Cruise

I would have to say this was the most fun vacation I have ever had, but only because we went with such awesome friends. There were 5 couples in all and we had a blast. And we had tried to figure out how we were going to get to Galveston (almost 2 hours away) where the boat left from, but we never did have it figured out. But the boys were so sweet and surprised us with an Excursion Limo for us so that we could all ride together and not have to worry about parking. It was so much fun. We were supposed to have it on the way back, but that's a whole other story, since we ended up getting back 24 hours later.

Getting ready to leave

I may not have gotten as much rest as I thought I would have but it was well worth every minute I was awake...UNTIL the last day. We were packed ready to go home, and they came on the loud speaker and said it was too foggy to go back to Galveston and that they would update us every hour. My mom calls thinking I'm on my way back and says Hannah is really sick, and Abby has broken out with red spots everywhere. So this made the day even better. Thinking I was going home...and then being stuck in the middle of the Gulf just doing circles, and then finding out my kids were really sick. So I told my mom to make them a doctor appointment for 4ish, I was sure I would be home. We were supposed to arrive at the port at 7am so I thought for sure by 4 I would be home and could take them in. Nope every hour I waited for them to tell us we were going home and finally at 5 something that night they said we had to wait til morning. Ya it was an extra day/night on the boat...but I had no control over it. I like schedules and I planned on being home that day...I started feeling claustrophobic and was not a happy camper. Once I talked to my kids and my mom, I wanted to come home, I missed them, and they were sick. But my awesome mom took all 3 of them to the doctor and had them better by the time I got home the next day.

The fog...the slide on the boat that we went on...Joe, the first day, playing miniature golf, and a view inside at night time of the elevators...

But the cruise was awesome. We went to Progresso, laid out on the beach, got massages, and relaxed. In Cozumel, we went scuba diving and did a 2 tank dive at the same place I went with my dad right after I graduated high school almost 9 years ago. Wow, I'm getting old. It was awesome and we got to enjoy doing it with our friends. We were lucky and got a private dive just with us 4 and got to choose what kind of dive we wanted to do.

Right before our first dive...scuba diving doesn't make you look nerdy at all...but totally worth it

2 of the "3 amigos" in front of the Three Amigos in Cozumel

On the boat...we ate, and ate, and ate. I'm pretty sure most dinners, most of us ordered 3 appetizers, 2-4 entrees, and 3 desserts, all for himself. It was so nice to be able to get all we wanted. We (not me) did Karaoke. Joe's was my all time favorite. The karaoke guy was about as gay as it gets and decided he wanted a Prince song and asked if anyone knew any. Well Joe decided to go up and he didn't even know who he was. The song ended up being "Kiss" and it was horrible and awesome at the same time. Horrible song. Anyway...think you had to be there. I have it on video but it's a little long, but funny. We played lots of games. The boys did their 3 Amigos, "My Little Buttercup" that they did at our ward talent show the night before we left. They forgot their outfits so we had to get some authentic ones at the Progresso fabric store. We went dancing every night minus one and had a blast making fools of ourselves in front of people! We had lots of good talks and really got to know the people we went with. We thought we were close before the cruise, well we got much closer on the boat. It was awesome, but I think I understand why my dad has never wanted to go on a cruise. You have no control over anything!! I think it's awesome to go with friends like we did and the ports of call we did...but it seems like if you want to go somewhere cool, it would be much better to just go to the one place. Because we had from 8-4 but you don't get off right at 8 and you have to be back by 3:30 and you want to be earlier so you don't miss it that you hardly have any time to do anything or see anything. But I did love every minute of it besides most of the last day where I just wanted to be home and see my kids again!

The karaoke guy!!

Here's some of Joe's nice facial expressions. The big one is probably the one people see most often...when he doesn't understand something (mostly when he thinks your stupid)...not sure where this was but if I were to guess, it would be guest services, pretty sure they saw him way more than they wanted to...but like I said you are stuck and have no control of leaving so what were they going to do with him, throw him overboard once they got sick of him?

More pictures and videos to come...this is taking way too long and I have way too many pictures to decide from...