10 Year Anniversary Cruise

Majesty of the Seas- Royal Caribbean

We decided to go away for our 10th anniversary.  We took a short, 3 day cruise to the Bahamas.  It was much needed time away.  We enjoyed no stress, peaceful breezes, time together, and no cooking, cleaning, or discipline for 3 whole days.  It was wonderful!

Our sweet friends, Jessica and Conard, watched the girls for us.  I'm pretty sure they had more fun than we did...more on that in a moment.  My mom and dad enjoyed time alone with Nathan for 3 whole days (more on that too).

We started our trip by driving to Naples to drop off the kids.  Just before getting on Alligator Ally, we realized we forgot to leave the carseats, so we had to go back to Jessica's and drop them off (good thing we realize it THEN, and not 10 minutes later!)

We got briefly lost in downtown Miami, but thanks to our mad driving skills, we found out way to the cruise docks.  Once aboard the ship, we explored a bit, Jeremy played a little basketball, and we started to sail away.

Shooting hoops

Bon Voyage!

After dinner, we went to a comedy show that was pretty funny.  Then, we headed off for the casino.  We never gamble...except on a cruise.  We took $20 for the first night.  I think we came back to the cabin with about $65...so, in our eyes, we did great.  We had a couple of hours worth of fun, and didn't come back empty handed.  I really enjoy watching other play.  I like to play the Roulette Table...I put just a few bucks on at time (and one time it landed on my number, and I happened to play $2...I think I scored close to $80 on that turn!  But, I blew most of it later). However, there were several guys there that played close to a hundred dollars a turn.  Occasionally they would hit a number, but man...they blew through at least $500 in 5 minutes or so.  Unbelievable!  Jeremy enjoyed the blackjack table.  I think he came back with a few extra chips as well.  We mad sure to "pocket" our original $20 and just play with the 'house money'.  I'm not sure if that makes us responsible gamblers or not...but it was cheaper than going on a date night to the movies ;)

Coco Cay

The next day we spent some time hanging out in a hammock on Coco Cay...Royal Caribbean's private beach.  After about 2 hours of resting there, talking, and play catch phrase, my sweet, loving, and kind husband decides to jump out of the hammock as fast as he can to flip me over and make me land on my face!  Happy Anniversary to you too honey ;)

Enjoying his coke cup on the hammock

We went back to the ship and hung out in the pool for a little while before going back to the room to get ready for our fancy dinner:)

He didn't want to be sunburned, so he covered himself with towels :)  Somehow the sun got through though.

Yep, it's "Formal Night".

After dinner, we went to another show where a married duo called Airborne was performing, except I forgot their names and called them "Air heads", hahaha.  It was a juggling and comedy routine.  We kept wanting to cheer for them, but they kept dropping the items they were juggling.  Oh well...they did far better than we would have ;)

The ship deck at night.

So, after the show, we went back to the casino with some of our winnings from the previous night (again, still using "house money")...we both quickly lost what we started with and called it quits for the night.  We went to one of our favorite spots...the deck at the front of the ship and just enjoyed the night time air, and listened to drunk people talk far to loudly about things they would never been talking about otherwise ;)

Dad, I did get a blue drink that night.  Although I'm holding two glasses, I only drank one, hahaha...but, this is for you ;)  It's the only drink we bought on the ship, well...off the ship too, hahaha.

Day number three, we docked at Nassau.

 We walked through the Straw Market and bought a few over priced items for our children:)

And, spent most of our day at Atlantis.  We paid to walk through the aquarium and even had a tour guide, which made it more worth while as we learned some "history" behind their displays.

The Atlantis is an amazing resort.

 See this middle bridge between the two buildings?  It's called the "Michael Jackson Suite" because he was the first person to stay there.  It is the definition of luxurious and costs $25,000/night with a four night minimum!  Start saving up honey....I demand to go there next year !  (just kidding...I could never, ever, ever spend money like that).

Our final night on the ship, we enjoyed the beautiful sunset,

 watched Peyton Manning and the broncos, listened to classical guitar, and of course...went back to the casino.  I had made plans to watch and enjoy others blow their money away, but a few minutes later, I looked over and saw Jeremy sitting at a blackjack table...uh oh! hahaha...I took off over there.  In a course of about 15 minutes, he won $205!!!  That's big stuff to us!  He made a decision to play one final hand...played it well and walked away.  Good for him!

While he was playing black jack, the lady next to him, also playing, was keeping her eye on the roulette table.  She gave me two $5 chips and told me to put one on 17 and one on 32.  She lost.  A few turns later, she did it again, same number...and she won!  It landed on 17.  She  got almost $200 I think and gave me a $25 chip for helping her :)  So...that was the money I played with that night.

We had a fun time, somehow came back with a little more money than we started with, relaxed a lot, took naps, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and enjoyed being with one another.  It's been a busy year, the time away was much needed!

I enjoy the towel animals.  Our Room steward showed us how to make this monkey

And, a swan

Sooo....what did the kids do?  They had lots and lots and lots of fun!

The girls stayed with their friends, Ashlynd (one week younger than Nicole), and Aleya (3 months younger than Hannah).  They swam in the pool

Hannah and Aleya

And swam some more

Nicole and Hannah were on a "cruise" while waiting for their friends to get home from school.

and swam some more.

They rode on a dirt bike

Nicole and Ashlynd on the motor bike

Aleya and Hannah's turned

Played with ducks & goats

These two girls are sooooo sweet!

Went to the zoo

Ate snowcones (and donuts)

Friends since birth:)

went to church,

They made this sweet photo book....I LOVE it!

and did crafts together.  They had a wonderful time.  From what I hear, they were only sad a little bit and were obedient and helpful.  I'm so proud of them!

Nate had a wonderful time with Yaya and Papa.  He watched football with his Uncle Justin, watched cowboy movies and papa, and went shopping with yaya.  He also snuck a visit in to great-grandpa as well.
Last night as I was tucking him in, he started laughing and said, "Papa is so funny!".  I'm not sure what he was laughing about, but it must have been a moment from their time together.

The kids are reunited.  I think Nate really missed his sisters

The kids were wiped out, and slept most of the way home.

We are so thankful for those that watched our children so we could get away.  We truly appreciate it!