Here's our little bean at 8 weeks. The girls like looking at its flipper arms.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Because I want to be cool like my sister
If any of you have read my sister's blog in the last two weeks you would have learned that she is pregnant! Well, I like to follow good examples so I'm here to announce my pregnancy too! Tomorrow I will be 12 weeks along and almost done with my first trimester. I know news has started to leak (my sweet little girls are telling everyone who will listen), but I wanted to wait to make it official until after I heard that amazing little heartbeat one more time. Even though I saw my little baby in an ultrasound four weeks ago, I didn't dare believe that it was real. However, after my appointment I'm allowing myself to believe that it is going to make it. The nice thing about my first pregnancy and even my second, is that they were easy. There were no complications, everything went according to plan and my girls made it into this world alive and whole. Before Kelton was born I had a very early miscarriage. I was only 6 weeks along but the experience gave me a healthy fear and appreciation of the miracle of pregnancy. I cannot take for granted this miracle growing inside of me. So much could go wrong, and yet, its little heart is still beating and I am 12 weeks closer to having another little baby in our home. The girls are ridiculously excited. McKenzie is hoping for a boy so Kelton has a little brother. Cambrie is hoping for a girl so she can have her own room more quickly. Jeremy and I are both hoping for a boy to round it out and keep things nice and even. I'm having a hard time envisioning a boy though. Of course, I was wrong with both McKenzie and Kelton so don't trust my feelings at all. The baby's due date is January 9, 2016. For those of you keeping track, Kelton and Cambrie's birthdays are only two days apart, and this due date is only four days away from McKenzie's, so I'm going to have two sets of buddy birthdays. I also get to be pregnant with my sister! I had always secretly hoped that I would be able to share this experience with her and have cousins really close to the same age, but it was a wild hope with so many other factors coming into play. The due dates are only two and a half weeks apart. This is awesome. What makes it a little less than awesome is that pregnancy is not sitting well with Camille. She is sick and nauseous almost all of the time. I on the other hand am extremely tired. I am napping almost every day, but that is the worst it's been. I feel a touch guilty about my good luck. I also can't tell my kids how grateful I am to them for their patience with my exhaustion. They don't complain when I lie down to nap and while I'm asleep they take care of themselves completely, snacks, entertainment, etc. Yesterday while I was sleeping I heard Kelton trying to get into my room (normally I put him down to sleep at the same time as me), but he was calling for me wanting me to come out. McKenzie came upstairs and said, "Buddy, we have to let mommy rest. She has a baby in her tummy and she gets grumpy when we don't let her sleep." Aw, sweeter words were never spoken.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Boise 1/2 Ironman
Can you believe it? Jeremy just finished his third Ironman 70.3! When we first started this journey we were nervous, scared, and had no idea what we were getting into. Now it's been one short year and three races have gone by, and we feel like pros. Okay, not really like pros, but like we have a pretty good idea of what is going on now. We left the kids at my parents house so they could have a little grandma/grandpa time and tackled the race weekend with just the two of us. Jeremy really wanted to have a fantastic race. He knew the course, it was an easy course compared to St. George, and he feels a lot more comfortable racing. We prepped everything on Friday and hoped for the best. They moved the start time to 10:00, which was two hours earlier than last year, but still a late start for this kind of race. We woke up early and just decided to get going with our day. Instead of taking the shuttles up to the reservoir we drove our car and parked in a close parking lot. I was hoping that I could access my car quickly and follow Jeremy past multiple spots along the course. Up top we waited, and waited, and waited. Even though I wasn't racing I had butterflies in my stomach just like it was my turn. The race felt a lot smaller than last year and even though there was good energy it didn't fell crowded. Finally it was time for Jeremy's wave to start. His goal in the swim was to swim straight without a lot of wasted time zig-zagging around the buoys. Once the gun went off I moved to a better spot where I could see him come out of the water. From my vantage point I saw that Jeremy's goal was going to be really hard to achieve this time. The buoys on the first section of the swim were not placed in a straight line. They were placed like an inverted lightning bolt. Those poor swimmers probably swam and extra 100-200 yards because of those buoys. Jeremy came out of the water looking good and feeling like he had the best swim of his life. I love seeing him smile during the race.
I chased after him for a bit though transition then he was off on his bike.
