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!
Flat Stanley: His Original Adventure by Jeff Brown
While on the cruise last week I read the book Flat Stanley: His Original Adventure by Jeff Brown to the girls. Before leaving we had them color and laminate their own Flat Stanley’s to take with them. Both Flat Stanley’s had a blast on the cruise and were often seen looking out the window in our room at the ports, sneaking a snack from the shelf, and other random places throughout the week.
The book was a really quick read but the girls loved it. One afternoon as we were relaxing for a little bit before dinner I read the entire book to them. They thought it was silly and enjoyed taking their very own Flat Stanley on adventures with them.
In this book Flat Stanley wakes up one morning flattened by the bulletin board that fell on top of him during the night. The book goes through the adventures that encounters while being flat from being a kite for his brother to being mailed to a friend and even helping in a museum robbery investigation.
Whether you read the book to the kids or they read it on their own it will be a fun one for them.
Brina and Karlie’s Flat Stanley’s waving at them from the window in our room. The girls were tickled pink they could see them from the dock. It definitely made our room easier to spot (I didn’t see any other Flat Stanley’s in any other windows, ha).
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.
Travel & Vacation: Giant Water Slide at Labadee, Haiti
Karlie zipping down the water slide like a pro
After we spent some time at the Aqua Park we headed over to try out the giant water slide! The slide was a lot of fun. If you laid down, put your feet together, fold your arms across, and arch your back you could really get some speed going down it. A few of times you could see an adults arm or leg come over the edge of the slide on the way down. The slide was a hit with both the kids and adults. I know several of us went down it many times. We had a blast zipping down this slide and it was right next to the beach so it was really convenient.
Daddy, Brina, and Karlie heading up the path to get in line for the giant water slide. You had to walk up stairs and a cement path to get to the top, but usually once at the top you didn’t have to wait very long before you were flying down the slide again.
Daddy and Karlie washing off their feet before going down the giant water slide again. At the top of the slide they had a spot for you to wash your feet before going down it.
Oh yeah! Let’s do that one again!
Daddy and Brina coming down the slide!
And it ended with a big splash in the pool of water at the end of the slide.
Brandon all smiles coming down the slide. I am pretty sure Brandon went down the slide the most number of times, he loved it!
Got a picture of Nathan as he was popping up at the end of the slide….he thought it was pretty neat!
Daddy flying down the slide
This was my view as I snapped a quick picture at the end of the giant water slide…the expression of Nathan’s face makes me laugh!
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: Aqua Park in Labadee, Haiti
Here come Daddy and Brina down the slide!
On our next stop we visited Labadee, Haiti. The place were we stopped was beautiful and relaxing. Our first stop of the day was the Aqua Park. You had to walk down a dock and they had a bunch of huge inflatables in the water from slides to trampolines and more. The inflatables were spread out so you had to swim from one item to the next and if I remember correctly the water was 30 feet deep in that area. The kids and adults had a fun time climbing, bouncing, sliding, splashing, and playing at the Aqua Park.
Karlie getting ready to come down the huge water slide into the ocean! It’s a lot harder then you think to climb up wet bouncy castles and slides!
Aqua Park fun! This one was a hard one to get onto especially for the kids, but Jeremy, Amber, Josh, and Lee had a blast on it! They managed to get it moving and spinning pretty fast.
The big kids had fun playing at the Aqua Park too! 🙂
Brina swimming past me on her way to the next Aqua Park item.
Daddy coaching Karlie has she starts to climb one of the icebergs
Swimming around at the Aqua Park
Travel & Vacation: At Jamaica’s Doorsteps
The older four cousins hanging out together. Welcome to Jamaica!
Well we made it to Falmouth, Jamaica! I guess that should count for something, right!? There are not as many pictures of Jamaica because our plans….well…just didn’t go as planned. Despite some of the hiccups and our change in plans we still managed to have fun that day.
Once on the island of Jamaica this was the first sight that greeted us!
Where should we go first?
It was a beautiful day in Jamaica
The kids sitting while we wait for our tour to start….little did we know….
Buses and taxi’s were coming and going….but “Where, Oh Where” is our bus? Hmmm….
Our Karlie Kool Kat
Our little Brina Bee
What should we do while we wait? Looks like Josh is still smiling, Brina is entertaining herself by cleaning her shoes or checking on her toenail polish…is Grandpa napping? The after waiting for over an hour we were informed that our tour was canceled. The bus that was suppose to take us on the tour broke down and there were no replacements. Guess we were not meant to see Jamaica’s pineapple fields, papaya orchards, historic Jamaica, or a visit with local kids in a rural school. We didn’t have enough time to do another tour because the ship was leaving in a couple of hours so some people decided to walk around the market area for awhile then we headed back to the ship to take the kids swimming. The kids still had a blast and loved the extra time to play.
