Cruisin'

Setting out on a 5 day vacation was so exciting, even if it was at 3 am on the morning of December 19.  The five of us headed for the Grand Rapids Airport to catch a plane down to Ft. Lauderdale to board the Liberty of the Seas cruise ship.  

After boarding, Sam and Erin were so excited they just wanted to be detectives and find all the wonderful activities and places the ship had to offer.  We found a place to eat and had our first of many family meals together.  Something we don't get to do very often anymore due to the pace of each of our lives.  We found that eating together was actually fun and enjoyable, plus we had the benefit of all walking away from the table without having to clean up the kitchen, pure joy!!

While at sea, we soaked up the sun, relaxed in the hot tub, enjoyed great food, swam, walked, played games (scrabble, ping pong, mini golf, etc.), ate frozen yogurt ice cream cones, sang, danced, ice skated and just had fun.  Well most of the time, there were the occasional family squabbles, I guess you'd have to expect that when five people share a small space with only one bathroom for 6 days.  Even with those moments, the trip was a success.

When visiting Haiti, we ventured out into the Caribbean on a small snorkeling boat to experience a small part of the ocean and see what lies below the surface of the water.  Well in the midst of all the other snorkelers, coral and shallowness of the water, Sam scraped his knee and was bleeding, and recalling all the information from Shark Week, knew that sharks could sense blood up to two miles away and swam so fast, he could have beaten Michael Phelps at the Olympics, back to the boat and ended his snorkeling adventure.  Erin then did the same thing touching some type of coral and it hurt and she wanted to stop snorkeling as well so then I went back to the boat with her and the three of us watched Mark and Sydney snorkel.  They saw some great fish, coral, a small octopus and other creatures in the waters of Haiti.

The following day we went to Jamaica, "Ya' Mon"!  were the words of the day.  Swimming with a dolphin was definitely the highlight of the day.  We were in the water with the dolphin and were able to pet, dance, kiss, and get a ride with Beta, our newest friend.  Sharing a space with this dolphin is an experience I will never forget, nor will the rest of the family. We also conquered Dunn River Fall by climbing up the falls as the waters rushed down upon us.  The beauty of looking down on the falls you just climbed up and seeing the the water rushing down and joining the aqua blue waters of the Caribbean was beautiful. Climbing was somewhat of a challenge but overall easier than it actually sounds.

Each night we gathered at our dinner table in the Rembrandt Dining Room and shared the experiences of the day. We tried various interesting foods, with the hardest to swallow being the escargot, alias....snail.  It wasn't as bad as it sounds.  Sam and Sydney tried it, Erin said...NO THANK YOU!, although she did eat Indian Curry dishes two of the 5 nights.

Our days of vacation swiftly passed but the memories we shared will last forever.  Thank you Lord for blessing us with the opportunity to be able to do this as a family.