While I headed back to my car to navigate road closures and racers, Jeremy had to tackle the bike course. What I learned later was that immediately out of transition he hit a bump and lost his first water bottle. He was also missing a key part to his main water bottle and water kept splashing out of it. The first aid station was 15 miles away and he was already hot and getting dehydrated. He was also fighting a mean headwind and crosswind. This bike course is not a pretty course, especially compared to St. George, but add the dreaded wind and it becomes downright miserable. I saw him around mile 40 and he was still smiling and looking good. His pace was a little slower on his bike than previous races, but he was really concentrating on saving some gas for his run.
I didn't see him again until he was about 7 miles into his run. According to the athlete tracker he was right on pace where he wanted to be, he even looked strong.
But when I saw him just two miles later, I could tell he was starting to fade. He really wanted to keep a strong and steady pace throughout the entire run and he did a lot better than in the past, but it was a battle. While I waited at the finish line I kept watching the minutes tick by. He was really hoping for a finish time of around 5;15. That came and went and I just kept watching and waiting. When we came around that last corner he looked beat. He wasn't smiling anymore, his stride looked strained and you could tell he just wanted the pain to end. He said that he could feel his body starting to lose fuel in the bike but it didn't really effect him until 9 miles into the run. At that point his body just gave out. He stopped several times those last four miles and dry heaved until other runners got him going again. Not only was his body giving out, but mentally he couldn't handle it anymore. He said crossing that finish line was ridiculously hard.
I was still proud of him. His time was still a personal best, even it if was ugly, and he's done three of those things! Finish time 5:31:09, Swim 42:23 (T1 2:42), Bike 2:47:30 (T2 1:29), Run 1:57:05. Good job hun.
I chased after him for a bit though transition then he was off on his bike.
While I headed back to my car to navigate road closures and racers, Jeremy had to tackle the bike course. What I learned later was that immediately out of transition he hit a bump and lost his first water bottle. He was also missing a key part to his main water bottle and water kept splashing out of it. The first aid station was 15 miles away and he was already hot and getting dehydrated. He was also fighting a mean headwind and crosswind. This bike course is not a pretty course, especially compared to St. George, but add the dreaded wind and it becomes downright miserable. I saw him around mile 40 and he was still smiling and looking good. His pace was a little slower on his bike than previous races, but he was really concentrating on saving some gas for his run.
I didn't see him again until he was about 7 miles into his run. According to the athlete tracker he was right on pace where he wanted to be, he even looked strong.
But when I saw him just two miles later, I could tell he was starting to fade. He really wanted to keep a strong and steady pace throughout the entire run and he did a lot better than in the past, but it was a battle. While I waited at the finish line I kept watching the minutes tick by. He was really hoping for a finish time of around 5;15. That came and went and I just kept watching and waiting. When we came around that last corner he looked beat. He wasn't smiling anymore, his stride looked strained and you could tell he just wanted the pain to end. He said that he could feel his body starting to lose fuel in the bike but it didn't really effect him until 9 miles into the run. At that point his body just gave out. He stopped several times those last four miles and dry heaved until other runners got him going again. Not only was his body giving out, but mentally he couldn't handle it anymore. He said crossing that finish line was ridiculously hard.
Trying to cool off afterwards.
I was still proud of him. His time was still a personal best, even it if was ugly, and he's done three of those things! Finish time 5:31:09, Swim 42:23 (T1 2:42), Bike 2:47:30 (T2 1:29), Run 1:57:05. Good job hun.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Friends in the backyard
The day Jeremy and I came home from our cruise, the girls gave us great big hugs, told us they missed us, and then asked if they could have a play date. Yes, I'm glad my children love me so much they can't wait to have their friends over. Honestly, I was completely exhausted from the cruise and having friends come over to play sounded like a pretty good idea but I made them wait a day. The next day Dakota and Madison were able to come over. The girls were going to be over for about five hours, and I was just hoping that it was one of those sublime, no stress, no fight-type of play date. My wish was granted. After playing inside for a bit they all headed outside to jump on the tramp. That evolved to jumping on the tramp with a sprinkler. Then came the water balloons and the water balloon fight. Next we pulled out the slip 'n slide, And we finished off the afternoon with snacks while they warmed up on their towels. I take no credit for the genius activities of the afternoon. They were all the girls' ideas.
They even let Kelton join in the fun and he is still begging for water balloons. He thought they were the coolest things ever. (The rotten boy kept pulling off his swimming suit, but at least he's still cute in his swim diaper.) Yea for summer games outside!
They even let Kelton join in the fun and he is still begging for water balloons. He thought they were the coolest things ever. (The rotten boy kept pulling off his swimming suit, but at least he's still cute in his swim diaper.) Yea for summer games outside!
