Vacation Reeeee cap

We had so much fun on our trip to the Western Caribbean. We went with our friends Bert and Jami. Seriously, I haven't laughed (or cried!!) that much in a long time!! It was a much needed break from motherhood, work just life in general. We truly had the best time and couldn't have picked better people to go with!! Please forgive my husbands constant need to flip the bird in every.single.picture he's in. I don't know what to do with him, it's an automatic. You pull out your camera, he pulls out the finger. Sorry for those easily offended. He means no harm. He just loves to drive me nuts!!

Our vacation started out with a bang. The cruise ships had a rough day the day we got there....the ship was supposed to be in port and have all of the guests off of the ship by 10:30 that morning, but they were fogged out of the port. They wouldn't let them in because there was too much fog. So they weren't able to get in port, disembark, security check, reload supplies and load all of us onto the ship until about 5 hours after it was supposed to happen. I now see why they have a 5 hour window. Not only our ship but another equally huge ship right next door had to do the same thing. Imagine roughly 5 thousand guests (between both boats) trying to get off, get their luggage, get their shuttles and get out of town while another 5 thousand guests were trying to get into town, get their luggage there, get through security and get on the boat. Wow. Needless to say, we spent a good three hours standing in one spot. Nowhere to go, nothing to do. FRUSTRATION!! We were overtaken by boredom. Ross took a walk across the street and came back with some food to tide us over for a minute!!!


Bert was really enjoying the onion rings. Did you know that fried calamari tastes like erasers? HA!!!



Jami had a rough go on the airplane ride....

But she eventually recovered...

Seriously, we were going m.a.d.

Once we were all on board all was well!! We had fun doing just about everything and almost nothing. It was fab.

Wow. Me looking hot while playing mini golf on board!!

Getting ready for the formal night. This picture was supposed to show how well my hair did not love the humidity, but you can't really tell. Um, I was basically a 'fro child!! That is why from here foreword, I will have curly hair. I decided my motto for the week would be "Go big or Go Home!!!" So, I did. :)

Ross workin' it singing karaoke with his backup guitarists. Nate and Stitch. They were part of the entertainment crew. They made the trip so much fun!!!!

We were part of a trivia team in a three day trivia challenge. It sounds lame and it was...kind of. Actually we had so much fun. We were on a team with a bunch of really old people. Seriously, we were the youngest by like 40 years!!! This is Ross taking part in a challenge for our team....no details are available to the public, but I will say the boy has skillz!! That poor quarter will never be the same!!!!

This was Ross' method of eating french fries when he couldn't get the stinkin' ketchup out of the bottle!!



Our first stop was Jamaica. It was so beautiful!! We had a private tour guide that took us all over the island, pretty much everywhere we wanted to go. We had fresh Jamaican fruit. Jerk pork and ate at Margaritaville. Not very Jamaican, we just wanted to!!! :)

While we were there, we went to Y.S. Falls and hiked to the top and had a zip line tour down. Oh my goodness! That was so much fun!! Afterwards we went back up the falls and walked around and swam in the pools. It was the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. We were alone in this beautiful, green, lush awesome place. Words can't describe how amazing this place was....

Our awesome zip line guides, Dylan and Dane. Truly one of the most fun things I have ever done!!!!

Thank you no one for telling me how awful I looked. Swimsuit in the garbage and I will be doing sit ups for the next 5 years without stopping. I will never trust any of you again. Thanks. Jami, I hate you. That is all.

Ross eating the Pepper Crayfish from a roadside vendor. He was one brave soul!!!

Giving the Jerk Pork a shot. It was delicious!!!

Mom and Dad this pic's for you! It's always 5 in Margaritaville!!!

Enjoying our Margaritaville nachos. Not sure what Bert's looking at. Probably the girl dancing on the pirate boat!!!!!!!

Could I just have a permenant body double? Thanks.

Finishing up our fab day in Montego Bay with our personal tour guide, Loxey. Thanks for teaching us the ins and outs of Jamaica. Gange, hi-grade and all the important things in life. Irie, mon, irie!! p.s. we learned that Ross is a very bad swear word in Jamaica...like the worst one. They spell it differently but it's pronounced Ross. It was hysterical watching people's reactions when he told them his name!! Priceless...



Grand Cayman was up next...I however did not get to enjoy this place. They cancelled most of the shore excursions because it was so windy. I stayed on the boat and went to the spa :) Ross, Bert and Jami went scuba diving. Because, apparently wind doesn't bother you under water ;) But it was beautiful from the boat!

Ross got a couple of good shots.

That's it!!


That night for dinner, Bert ordered escargot for his appetizer. He's not a very adventurous eater, so we were eager to see his reaction.

Not so bad. He said it tasted like mushrooms.

From the looks of it, Jami LOVED IT!!!!

Our waitstaff had a fun dance they did every night...they invited the ladies to join. Jami' workin' it!!!

Me fumbling my way through. Ross had to document it, I never do that kind of stuff. It must have been the escargot....

Next stop Cozumel...

Bert and Jami don't love Cozumel. What happens in Mexico stays in Mexico. That is all!!!!

Apparently I'm pregnant. Surroundings were pretty anyhow!!!

Happy feet.

Ross and I went to the Paradise Beach club for the afternoon. It was nice and quiet and warm!!!

Ahhhh.

The last night on the ship, they had a "Thank you" party. Pretty much just free alcohol for everyone!! Well...not so much for us. We had the "non alcoholic" version. They would walk around and ask you what you wanted...we told them something without alcohol. They looked at us like we had 5 heads. Seriously, it was so funny! I think there was maybe one other person in the whole room that had one of these drinks. He was 5. So, they kept loading us up!! All of the sudden we looked down and this is what our table looked like! It was hilarious....

Couldn't get enough of the fruit punch!!!

That was also the night of our 12th anniversary. Ross surprised me with an anniversary cake for dessert that night. It was really sweet!

12 happy years together . Thanks babe for making it quite the ride! I love you!!

We had a fabulous time and really enjoyed our absence from reality. Now....potty training. Help!!!!!!