Vacation

Last year's family vacation, a trip to the Smokies with a one-year old, was challenging, to say the least. We decided soon after that trip that with two kids under 2, our next vacation would be for adults only. We figured we'd be needing some down time by the end of the year, so we decided to try a cruise and see if that style of vacation suited us.

Enchantment of the Seas

We took a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean. It was perfect for what we needed. The first day we were at sea and spent the day getting into vacation mode. It took about 24 hours for us to decompress, stop talking like Joshua, and find our way around the boat. We had a great table assignment for dinner with a window view. We enjoyed chatting with the other couple at our table, John Vyn and Amanda.

Formal Night

Day 2 we were in port at Grand Cayman. We took a catamaran charter out to Stingray City were we were able to hold and kiss stingrays. On the way back, we stopped at two snorkeling sites. The coral was amazing! Day 3 was spent in Cozumel, Mexico. I think this was our favorite day. Perfectly relaxing without being boring. We took a cab to a local beach club called Playa Corona. You could walk out from the patio into a great snorkeling spot. Then, when you wanted to take a break, just hang out at the tiki huts and have a snack. Delicious guacamole and excellent snorkeling were enjoyed!

Abuelo Gerardo Restaurante

After snorkeling, we went back to town and ate lunch at a restaurant our dinner server had recommended. It was sooooo good! Then we did a little shopping for souvenirs and headed back to the boat. The last day we were at sea again all day. We started gearing up for the return to the real world!

Daniel got a kick out of our towel art

First time eating lobster - he ordered two!

It was so good for Daniel and I to have this time away to focus on each other and get rested. It felt strange to only have to worry about myself - to shower whenever I wanted to and for as long as I wanted, to eat my food when it was hot, to have uninteruppted conversations. We really had a good time. Of course, we missed the kids and were excited to see them when we got back, but not so much that we couldn't enjoy our time together.

Speaking of the kids...my parents watched the kids and they did great - both the kids and grandma and grandpa! When we got back into port in Ft. Lauderdale I called my mom to check in and warned her that we were so relaxed we were moving pretty slow. She replied that they were starting to move pretty slow there too, but for the opposite reason! When we got home, Josh was just waking up from his nap. Daniel and I went in to get him, and he just started laughing. It was priceless.

I thought the rest and relaxation from the vacation would recharge me enough to feel different for a few weeks, but it was right back to the daily grind - no saintly levels of patience or endless energy, but many great memories!