Cruising!

Finally!! The time everyone has been anticipating for over 6 months has arrived - the cruise! We were approached last year by Jeff's brother, Stan, and his wife, Kristi, about joining them on an eastern Caribbean cruise. This year, Stan, Kristi and I will turn 40 (Kristi actually turned 40 on the cruise!) and Dallin and Grant will graduate from high school and leave for their missions (not to mention that Laurin graduates from nursing school and Amber will be married). With all the big events of the year, we decided to take a cruise to celebrate...especially since it may be the last family vacation for both families before family dynamics change (e.g., marriages, missions, etc.) A couple of Kristi's siblings, their families, and Kristi's parents also joined in on the fun. We have been planning and preparing for quite some time!...and as life usually goes, disaster strikes right before we need to leave! I'm not kidding. The week before we left, Laurin's car died and she needed to get a new one immediately because she wouldn't have time after the cruise. Jonas got sick the day we flew out and literally threw up hours before we got on the flight (luckily, that was it...he was fine after that). However, the most unexpected and stressful event happened to Jeff. Jeff woke up on Friday (1/25) morning with a pain located on the right side of his lower abdomen. Yup! It was appendicitis. Normally Jeff can be pretty stubborn about being seen by a doctor, but both of us felt strongly that he needed to be seen. He started at the local Urgent Care but was quickly referred to the ER. Once at the Emergency room, Jeff had several tests that confirmed that his appendix was enlarged and needed to be removed. We were literally 36 hours away from getting on a flight to Florida to board our cruise ship! Was this a sign? Were we not supposed to go? Or was this a simple miracle to have detected it before we got on the ship? We chose to consider it a miracle. They were able to remove his appendix laparoscopically before there were any leaks or ruptures. It was sincerely the best case of a worst case scenario. He left the hospital only an hour after the surgery and had more than 24 hours to relax (well...at least get a little rest...I don't know if Jeff knows how to relax) before getting on a plane.

I was obviously still a little nervous and stressed about the trip. I knew Jeff would be fine once we got on the ship, but I worried about his history with a pulmonary embolism and the flight we needed to take. However, we were still incredibly blessed and all went well. We took a red-eye flight on Saturday (1/26) and got to Fort Lauderdale around 5:00 on Sunday morning (1/27).

We took the early flight in case of any weather delays. I'm grateful there were no delays, but that meant that there were over 4 hours of downtime before we could board the boat. We alternated between finding places to sleep (although I never could) and playing card games (or with toys...it was Jonas's half-birthday so he received a new Rescue Bot Transformer that he played with).

Finally, we made our way to the cruise terminal in Miami! We were all extremely tired but our excitement trumped our exhaustion. As we entered the terminal, we ran into Stan's family. It was kind of crazy to find them so quickly on a cruise of over 5,000 people! For the next three days (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday), we enjoyed exploring the ship and all its amenities. This was by far the largest ship we've ever been on! Jeff and I hardly saw the older kids as they hung out with their cousins and participated in all the activities. Dallin participated in several sports tournaments (e.g., volleyball and basketball) and everyone climbed the rock climbing wall. In addition to that, they spent most of their time boogie boarding or swimming. Occasionally we'd run into them and I'd snap a quick picture, but for the most part, Jeff and I hung out with Jonas. He enjoyed the arcade room (although we never spent a dime. He just liked "playing" even though the games were never really started.), swimming, eating ice cream (like all the kids), exploring the Boardwalk (with stores and a carousel) and meeting several Dream Works characters (e.g., Shrek and the characters from Madagascar). The first character he met was Alex the Lion from Madagascar. Alex had really big paws so when he held up his paw to give Jonas a high five, Jonas jumped back a little. I think Jonas thought Alex was going to hit him. Jonas got used to the characters throughout the week but was never really brave enough to approach them by himself. To be honest, he also just liked hanging out in our room. We took him to the kid area, but he never wanted to go to the classes. He did play once in the open play area but never returned. Still, I loved wandering the ship with him. The first couple days, Jeff was pretty tired and sore (obviously) so Jeff often found more quiet places to relax, which left Jonas and me to explore on our own. We loved riding the carousel and exploring the shops. He even got to pick out an animal to stuff. He picked a bear. He got a little star to stuff in his bear as he made a wish then got to pick out an outfit. Of course, he picked out a fireman suit - his latest professional obsession. (The following pictures aren't necessarily in order. They were taken from the first few days on the ship.)

