Cruise Week: Part 1

The Hillstead gang got away for one week Cruise last week, in celebration of Steve and Shauna's 40th wedding anniversary! What a treat it was for us to be together, minus kids, for face-time, conversation and the opportunity to make awesome memories. We loved every minute.

At the airport in Florida. We got to travel with Blake and Ali - while grandma Kendall was home with all the kids (a million more thank-yous, mom!).
United at the ship, we were happy to be together and checking out the accommodations! We quickly settled right in to ship-life.






One of our funnest memories was the night we all played mini-golf on board the ship, while sailing past Cuba in the middle of what felt like no-where. Couple against couple, we wagered to treat the winning couple to milkshakes at Jonny Rockets (also on-board). Blake and Ali took home the prize.

Cute (and tiny!) Katie and baby #3 who popped out this trip.

A wild night singing a dancing to 50s music while putting down some serious calories.

Cruise Week: Part 2

Our first shore excursion was in Cozumel, Mexico. Zach had been there before and was our tour guide as we rented scooters (hilarious dumb and dumber moment) and rode to a beautiful beach to spend the rest of the day. Nice hook-up.

Cute photo Shauna bought. A fun souvenir!





We got about a 5 minute ride on the jet-ski before it ran out of gas or something and pitted out in the middle of the ocean. Thankfully a stranger came to our rescue before sharks started circling. Then, hungry for more adventure, Tyler and I opted for para-sailing after watching Todd and Natalie go. "I don't know what happened to me up there, Goose" (Top Gun) is what I kept telling Tyler when it was over. I got motion sickness 450 feet in the air and lost my lunch. Vomited into the sea. So now I say, many have ridden "Soaring Over California', few have ridden "Barfing Over Cozumel" (TMI).
We did manage to track down the restaurant we loved last time we were here. And I recovered from my nausea by eating lots of good, salty chips. Thank heavens.

Cruise Week: Part 3

Thankfully we made it back to the ship in one piece after dodging vehicles of every shape and size all day. Tyler is a great driver thanks to the practice he gets at home on ours. Otherwise I would have been a wreck.

And then we ran into Steve also returning to the ship. One of the best things about the week was always running into members of our family here or there.
Everybody had some color and lots of enthusiasm for life by this point in the trip!
We loved going to shows together at night after dinner.
Our second shore excursion was in the Cayman Islands. We sort of fell into this adventurous day of snorkeling and swimming with sting rays which was offered to us as we got off the ship. It was an adventure for sure though!
I could not get over the blue-ness of the water there! It was breathtaking.
Meet Mr. Iguana. There was lots of these big puppies all over the place.
We enjoyed our 30 minute boat ride even further out to sea. At one point Ali and I asked ourselves "where in the world are we?!" Seriously, we had flow to Florida, gotten on a ship to go further, then got on a boat to go even further out!. We were FAR away from our children, perhaps a little too far! But it was beautiful and special.


The fish below us were great, awesome snorkeling spot.

And the sting rays were friendly!




Soaking up the moment in the sun on the ride back in.
The boys had fun with sports tournaments. They took gold in volleyball! :)
There was even an ice-skating rink on-board (but the boys didn't try their hands at that).
Final celebrations for the happy couple and for Natalie's birthday.

SUCH A GREAT VACATION! Thank you everyone!! :)