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Bahamas!
How do I cram an entire relaxing weekend on a Bahamas cruise with our two best friends into one short blog post? I don't even know where to start. About six months ago Derek and Kristen invited us to go on a cruise with them. Of course we said yes. We would have met them anywhere to spend some time together, but the Bahamas cruise just sealed the deal. Our weekend started off right as we met them on their layover here in Denver and we flew to Orlando on the same flight. I've never had a four hour flight go so quickly. Kristen and I can just talk and talk, and we did. I felt a little bad for the gentleman sitting next to us, oh well. We spent that night in a hotel anxiously waiting the next day when we could board our ship, The Enchantment of the Seas. Everything that morning went very smoothly. We made it to the port with no problem. We checked in and picked up our sea passes with no problem. We boarded the ship and explored a little with no problem. We oohed and awed at the ship's decor with no problem. We even enjoyed our first meal aboard with no problem. That's when Jeremy realized he lost his cell phone. Rats! A problem. There aren't supposed to be any of those on a cruise! He retraced his steps through the ship and quickly realized that it probably wasn't there. Luckily we hadn't left the port yet and could still make some phone calls and track down the lost and found desks. We were able to find the phone number of the van line that brought us from the airport and spoke with a lady who was miraculously able to track down Jeremy's phone. Even though we didn't have time to get it before we left port, we no longer had to stress about it the entire trip. We could finally relax. Just in time too because it was time to depart! We found some lounge chairs up on the top deck and sipped pina coladas as we watched the Florida shoreline pass away.
That first night we experienced the dining room for the first time and met our servers, Erhan and Trady. Not really sure what to order Erhan recommended some meals for us, and they were fabulous. We decided from that moment on to trust the guy. When we would order something that he didn't think we'd like, he'd tell us honestly, and recommend something else. He never failed us. Even when Jeremy thought about ordering a cheese plate for dessert, Erhan told him it was "weak" and to definitely try the sampler plate instead. He brought out the cheese plate later and boy were we glad we listened to him. He was a lot of fun to talk with each night too. He was from Turkey and just incredibly friendly. After dinner we went to our first show. We arrived in the auditorium a little early and spent the time watching music videos from the early 90's. That was entertainment in and of itself. When the comedy show finally started were glad we waited. I was laughing so hard my cheeks hurt. The show didn't last very long, which was fine because there was still more entertainment that night. We went up to the pool deck and watched "McFarland" poolside. Talk about relaxing. The stars were sparkling above us, the boat was just gently swaying, there was a light breeze, and I was there with my husband and friends. Amazing night.
The next day Jeremy and I woke up...late...but decided to go for a run up on the deck anyway. Well, that wasn't happening. It was pouring rain and the deck was super slippery so we went to the gym instead. I think I spent more time talking with the other passengers than working out, but I suppose it was better than nothing. After we got dressed we met up with Kristen and Derek to hang out while we waited for our ship to make port in Nassau. Since it was raining we couldn't spend much time up on deck, so instead we picked up some playing cards and found a quiet table to play pinochle and Shanghai. That morning reminded me so much of the hours spent on the houseboat. We had nowhere to go except where we were. We munched on yummy snacks and just played cards. Jeremy commented that he's almost never seen me more relaxed, and I really was.
We were supposed to go on an excursion around noon to a great beach. When we found our excursion crew they warned us that the weather might not cooperate, but we'd try it anyway. We hopped aboard our little boat but only made it five minutes out of the harbor before we had to turn around, it was just too rainy.
Not to be stopped from our beach day we wandered through Nassau until we found Junkanoo beach. We stayed only long enough to realize that it was filled with junk and we weren't swimming in that water. Our next plan was to wander through town a bit and find a way to get to Paradise Island. Atlantis supposedly had some fabulous beaches and that was our new destination. We took a water taxi out to the island, tipped our "guide" for all of the celebrity gossip he shared about the island, and wandered off into the city. We walked for a long time and with each step we grew a little more skeptical about ever finding a beach. Finally we found one that was worth swimming in. The rain finally stopped and we had about two and a half hours to enjoy the beach. Jeremy and I had taken our goggles and we swam a little in the waves just enjoying our freedom. I never thought my husband would actually swim "laps" with me in the ocean, and I admit I was really happy to have him there. Since there was no sun to speak of I was a little chilly and decided to lounge in the sand for awhile while Jeremy floated in the waves looking for seashells for the girls.
