Cruise Vacation ~ Day 4...

We spent day 4 at Red Stripe Beach in Falmouth, Jamaica.  We had been to Falmouth two years ago but not to Red Stripe Beach. Would for sure go again...it was just a little hidden piece of paradise!

My two silly boys in Jamaica...waiting to catch the shuttle for our day at the beach.

We took our smallest sand toys, which was a good idea.  They played with them both days we were at the beach.

Yep...the water is this clear!  Anna Lauren loved it because she could swim around and see fish, shells, etc.  She swam, and swam, and swam.

Like I said, just a little hidden piece of paradise.

Anna Lauren took our picture while they were eating a little snack/lunch...not so good hamburger and one of those red hot dogs...yuck!  

You cannot go to Jamaica and not get your hair braided...

I thought she was going to fall asleep getting her hair done.  Two years ago when we went on a cruise, she got one little braid.  This time, I let her get three big braids.

Once again, Cooper in his "happy" place...and me too!

Anna Lauren got picked from the crowd to limbo...

This guy was something...no lie, he was probably 6'5" and and went under this stick on fire...

Like I said, we cannot go anywhere that she is not stunting, tumbling, cheering...

And then she started tumbling and drew herself a crowd...she would tumble down the beach and everyone would clap for her, ask her how she does it, etc.  She thought she was something!

Thought this was the perfect sign to end our fun day in Jamaica...

So proud of her braided hair and souvenir from Jamaica!

After we got back on the ship, we took a quick shower and headed to the parade...

All dressed for dinner...one of her favorite parts is to pick out her dress for dinner every night.  

After dinner, we headed back to the ice skating rink...

Anna Lauren did a lot better this night...I actually caught her several times not holding onto the wall.

After ice skating, we hit the karaoke booth...they had the best time singing YMCA!

And a goodnight hug before heading to our room for the night...

Cruise Vacation ~ Day 5...

Our last full day on the ship...all good things must come to an end, right?

We started our day at the character breakfast...

It took Cooper a while to warm up to the characters this particular morning...

Cooper finally warmed up and decided to give some high fives...

He still would not have a picture without Mommy or Daddy...

After breakfast, Anna Lauren wanted to go play in the kids club for a little while.  This was the only time she went all week, and we never took Cooper.  So...Cooper played a few games in the arcade with Daddy.

We got an invitation to a galley tour, which we were very excited to do...we thought we would see more "action" but it was still interesting.  Well, the few minutes Anna Lauren and I stayed.  The boat was REALLY rocking Friday...I never really got sick, but I didn't feel great/like it and Anna Lauren said she had a bad headache.  We got a Sprite and went back to the room while Matt and Cooper finished the tour.  I will say it was the first time on 7 cruises that I remember it rocking so bad/making me feel bad.

Let's just say this was not the "smooth" water we had seen all week...

After sleeping for a couple hours, we all feel better and the ship didn't seem to be rocking as bad so we continued on with our day.

This particular ship has a Cupcake Cupboard and offers cupcake decorating classes...Anna Lauren had waited all week for this so she was super excited.  While we were waiting to start, the cruise director stopped by and visited with the kids...they thought this was fun because he was all into them.

There is no telling what she is telling them...every once in a while, I catch them in a "sweet" moment.

They each decorated two cupcakes...a frog and a lion...both turned out super cute!

Before dinner, we played family bingo and here we were just hanging out waiting on time for dinner.  So thankful I can still get them in matching outfits...just precious!

It was so windy...needless to say, we pretty much spent this day inside.  Between the wind, the boat rocking, and sunburn, inside was the best choice!

Later that night we spotted the Cupcake Cupboard chef and took a picture with him...

It's just the little things we love about a cruise...such as a heart out of your straw paper.

Our assistant waiter...we actually liked him better than our waiter. Not that our waiter was bad...we just liked the assistant better.

Sad...the one family picture we got and it's with a character. O'well...we are all together with smiles on our faces.

And by the end, Cooper had really warmed up...he was giving kisses!

Back in the room for the night to pack up and head back home after a super fun week. Notice the monkey by Cooper...that was his favorite, and he left it by his bed all week.  The stateroom attendant took it down, and he got really upset and asked her to make him another one...so she did!

And the perfect end to a perfect vacation...in his pajamas, watching the Ipad, and eating one last piece of pizza.  I cannot tell you how many pieces of pizza our family alone consumed in a week...I will say they said 70,000 our eaten by everyone on the ship in one week.  Let's just say we had our share and enjoyed every last bite!

Cruise Vacation ~ Day 6...

Our last day of vacation...travel home day.  We were sad to get off the ship, but once we got off, we were ready to get home and get back to our schedule/routine.  It was a long day of traveling, but we made it home with everything we took and over 700 pictures of fun times we will always remember!

Everyone in the airport could tell this little girl had been somewhere tropical with her braided hair...

Almost home...nothing worse than sitting on the plane in Houston for 45 minutes before you take off.  They actually did great and then slept while we were in the air, which was a good thing because it was a bumpy bumpy ride home.

And now the wheels are turning as to where we will go next...wonder how nice Santa will be this year?