Tarzan Swing

On Friday last week, the ship docked in St. Maarten. We went for a day sail on Random Wind. We did the same thing last year and loved it both times.

St. Maarten is beautiful.  We should have taken more pictures.

My parents went on the day sail with us.  My mom said she enjoyed it more than she thought she would.

Josiah kept saying, "That boat is following us."  He had to wear the life vest in the dingy going from the dock to the sailboat.  He didn't like swimming in it, so we put his little backpack on him.

He wanted to sit on the bow with Wesley and Lydia so Diane, the boat's owner, sat there with him.  Yes, that's a Sprite in Wesley's hand.  We let Wesley and Lydia have two Sprites a piece.  We never have soda at home and we never let them get soda in a restaurant.  Usually, I'm the mean mom who makes them get white milk.  But, it was a special day so I caved (and I just wanted to enjoy the day in peace while the kids happily sat on the "turtle watch").

Here is a wider shot so you can see how beautiful it is there.

At the first stop, I snorkeled with Wesley and then Chris snorkeled with him.  We have no water pictures because the day before Josiah managed to open our underwater camera while I was holding it in the water.  The picture card was okay, but the camera filled with water.

I swam with Lydia and Josiah to the beach because Lydia wanted to play in the sand.

Once Diane and Trevor saw Josiah swimming around with his backpack, they started talking about him doing the Tarzan Swing.  The said he was the youngest kid yet to do it.

Josiah did great on the Tarzan Swing!  As soon as he saw Lydia and Wesley do it, he said, "I do it too."

After letting go and landing in the water, he swam to Chris.  Then he swam to the boat, climbed up the ladder, and got it line to do it again and again.  Once we were all back on the boat and heading for shore, he quickly fell asleep.

Lydia jumped off the bow this year.  Last year, she was afraid to do so because it is about 10 feet above the water.

She and Wesley loved the Tarzan Swing and jumping off the bow.  Chris and I also joined in the fun.

Thankfully, there was no road construction this year and we had a fast taxi ride back to port.  Chris and I split a guavaberry rum smoothie on the pier.  The boys split a virgin coconut smoothie.  Lydia didn't like it.

I think the boys really liked the coconut smoothie.

There is our favorite, well my favorite, home away from home.

A quick photo of a tired but happy family.

If you want to read the first few post about our cruise, click here, here, and here.

Secret Harbor

After two days at Sea, we had a day in St. Thomas. We loved Sapphire Beach last year but we wanted to try another beach. After a little research on Cruise Critic, we decided on Secret Harbor. We took a taxi from the pier. Originally, we told the driver to come back in 3 1/2 hours. We enjoyed the beach so much that Chris asked the bar tender to call the driver and ask if we could stay another two hours. The driver came back right at the new time.




You have not snorkeled until you have snorkeled with a seven year old hanging onto you. He was a little scared snorkeling but he did it twice with me and once with Chris that day. Lydia is a good swimmer but she wouldn't try breathing with the snorkel.




We saw a decent amount of fish.




There were several sea urchins.




Wesley under water.




Lydia played on the beach and in the water.




Secret Harbor is beautiful.



Josiah had a great time.



Chris kayaked with Lydia.



When it was my turn to kayak with Wesley, Josiah quickly climbed in and insisted on going. Later, he kept pointing at the kayaks and saying, "one more time!"



We had lunch at the restaurant. We shared calamari, conch fritters, and a wahoo sandwich. Lydia loved the calamari.



I think this is one of the prettiest places we have eaten. The other top contender would be in Grand Cayman.



Check out the iguana in the tree behind Josiah.



A closer shot of the iguana.



There weren't very many people at Secret Harbor. It was wonderful. There were just the right number of people to feel comfortable but it was never any where near crowded.



The water was warm and clear.



The kids snacked on the fruit loops I brought from the ship. On the way back to the ship, Josiah took a short nap.



One of the beautiful views on the way back.



A quick picture in front of the ship.



Josiah took a twenty minute nap during dinner.



Wesley and my dad.



That night was pirate night so Wesley and Lydia went to the kids club from 7:45 to 10:00.



Wesley was too tired to cooperate for a picture.



It was a beautiful, wonderful, and fun day

Welcome Back Party

One day while Josiah napped, Chris took Wesley and Lydia to see the movie Puss in Boots in the 3D. They met the star of the show.


Josiah loved the ice cream. All three kids ate so many desserts. They often had doughnuts for breakfast and desserts with lunch and dinner.



Royal Caribbean has a "Welcome Back Party" for repeat cruisers. We took all three kids with us since it was right after dinner. Lydia was so happy that Wesley finally agreed to dance with her.


She also danced with Josiah.


She also danced with Chris. She was a very happy girl.


Josiah was very happy with his fruit punch.


We had a picture taken with captain.



This is my second of many posts about the cruise. I want to record all the memories.

Motivation

We got off the Freedom of the Seas this morning. Once again, we loved our cruise vacation.




Wesley ordered escargot the first night.




Lydia's princess pose.



This was the first formal night.



My parents went on the cruise with us.



The Royal Babies and Toddler program gave Josiah a little bag that we used to carry entertainment stuff for all three kids. Josiah loved carrying the bag but he had to hold his arm up to carry it.



Wesley read Flat Stanley books during the two hour dinners. Lydia mostly played with a Snow White Princess set or colored. Josiah colored, ate ice, looked at books, and drove us crazy. Only joking. He did rather well during those long dinners. He took a quick nap on one or two nights. On the last night, he went to the nursery and played during dinner.



So, this was our motivation for potty training Josiah! If kids aren't potty trained, they have to stay in one very little pool that is less than six inches deep. We knew he would want to do what Wesley and Lydia were doing.



The kids enjoyed this vortex pool.



Lydia practiced her backstroke.


The kids loved the hot tub, especially on the first two days when it was a little cloudy and very windy because of Isaac. We missed our first stop, the Bahamas, because of the storm.


There is one regular pool in the kids area.


My parents came by to watch the kids swim.


The kids loved the sprayers.


The kids also played in one of the two bigger pools. Chris and I liked this pool area the best because of the band playing there. There is also an adult only pool. I got in one of the two adult only hot tubs once for five minutes.


After playing in the pools in the morning for a couple of hours, Josiah fell asleep in the high chair after eating lunch on three of the four sea days.