Finally! We could be treated like kings and queens!

Jonas got a little chocolate iced, sprinkled cupcake for his half-birthday (and because it was the quickest and easiest thing I could find for him to eat once we got on the ship).

Jonas would actually fall asleep wherever we were on the boat...when he would take a nap.

The carousel!

This was the open play area in the kid section of the boat that he never returned to.

Going to pick out our bear!

Taking the bear for a carousel ride.

Meeting the characters...Alex the Lion

Po from Kung Fun Panda

I think this is honestly my favorite picture from the cruise!

The boys waiting in line to boogie board.

Dallin

Daniel

Golfing with the girls.

More swimming...and more ice cream!

Back to the carousel

This was our room...and only one time that Jonas took his nap there.

Dallin and Grant

Daniel and Dallin

Dallin and Grant

Daniel and Dallin

Dallin

Daniel

Late night Spikeball

Jonas loved this crazy blue couch!

Monday (1/28), we got to celebrate Kristi's birthday. Her family organized a little surprise for her through the cruise ship. The cruise staff decorated her room and gave her several yummy chocolate cakes. That evening, she was presented with another cake at dinner. Kristi is truly an amazing person. I have never met anyone as kind or patient as she is. From the beginning, she always made me feel welcome. I am blessed to have her as my sister-in-law.

Tuesday (1/29) morning, I arranged for Jonas, Jeff and I to attend a character breakfast. We got to see Alex the Lion, King Julien and Gloria from Madagascar. Jonas was hesitant to participate in the warm up dance or meeting the characters, but he did it all! It was a fun morning.

Luckily, we met up every night for dinner. There were 27 people in our group so we occupied a large corner of the dining room. All the adults sat at one table, the older kids sat at another, and the youngest kids sat at the third table. (Jonas sat with Jeff and I.) We loved our wait staff! They were so kind and treated us just like family. The waiter that attended the table the older kids sat at (Laurin, Amber, Dallin, and Daniel...along with several others from our group) would often bring them extra food they didn't order just to encourage them to try it (including escargot!). And of course, we all ate until our hearts were content!

There were a couple of formal dinner nights. I forced everyone to dress up and take pictures prior to dinner one of those evenings.

After dinner, Kristi and I made reservations to the shows the ship offered so each night we were able to attend a new performance. I think everyone's favorite was Oceanaria. It was an acrobatic and diving performance. The story was about an ancient aquatic people, but we were more enthralled with the stunts performed. Even Jonas was on the edge of his seat! (In fact, when we got back to the room, he proceeded to flip, spin, jump, kick and anything else to show off his "skills".) We also attended an acapella performance from ReVoiced (which was amazing!), a dance/vocal performance entitled Blue Planet (whose props were incredible but the talent was a little subpar), a couple of ice skating shows (Jonas liked the How to Train a Dragon show. We got to sit in the front row so they performers would come and give his high fives), and a comedy show (which really wasn't that good). On the one night we didn't have anything planned, we went to a family-friendly karaoke bar to listen to Amber sing. Surprisingly, she has never done karaoke before. Of course, she brought the house down!

Can't forget all the fun towel animals! Jonas loved them!

After 3 days on the ship, we were all ready to get off and explore some of the islands. On Wednesday (1/30), we made our first stop in St. Maarten. Jeff, Jonas, Laurin, Amber and I scheduled a brief island tour. I always like to see the place I visit and learn a little about the people and the culture. This gave us a quick glimpse of the island and its culture. It was a little heartbreaking to see the island still reeling from the destruction caused by recent hurricanes. There was metal wrapped around posts, boats abandoned in the water, houses ravaged by winds and rain, etc. It honestly felt like we were touring a movie set rather than real life. We made a couple stops on our tour. We first stopped in Margot, which is the capitol of the French side of the island. (This island is owned by both the French and Dutch governments. It is the smallest landmass occupied by two countries.) We wandered through an artisan market before loading back up to head to our next stop on the Dutch side - a famous carousel and gelato shop.

