Caribbean Cruise
Darren and I were lucky enough to join some of Darren's family in going to the Caribbean in March. We missed having two of his sisters and their husbands join us but still had a great time!
We at dinner every night together (I'm taking the picture...in the past we've had a server who has been able to snap one of everyone together but this particular cruise seemed to keep our server especially busy.) I think lobster night was my favorite!!
Formal night. Or for us that just means taking church clothes that don't wrinkle easily....
Our first excursion was heading to Buck Island on St. Croix to go snorkeling. And it was some amazing snorkeling! I somehow managed to be assigned the position of getting our boat back to dock. Which I did. (But I was super nervous - ask Darren. I don't even like having to drive my speedboat at the lake when there are other boats around. Not to mention having a boat full of tourists below me expecting to get home safe and sound. Don't worry - they never even knew the risk they were taking:)
This is after we docked and I was just happy to be sitting somewhere other than behind the wheel!
While at St. Kitt's we decided to go on a jungle adventure and see the rainforest from an open jeep.
A couple of shots of our ship while heading out on the safari adventure.
Some random pictures as we were heading out -
The Mayor's house
Unique tree - I can't remember what it's called but those leaves have water in them you can drink in case of emergency. Excellent to know.
Tropical plants
An old church
The flower matches me perfectly
Darren and Amber
More nature
Lisa and Steve, Monique and Steve, Dena and Ed, Darren and Amber
I cannot believe one of my dreams have come true. I (really Darren) found a real, live starfish on the beach. I've always wanted to find a starfish. And then take it home. But these were still alive so only half of the dream was fulfilled. We threw it back in the ocean.
Darren entertained us by trying to catch a crab. He spent quite a bit of time in his endeavor but was unsuccessful in the end.
However, I managed to step directly on top of a pokey little crab with my bare feet on the way back to the ship without any problems. It was very unpleasant.
Doesn't it look lovely?
The next pictures are of us (Darren, me, Lisa, and Steve) going through an awesome ropes course. We had so much fun. Here I am getting everything tightened up and making sure things are nice and snug.
We're ready to go!
Steve, Lisa, Amber
They had some pretty tricky rope bridges....but not tricky for us:)
Moving on to the single rope bridge....
Trying to get you a view of how high up we are. It's kind of hard to tell. So just enjoy the view of my lovely legs.
Canopy
There were also several zip lines and a huge rope swing at the end. We were the last ones in the group so we took our time and took lots of pictures.
And a snack at the end. Sugar cane and coconut.
Right after the ropes course we headed off to tube down a river
Steve
You can tell who I am because I'm wearing a purple helmet.
We stopped every once in a while to regroup and have "fun". Like splashing and joke telling...
Our next stop was Grenada.
We took a ride out to the beach on this catamaran.
I'll be honest. The trip out was a bit long and hard on my behind. There weren't actually seats. Just cement walkways or bungee like areas to sit on. But then we hit the beach!
And were set up for an amazing lunch!
But while we waited.....Darren once again communed with nature. And began playing with the elusive crab.
This one was trying to hide. He provided entertainment while we waited for our food. Like scrambled around on the table wondering where his sandy beach was.
And then our dinner arrived! Lobster. And it was good!
Yummy!
Our beachfront dinner!
And a new arrangement for the trip back.
This was a creepy walkway that pedestrians shared with cars. It's not very wide as you can see the one headlight of the oncoming car. Apparently its just the visitors who are concerned with the arrangement - the school kids don't mind.
Speaking of creepy - Darren found a friend.
Me hanging out on the beach. Everyone else took a dip.
We had a couple of nights of family fun in the casino. Nothing crazy, trust me.
Church, ahem, formal night.
And....
another lobster dinner!
Yummy!
We had a wonderful time and were ready to get back to real life once the trip was over. Real life minus having to cook and clean that is....
