Day 1: Boarding ship
From the balcony in our room we could see the Disney boat getting ready to depart too.
Leaving Port Canaveral Florida. It was a little windy on deck!
DAY 2: CocoCay Bahamasthe boat ride over
CocoCay is one of Royal Caribbeans private islandsit was a very small and quintessential island. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate.
it wasn't great beach weather so we took the nature hike
Hermit crabs were everywhere on the island. At first we didn't notice them but when you stopped and looked closely you could see the ground moving with them. We just wished we could take one home for the boys. However, I am sure we wouldn't have been able to get one past customs.
There was a really funny couple that was taking "modeling" (I use that term extremely loosely)pictures all over the island and after we saw them at this palm tree we knew we must try to imitate... yes, I know it should be left to the pros!
our ship; Freedom of the Seas...pretty impressive eh!
CocoCay island behind us. Isn't it cute?
Our very first surfing attempts. We would of filmed us again at the end of the cruise after a little more practice, but we didn't get much better!
First Formal night
Gotta love the nightly towel characters from our room attendant
DAY 3: At Sea
The mighty rock wall! We both made it to the top. Not too big of deal, I didn't see anyone not make it. Except for me the second time. The fear of heights and not fully recovering from my first climb got the best of me...go ahead call me a WIMP!
Day 4: St. Thomas
We spent the day shopping and walking around down town Charlotte Amalie the capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands
99 steps up to black beards castle. It was a lot easier than the 99 steps up to Dinosaur Mountain in Rapid City.
Black Beards castle. Because it was veterans day the monument was closed (and after we walked up all those steps. the nerve....) So Cam climbed a fence and snapped this photo.
the dining room on ship..we ate late, notice how there isn't anyone else around us.
Anyone who has cruised before will know what we did....
Day 5: St. Maarten/ St. Martin
Our gracious hosts Cortney and Melissa Casper who currently live on the island while Cortney is attending med school. Cortney and I have been friends since elementary school. 
Getting ready to take off. Do we look nervous?
The scrumptious desserts from Serafina's a yummy yummy French restaurant.
we snorkeled and cliff jumped at one of the Casper's favorite spots. I am just so mad that I didn't remember to buy an underwater camera to document the happenings.
St. Maarten's airport is ranked one of the most dangerous in the world because of how close the runway is to the ocean and subsequently this beach. People would stand on the sand and wait for the planes to take off so that the jet wash would blow them over. Which I couldn't understand the sand would pelt and blast these people with sand. How could that be fun?
Miniature golf
Getting ready to take off. Do we look nervous?
The scrumptious desserts from Serafina's a yummy yummy French restaurant.
we snorkeled and cliff jumped at one of the Casper's favorite spots. I am just so mad that I didn't remember to buy an underwater camera to document the happenings.
St. Maarten's airport is ranked one of the most dangerous in the world because of how close the runway is to the ocean and subsequently this beach. People would stand on the sand and wait for the planes to take off so that the jet wash would blow them over. Which I couldn't understand the sand would pelt and blast these people with sand. How could that be fun?
Our towel friend for the evening.
our friends Adam and Erica at the front of the ship. The security guard wouldn't let us do "titanic" because it was dark. So we had to settle for just a photo. Which he was also a little leary to allow. Ahh shucks!
Day 6: At Sea
showing off our cruise "guts" after all the food we have been eating
80's night followed a fun adult scavenger hunt that involved grown men wearing womens bra's and lipstick and women doing splits. You had to be there.
we liked our monkey!
Day 7: At Sea
the parade on the Promenade
the parade on the Promenade
Miniature golf
getting his blades of glory on!
don't mind my wet shirt we were swimming before and I thought I was dry, obviously I wasn't.
The T-Rex restaurant. Pretty much Rainforest Cafe except with a dinosaur theme.
More friends we met Colleen and Vic
Richard Spacey: One of the best cruise directors in the business! HILARIOUS!!!
This is the Sprinkles soft serve ice cream machine. I am pretty sure we both gained at least 5lbs off this machine alone. We adopted the "sprinkles" diet early on. Meaning whenever we walked by the machine we had to get a cone. Sometimes it would be 4-5 times a day. Aahh I miss that machine.
Day 8: Cape Canaveral
The Kennedy Space Center
We had no idea the visitors center was so big and the tours would take all day. It was truly fascinating though. It was really one of our favorite days. And we were off the ship...
The crawler that takes the shuttle from the hanger to the launch pad. It takes over 8 hours to get it there because of how slow they need it to move. Hence the name "the crawler."
We were lucky our trip coincided with the Atlantis shuttle take off. We didn't realize this until we were on the tour and noticed the shuttle out on the launch pad.
The actual control room from the Apollo mission.
Astonaut suits over the years
Rocket garden...
Downtown disney. We couldn't be in Orlando and not do something disney.
That would be a travesty!
The T-Rex restaurant. Pretty much Rainforest Cafe except with a dinosaur theme. Day 9: Orlando
Airboat ride in the Central Everglades out looking for some alligators. We did see a couple of gators but the pictures didn't turn out great.
Here they are sportin' the pirate shirts we got them from St. Thomas
The shuttle took off 1/2 hour before we needed to be to the airport so we parked our car about 10 miles away from the space center so we wouldn't get caught in traffic and miss our flight. Pretty cool to witness. The video doesn't do it justice.
Day 10: HOME
Mack thoroughly enjoying his Lego shuttle. (which was a major pain to put together)
Mack thoroughly enjoying his Lego shuttle. (which was a major pain to put together)
Here they are sportin' the pirate shirts we got them from St. ThomasWe felt the message on the shirts was appropriate for our household!
"The beatings will continue until Morale improves..."
good thing these cute little guys were waiting for us or we may just have stayed on Vacation! forever!
good thing these cute little guys were waiting for us or we may just have stayed on Vacation! forever!
