Friday, July 31, 2009

Cayo Levantado (Dominican Republic)

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Our third port was Semana, Dominican Republic. We chose to do another day at the beach, only this time it was at Cayo Levantado. We’ve never actually been over to Semana, we went to this beach both times. I love the way the trees look in that top photo. It’s kinda crazy the way those roots have grown in order to support that tree!

Tony and Zoe kayaking Tony and I kayaking Tony and Landon kayaking

We were able to try a little ocean kayaking while we were out there too, and that was pretty fun. It took awhile to convince Landon to try it, but I think he liked it in the end! The top pic is Tony and Zoe, the second is Tony and I and of course the last is Tony and Landon. I wish I had gotten close up’s of all of us like the last one.

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Tony and I just had to get one of the pina colada’s to try…they were pretty tasty!

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The kids had fun riding the waves in to shore. The water was nice and clear at this beach too, but there was a lot of seaweed/coral on the side where we were. Eventually we moved to the other side of the beach and the water was much clearer with hardly any seaweed at all.

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We decided to get back to the ship once we started hearing thunder. The tender was about a 20 minute ride and the water was really choppy. We were on a speedboat so the ride was quite exciting! We were hitting the waves so hard we were coming out of our seats!

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This last photo was taken from the tender (not an easy task!) but I thought it was really cool. We sure felt tiny pulling up on our speed boat to board that big ol’ ship!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

St. Thomas

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This was the view we had when our tour guide stopped on the way to Magen’s Bay. St. Thomas is a gorgeous island! You can see how the water is lighter up close to the shoreline, then gets darker a little ways out. You could see right through that crystal blue water and it was so cool and refreshing to be out there in it!

My mother in law, relaxing on the beach

My mother-in-law absolutely loves the beach! She’s still a little nervous in the water despite all her swim lessons though, so here she is just enjoying some relaxation in the sunshine!

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I’m sorry this photo isn’t closer up because it is a really cute picture of my sister and Lorenzo. They were really enjoying themselves out there!

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My parent’s spent a good deal of time just floating around out in the ocean on their mat. You can see Tony and Landon in the background.

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I tried to get a picture of Jaron but he dove under water too quick and all I got was his feet!

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This is such a cute picture of my sister and Zoe. I just love that Zoe’s wearing goggles in this one. Goggles always crack me up a little bit! And, again Tony and Landon are in the background…

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And, now all of you out there can see why I don’t take Tony seriously most of the time. I mean, have you ever seen anyone look that goofy or what? He and Landon sure were having a good time doing whatever it was they were doing though!

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Oh, and I did finally get a picture of Jaron! LOL! Can you tell it’s him? He kinda looks like a creature from the deep here!

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Our view on the way back to the ships. I got this shot as we were driving but I thought it turned out pretty good anyways. We were sad to leave the beach that day, it was just so beautiful and relaxing!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Towel Creatures

Another thing you just don’t see anywhere except on cruises is these little towel creatures. There’s a new one every night after dinner. Here are some of ours from this trip and my best guesses as to what they are supposed to be!

A towel swan?A swan?

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A Bulldog?

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A Poodle…and, a little boy who just loves jumping in a picture at the last second!

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A Stingray. I’m feeling pretty confident about this one!

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I’m thinking this is another Bulldog. Maybe a slightly friendlier one than the first? Maybe a pug?

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Elephant! I’ve so got this one!

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A Frog maybe? If not, then I just have no idea.

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A Bat.

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And, last but not least, a monkey.

If you ever take a cruise, and are interested in learning how to create these towel animals, there is actually a demonstration you can attend.

We skipped it.

We didn’t attend the cooking demo or the napkin folding class either.

We’re just not cool like that.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

San Juan

 Ready to go explore San Juan

After two straight days of cruising, we were all ready to get out and explore San Juan. None of us had any excursions scheduled, so the day was ours to do what we wanted.

A horse drawn carriage.San Juan capitol building.

We ended up taking a bus tour around some of the city, and it turned out to be a pretty good way to see a bunch of tourist sites in a minimal amount of time. The picture above is of the capitol building, and it was designed with the one in DC in mind. Can you tell?

Castillo de San CristobalCastillo de San Cristobal

The above photo’s are of Castillo de San Cristobal. This fort was designed to guard against land assaults. El Morro (another more well known fort in San Juan) was built to protect it against attacks from the sea. El Morro pictures are below and if we look really hard you can see all these kites in the sky. There was some serious kite flying going on out there that day!

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Next up are some random photo’s in Old San Juan. The streets were very narrow and many were cobblestone. The buildings are all these gorgeous colors we’ve come to expect when visiting any seaside location.There were several street vendors around, but because it was Sunday we were kind of rushed to hit a few of the stores before they all closed…the only thing we ended up buying was t-shirts! I know, we are such tourists!

San Juan side streetCobblestone sidestreet, San JuanPretty building w/ flowers San JuanBusy main shopping street, San Juan

Monday, July 27, 2009

Sunsets at Sea

Gorgeous Sunset 2009

The sunsets you see out on the ocean are like no other. I think it’s the way the water shimmers and how huge and colorful the sun appears without any obstruction. We rushed up from dinner to get photo’s and they did not disappoint!

Mom and Dad 2009LaTisha, Lorenzo and Jaron 2009 Tish and Lorenzo 2009 Tony and I 2009   Tony, Zoe, Landon and I 2009 Tony and I being romantic! 2009 Gorgeous sunset 2009

Wedding Entrance

I heard about this video on the radio this morning and I can’t believe all the controversy over it. I mean, who’s wedding is it anyways? Some people felt that it was distasteful and inappropriate, while others thought it was cute and a fun way to do things. It’s not like they used an inappropriate song or were dancing tastelessly. I just wish Tony and I had thought to do something as ingenious!

What do you think?

P.S. I would have put the video up here, but they have embedding turned off…it is a must see though!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

At what other time…

Would you play shuffleboard, other than when you are cruising in the middle of the ocean? I don’t think anyone in my family has ever played shuffleboard unless they were on a cruise ship.

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And, what about Bingo? I know there are lots and lots of people who play Bingo on a regular basis, but no one in my family plays…unless they are on a boat. In the middle of nowhere. With nothing else to do.

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That’s a lot of Bingo cards, isn’t it? Not a winner in the bunch either. We were all hoping to win the Jackpot at the end, but then I guess that’s what all those other people were there for too. Tony was down to 3 numbers before it was over, and I think he was the closest of our group. 

Another thing you don’t see often: Ice Carving. I suppose it doesn’t sound that interesting really, but watching someone carve ice into a sculpture is pretty neat. Especially when they do it with a chainsaw.

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This one was in the Windjammer dining area when we got on the boat. But, in the photo below you see how they start out.

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Next, the ice sculptor takes out his tools and sets to work:

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And this is the result:

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Getting a decent shot was difficult, but the carving is of a sea bird…that’s what he told us anyways! We were all pretty impressed that he did most of the work with a chainsaw. The same guy also carves all of the fruit on the ship. But not with a chainsaw. :)

April Fools Pranks

The two little kids made me laugh yesterday morning.  I was upstairs getting things ready for school when I heard them talking about how ...