10 Year Anniversary Cruise

Whit and I were able to go on a cruise for our 10 year anniversary. We haven't gone away together without kids for more than a night since we had kids so this was a pretty great opportunity for us. We left the Saturday before Thanksgiving and the Henderson's and our dear friends Carmen and Lauren watched the girls until my parents and Kylie arrived on Sunday to stay with the girls. We flew to Tampa and sailed to the Grand Cayman Islands and Cozumel. It was so great to be warm and really just relax and be together.

Whit has had issues with getting professional pictures taken ever since I dragged him to Walmart when Jaynie was little, so when the 50 photographers on the ship wanted to take our picture we politely refused. I however really wanted a picture of us together on formal night so Whit created his own photo studio in our room. Great backdrop isn't it. Oh well at least I got the picture.

We had to take pictures of all the towel animals for the girls.

The beautiful waters of the Grand Cayman. I have never been to Caribbean waters so this was really an awesome sight for me.

In the Cayman we were able to sail on a Catamaran to do a little snorkeling and visit Sting Ray City. This was my first time snorkeling and I was really nervous about it. I had never really swam in the ocean except from a beach and the thoughts of being out in the middle of the ocean and swimming while breathing through a tube made me a little uneasy. I was so nervous that I asked to wear one of the dorky life vests they give people who can't swim, but luckily mine wouldn't blow up so I said I would just try to snorkel without it. My dear sweet husband was so supportive as soon as we jumped in the water, right after I said WHIT DO NOT LEAVE ME, he was gone and I started to have a minor panic attack. I finally had to lay on my back and calm down and tell myself this was something I had the power to do. Once I got over that first little set back I fell in love with snorkeling. What an awesome experience it is to view the ocean that way. I have always thought my parents are crazy for scuba diving, but now maybe that is something I could enjoy.

After snorkeling for a while our boat took us to Sting Ray City. What an amazing experience that was. Sting Ray City is basically a sand bar 30 minutes from shore where sting rays hang out and people come and feed them and hold them and, as you can see from the pictures below, even kiss them. It was pretty crazy. They were not afraid of people at all. They would swim right up to you and go in between your legs and everything. Some of them were so big they would almost knock you over. It was pretty incredible. This was definitely the high light of the trip. It was one of those moments where I thought, "Oh I wish the girls were here." Jaynie probably would have freaked out, but Lillie probably would have loved every second of it. Lillies only request was that we take a picture of a sting ray for her so Lillie this ones for you babe!!
Our second stop was Cozumel, Mexico. A little island off the coast of Mexico. We had a great time here as well. We got to spend a lot more time here than at the Cayman, so we kind of just did our own thing. We booked a snorkel tour and we started off with just the two of us in the boat, but after our first stop that was right next to the dock they picked up two more people. We were very glad we booked it ourselves because it was such a more personal experience. Some of the snorkel boats that we saw had 50 people on them. Our guide was great. He loved that Whit spoke Spanish with him and he showed us some really cool stuff. We saw one of those huge schools of silver fish (like the ones that make shapes on Finding Nemo) and our guide swam down to them and created a hole in their group. It was so cool. We saw tons of great coral and beautiful fish. The colors were just so bright and colorful. We passed a couple of barracuda fish, which I guess can hurt you. Good thing I didn't know that until after we swam by.

After our snorkel tour we wanted to go to the beach so we decided to rent a moped. Which was pretty fun until on our way home Whit decided to take us through the City part of Cozumel, where all the people are and traffic is heavy and we are on a little moped that cars don't really care about and we are not locals. Whit loved it. He wanted to find some authentic food and see how people lived, but I just wanted to be safe and sound on the cruise ship. I always said Whit and I would do awesome on the Amazing Race, but after those 30 minutes I realized I may not be ready for that yet. Whit could beat anybody, but he would need a braver partner.

There were wild peacocks roaming around on the beach. How fun is that?

Whit and I really wanted to see ancient ruins, but we ran out of time so these fake ones they had just right off the dock of the cruise ship will have to do until next time. By the way we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes during this picture.

It poured rain on our last day at sea. I was pretty sad, because I was hoping for one more day to work on my tan, but it really was nice. We just sat out on the back deck that was covered and read all afternoon. What better way is there to spend a day together. I have decided that the only problem with taking a trip like this is that once you go it has to end and it makes you really, really, really want to go again.