The Cruise (our first!)

This family has been on vacation practically the entire month of June, and quite frankly, I am exhausted.  I am really looking forward to not traveling for a while - until football season, I guess.

So here's a run down on what we've been doing.  June 8th was Chuck's parents' 50th wedding anniversary. We went to Arkansas for the renewal of their vows and an intimate party for family and friends.  I totally teared up while they recited their vows.  I don't think I've ever seen them so happy.

Then, they took the entire family (Chuck's siblings, spouses, and children) on a cruise to Mexico.  It was  hell trying to coordinate 20 people, but the experience was definitely worth it.

First thing first, we got on the boat and had to check out Camp Carnival - the children's program that kept them busy day and night.  George won this book by bringing up a Carnival Cruise line receipt. This all happened right after we got on the boat, so we only had one receipt to give him and it was a reciept for two Jack Daniel's and Coke.  (Trust me, they were well deserved at that point).  Anyway, he won and got to go up there and announce his name, his age, and where he is from.  I swear that kid is a natural.  Everyone - and I mean everyone - knew his name after that meeting. The first time we dropped him off, they greeted him by name and told them how excited they were to see him.  Ridiculous!

George with his winnings.  We read this book at least once a day, but usually more.

So, the kids spent most of their time in Camp Carnival.  The allure of video games was all it took to get Luke hooked.  Evie was less enamored, and George was just not in his element, because the room he was in was geared toward 2 year olds.  He bored quickly, so he got to spend more time with his relatives and was quick to ditch his parents.  On the last day, we parents got to visit Camp Carnival to see what all the kids got to do.  It wasn't super exciting, but the activities probably helped pass the time - especially for the older kids.

Luke playing video games.  I have to admit, he's pretty good!

Chuck and Evie playing video games.

We visited Progreso and Cozymel.  Both were beautiful but SUPER HOT! Whew!  We visited Mayan ruins in Progresso first.

In front of old stones.

This is an iguana hanging out on the structure you see behind us in the picture above. 
They were everywhere!

The ruins had this super cool sink hole.  It is really deep and people could swim freely in it with the little fishies that would bite your toes and skin.  We just put our feet in, but it was definitely worth visiting just for this part alone.

We had lunch after visiting the ruins, but first we had fresh coconut water. Delish!

Then we spent some time on the beach in Cozymel, but we had to take a taxi to get there. George is obsessed with taxies so he was super excited that this was his first taxi ride!



George experienced his first taxi ride on the way to the beach and he was thrilled! 
Who knew this would be a life alterning experience?

  



But the time on the boat was most of what we did and it was fun for all! George was Captain Batman (or just Captain) most of the trip as he wore his captain's hat around the ship.  People saluted him and called him captain, but the best part was getting to go up to the Bridge for a private tour with the Captain's assistants.  It was so sweet. The crew were so kind to us and George was just as charming as ever.  Love that kid.

Captain Batman, ready for bed.

 

 

Here we are on the Bridge.  If you're George, all you have to do is ask and you shall receive.  All we did was ask Guest Services if there was any sort of tour that children could take to see how the boat works. They said no, but asked us to wait to see what they could do.  A few minutes later, two members of the crew showed up and escorted us to the Bridge.  It was awesome! We were the only people up there other than the crew.   Unfortunately, we didn't meet the Captain because he was conducting a wedding at that time, but it was a great experience!



Looking for ships on the Bridge with the Captain's binoculars.



G and the Captain's assistant.

We learned how to use the compass.



 

The assistant pointing out a ship on the horizon.
 

Here are some other fun pictures from our trip, just randomly placed in here.  Enjoy!

 



Breakfast - one of the few times during the day that we were together.

Evie and Pawpaw

Luke, Evie, and me. Good heavens.

We participated in a family scavenger hunt.  We did not win.
We still did all the ridiculous stuff though.

Evie and G in our room.  It was really much roomier than I expected.

Evie, Luke, George, and cousin Josh hanging out in our window.
This was, I swear, their favorite place on the boat.

George, Chuck, Evie, and cousin Lexie first night on the ship.

This is Chuck and me with our new best friends - our bartenders!

There are probably more pictures of George than the other kids because (1) we spent more time with him while the other two were hanging out at Camp Carnival, and (2) he's more tolerant of my picture taking.  Hope you enjoyed the review!  More pictures and stories to come later!