Cruising to the Bahamas

We have just got back from a cruise with my family to the Bahamas.  My sweet mama took us and my sister and Brock on a cruise.  Mama has been on several cruises, but this was our first and it was actually her first on the cruise line Carnival.  It was a neat experience and I'm glad we got to see what it was like.  We learned a lot and saw several pros and cons to being on a cruise.  We do always enjoys spending time with our family though no matter where we are.  We left last Saturday morning and drove to Jacksonville where we got on the boat.  Since we had never been on a cruise, I was anxious to find out if I would be aware of the boat's movement but when we did set sail you barely knew you were moving and we did have good weather so it was smooth sailing the entire time.  We were ready for lunch when we got on board, so we had lunch then decided to let the girls play on the water slides.  One big complaint we had was how small the pool was on the boat.  I don't think we swam the entire time which I couldn't believe, but you could not get in that small pool even if you wanted too.  That hurt the girls because after so many trips down the slides they were ready for new entertainment.  Kate loved going down the one slide she could do so that was plus.

splash 

Going to the big slide

The next day was a day at sea so we did more water slides.  There is an on board babysitting called Camp Carnival where the kids can do activities with other kids their age.  We let the girls go for just a little bit so we could take advantage of the adults only deck and some reading time.  It was a nice little break.

That night was the captain's dinner.  Dinners were always nice and the food was good.  Cohen had been looking forward to wearing her "long" dress so she was excited about that.  While we were getting ready the girls were taking advantage of having a pillow fight in our tiny room.  It always amazed me how they had fun no matter what and did not complain.

This picture of Kate cracks me up.  Right before I took it she was doing the same thing with her hamburger patty.  We are all just talking and we look over and see her with this piece of meat hanging out just waiting for us to laugh at her.  We start talking about what a mess she is and then I look over at this!  This girl is always good for a laugh!

Monday was the day I was looking forward to the most!  We were stopping at Nassau, Bahamas and doing an excursion at the Atlantis.  I have always wanted to interact with dolphins so that was on the agenda.  We were spending time at the water park first but our time was cut short on doing the slides because a storm came up and everyone had to get out of the water.  The Atlantis was beautiful though and we did check out the aquarium while we waited for the rain to stop.  I would definitely recommend staying there especially for families.  After we ate lunch we did get on the "not so" lazy river.  It was very long but it was fun.  We had to run to make our dolphin interaction!  Cohen and Kate rode in tubes with me and Kelly and loved it.  This river has waves and rapids all through it but they both loved it!

Cohen held a live starfish in the aquarium...not sure if she was supposed to!

The dolphin shallow water interaction was next and we LOVED this.  They were so cute!  We each got to kiss and hug Naia the dolphin and then had family pics made as well.  She showed us all kinds of tricks.  This was probably my favorite part of the entire trip.  Cohen & Kate were both so cute in their little wet suits!  I loved it.  Being 5 months pregnant in one was not my greatest feeling but it was worth it!

It was time to head back to the ship after this which was disappointing because we could have spent a few more hours in the water park.  The girls had enjoyed the kids area for a while earlier but we would have loved to go down some bigger slides.  Maybe another time!  It was a great excursion for sure.

Once back on the ship we had to get ready for dinner.  We also saw a couple of fun shows that night, Hasbro the gameshow and we watched the Newlywed game.  There were several laughs that night!  We also saw a beautiful sunset!

I loved Cohen's smile showing off her new gap where she had lost a tooth before we left on our trip

Tuesday was our second stop on the trip.  We went to Half Moon Cay which is the island owned by the cruise company.  We spent the day just enjoying the beach and the beautiful blue water!  Kelly and Cohen actually went on a sting ray snorkel trip.  They had quite the adventure.  Everything went great until Cohen fed the stingray and had too much of a grip on her squid and the stingray actually sucked her finger while getting it and it made a small cut.  Kelly said everything went downhill from there but she seemed to have recovered by the time she got back to me and Kate.  We told her it would be a good story to tell!  He said she did so good snorkeling too and they saw all kinds of stingrays, starfish, and fish.  It was quite hot if you weren't in the water so it felt good to get back to the ship to cool off!

 Cohen wanted to visit camp Carnival that evening before dinner so she could do the face painting.  She couldn't wait to show off her girl pirate face!

Our last day was spent at sea.  This was actually our 9th anniversary!  After letting the girls play on the water slides that morning, we let them hang out with Bebe and Auntie P so that we could have some time to ourselves.  We went back to the adults deck and since it rained just a bit and cooled things off, we actually got in the hot tub.  It was relaxing for sure.  This was the only night we all didn't eat dinner together because we weren't quite ready when Mama and Paula went so we got an anniversary dinner alone too.  Or alone plus Kate :)  Cohen wanted to go eat with Brock...she loves Brock!  I am so lucky to have such a sweet hubby and these last 9 years have flown by for sure.  I love doing this adventure called life with him!  He is truly my best friend, and is the best husband and father a girl could ask for.
Thursday it was time to get off the boat and head home.  I think we all had a fun time but it was nice to be off the boat too.  A big thank  you to Mama for the trip!!  We definitely made some great memories!
On our way home we stopped for lunch in Swainsboro at a bed and breakfast.   When Kate was just 1 month old we had ate at this restaurant on our way to the beach.  I took a picture of Cohen in front of the house because it was such a pretty place.  This time I took the same picture with both girls.  My how time does fly!