Cruise!!!

Click if you have a few minutes! 400 pics!

What an amazing trip we got to take and have Gaga & Papa join us on! 7 days floating the ocean on a beautiful ship that took us to Roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize and Cozumel, Mexico! Two of these places were brand new for us and we had incredible adventures planned for all 3 spots! I once again was the family dud and was in a cast for yet another cruise! Don't think for a minute I let this slow me down though...heck no! If I could do it or even try to do it, I was there ;)

Our first few days were spent at sea and we made use of all of the amenities the ship had to offer! We played endless rounds of mini golf, the boys played tons of basketball (Craig even played in a tournament and was on the team with the cast of the ice skating show!), rode the flo-master...a surf machine on the top deck of the ship, climbed to the rafters of the ship on the rockwall, the kids won medals in the beanbag competition (all 3 telling the host into the microphone being broadcast over the whole ship that they were brothers and all from different cities! Brian went with Georgetown, Matt with Round Rock, an Luke stuck with plain old Texas!), played in the arcade (Gaga was addicted!), spent some time at kid camp participating in the activities, swam till we were prunes, ate till we couldn't move, Gaga & I got mobbed in a flash sale at the shops, played cards during a rainy afternoon at sea, ice skated, saw an ice show and hit the ice cream machine more times than I could begin to even count!

Honduras was our first stop and we were all so excited at the day's upcoming adventures! 8 hours on a private island, complete with cliff jumping, snorkeling and an animal sanctuary where you hold the animals! The first 6 hours were as amazing as promised...we all had more fun than we could've imagined possible! Then IT happened...the incident that will forever be a Thanksgiving story in this family, the incident that 6 of us never heard the end of for the rest of the cruise...Gaga got bit by a monkey! Yes...you in fact read that correctly...a real, live monkey full on bit her finger, drawing blood, horror from Papa and laughter from me and Craig! We were all holding these sweet babies, Gaga was truly enjoying it the most, we were all having a good laugh that Craig had just gotten peed on by a monkey and then we handed them off to the family behind us. The lady who got one took two of them at once, they started fighting, the lady panicked and the ever good samaritan who can't seem to mind her own business reached over to help and managed to get bit! Another couple passing by (who were on our ship as well) stopped to see her finger and I kid you not Gaga literally takes the man's towel, wipes her bloody finger on it and then hands it back to the horror stricken man!!! (I can't make this stuff up!) Craig is beyond mortified, Papa had already stormed off leaving us in a trail of "I cannot believe you got bit, why the hell did you all hold a monkey, these are wild animals you people are messing with, etc, etc, etc!) and I just stood there like a speechless fool! I dragged Gaga over to the hand-washing sink to try and clean her finger, Craig ran off to find one of our towels to switch the poor innocent soul who was now sporting Gaga's monkey diseased bloody towel, and the kids were just along for the excitement of the '4 capable adults taking care of them have completely lost it' at this point! The real kicker came when Gaga tried to talk to the owner of the property to make sure she would be okay and he was as high as a kite dancing in the bar! Needless to say..Little French Key may be a truly gorgeous paradise but I can assure you it was our first and sadly last visit!

Stop 2 was Belize and this day went so far above and beyond our expectations! This was the day I was most excited about...I had done so much research about the world renown snorkeling/diving areas in the area. It is listed as #2 in the world, only behind the Great Barrier Reef! Anyone who knows Matt knows he is obsessed with all things ocean, particularly sharks. He dreams of being a marine biologist and can tell you more about these creatures than some books! Combine that passion with Papa having turned 60 this year and I created a day those two will never forget! We charted a private boat, driver and snorkel guide and spent the day making memories! First stop was Shark alley, where 5 of the 7 of us (guess who didn't!?!) actually jumped into shark infested water and swam with them! The nurse sharks were rubbing against them and the stingrays were bigger than my Dad and Craig!!! The smiles coming from that water are memories my mom and I will never forget and the sight of seeing my kids actually in the ocean with real, live sharks next to them caused my heart to skip a few beats!!! Next stop was the tiny island of Caye Caulker where my Mom, Luke and I spent a few hours in a private golf cart exploring the island and shopping while the rest of the crew went on to snorkel in Coral Gardens. We all met back in a fun, island restaurant where the beers were icy cold, the lobster was so fresh it melted in our mouths and shared our adventures! What an amazing day spent together in a place most only ever dream of going to!!!

Stop 3 was our final stop and an old family favorite...Cozumel! Having been here quite a few times, all of us knew what to expect and booked ourselves to spend the day at a family favorite...Playa Mia...a private beach/waterpark  that all of us but Luke had been to before. They had made some additions since our last visit and we sure enjoyed all the new stuff! The kids couldn't get enough of the inflatable obstacle course tethered in the middle of the ocean as well as the waterpark and slides just off the beach, my Dad and Craig enjoyed snorkeling and seeing the sunken "treasures"while my Mom and I made good use of the beautiful chlorinated pool! 7 hours of fun in the sun was the perfect ending to our trip and we headed back to the port to do some final shopping before boarding the ship for our final journey...home! Gaga can now begin her Rabies series at the local Health Department!!!!