Karlie and Brina were amazed by these guys…so tall…and thrilled to get a puppy balloon from them
View of Jamaica from our boat.
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: Snorkeling, Starfish, and Fun at Grand Cayman Island
Snorkeling off the coast of Grand Cayman! The water was a little rough but there were hundreds of little fish!
First we explored Grand Cayman, followed by a relaxing boat ride out to the reef, next we swam with the stingrays (WooHoo, that was super fun!), and now we get to snorkel, hold huge starfish and more! The kids had a blast at Grand Cayman! So many neat memories and experiences. We were running a little tight on time and the waves were a little rougher than normal so we didn’t snorkel for very long. A couple people ended up getting sea sick with the boat rocking around so much but everyone recovered and were feeling better before too long.
Lots of little fish everywhere. The kids quickly discovered that when you threw food into the water a whole school of fish would come to get a nibble, it was pretty neat to watch all the little fish scramble as fast as they can for the food!
Snorkeling with the fish
Brina holding a huge live starfish one of the guides dove down and picked up for the kids to hold.
Karlie holding a large starfish in the palm of her hand. These babies were big!
Nathan’s got a big starfish!
Nicko was super excited to hold the starfish!
Brandon finally warmed up to the idea of holding the starfish by himself and he even liked it!
Hanging out with Uncle Jo on the boat ride back to the ship
All SMILES after a super fun adventure in Grand Cayman!!!
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: Swimming with the Stingrays, Grand Cayman Island
Our family holding a stingray, what a neat experience! He was a slippery guy!
After arriving at Grand Cayman Island and exploring a little bit we had a relaxing boat ride out to the reef. My Mom found a really AWESOME tour where we went on a boat out to a reef and swam with STINGRAYS!!! We could see the stingrays in the water even before the boat had anchored.
Pretty much any time you were looking down you could see a stingray swimming by. The stingrays were HUGE, most were several feet wide. It was pretty common for them to swim right underneath you and take you feet out from under you or you would feel one brushing up against you as they swam by. It was a really neat experience! Brina was a little scared at first because they were so big but she did warm up to them and even touched them several times. Karlie absolutely loved it and would giggle whenever one came next to her. This is one of my favorite activities we did on the trip!
This guy took the feet right out from under me while swimming. Can you see his little eye? I think his looking right at me, probably wondering why I didn’t hand him some food! Our guide was hand feeding them while we were in the water swimming with them.
This one’s coming right at Karlie (you can see her reaching her hand out to pet it as it glides by)!
Two stingrays swimming side by side right in front of me. The girls were absolutely fascinated at how clear the water was in Grand Cayman! They loved being able to look down and see everything, including fish, stingrays, and even people!
Brina up close and petting one of the stingrays. Glad she got to touch it but most of the time she was more content staying a safer distance away from them.
Stingray! The stingrays were a dark gray on the top with white and speckled gray on the under sides. Beautiful creatures, so cool watching them glide gracefully through the water!
Silly Karlie girl! This picture was taken underneath the water and looking up at Karlie. She is holding her nose and breathing through the snorkel. She has a grand time swimming around looking at the fish and stingrays. We even saw a HUGE fish, several feet long but wasn’t able to snap a picture in time!
Large stingray swimming by
Little Sis had an absolute BLAST swimming with the stingrays! Karlie LOVED it and probably could have stayed in even longer if she could!
Another huge one swam right under me, they literally rub up against you and take your feet out from underneath you! Such a cool experience!
Travel & Vacation: Wish You Were Here at Grand Cayman Island
Jojo & our tour boat for the day! The boat was named “Big John” and it had “Wish you were here” written on the back!
Once on Grand Cayman Island our tour guide Mario took us out on his boat “Big John” to swim with the stingrays! It was a beautiful trip out to the reef. The water was pretty and we got to see a lot of neat houses along the Grand Cayman canal. There was even a dolphin swimming around the docks as we were loading up the boat. Of course, I didn’t get my camera out in time to get a picture but the kids super excited to see a dolphin swimming right beside us as we were heading out.
Beautiful and peaceful in the docks at Grand Cayman
Brina and Karlie ready for the boat ride out to the stingrays
Beautiful house along the canal going out to the ocean near Grand Cayman
Cute row of houses along the Grand Cayman Canal
Watching a sailboat as we head out to the reef
B & B hanging out together on the boat ride….wide blowing through their hair.
Passing another boat coming from the reef
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!
