The Cruise Part 3: The Ports

CoCo Cay

Our first stop of the cruise was at CoCo Cay, which is an island that is owned by the cruise line. It was SO beautiful. Four of us in our group signed up for yoga on the beach (John joined me for yoga, which was pretty funny!), and in doing so, were led around to a side of the island that was almost completely empty. We pretty much had the beach to ourselves, and stayed and relaxed after doing yoga. The water was amazing. We loved just being in the water, and relaxing on the beach. Later on, we walked back to the more crowded side of the island for some lunch and snorkeling. It was pretty much a perfect beach day.

Look at how beautiful!

Mindi, Bryan, and John relaxing after yoga.
Eating lunch


St. Thomas

Our second stop was in St. Thomas. After getting off the ship, we took a taxi to downtown Charlotte Amalie to do a little shopping. After grabbing a quick lunch (at Wendy's of all places) we met up with our tour guide for our excursion. We went on a Water Island Bike Tour, which was so much fun. First we hopped on a boat that took us over to a little island next to St. Thomas called Water Island. Then we took a bus ride up to the top of the island where we got our mountain bikes. We then rode down and around the island, stopping at various points, finally ending on Honeymoon Beach, where we swam and snorkeled. It was a great excursion, and we loved doing something so active and fun!

Shopping downtown

On the boat ride over to Water Island

This is the "downtown" on Water Island

Our group at the top of Water Island before getting on our bikes

During our bike ride, we stopped by this sign for the local (one and only) pizza place on the island. I thought it was pretty funny.

At this stop next to the water, we spotted a shark swimming by! Luckily we rode a little further before arriving at the beach for swimming and snorkeling.

St. Maarten

Our final stop was in Philipsburg, St. Maarten. As soon as we got off the boat, we went and met our guide for our excursion, which was a snuba/snorkel trip. None of us had ever done snuba before, and weren't really sure what to expect, but it was really fun. John and I both loved it. John has been scuba diving before, and after experiencing snuba, I definitely want to try scuba diving sometime. With snuba, you wear a weight belt, and are attached to a little raft that holds the oxygen, so you can dive up to 20 ft. without all of the gear that you usually wear for scuba diving. After our excursion, we ate lunch at a local place (no Wendy's this time) and then walked around and shopped a little bit. We ended our day relaxing at the beach before heading back to the boat.


Waiting for our excursion guide (I guess our lens was temporarily fogged up)
Getting ready to snuba


Eating lunch afterwards

John and I pretty much loved everything about this trip, and especially loved being able to spend so much time with our friends before we all move away to start the next chapter in our lives.

The Cruise Part 2: At Sea

We had 3 full days "At Sea" while on our cruise, and while we did enjoy some (okay, maybe a lot of) time lounging by the pool reading our books/magazines, we also took full advantage of all of the fun activities that they had on board. And let me tell you, there were a LOT of activities to choose from.

The Rock Climbing Wall

I have never been rock climbing before (unless you count climbing up the 3 ft. wall at the playground while pushing one of my children up it in front of me) so I was really excited to go climbing on the cruise. I was a little nervous the first time (it seemed really high) but I made it to the top every time, and really enjoyed it. John also really liked it, and has already been talking about finding a place to go climbing once we move to Omaha.

The girls getting ready to climb: Me, Amy, and Mindi

The boys climbing: Bryan, John (in the middle) and Andy

The FlowRider

We also loved the FlowRider. John tried the stand up surfing, which looked really hard (I didn't even try) but we both did the boogie boarding, which was so much fun. I didn't realize it at the time, but when I was boogie boarding someone was taking video footage of me, and it ended up being part of the "Cruise in Review DVD" that was made and sold on the last night of the cruise. They showed a preview of the DVD during the Farewell Show, and there I was, in all of my boogie boarding glory.

The guys also participated in a dodge ball competition, which they started with a leap-frog warm-up/competition to see which teams played first. It was hilarious, and was definitely the highlight of the tournament (for us watching at least).


Dinners

For all of our dinners, we ate in one of the dinning rooms rather than the buffet style cafe. It was nice to have a reserved table just for our group every night. We got to know our waiters pretty well, and had such a fun time. Some of my favorite memories from the trip are from the conversations we had at dinner. A couple of the nights were formal nights, and after being in our swimsuits all day, it was nice to have an excuse to get dressed up.

John, me, Jen, and Logan

Andy, Amy, Mindi, and Bryan

We were SO impressed with all of the staff on the cruise. Everyone was so nice, and the customer service was amazing.

Our waiter and assistant waiter.