I have no clue who those people are. I took this from the bus. This is the bridge over the border between French and Dutch St. Maarten.

Marigot

I guess several famous people have visited that place. The carousel was pretty standard, but I do have to admit that the ice cream was delicious! Jonas and I shared a chocolate gelato cone. I'm pretty sure Jonas enjoyed it even more than I did! (He loves chocolate!) Before heading back to the ship to meet up with the boys (who decided they'd rather enjoy an empty ship and get more time on the surfing simulator), we made another quick stop at the highest point on the island. It was a beautiful island with crystal clear water. I was surprised at the cacti I saw on the island. In fact, it resembled more of a desert than a tropical location. We also saw several iguanas resting in the treetops! It was crazy!

Once we grabbed the boys, we headed back out into the island - this time our destination was Maho Beach. This was the one stop the boys and Jeff were most looking forward to...and it wasn't because of the surf and sand (especially since Jeff couldn't go swimming with his incisions). This beach is literally at the end of an airplane runway/landing strip! It was a surreal experience to see the planes land right over our heads. Obviously, they were still hundreds of feet above our heads but in some instances, it felt like we could reach up and touch them. The engine noises were also insane!  One plane revved up its engine for takeoff. I could have sworn it was a large 747 until I looked over to see just a small private plane. The noise was deafening at times! In between waiting for planes to land or takeoff, we enjoyed playing on the beach. This was Jonas's first beach experience. I'm not sure he knew what to think when the first wave crashed into him, but he was quick to recover and loved every minute of it! He enjoyed playing in the sand just as much as getting rocked back and forth by the waves. The water was so clear and the sand was so soft. I wasn't initially looking forward to this beach but thoroughly enjoyed my time there. We finally made our way back to the ship where we met up with everyone else to swap stories about our adventures. While I enjoyed Maho beach, I think I would book an off-island excursion (e.g., snorkeling or even cliff jumping (although I probably wouldn't jump)) if we ever returned. I'm glad I saw the island, but there was nothing there that truly enticed me to return.

Dallin dunking Amber

The following day (Thursday, 1/31) we went to Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. I actually really loved this stop! I loved it so much I told Jeff that we should consider spending a long weekend on the island to explore more of the island. Again, we took our kids and decided to engulf ourselves in the Old Town experience. We started by making our way to El Morro (an old fort) along el Paseo de la Princesa. The walk was beautiful...although a little wet. We got rained on, but it didn't dampen our day. The walk followed the old city wall that encircled the city hundreds of years ago. This is the oldest city in US territory. Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1493 and claimed it for Spain but never returned. Juan Ponce de Leon came to the island in 1508 and named it Puerto Rico (or rich port). After the Spanish-American War in 1898, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the US. The Puerta de San Juan (San Juan Gate), built in the late 1700s, is one of six heavy doors in the wall which for centuries were closed at sundown to cut off access to the city and protect the city from invaders. The wall is up to 20 feet thick and up to 40 feet tall. There were several "gates" that surrounded the city, but this was the main gate that would welcome dignitaries and other important visitors.

We continued our walk on the waters edge towards San Felipe del Morro. This is a 16th-century citadel commonly known as El Morro which dates to 1540. Rising 140 feet above the sea, its 18-foot-thick wall proved a formidable defense. Today El Morro is a National Historic Site administered by the National Park Service. I didn't take this picture, but it shows the enormity of the fort.

As we walked around, I couldn't help but feel in awe of the construction of this massive edifice! This fort was started in 1539, but it wasn't until the late 1780s that it was completed in the form it is now. I fell in love with all the turrets that surrounded the fort and provided a lookout for the centurions of that time. There were large rooms that provided housing for the soldiers and other rooms designated as kitchen areas. The views from the fort were breathtaking!

Danny decided to chase this iguana. It jumped up on the wall and started to climb. It was creepy!

After wandering around the fort, we slowly made our way back to the cruise ship. This time we wandered through Old San Juan. We first found El Catedral de San Juan Bautista (John the Baptist's Cathedral) where Juan Ponce de Leon is buried. He actually died in Cuba, but his remains were transferred here. He is truly credited with colonizing this island in his quest to locate the Fountain of Youth (which is said to be located at a rainforest on the island).

