Family Cruise (July 2022)

The main family adventure we had planned when Aly was in Tampa was to go on a cruise as a family.  I had put this on my Tampa bucket list ever since we first started seeing cruise ships leaving the Bay from our house.  I mean, when are we ever going to be this close to a cruise port again??  So we booked a 5-day, 4-night adventure.  And this time, we got to see our house from the boat, instead of vice-versa.

We got two rooms across the hall from each other, with each of the girls getting their own bunk and Chris and I having a window to look out at the ocean.  It was perfect! (Although the girls did like coming in to crash our room, from time to time)

The sunsets were amazing, albeit windy.  But that didn't stop the girls from acting out Titanic. Hahaha.

We went with Carnival Cruiseline this time, and this boat had a lot of fun options.  There was a mini arcade, mini golf, and a waterpark with a couple of waterslides.  

We also attended an 80's music concert and a comedy show.  

The girls were loving the food options too. Aly and Lise loved the Strawberry and Mango virgin daiquiris, Kate loved the 24/7 ice cream cone machine, and Kylie was obsessed with the made to order off the grill hamburgers.  We also had fun dressing up for fancy dinners, and loved the chocolate lava cakes, salads, and tons of yummy seafood options and other delicacies.

Of course, the best part of a cruise is always the fun shore excursions.  First stop, Cozumel, Mexico.

Our Cozumel excursion was a 4-in-1 adventure.  We got to see some ruins and get the history of a small town, we went for a jeep ride, we went to a natural spring with a cave (that Chris, Aly, and Lise jumped into), and finally got taken to a beach to relax for a couple of hours before heading back to the boat. (On a side note, Aly was still in missionary mode, talking with our tour guide in Spanish and bearing her testimony about Joseph Smith.  It was awesome).

The beach was a ton of fun.  We got to snorkel for a bit and they had these huge fun blow-up toys to play on.  On the beach, there were swings and lounge chairs.  We ordered some amazing tacos from the grill and they were delicious!

Super fun day in Mexico.  We even got to do a little shopping before returning to the boat.  

Next Stop, the Cayman Islands.  For our excursion here, we chose to ride horses and swim in the ocean with them!

Riding horses was fun.  The waves were a little big in the ocean, which made the swimming part a little crazy.  The other crazy part was when Kylie's horse pooped in the ocean . . . and it all floated right on top of Chris.  Ew!  But it made a great story to laugh about.

After our horse-riding excursion, we got lunch at this fun restaurant and then walked a couple miles back to the boat.  It had been off-and-on raining, so we got a little wet and had to slosh through some puddles.  But it cooled things off and luckily we were wearing Chacos.  (Another sidenote.  We did not get a chance to shop at this stop, and Stacy was a little sad that she wasn't able to get a Christmas ornament for her "memories Christmas tree."  But never fear!  That night at dinner there just happened to be a little wooden Christmas ornament of Santa in a snorkel mask.  Stacy's power of attraction in the universe to the rescue, once again!)

As we started sailing back to Tampa, we were all getting a little tired.  We brought some card games to play on the ship, which was fun.  Also, the girls really wanted to watch "Titanic" while on the cruise.  So Chris found out a way to download it onto his tablet so the girls could have their movie night.  What a nice Dad.  

In the end, we did determine that we are "not really cruise people" - we'd rather be out having adventures than hanging out in a floating hotel.  However,  it was great to cross that off my bucket list.   We still had a ton of fun and made some great memories.  And if I'm going to go on a cruise, these are the people I want to go with me.

Aly's Home! (July 2022)

We were so proud of Aly for serving faithfully on her mission, for her sacrifice, hard work, and all the ways she had grown.  We were also excited that the time had come to welcome Aly home from her mission.  The girls did not disappoint with their signs and huge Aly face poster.

It was lotsa hugs and smiles at the airport, and then we went to Olive Garden for dinner.  It was so good to see all the sisters back together again.  There was tons of giggling and laughing going on.  They found a spot where a kid had colored on the wall with crayons and written "pee, pee" and couldn't get over it.

One of the first things Aly wanted to do when she got home was lay down on some carpet, as they don't really have that in Paraguay.

Aly had brought home souveniers for everybody, which was fun, and she also had to go through all her stuff to decide what she needed to take out to college with her in a couple of weeks.

Aly and Lise kept wanting to maul Kylie, so she told them they could only come into her room if they paid her a dollar . . . I guess it was worth it. . .

Other priorities on Aly's list, when she got home, were visiting Lise at work to get Acai bowls and getting a new phone. 

We also took the time to party hard now that Aly was back. Of course, there was a beach day . . . 

... We also went on a cruise (more on that later) ...

We also went to Busch Gardens with a fun family in our ward, the Freestone's. 

It was hot and humid, but the rides were fast and exciting.  There were also water rides to cool us off.  

The water rides weren't the only thing keeping us wet though.  We had to take a break from rides when there was lightning in the area and we got a little rained on.  But the kids made the most of it by playing Ninja and getting Chick-Fil-A.

When the day was over, the kids wanted to keep the fun going, so we all went for dinner at Chipotle.  Such a fun day with fun friends.

Our family also spent a great day at the temple.  First, Aly, Chris, and Stacy went in for an endowment session.  After that, we all went in and did baptisms for the dead.  It was so awesome that our whole family could go into the temple together!

Some awesome sunset pictures, just for fun.

And finally, I made sure that we got family pictures taken before we spread far and wide again.  It was so good to have our whole family back together, even if it was just for a couple of weeks.