It's always been a dream of mine to skip the traditional Christmas gift giving and go on vacation instead. AND be gone on Christmas Day. This was the year that dream came true for me. It's been a tough year in many ways but in the end we are moving in the right direction. So that is improvement enough and all I really need. Justin thought the idea of a cruise was great and so I jumped when he gave me the okay.
Leaving Ella at home was hard, but I know she is in great hands with her Grammys to care for her. Plus all her cousins are on break so she will have plenty of playmates.
Santa showed up Thursday morning and Friday mid day we left for the drive to LA. We boarded our cruise ship, the Carnival Miracle, on Christmas Eve day.
Oh did we have some excited kids!!!
I figured the cruise would be super fun but I had no idea our kids would love every aspect of it. They loved it all!!!
I always wondered why people took their kids on cruises. But now I know. The cruise ships have great kids clubs and day care for the younger kiddos. Our kids really enjoyed having their own clubs they could be apart of when we weren't doing anything as a family or when we wanted to go some show they didn't care for.
Now I totally see why people take their little kids on cruises. You can have a great family trip but still have alone time with ease. Super cool! I see more cruises in our future. Next time when Ella is a good age to join us!
I love this guy right here!
We don't have a perfect life but it is amazing how loving someone gets you through some really hard things! I am glad he loves me back!
I enjoyed a few strawberry daiquiris, poolside on this cruise. I even read two books during the trip. With grad school starting up soon I probably won't be reading anything for leisure for awhile.
Might seem like a silly picture of strangers doing Zumba but look closer. My boys are up on the hot tub level dancing right along with everyone else. I had at least 5 people tell me through out the cruise how awesome my boys were at dancing. One lady even told me she had videoed them so she could show her grandkids back home!
Thanks to Hunter I got to go on stage and participate in a game. I had a box with ping pong balls inside, strapped to my waste and had to bounce all the balls out. I went up against another mom from the audience.
Let's just say I went hog wild and totally won! Bahahaha.....Justin said watching me do that was worth the whole cruise. Lol! My kids all said, "Wow mom you can really shake your stuff! HAHAHA!
You do what you gotta do to win! The other mom only had like 2 balls come out of her box.
It was funny!
You do what you gotta do to win! The other mom only had like 2 balls come out of her box.
It was funny!
Hunter and Logan each had fun playing in the competition.
Grant was thrilled to loose a tooth while on the cruise. That vacation tooth fairy is rich. Grant got $10 for his tooth and he spend every penny!
The last day at sea the boys got to go to the build a bear workshop on the cruise ship. Hunter was so nice to make a bunny for Ella Jane. She loves stuffed animals!
We had WAY too many ice cream cones in this vacation! The kids could not believe they were allowed to get ice cream any time they wanted. I figured why not?
I am not a big ice cream lover but I did enjoy a few frozen yogurts through out the week.
Drinks in silly cups are all part of the cruise experience. But I hate those stupid cups once you get home. So I kept telling the kids "no" to getting them. But this cute coconut is a bank so I agreed we could get it.
The ice sculpting is pretty cool to watch. It is amazing at what they can sculpted in such a short amount of time.
Ended up being an Indian chief. It was done by one guy in 22 minutes.
We all loved the towel creations that we found each day in our rooms.
Oh my gosh a chocolate fondue buffet. Ummm yes please! So yummy! I had just gone to the gym before I went to the chocolate buffet. So it totally canceled out any good I did in the gym. Oh well that's what the new year is for right?!?
The delicious food is all part of the main reasons to take a cruise. Our kids loved the fancy dinners! They loved that they could order more than one thing and that they got dessert every night.
Hunter was our adventurous kid!
He tried something new every chance he got. He tried escargot and like it! He tried clams and mussels and wasn't a fan. That's the picture of him and just the smell wasn't agreeing with him. I might or might not have had a laughing attack right there at the dinner table! I honestly did. I don't know why I have laughing attacks every now and then. But Justin gets quite a kick out of them. So at least someone thinks they are funny!
Hunter also had ox tongue, octopus, and frog legs.
The whole cruise was a fabulous experience!!!
It wasn't a super fancy or extra large ship but for a first cruise it was perfect! Our kids absolutely loved it. I can't count the times Kiersten wanted to talk about how amazing it is that so much happens on the ship. From the Laundry service to all the food to the entertainment. It is impressive.
So grateful for the time we had together to make such great memories!
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