Too soon it was time to get back to the boat. But this time we weren't fools, we found a taxi that took us right to the port, no more walking for us! Kristen's wish was to have her passport stamped. When we walked though security she asked about that and learned that we needed to take our passports to the small building next door. Well, our formal dinner was coming up in about an hour and we were leaving the port soon too. All four of us ran back to our rooms, grabbed our passports, and ran down the docks to get them stamped. I'm glad she's just a touch crazy because I was happy to have that stamp too.
That night was formal night on the ship. I blow dried my hair for the only time on the entire vacation and put on my little cocktail dress that I've only been able to wear one other time, and met my handsome husband for dinner. We were absolutely starving. We hadn't had anything to eat since lunch and went through three bread baskets waiting for our meals. We were finally fed, full, and happy and walked around a bit wondering if we should have the ship photographer take our picture. We decided against the bill and took our own. The ship's photographer couldn't have captured all of this personality at all!
We ditched our ball gowns for our swimming suits and went to find a hot tub to hang out in. We chatted with some of the other passengers and I found myself reliving my days as a swimmer, one of the girls was just getting ready to head to college to swim. She made me really miss it. Once we were feeling thoroughly cooked we started walking back to our rooms only to find that we had walked into a huge deck party. There was music blasting, a buffet line with tons of food, and people everywhere. We piled our plates up high and found a ping pong table in the corner. We had a hard time playing really competitively because of the slope of the ship, but that didn't stop the boys from goofing off. Jeremy hit one serve so hard that it sprung up through a crack in the ceiling. The ceiling was made of canvas that had been stretched across the playing area, so we were able to push it enough to cause the ball to pop out. I still think we were pretty lucky to get that ball back. When we were wrapping up a nine-year-old kid came and asked to play with us. He had no idea what he was doing and trying to keep score on a make believe game was surprisingly hard. I think we played five rounds with the kid before finding a way to excuse ourselves. It was 12:30 and I was exhausted!
Our excursion the next day started early. After staying up late so many days in a row I was beginning to feel a little groggy but I was determined to do everything anyway. I was so happy to walk outside that morning and see sunshine! I was finally able to enjoy the crystal blue Caribbean waters I've dreamed about and feel the sunshine warming me up from the inside. We docked at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean private island. I want a private Caribbean island!
We were scheduled for a kayak tour first thing and as we walked to the other side of the island to get our kayaks I loved how peaceful the island was and how much color there was everywhere. The kayaking trip was awesome! The water was super shallow for about five miles from the shore so we could see everything. We saw starfish, stingrays, sharks, conch, and lots of fish. I really didn't want to return the kayaks because of how awesome it was. The only reason I didn't mind returning the kayak was because we had access to some snorkel gear and I wanted to see all of those ocean animals from in the water.
Royal Caribbean had set up a snorkeling course on the main side of the island and it was starting to get crowded. The water had all been churned up by the swimmers and it was harder to see the fish. I was also freezing. Don't ask me why, I was in a sunny tropical paradise and I had goosebumps. The boys were really good at finding interesting things to look at. Derek found a lot of conch, Jeremy found an octopus, and Kristen and I just found a lot of fish. There was a sunken airplane and a sunken ship that we could snorkel around. Jeremy was trying to go for a great picture and brushed up against the plane.. His arm immediately started to burn because of the fire weed. He had a rash for the next two days because of that stunt. I wanted to warm up so we found some beach chairs and made camp. Yes, this is the beautiful view I enjoyed most of that afternoon. I wish the camera could have captured all of the different shades of blue that were in the water alone.
We decided to take our snorkeling equipment back to the other side of the island where it was a little bit quieter to see if we could find those sharks we had seen earlier. It took us awhile to find a premier viewing spot and we kicked for a long time over the sea grass not really seeing much. We found a sea cucumber, a sea urchin, and a jellyfish but we were going for big game! Finally we worked our way to the kayaking spot and immediately found the stingrays we were looking for. Some of them were nice and let us follow them for a bit, while some of them took off as fast as they could. Our adventures weren't without their set backs though. Kristen was stung by a jellyfish on her leg, and Jeremy was stung a couple times by something else. I wasn't eager to swim back over that sea grass again so we walked back to the ship. It was a pretty amazing day on a Caribbean island, I was just disappointed we only had one day of sunshine to enjoy.
Back at the ship we ate with Erhan one last time then went to the Broadway show in the theater. We were all so worn out we had a hard time staying awake through the whole production. The irony is that once it was done none of us wanted to go to bed since it was our last night on board. We pulled out the playing cards again and settled down with our last daiquiris of the trip. We played until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I didn't want the trip to end, but I guess that has to happen to all fun times.
