Spring Break 2011!

Spring break was a blast.

I have been trying to put this post together for awhile now,

but Blogger has been giving me issues when adding pictures, and let's face it,

no one wants to read a boring post about someones awesome vacation without seeing the pics.

You know I'm right.

I was finally forced to add them via Photobucket.

Let's see if it works.

Hang on, friends, there are LOTS of pics.

Boarding the boat!
Let the fun begin!!

The first thing we did was check out our rooms.

The boys shared a room, and Ryan and I had the adjoining room next door.

Perfect arrangement.

Preston and Trysten loved their balcony.

Check out T's bling.

He won it in the arcade on the boat promptly after boarding

and wore it every single day.

Awesome.

 

The first 2 days were spent at sea,

so we took advantage of all the ship had to offer.

The pool was fantastic.

Ashylnn and Trysten were inseparable for the majority of the trip!

I kinda like her too. =)

Our little devil

I heart my brother and sister!

The kids also loved the ice skating rink.

Especially Carter who spent a lot of time on the ice...I mean REALLY on the ice.

             

Can't forget the in line skating.

That would be The Teenager in the Rangers hat and sunglasses.

Shocker.

I think they are permanently attached to his head lately.

Silly Carter!

Carter's in line skating skills closely resembled his ice skating skills.

Hey, at least the kid tried.

Best of all, he had fun!

           

Can't forget the rock wall which was T's personal favorite,

although we didn't get a pic of him on it.

Fail.

Remember the arcade I mentioned earlier?

It was on the very top of the ship along with a whole area dedicated to teenagers.

What would a cruise be without miniature golf?

How handsome are these 2!?

And how about that backdrop!

The kids spent A LOT of time hanging out

with Mimi and Grandaddy in their room.

My parents ate it up...so did the kids!

One of the best parts of the trip was seeing all the cousins bonding.

Every night we had the option to eat in the formal dining room,

but with 9 kids in tow, we decided not to subject all the innocent

guests to our crew of clowns night after night

and opted to eat at other places aboard the boat like Johnny Rockets.

Our first night in the formal dining room.

Father and son.

It was fun to see the boys all dressed up.

My sister and her sweet family.

Somehow I managed not to get one single pic of my brother's family all together.

Bad sister.

On the menu for our last night in the formal dining room...LOBSTER!!

Lobster just so happens to be Trysten's favorite thing to eat...with melted butter of course!

Eat up, boys!

Every night after dinner,

we'd rush back to the room for the boys to change

and to see what creation our stateroom attendant had made for us.

These aren't your average swans made out of towels, friends.

Prepare yourself.

Impressive, I know.

 Now, on to the ports!

Cozumel was our first stop, but we chose not to get off the boat.

The kids wanted to stay on and play, and with all the dangerous press that Mexico has received lately,

we decided to opt out since we had the kids.

It was beautiful though, and the weather was PERFECT.

The next day was The Grand Caymans,

and it did not disappoint!

I took a picture of our ship from the smaller tender that took us to land.

Check out the size of our ship compared to the 2 Carnival ships next to us!

The fam on the beautiful beach!

Sweet boys on the beach!

The boys after a $100 lunch.

Seriously.

$100.

Getting off the boat cost us over $300.

But....it was so worth it.

Austin, whatever you do, do NOT smile.

That night while we were getting ready for dinner,

these arrived at our door:

With this:

Damn I'm lucky.

The man is awesome.

The next day was our last stop

JAMAICA

Let me start by saying that this place is crazy.

Where else can you see a donkey wearing this:

and this:

Yep.

Only in Jamaica, mon!

Checkout Bob Marley's long lost cousin on the right.

Love it.

Come back again, mon!

The last night on the boat,

we said goodbye to some of our favorites:

Herb, our waiter in the dining room, who was from Honduras

Fransisco, our stateroom attendant, who was from the Philippines

and Ash, our favorite bartender, who was from a small island between Australia and Madagascar

The next morning came early,

and the kids were not ready to leave.

We love you, Voyager of the Seas!

"Sea" you next time!

This is what our laundry room looked like after returning home from the cruise.

Totally worth it.

I cannot end this post without thanking my incredible parents.

Thank you both for such a fantastic trip full of memories to last a lifetime.

We are so blessed.

We love you, Mimi and Grandaddy!