We left the church and continued our stroll back to the ship. I loved the colorful, cobblestone streets. There were many similarities between Montevideo and San Juan, and as I wandered the streets, I couldn't help feeling a little homesick for my mission. We found an ice cream shop and stopped for a treat before moving on. As we walked down one street, we stumbled upon a plaque that indicated it was the location where the Pina Colada was created. Obviously, we had to get one (virgin of course)! We continued our self-tour of the quaint cobblestone streets and bartered in several stores, which ultimately led to our purchase of typical, traditional white shirts worn on the islands. (That evening we all wore our white shirts (mine had blue embroidery on it) to dinner.) I think this was definitely a favorite stop for our family!

Here we all are in our white shirts.

Our last stop was at Labadee, Haiti on Friday (2/1). Labadee is an exclusive beach location for Royal Caribbean ships. Royal Caribbean actually leases the land from the Haitian government. It was gorgeous! This was the tropical destination I had been looking for in St. Maarten. Because of the unrest in Haiti, there were no excursions into the island to experience the people or culture; however, we enjoyed our day at the beach. The cruise company has provided so many fun activities and amenities! All the food was included, plus, there were several Haitian bands to entertain us and artisan markets to explore. Moreover, there was a giant water slide and water park the kids enjoyed. They also got to ride a "dragon coaster" (kind of like an alpine slide) down a small mountain. Jonas and I simply enjoyed the luminescent blue waters and soft sand of the beach. Jeff wandered the little island area and relaxed on a beach chair since he really couldn't swim. We saw more of Stan's and the Davis family today since we were all near each other on the beach. After a few hours, we changed beach locations to go to the side with more waves, but with the waves came rough sand and coral so Jonas wasn't as interested in getting in the water. However, everyone helped Danny dig a big hole to put the yoga ball into to use as a springboard for flips and jumps. All the boys enjoyed doing that, even Jonas jumped on it. 

Finally, our day came to an end. It was a little sad to make our way back to the ship because it meant that the cruise was coming to an end. Saturday (2/2) was just another day on the ship as we made our way to Miami. I finally did the zip line and another round of golf with Jonas and Jeff. Danny participated in a rock climbing contest and won! We watched another diving show with the characters from Madagascar then joined in a good-bye party on the boardwalk with games, popcorn, cotton candy and of course another ride on the carousel. I honestly couldn't believe the trip was coming to an end. We had been planning and anticipating it for so long; it was a little sad to have it end.

Sunday (2/3) morning we docked early at the cruise port in Miami. We quickly got off the boat and made our way to our rental van. Jeff and I made plans (along with Stan and Kristi) to visit the Florida Everglades and go on an airboat tour since we had several hours before our flight home. This was definitely out of my comfort zone. I didn't mind the boats, but I'm deathly afraid of alligators and crocodiles...and lucky (or unlucky) for me, the Everglades is the only location where both live. I made sure to sit away from the edge and did just fine. We actually saw several alligators and other birds and fishes. The Everglades has a unique beauty.

After our boat tour, we got to see a show with live gators. I couldn't believe what the trainer would do with these giant reptiles! He must have nerves of steel!! Following the show, we got to take a picture with a baby alligator and see a few more animals before leaving the park.

There was just enough time left for us to grab some lunch and make another couple of quick picture stops before heading to the airport. Our first picture stop was the Fort Lauderdale temple. We actually saw the Angel Moroni as we were driving to Chili's (where we stopped for lunch). The second stop was to another sacred location (said with TONS of sarcasm) - the Lamborghini dealership. I guess there are only 3 of these nationwide so Danny was especially excited to see it. The dealership was closed but we could see a few cars from the gates.

Finally, our trip had come to an end. We made our way back to the airport, turned in our van, and headed to our gate. This time, however, the trip home was a little more bearable because it was at a normal time, and we got to watch the Super Bowl! I was actually a little sad when I realized that I wouldn't get to have our Super Bowl party at home, but I really enjoyed watching it on the flight. I didn't have any distractions. Jonas was engulfed in his Netflix shows so I could just enjoy the game and my Girl Scout cookies. 

Thank goodness for modern technology!

It was a week full of adventures! I am sad to see it end but excited for all the new adventures that will occur in my little family this year. Life is going to change...and it's going to be great!