Other Activities

Every night there were numerous activities going on to choose from. There was usually a big show/production in the main theater, which we almost always attended, and which were usually really good. There were also lots of other smaller things happening throughout the ship. Some of the other nighttime activities we did included: an ice skating show, dancing in one of the clubs, a hilarious Love & Marriage game show, and a movie. We also had fun wandering around the Promenade, and looking in some of the shops.

The Royal Promenade
Seeing a movie

Dancing at an 80's Video Dance Party

I got a temporary (3-7 day) airbrushed tattoo on my foot. It was just for fun mom...don't worry!

Posing with some Dreamworks characters

The farewell show

There was so much to do on the ship, that we were usually exhausted by the time we went to bed every night. Luckily we got to sleep in as late as we wanted in the mornings, so it all worked out.

The Cruise!! Part 1

To celebrate John's graduation. John and I, along with 3 other MBA couples went on a 7 day/ 7 night Royal Caribbean cruise!! It was the first time John and I have been on a couples only vacation since having kids, and to say that we had fun would be a huge understatement. My mom and dad were kind enough to stay with the kids while we were gone, and we are so, so grateful to them for making it possible for us to sneak away.

John graduated on Friday, and we left early Sunday morning to fly down to Florida. We left from Port Canaveral, and made stops at CocoCay (a private Royal Caribbean owned island), St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. It was our first ever cruise, and we LOVED it! Our boat was the Freedom of the Seas, and it was massive. We spent the first evening on the boat just walking around trying to see everything (which we did not accomplish).

Getting ready to board the ship

Our boat, the Freedom of the Seas
Eating lunch, our first of many meals.

The guys hanging out waiting to depart Port Canaveral
The very front of the boat. (We may or may not have had our own "I'm the king of the world" moment)

John's Graduation

WE did it!!

I mean, HE did it!

Well actually, I do mean WE...it was definitely a joint effort.
On Friday the 6th, John graduated with his MBA from Indiana University with his major in marketing and his minor in finance. We are so proud of him, and all of the time, effort, and energy he has invested in school these last two years. It has been challenging at times, but has also been a period of growth for each of us individually, and as a family. It has also been a really happy time, and I am surprised at how sad I am to see it come to an end. But this post is all about celebrating, and we are SO happy for John and his accomplishment!



Walking across the stage, and shaking the Dean's hand.

John was also honored with the student selected best public speaker award. We knew that he was nominated as one of the top 5 students for this award, but didn't know he had won until they called his name at graduation. I was a very proud wife :)

Both of our parents came to Bloomington to take part in the celebration, and we are so grateful for their efforts in making the journey. It wouldn't have been the same without them.

John's Parents (His dad is holding his public speaking award)
My parents
Pointing to a squirrel up in the trees. Much more exciting than graduation if you are an 18 month old.



Our future graduates

The Little Mermaid

John's parents came into town last weekend for John's graduation, and brought with them the cutest Little Mermaid costume for Makenna. She was so excited about her new gift, and didn't waste anytime trying it on for us.

John bought Makenna a Little Mermaid necklace a few months ago during a trip to NYC, and ever since she has been asking for a Little Mermaid dress to go with it. Thank goodness for Grandmas and Grandpas to make a little girl's wishes come true!

BYU Women's Conference

I had the opportunity to fly out to Utah last weekend for BYU Women's Conference. I met my mom, sister, and sister-in-law there, and I was so excited to see them. We had such a wonderful time, and although my trip was short (Thurs- Sat) I was so glad that I was able to go. I haven't spent much time in Provo since I graduated in 2006, so it was really fun to be back and spend some time on campus.

The conference started on Thursday morning, but since John still had classes on Wednesday, I didn't leave until Thursday. I left VERY early (3:45am!!) to drive to the airport, and arrived in Provo by early afternoon, to catch the afternoon classes. All of the different classes we attended were so wonderful, and I really felt spiritually fed. We had such a fun time together, and are already planning our next trip!

All 4 of us
Amanda and I at the Marriott Center

In a class in the JSB auditorium (American Heritage anyone??)

We also did plenty of shopping at the BYU bookstore which was fun.

Friday was filled with more wonderful classes, and then I was able to see two of John's brothers and their wives on on Friday night, which was so much fun. I wish that I could see them more often; they are awesome.

On Saturday after women's conference was over, we drove up to the Provo temple. It had SNOWED on Friday night, so it was fun to take some pictures with the snowy temple in the background. Then after a quick trip to IKEA, it was off to the airport for the trip home.

Eating breakfast at the Cannon Center

The Snow!