As part of our celebration of my parent's 50th wedding anniversary, some of us when on a Western Caribbean cruise. My mom and dad, my brother Darin, my sister Melanie and her husband J.D., my cousin Janelle and her husband Heath, my cousin Devin and the four of us all set out on May 24 from Galveston, Texas. We had one day of cruising before reaching our first port, Cozumel, Mexico. It was difficult trying to find activities to do in the ports that would be suitable for the variety of ages we had in our group (ranging from 7-78). Because of this, we ended up on different excursions at a couple of the ports. In Cozumel, Dave and the kids and I, along with my parents, went on a dolphin adventure that allowed you to be in the water with the dolphins. They pulled each of us with their fins and then pushed us on the foot from behind while we were on a boogie board. This was Haylie's dream come true! She was the the first one to go in the group we were in and even though she had no idea what to do, she had a huge smile on her face and followed directions perfectly. I hope she will always remember that. Zander was a little worried about it so he only let the dolphin kiss his cheek. They wouldn't allow cameras, and charged hundreds of dollars for the photos they took professionally so this is memory we will have to keep in our minds! The others in our group went on a introduction to scuba excursion during our day in Cozumel.
We cruised overnight and when we woke up the next day we were in Belize City, Belize. The others in our group went on a cave tubing expedition, but Zander was too small to go on it so we took the kids on a tour of the city which included an air boat tour of a fresh water marsh. It was pretty low key, but it was interesting to learn some of the history of Belize and to realize how different it was from Mexico or other countries in Central and South America because it was under British rule instead of Spanish rule. There was definitely a lot of poverty there. The air boat was fun and the kids got to see an alligator up close and personal as it swam right next to our boat!
Another overnight cruise, and we wake up to find ourselves in Roatan, Honduras. For this port, we all stuck together and went to a privately owned island. The island, called Little French Key, was beautiful and included paddle boards, kayaks, snorkeling, plenty of beach chairs and hammocks, and a delicious local lunch. We all enjoyed our time here and wished that we had had some more time to spend there. Haylie loved the snorkeling portion. Zander loved playing in the sand and finally having some time to just do what he wanted!
We had two more days and three more nights of cruising to get back to Galveston on the morning of May 31st. During that time we ate...and ate some more. Then we ate again! We also found some time to try out the Flowrider (wave simulator), win the ship volleyball tournament, play mini golf, take in some great shows, ice skate, swim, and enjoy one another company. We also ate some more while we weren't busy with the other activities! The kids spent some time in the kids deck where they have activities and supervision set up just for kids by age group.
Overall, it was a fabulous vacation. Not many people get to say they visited 3 different countries during the summer! It was a wonderful experience. I am grateful I had the opportunity to go and to be able to take the kids too. Going with my extended family was also tons of fun! We will have to start saving to go again soon!
