My parents had a cruise planned for the family about a year ago, but then they were called to be in charge of the Houston Temple, so they canceled it. With the remaining cruise credit, they sent the rest of the family on a different cruise out of Galveston from Dec. 17-23. We were part of the Cruise Lady group, so we got to hear regularly from Randal Wright and Brad Wilcox and go on tours with the LDS group as well. We weren't sure we'd survive and be everywhere we were supposed to be without my parents there, but we all did just fine.
The lines to get on the actual cruise were pretty brutal. We were happy to make it to our rooms and go to dinner! There's never a shortage of food on a cruise. The first night we ate at the sit down restaurant and quickly found our favorite dessert - chocolate molten cake with ice cream. Mmm.
The first full day on the ship we were at sea, so we explored, stopped by a lecture, and ate every few hours, of course. The buffet was really good, but our favorites were Guy's Burger Joint, the taco place, and the 24 hour soft serve. It was so fun to have all the cousins on the ship together.
Grandma and Grandpa Palmer joined us for the cruise as well. They were a big help and we loved having at least one set of our parents with us!
We also had a formal dining night on the first full day.
James and I had lobster, but of the kids, only Hazel was willing to try it. I love Grayson's smile and chocolate stache in this picture of a picture.
Hazel was pretty devastated she couldn't find her formal picture on the photo board, but we found it on the last day, so she was a happy girl.
Some of the Dunnings joined our table occasionally, and Jada loved the attention.
The first stop was Costa Maya. The kids and I didn't do an excursion that day because we figured two days would be enough for our younger crew. It was a good decision. Barbara was kind enough to stay back with us, so we just took it easy and let the kids play. The kid club on the ship, Camp Ocean, was really great. They did a lot of crafts, dancing, movies, and games.
We did get off the ship for a minute at Costa Maya to meet James after his scuba excursion. Unfortunately, he didn't actually get to go because we docked late, but at least they got their money back. He and Dane decided to make the best of it, so they hung out at the beach, had some drinks, and got a beach side massage. Now he's motivated to get scuba certified so he can go back and make a trip of it. I haven't decided if I want to join him...
The second stop was Belize. This was the tour the whole family went on together. It was nice to have lots of helping hands. This old lady even held Jada for awhile. Jk. It's Aunt Angie in her legit tourist get up. Dane looked amazing as well.
We met early after breakfast and headed out on a small boat. From there, we got on buses, drove for an hour and stopped to have an authentic Belizean meal of chicken, coconut rice, coconut tarts, chips and salsa, fruit, and salad. It was yummy. Then we got on speed boats to ride down the river to Lamanai. I was a little worried about Jada, but she did just great.
The name "Lamanai" sounds like a Book of Mormon name, and our LDS tour guide pointed out some of the comparisons scholars make. Whether or not these sites were the actual place Helaman's young warriors were taught by their mothers, we could still imagine it being in a place very similar to this. We saw 3 temples at Lamanai, and this is the Jaguar Temple with some of the youth in the group pictured below.
The next was the High Temple. I decided to not climb it with Jada, but I was surprised Grayson and Hazel went to the top considering they had a lot of walking to do that day! They even saw and heard some howler monkeys while up there.
The last temple was the Mask Temple. This picture is of one side of it. It's crazy to imagine how long ago these were built and how in tact they are today!
Driving through the actual city of Belize was humbling. It looked like a place I wouldn't want to be at night, but it was cool to see all of the different colored houses, etc. While we were waiting for our tender, we took a few shots out at the dock by the shops. This is my favorite. What a wonderful experience for these kids!
The last stop was Cozumel. We took a boat to shore, caught a taxi, got on a ferry, then got on a bus that took us to Tulum. These ruins were pretty incredible. Jada enjoyed her spot in my carrier, and luckily we had an umbrella to shade her sweet chunky thighs!
The kids may not have fully appreciated the ruins at this point in their lives, but later they can look back at pictures and remember how cool it was to be there. In the moment, the iguanas were the highlight of the tour. They were all over the ruins, but this was one of the biggest ones.
We walked around the back of the temple, and bam, there was a cliff and the beach below us. What a beautiful spot!
On the taxi ride back, it was fun to hear James speak some Spanish with the driver. I wish he would've had more time, but a little practice is better than nothing. Before getting on the ship, we browsed around and got the kids some hand painted maracas. Hazel also wanted to bring back this dead palm tree branch and a mini coconut. Such a little collector.
The last day at sea was fun and relaxing - more food, more swimming, more kid club! There was a huge water slide, and Hazel loved it.
These hot tubs were nice because they weren't too hot for the kiddos.
Then we cleaned up for our last sit down dinner.
In the evenings, James and I took turns going out. We both enjoyed the steam room, sauna, hot tubs, movies by the pool, and popcorn. I got to spend some time with Aubrey and Hannah, which was nice. My nieces are so sweet and they're getting so old!
On the last night, Barbara stayed in our room so James and I could go out together with my siblings. We tried to go do karaoke, but it ended right when we got there. Sad day. Apparently the night before when I was sleeping, Natalie and Angie sang their hearts out to N'Sync's "Bye, Bye, Bye." So instead we just got some ice cream and sat and chatted for awhile, which was fun because we don't get to do that often just as parents. Sadly we're missing the Hayeses and Palmers in this pic, but we're so blessed to have a wonderful family and to have made these memories together.
