new year & a cruise!

The new year has been amazing. With some little adjustments in our lives, we've been so happy as a family. It feels great!

January 28- Feb 4 we went on a cruise! It was a blast.

We flew to Florida on the 27th and flying with a 15th month old was... busy. He took all the safety pamphlets and magazines out of the pockets in front of us and just wanted to move then entire 5 hours! He wasn't sad but he wasn't still either. It could have gone much worse.

Florida was exciting! We stayed in this hotel that is a part of a mall, it was bizarre but kind of fun! We spent a lot of time window shopping and looking for some tennis shoes for Crew. We also ate at Shake Shack, it was DELICIOUS. The bleu cheese bacon burger and custard I ordered was honestly amazing. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it as well.

The drive to the port was totally fine and getting on to the ship was easy, everything went smoothly. It was exciting to see all the ship attractions. Lots of pools, hot tubs, a big pool play area (for potty trained kids only), a carousel, an aqua theater, a cute little shopping strip with a hot dog place, candy shop, ice cream/cupcake shop etc. There was a rock climbing wall, two flo riders, a sports court, mini golf course, and tons of places to eat. We ate a lot at Sorrentos and the Coastal Kitchen (I'll get there).

Day two we got this knock on our door from this official looking man who told us that there is maintenance that needed to be done in our room and that we could move either tomorrow or tonight to our SUITE. We said tonight would be fine haha. It was AMAZING. The balcony was three times the size of our other one. We had a kitchen, living room, and bedroom, TONS of space. It was honestly a dream come true. My grandpa said those rooms go for like 20k! We were shocked because things like that don't usually happen to Damon or I haha. Anyways so we were just chilling in our room and there was this folder of all the "perks" we get for being in a royal suite with our new purple cards. We got priority seating for shows, we got free towels instead of having to scan them on our card, we got free internet, little treats in our room, and the BEST perk was getting to eat at THE COASTAL KITCHEN.

New paragraph for this place. Seriously amazing. It made me feel really bad but the food at this place compared to everywhere else on the ship was so yummy. Only people with these cards could get in. At first we didn't know if we were allowed in here because we were fonys and our cards didn't work to get in hahah but we asked our concierge and he said that we get all the perks (SCORE!). We were excited. When we didn't port we ate breakfast and lunch there. It was kind of a bummer being away from the family (everyone had rooms by each other) but it was worth it. The staff was so sweet too. They ALL loved Crew and would tickle and play with him and Crew would talk to them and yell for them, it was adorable. I miss the Coastal Kitchen.

The ports were a ton of fun. I wasn't the biggest fan of St. Maarten but that's just the selfish part of me. It was just really dirty and run down because of the hurricane damage. It was honestly heartbreaking and very humbling.

San Juan, Puerto Rico was really fun. I didn't know what it was like there at all so I of course just throw on a swimsuit and a cover up. It was not a beach hahahah. It was really cool and historic so I wasn't dressed right for the day. It was pretty funny. We toured this huge castle and saw an iguana just chilling on it. It was kind of sad to hear about the history of the island.

Labadee, Haiti was A DREAM. It's land on Haiti that Royal Caribbean owns so its kind of a fake paradise but that is totally fine with me. I got enough of reality with the other two ports. The sand was so soft, the mountain was so green, the water was beautiful, we got to chill on the beach and play volleyball which is always fun. Waiting in line for lunch took FOREVER, we missed the coastal kitchen, but overall it was a great port.

Back on the ship, the rest of the trip was nice and relaxing. I got to play volleyball on the sports court.  We played in the pool earlier in the week and because I'm tiny compared to all the males who play, pool isn't my fav. The court playing was super fun. I played with this really cute asian couple and this other really cute couple who just got done with medical school and got jobs as residents. I know all about it cause I'm on season 11 of Grey's Anatomy. They were cuties.

One of my favorite parts every night is getting together with everyone for the dinners. I loved it. Dressing up is fun too (but it was more fun when I didn't have a child and need to pack all his and I's stuff in a 50 pound luggage and a carry on). I just loved spending time with the family the most. Watching the boys dominate dodgeball or basketball was super fun. It was also the cutest watching Crew and Aubrey get to play together all the time. They are so cute.

Getting off the ship was nice, Royal Suite stayers got to get off whenever they wanted AND we got our luggage sent to Seattle, it was really convenient. The plane ride wasn't my favorite. Crew had a lot of fussing. Aubrey fussed quite a bit and threw up. The Walker boys were honestly angels. I was jealous. They are so good at going with the flow.

We miss the cruise so much but it also felt good to get back home. We will always remember that trip. It was a lot of fun with all the family! We are very lucky to have as many family members on that boat. We've had a lot of family scares and cherish the blessing of good health that God has given us.

02.13.18