Cozumel, Mexico & Wrap Up - Cruise 2016

Our last port was Cozumel, Mexico. We loved getting out and exploring at this port. It was busy at the dock, with three ships all there that day, but we still had a lot of fun! Phil & the girls and I booked an excursion to a fun park called Chakanaab. Chantel and Jocelyn actually booked their dolphin swim there as well so we met up with them and my mom there. They had a great smaller beach area that we swam in. It was perfect for the little girls!

Like I said before,  my sisters and mom were in the same place as we were so we got to hang out with them before and after their dolphin encounter. 

 

 Chakanaab also had a bigger beach area where my mom snorkeled. They had nice relaxing hammocks and a beautiful view on from the beach!

Chakanaab had a great pool which we loved as well as animals, a sea lion show, bottomless drinks and a buffet lunch. There was plenty more to do there but with our little girls, swimming occupied most of our day!  

We had a lot of fun and returned to the ship tired yet happy. The other half of the family enjoyed themselves zip-lining in the jungle that day. Cruising is a tough life! :) 

We loved spending time all together with the Peruccas on the cruise. We have so many great memories and inside jokes. We ate dinner together every night and just had a great time. 

The last day at sea/debarkation day was Braden's birthday so we celebrated with the help of the dining room crew during dinner on our last night.

Can't wait until next time ;) ;)

Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan - Cruise 2016

Our next stop was beautiful Roatan. It was a clear and sunny day, which we were happy about after being a bit overcast for a couple days. The views off the dock were gorgeous!

Nick, Braden, Chantel and Jocelyn went on a horseback riding excursion, lucky ducks!

They went horseback riding for about 90minutes to a private beach.

They ended up here, where they played, jet-skied and sun-bathed the day away!

The rest of us (my parents, Phil & I, Justin and the girls) visited Mahogany Bay which was just a 10 minute walk from the dock. The walk was beautiful and scenic and we were excited to go swim! I mean look at these cute girls all ready to go! How could you not be excited!?

See what I mean? There's the ship, super close to the beach. But it didn't impact the beach experience at all. Still was relaxing and beautiful!

Elle loved the sand and grabbing the little waves as they washed up. She enjoyed her first ocean experience!

Jayne didn't enjoy the sand sticking to her as much a Elle :) but she definitely loved swimming! Especially playing on the floating bed we rented for the day. It was her first ocean experience too!

We swapped out with each other and did some snorkeling around the bay. There were lots of different and colorful fish. Looking back I'm wishing we'd taken more photos but wrangling two girls, making sure we were all coated in sunscreen and all our beach gear, we just decided we'd just enjoy the time rather than trying to capture photos of it all.

It was a dreamy beach day and we had a lot of fun with these two beach babes!

Ship life & Belize - Cruise 2016

Our main reason for going to Florida this April was for a family cruise to the Western Caribbean with the Perucca clan. After lots of planning (thanks mom!) and anticipation, we finally were all together in Florida and ready to get cruising! My parents and siblings flew in later than us Disney World folks so once they arrived, they picked us up in a 15 passenger van (oh that was funny to see all of us and our luggage pile into that thing!), we ate lunch together and then headed to the port.

Snapchat helping pass the time during lunch :)

Our cruise got underway a bit later than planned because a passenger on the previous cruise had a medical emergency and the ship had to turn back around and go to it's previous port. So, the ship got in a lot later than planned that Saturday. We were scheduled to board by noon and depart by 3pm, but we didn't end up getting on the ship until about 9pm. It was a loooong day but we kept each other company and soon forgot about it after enjoying the cruising life!

Waiting in the terminal to board the ship

The cruise started with two "sea days" so we spent time eating, playing games together, eating, exploring the ship, eating, swimming, going to shows and oh and did I mention eating? ;) Here's some photos of our ship-life: 

The pool water on the ship was pretty cold so when it wasn't really hot outside (the first couple days at sea were overcast), it wasn't the most fun to swim in. But that didn't matter to Jayne! Luckily uncle Justin was happy to swim with her in the frigid water. They made up all sorts of fun games together and Jayne still talks about them!

Shuffleboard

Extreme air hockey in the arcade - it dispensed a ton of pucks all at once!

Most of the Perucca kids (and Jayne!) hanging out in the hot tub

We loved seeing all the towel animals our room service made each day. Luckily my sisters got good pictures of theirs because Jayne loved them so much that she immediately played with (and disassembled) ours when she saw them :)

Let me just say that I was hesitant to bring a 9month old on an cruise, but she was SOOO good! She was such a happy camper!

Our first port was Belize where my family got up bright and early to ride the tender out and enjoyed a day of snorkeling.

Waiting for the tender

Getting some zzz's in while on the tender

They snorkeled around this beautiful island in Goff's Caye, Belize. Just look at that blue water! 

Phil and I opted to stay and enjoy relaxing on the empty ship and to let the girls rest up for the next two ports. The fam came back happy, rosy red and ready to relax and then explore the next port the following day!

Elle - 10 months

How have 10 months passed already?! This cute little girl is just growing so fast!

Elle's 10 month stats:

• Says momma and dadda, not really consistently with who she wants but sometimes she associates the words with us 
• Plays peek-a-boo with her hands and peeking around objects/people
• Army crawls to get places but has started rocking on all fours
• Loves to dance by shaking her head and body
• Still has roll-y legs but cheeks aren't quite as chunky as the once were 

I pulled out the camera and she gave me this cheeser grin! She definitely knows what the camera is!

Happy 10 months little Elle!

Animal Kingdom, Disney World - Day 2

We spent our second Disney day at the Animal Kingdom park. It was nice and a bit slower paced than the Magic Kingdom was. It was pretty hot and very humid so in trying to eliminate things to hold, we didn't get the camera out much. We spent a lot of time playing on a fun (and cool!) playground in Dino Land USA that Jayne loved, pointing out fun animals to Jayne on the Safari, cooling down with yummy, cold treats and enjoying a few shows.

There was a cool sand sculpture promoting The Jungle Book movie right when you walked into the park. I couldn't believe it was sand!

They also have this really cool man-made tree that the whole park centers around. There are so many carvings on it. The paths that went right up to the base of the tree were closed but it was still pretty magnificent to look at from afar.

Like I said, we spent a lot of time in Dino Land USA. Our time was mostly spent in a "boneyard" playground area. It was perfect because Elle could actually get out of the stroller and play on the soft rubber ground, there were giant fans which completely took away the "hot" feeling from the weather and Jayne got her toddler wiggles and need for adventure out. 

The other half of our Dino time was spent on this beautiful ride. Picture the Dumbo ride but without the line. Jayne loved it! And Elle was happy to go along for the ride. It was perfect!

Throughout the day we went on the Safari, saw the Lion King show and Phil and I even got to ride on the Expedition Everest roller coaster which was a win! Towards the end of the day we were walking around and saw that the wait to meet Mickey and Minnie was pretty short. We took that opportunity and never regretted it. Honestly watching Jayne meet the characters was one of my favorite things about this whole trip. Mickey and Minnie were no exception. Minnie even interacted with Elle and got her giggling heartily by touching Elle's nose and then hers. It was so cute!

  

That's one happy girl! It was great to meet both Mickey and Minnie in one spot! 

It was a wonderful day at the Animal Kingdom. We loved that it was a slower paced day for us making it so we could enjoy just being in the park together as a family. We had a lot of fun!!