upper deck
Are we ready for take OFF? Preparing to leave Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Karlie taking it all in….
Having fun in the Adventure’s Oceans club. Karlie checking out the geographical map (where are we?!) while Brandon, Brina, and Nathan have fun with the hula hoops!
Looking down from the top…..don’t lean over too far!
We refer to this part of the boat as “Main Street” because it is where all the shops, restaurants, and stores are located
The older cousins hanging out on the glass bridge. Wonder if they realize that the only thing between them and the next level is a piece of glass.
Travel & Vacation: All Aboard the Independence of the Seas
On the bus heading to the cruise ship
We took the first bus of the morning to the ship. After all our luggage was piled into a trailer at the hotel we were off to the ship on our next adventure. Our ship was the last one in the port so we had a little time to relax on the bus before grabbing our bags and heading onto the ship.
Hurry up and wait….Nathan patiently waiting in line! We had to go through a couple of lines before we could actually get on the boat. Thankfully the lines were moving right along and the kids did really well waiting.
We made it onto the boat! At least the older kids are really excited!
The kids first meal at Windjammer! They thought it was pretty neat being able to choose from all the great food on the buffets. So excited to go cruising with our family!
The kids wanted to check out the H2O Zone
The four older kids relaxing for a minute in the swing
After a few wrong turns we found our hall! WooHoo!
Karlie taking a picture of her Flat Stanley on the desk
The kids checking out the ice skating rink. Brina was too busy taking pictures to look at the camera.
Brina and Karlie found a great spot to sit down in the ice rink area and watch water traffic next to the boat.
Travel & Vacation: We Are On Our Way!
Brina and Karlie on the plane! Whose ready to fly to Florida!?
We recently flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to go on a cruise with extended family. The girls love to fly and were super excited to experience their first cruise. Thankfully we had a direct flight from Charlotte to Florida and everything went smoothly. We spent the first evening in Fort Lauderdale with our family before getting on the ship the next day.
All buckled in and ready for take off…we got an extra passenger in our row (isn’t he cute!) 🙂
Karlie entertaining herself on the plane. Who knew that an ice cube on the straw could be so entertaining!? Ha!
Four cute kids sitting nicely on the bench as we call the hotel cab for a pickup
Everyone made it to Florida. Time for dinner…..how about TGI Friday’s!
Wrapping up the evening playing “Go Ape” with the cousins!
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Travel & Vacation: Beach Fun & Parasailing in Labadee, Haiti
Hanging out with Grandpa Russell at the beach
After a fun morning at the Aqua Park and many trips down the giant water slide we spent some time relaxing, swimming, and digging in the sand on the beach. The beach was right next to the giant water slide so the kids (and adults) could go down it whenever they wanted all day. We swam, played, and spent some time tossing the frisbee, skippies, etc…. Another family gave the kids 3 little floating rafts to play with the water so that added to the fun. After having a BBQ picnic lunch on the beach everyone went back into the water to play for another couple of hours. It was a great day at Labadee, Haiti.
Aw….what a life….lounging around on vacation at the beach. Karlie is living it up!
Brina digging around in the sand
Little Zach content with his sea shell treasure
There’s just something about digging in the sand…it’s fun for kids of all ages
Nathan and Amber found a bunch of neat shells…..the only thing is some of the cool shells had residents with claws! Although Amber figured out a way to clear the water pretty quickly, ha.
The girls having fun splashing around at the beach with Nicko
Whose ready to go parasailing?
Do you see that little tiny black spot in the bottom middle of the mouth? Yup, that little speck is Josh way up there!
Lee & Becky parasailing together. They don’t look scared at all!
That tiny speck of white in the middle of the picture is the boat that is pulling them. Wow, the boat looks so small and that’s a long rope! Dad, Josh, Lee and Becky enjoyed some time parasailing in Haiti.
