Vacation

Almost 2 years ago, we started planning our cruise.  Jason's parents were celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary and they wanted the entire clan to take a cruise together.  Finally last week, vacation was upon us!  The kids were all excited.  The boys were excited to miss 4 days of school...although now that they are back making up homework...they aren't quite as happy!!  Hailey kept telling everyone she was going to see the water on a big boat!   We flew down the day before.  By the time we arrived at port the following day, they were so excited with anticipation.  Ian's jaw almost hit the floor when he saw the size of the ship.  I don't think we prepared him enough for it! 

The kids had a fantastic time.  Brayden and my niece were at the lower end of the teen club range so they were in heaven that they could hang out with the older kids and come and go as they pleased.  They had a great time going to all the activities.  Ian and my nephew, AJ, didn't enjoy their kids club as much but wore out any adult that would take them to play ping pong, basketball, soccer, etc.  My brother-in-law was a saint with them last week.  The younger 3 loved hanging out with everyone and playing with one another. 

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the greatest and we had several storms throughout the week.  The temps were unseasonably warm.  The water was rough, but thankfully no one seemed affected by motion sickness!  We had two days at sea and stops in Labadee (Haiti), Falmouth (Jamaica), Georgetown (Grand Cayman), and Cozumel (Mexico).  All the kids loved the sand and beaches and everything that the cruise offered.  We didn't have too many concerns with Hailey.  She's generally a good eater, but everyone know she's a runner.  We had to keep a close eye on her.  She did better than normal.  We did pack her headphones for the muster drill and for all the shows.  The music was definitely too loud.  She enjoyed them with the headphones on.  I only had a little resistance from one employee in the kids club for Hailey.  The woman was from Russia.  I'm not sure if it was her not understanding what I was communicating or just her culture.  By the end of the week, Hailey melted the iceberg and she was putty in Hailey's hands.

The end of the trip proved to be very eventful.  Saturday we had a 5 a.m. ER call to the medical clinic on the ship and then that afternoon our ship stopped to pick up 7 Cuban refugees.  I'll elaborate on those later.  In the meantime, here are some pictures of our trip.  The kids said they would leave again tomorrow to take another cruise if we would do it!

The cousins look ready to leave!

These 3 are trouble

Let's get vacation started

Hailey loved access to treats 24/7!

As always, all characters are loved by Hailey

Our first sunrise

Haiti

I think they would have played in the sand for days

Hailey selecting her appetizer

Chips and 'mole were a staple for her last week

Falmouth, Jamaica

We all loved the balcony

Georgetown, Grand Cayman

Such gorgeous water....crystal clear

I think she's a beach girl

This boy ran until he couldn't move every single day

The only picture from Cozumel because it was raining so hard

I think the chocolate cake was a hit!

The service was fantastic!  The boys loved this server...they called him "Magic Man"

I think they are all whipped...