March 28, 2015 was a huge first for us! It was the first time that we sent you to stay at Grandpa and Grandma's house for EIGHT nights without us! We took off to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and Gma and Gpa were in charge. They took y'all to school, baseball, soccer, etc. while we were cruising around the Caribbean.
We left on Saturday and drove down to Houston. We went out with friends and crashed at the Lake's house that night.
Sunday morning we woke up and headed straight to port. It was such a small port that we parked in a lot right next to the ship. We were excited beforehand, but seeing our boat made us totally ecstatic!!
We had a few hours before we set sail as we were one of the first boarding groups; therefore, we had plenty of time to enjoy our first (of (too) MANY) meal and check out the ship.
Our room was a cabin with a private balcony on the Aloha deck. While it was awesome, I think a mini-suite would be better on our next cruise (remember the tiny shower with water all over the floor, Tiffany?!).
Buffet lunch at 2:30? Don't mind if we do!
We called the two of you, had our safety presentation, and then headed to our dining room. We chose the traditional dining option. That meant that we had a table reserved for us at 5:30 and were seated with the same people each night. While I do have a picture of the dining room, I didn't think to take a picture of our dinner companions. (Although I'm guessing that I'll remember Ingrid & Tony for years to come!)
The next day (Monday) was spent at sea. After sleeping in, we headed straight to one of the 4 pools. We found a great spot and I proceeded to lay there reading for most of the day. Absolute heaven!
We took a break from the sun to attend a wine tasting event. Surprise of all surprises, I didn't like any of them so your dad had my share on top of his : )
We walked off the alcohol by doing a few laps around the ship before heading back to our dinner spot.
When we awoke on Tuesday we were in Cozumel, Mexico!
In keeping with our "Relax" theme, we headed to Paradise Beach.
No one had to remind me what to do.
There was a resort that let us use their pool so we shuffled back and forth between the beach and the pool. There was more reading, drinking, and relaxing & heaven was discovered all over again.
On the way back to the ship, we posed by this tiny ruin replica since we skipped out on the real deal.
On Wednesday, we woke up in Belize. Their port couldn't accommodate a ship our size so we had to take a tender boat. There was a lot of waiting involved only to lead to disappointment once we stepped foot onto the island. We knew we wanted out of there fast so we quickly booked a little tour. While everyone else was headed toward ziplining (we opted out simply because we knew it couldn't compare to Hawaii!) and cave tubing, we decided to hike the rain forest. Our tour guide showed us around and even shoved her hand into a termite's nest. Her hand was covered in active termites when she removed it and she started popping the little things into her mouth. I was disgusted at first but that quickly turned to intrigue. I pinched one off of the palm of her hand and gave it a try. Oddly enough, it had a minty taste! Good to know if I ever find myself on Survivor and come across a giant nest of termites.
Throughout our walk, we keep hearing deep guttural growls and it wasn't long before we came upon a family of howler monkeys. Our guide offered them leaves so some of them descended from the tree tops and came close enough for us to hand feed them. One male kept his distance and taught us that howler monkeys are, in fact, the loudest land animal.
While Belize was fun, we were happy to be back on the tender boat. And we knew we were nice and relaxed when the boat broke down and we didn't even care! Here we are, on our broken down tender boat, just happy to be on vacay:
Thursday was our 10 year anniversary and I knew the minute that I stepped onto our balcony that morning that Honduras was the PERFECT anniversary spot!
There was a fun (well, at least I thought so!) chair lift that took us to a spot called Mahogany Bay. The lift gave us gorgeous views!
We got a beach package that included this sweet set-up, snorkeling gear, and a kayak rental.
Your dad was in charge of the underwater photography during the snorkeling adventure...
Friday and Saturday were both spent at sea as we made our way back to Houston. We took advantage of all that the ship had to offer!
We saw some shows in the theater.
We watched The Newlywed Game & played Bingo in The Explorers Lounge.
We perused the art gallery.
We watched a movie under the stars.
We did lots of people watching poolside.
We blew a few bucks at the casino.
And we skipped our normal dinner reservation for a special anniversary dinner at their steak house.
When we woke up in Houston on Sunday morning, we felt refreshed and relaxed albeit a tad sunburned. More than anything, we woke up feeling ready to see you boys.
You are two of the best parts about our 10 years together thus far!
