CRUISE PART II

DAY THREE: Half Moon Cay

There is just no way to describe the water in the Carribean. It is beyond beautiful, and this was the day we had hours and hours to swim in the crystal clear water, and enjoy the beach. The sand at Half Moon Cay was like sugar! We booked a small excursion at this stop called the Stingray Encounter. We were allowed to take snorkel gear into an enclosed pool to view and then feed stingrays. We didn't love this excursion, but felt it was worth the money simply to get the photo below. See if you can pick out why we consider this pic so valuable...

You may have to click on it to enlarge it. I should say here that we felt like we tried to educate our kids as much as possible on what to expect when leaving the country, and how to be tolerant of people from around the world. But I guess you can never prepare yourself or your kids for everything! I should also mention that I questioned spending extra money for new swimsuits for this trip when my old ones still kinda fit. But I am now a strong believer in updating swimwear from time to time as one may grow out of theirs.

After our "encounter", we spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach and swimming in the ocean. This was a near perfect day, except for the pesky overcast skies, and the fact that we somehow forgot to get sunscreen on Kaylee's face, and the battery for our underwater camera died and we were forced to buy a disposable camera with old fashioned film! Ooops! Some of the highlights were... Speedo Guy, catered lunch on the island courtesy of Carnival, perfectly clear waters, and the most beautiful sand I've ever seen. That night we came back to the ship for dinner and then went back to our room to see which towel animal had been left for us...

DAY FOUR: A Fun Day At Sea

Well, at least that's what Carnival calls it. This day we were traveling the whole time so we had more time to explore the ship and kind of relax and hang out. Some of the highlights from day four were... Teddybear Workshop for the younger kids. It was similar to Build-A-Bear, except that the kids had to hand stuff their animals. Kaylee chose the calico cat, no surprise there! Cousin Ryleigh chose a puppy.

Another fun thing about our day at sea was our first "Formal Night" in the dining room. We dressed up, had a fabulous dinner, and then had some family pics done. Kaylee and I bought new gowns for the occasion, and the boys got new ties. We loved eating in the dining room each night because the food and service are fantastic.

Tonight another towel animal was waiting for us.