Family Cruise: More favorite moments

*BRANDON'S FAVORITES*
*Swimming with the dolphins

B did great with the dolphins and 

loved the whole experience.

*Snorkeling in Cozumel

Not long before we left on the cruise, my friend Jayne was telling me that the first time she went snorkeling, she couldn't see anything because she needs glasses.

Oh my gosh.

I hadn't even thought of that! I wear my contacts snorkeling, but B doesn't have contacts! I quickly did some googling and found out that you can order prescription swim goggles through amazon and they aren't that expensive--in the fifty dollar range. I decided that would totally be worth it. I called B's eye doctor, found out his prescription and ordered a pair. I'm so glad I did. I would have felt awful if he was blindly swimming around in the ocean for two days.

The goggles worked great! Yay!

Brandon took to snorkeling so quickly! I knew he would. He was good at diving down, popping his ears, and then clearing his snorkel. Aunt Celeste--you may have a scuba diving buddy here someday!

He took a lot of the closer-up pics of the fish we liked.

And this cool one of an underwater statue:

He's a natural.

*Just chillin and relaxing on the boat

Brandon was not a fan of the tween/early teen club. The age range for his club was 12-14 years old. He is 14 and 9/12. There's a BIG difference between an almost-fifteen-year-old and a twelve year old. He didn't make friends. He called them a bunch of "sevvies." Is that a word other teens use? It's short for "seventh graders" and that's what B called kids that are a couple years younger and less mature than his wise high-school-savvy self. :) So, he didn't spend much time at Circle C.

But, he downloaded a couple new apps for his ipod before we left, and he was so happy to just hang out in the cabin playing his ipod. (He could be doing that at home! Oh, wait, only for an hour a day because his parents are super strict with screen time!)

We got two adjoining cabins.

This was the kids cabin,

where B spent a lot of time just "relaxing".

(read: playing on his ipod)

*Oleh
Our assistant waiter was named Oleh. He was probably in his early twenties and was from the Ukraine. The kids LOVED him. They loved his accent and mannerisms. He would kind of lean over your shoulder and ask, "Ice water?" He sounded a lot like Oaken, the shop keeper/spa owner from Frozen.

*ANDREW'S FAVORITES*
*Snorkeling in Key West
It's always a little nerve wracking to watch your kids try something first time. Especially when it's something you LOVE and you want them to love it, too. Andrew was so happy to see all of them doing so well with snorkeling, especially since their first time was out in the middle of the ocean!

*Snorkeling in Cozumel
The spot we snorkeled in Cozumel had a cool hole in the rock, almost like a little cave.

Andrew got down, almost into it.

I was a little freaked out. 

Then he went to the side and got these pictures of the 

fish swimming under there. 

A great fishy hiding place.

Drew is also really good at diving down under

while snorkeling.

*Having all five of us pile into our king sized bed to read Lindsey Stirling's autobiography.

The kids love Lindsey. Andrew listened to an audiobook of The Only Pirate at the Party on a recent road trip. He thought the kids would love it. I checked out the ebook from the library and we would take turns reading out loud to the kids. Since most of the on-board entertainment didn't appeal to us, we entertained ourselves.

Her book is hilarious.

Lots of LOL moments.

*ANDREA'S FAVORITES*

*Snorkeling in Cozumel (this was the only item to make ALL FIVE lists! Winner! Let's go back!)

If I could choose to spend a day doing ANYTHING I wanted, snorkeling would most definitely be in my top five choices. It is so beautiful and relaxing. I love feeling the sun on my back while taking in the gorgeous underwater sights below. I don't like diving down much. I prefer to just float on the ocean and take it all in.

Loved sharing this with the kids! 

Look at that gorgeous water! 

The little tiki huts where we left our stuff while snorkeling.

*Reading out on the deck, with the warm sun shining down on me, the sea breeze whipping, and watching the ocean go by.

Ahhhhhh.....this is the life! 

My blood pressure drops just looking at this picture.

We got to show the kids the flying fish that we like so much that you can see from the deck. And I even saw two dolphins swimming on the side of the ship! (No jellyfish or hammerhead sharks this time.)

*Swimming with the dolphins.

I'm a sucker for dolphins! I love that they seem so friendly, yet powerful. I would totally swim with them again if I could.

We've got moves!