Our Day in St. Thomas

Our second stop was the island of St. Thomas in the USVI. Ron and I spent the day on St. John the last time we were in this area, so we decided we should stay on St. Thomas this time. We did a lot of research ahead of time and decided to try Coki Beach because the snorkeling was supposed to be really good. It was a nice beach but got very crowded as the day progressed. We got there by 10, though, and were able to get chairs and a nice spot on the beach.


The snorkeling was very good. The water was clear and there were a lot of fish. When we got there, we were given dog biscuits to feed the fish. While that sounds like a good way to attract the fish, it attracts A LOT of fish. Danielle was a little freaked out by the amount of fish that swarmed us, and Tyler didn't let go of the biscuit in time and was bit (not seriously). That ended Danielle's snorkeling experience at that beach, but Tyler and I spent a lot of time snorkeling together - without dog biscuits! It was so much fun to share that experience with him. Probably the most interesting thing we saw at this beach was a puffer fish and a couple flounder. The crabs were interesting looking, too.

Once again the kids enjoyed playing in the sand and surf. It was so nice to sit on the beach and listen to them laugh while watching them play. They had such a nice time. The sun was very intense, so I was constantly worried about them burning, hence the hats.

Every afternoon our butler brought us a special snack. Tyler and I fought over this one. ;)

This was Danielle's favorite dessert, which was a surprise from our waiter. Our room steward, butler, and several others we talked to, including this evening's waiter, had children around Danielle's age. They really enjoyed doting on her.

Our Day in Samana

Our first stop was in Samana in the Dominican Republic. When we researched the port, we didn't find many good choices for a day trip that would be good to do with the kids, so we signed up for a beach excursion through the ship. We took a tender to the private resort island Caya Levantado. The water wasn't very clear or very blue, and the current was strong further out from the beach, but none of that seemed to matter. We had a great first day at the beach!

The kids played in the sand & water and giggled a lot. There was a sea lion encounter program offered at this location, but we didn't sign up for it. I thought the sea lions might be a little big for Danielle and sea lions aren't really native to this area, but I knew from previous reviews that they occasionally bring a sea lion out to the beach for pictures. Sure enough they did, and our kids got to see and pet him. They also brought out parrots, an iguana, and a squirrel monkey. What kid can resist a monkey? They took the pictures and we bought them, but they weren't very expensive at all and worth documenting the memories. So, the pictures of the kids with the creatures are not ones I took; the rest are. (I thought the pic of Tyler w/the Diet Coke looked like an ad.)

We ate in the main dining room for dinner that evening. Most of the time we ate in the specialty restaurants. There was a small cover charge for those, but they were well worth it. The service wasn't as good in the main dining room, but Tyler liked his dessert choice: an "international cheese platter".

Vacation Days

You know it was a good vacation when...

... your daughter draws pictures of cruise ships, fish, and palm trees on every spare scrap of paper
... your son remembers, in detail, every dish he tried
... after doing loads of vacation laundry you find seashells in the lint trap
... your kids yell "It's bingo time" every time they hear a bell
... you miss being together when everyone falls back into their daily routines

It is an understatement to say we had a great trip. Here are some pictures from the day we left and our first day at sea.

VIP passengers (us!) got to board the ship first. They had champagne and orange juice waiting for us.















Our room was very nice. It was on a private floor that was only accessible by a special key card. We had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a sitting area.






















We had a "pillow menu" with 6 different types of pillows to chose from. How spoiled is that?? They didn't have any "flat and lumpy" choices like I'm accustomed to, but I survived.














All the people with our level room or higher shared a private courtyard with a pool and hot tub and a retractable roof, and a private sun deck. The courtyard was very appealing to the kids - it had an almost constant supply of gummy bears and M&Ms. (It was misting in the foggy looking picture.)








































Another perk for people with our level room was being able to eat in a specific restaurant for breakfast & lunch. This restaurant was not open to the rest of the ship at these times, so we never had to wait in line or carry our own tray of food while fighting for a table. Danielle is trying the chilled banana soup. Her favorite chilled soup of the week was the strawberry soup. Mmmm. Ron talked to the food & beverage director at lunch one day & told him how much he enjoyed chocolate soup on our last cruise. The next day we were served 4 bowls of chilled chocolate soup at lunch time, although it was never on the menu. Yep, we were spoiled.





















For dinner the first evening we went to the Japanese restaurant Teppanyaki. The kids had so much fun! It was a great way to kick off our vacation.

















Here are some other random pictures from those 2 days.(The towel animals are a cobra & a mouse, as requested by the kids.)

Book Order Day

Tyler brought home his long awaited book order today.



The smell and feel of a new book,

the anticipation of a new adventure in new worlds,

losing track of time and getting lost in a great book -

I'm so glad our son loves to read.

This and That

The kids got WAY too much candy this Halloween! In an effort to get rid of a large amount of candy at once and provide a little entertainment, I bought a graham cracker crust and had the kids make Halloween pie. My hope was that we would use a lot of candy, everyone would try a bite, and we would toss most of the pie. I thought the kids would have fun with it, too.

They did have fun, and they enjoyed watching it melt. All that chocolate melting together smelled really good while it cooked, too. Some of the candy held its shape, the tootsie rolls bubbled, and the KitKat bars burned. It was very interesting. Everyone tried a bite of the pie, which was really all you could stand because it was so chocolatey. It also hardened quickly as it cooled, so you couldn't eat more than a few bites anyway. I think Danielle liked it best. It was fun.

Last night we went to a harvest party at the church where the kids attend AWANA. It was very well done, and the kids had a lot of fun. There were free hotdogs & chips, several inflatables, lots of games & prizes, face painting, and a hayride. Tyler's absolute favorite radio station was there, too, but sadly John Tesh was not.

We are counting down the days to our vacation and keeping our fingers crossed that TS Ida doesn't veer off course or hang around Florida too long. Now that the kids can swim and aren't afraid to put their faces in the water, we really want to try snorkeling with them. We got them their own snorkeling equipment so we wouldn't have to worry about finding the right sizes at each of our stops. (There's also the question about how well things are sanitized.) They practiced in the bathtub tonight and think they're really going to enjoy it. We'll see how they do when they get in the open water and are "swimmin' with the fishes".