The next morning the whole ship was up early to prepare for disembarkment. We had one last excursion planned and met a shuttle getting off the bus to take us there. We shared the shuttle with the passengers who were going to tour the Kennedy Space Center. We all wanted to stop and visit there but decided to wait until we could take our kids. After we dropped off the space tourist we went to our airboat tour. The airboat was pretty much how I pictured it to be, but we had sweet headphones to wear so we could talk above the noise. As our captain took us out on the St. James' river we saw so many alligators. They were in the water, warming on the bank, and crawling down the bank to get away from us. One alligator misjudged our speed and I'm pretty sure we ran over the guy. Luckily there's nothing on the bottom of the boats that will harm them, but I still think he had a nice headache after we passed by. Back at the dock we were able to hold some young alligators. They were each about three years old, and I was shocked by how soft their skin was! I couldn't stop petting them...it was a little ridiculous.
Our last night of adventure before we headed home to reality was a Blue Man Group concert. We had third row seats and fully anticipated getting splashed by something. We came prepared with our own rain ponchos but ultimately didn't need them as the venue provided them for us. It was a little ominous seeing everyone on the first four rows covered in plastic. I had no idea what to expect, but the show was fabulous. There was a lot more humor in it than I thought there would be. They also really involved the audience. Even before the performance started they had the audience chanting, cheering, and making noise. They came out into the audience at least four times and kept choosing volunteers. For one of their main acts they chose a woman who was obviously terrified to be up on stage. I didn't think she'd even make it down the aisle without collapsing from stage fright. To my surprise the lady was a hoot! She really stepped up to her role and did a great job until she had fake vomit shooting out of her vest. She almost lost it. And I am slightly disgusted to say that was what we were hit with the most. Not the pretty paint, but the vomit. Ew! I preferred the giant white balls falling from the ceiling and the toilet paper attack.
The rest of that night and the next morning is a bit of a blur. I know a cruise is supposed to be relaxing but I feel like it's going to take a long time to recover. Jeremy and I were both totally exhausted. But at least we were exhausted from a good time.
That first night we experienced the dining room for the first time and met our servers, Erhan and Trady. Not really sure what to order Erhan recommended some meals for us, and they were fabulous. We decided from that moment on to trust the guy. When we would order something that he didn't think we'd like, he'd tell us honestly, and recommend something else. He never failed us. Even when Jeremy thought about ordering a cheese plate for dessert, Erhan told him it was "weak" and to definitely try the sampler plate instead. He brought out the cheese plate later and boy were we glad we listened to him. He was a lot of fun to talk with each night too. He was from Turkey and just incredibly friendly. After dinner we went to our first show. We arrived in the auditorium a little early and spent the time watching music videos from the early 90's. That was entertainment in and of itself. When the comedy show finally started were glad we waited. I was laughing so hard my cheeks hurt. The show didn't last very long, which was fine because there was still more entertainment that night. We went up to the pool deck and watched "McFarland" poolside. Talk about relaxing. The stars were sparkling above us, the boat was just gently swaying, there was a light breeze, and I was there with my husband and friends. Amazing night.
The next day Jeremy and I woke up...late...but decided to go for a run up on the deck anyway. Well, that wasn't happening. It was pouring rain and the deck was super slippery so we went to the gym instead. I think I spent more time talking with the other passengers than working out, but I suppose it was better than nothing. After we got dressed we met up with Kristen and Derek to hang out while we waited for our ship to make port in Nassau. Since it was raining we couldn't spend much time up on deck, so instead we picked up some playing cards and found a quiet table to play pinochle and Shanghai. That morning reminded me so much of the hours spent on the houseboat. We had nowhere to go except where we were. We munched on yummy snacks and just played cards. Jeremy commented that he's almost never seen me more relaxed, and I really was.
We were supposed to go on an excursion around noon to a great beach. When we found our excursion crew they warned us that the weather might not cooperate, but we'd try it anyway. We hopped aboard our little boat but only made it five minutes out of the harbor before we had to turn around, it was just too rainy.
Not to be stopped from our beach day we wandered through Nassau until we found Junkanoo beach. We stayed only long enough to realize that it was filled with junk and we weren't swimming in that water. Our next plan was to wander through town a bit and find a way to get to Paradise Island. Atlantis supposedly had some fabulous beaches and that was our new destination. We took a water taxi out to the island, tipped our "guide" for all of the celebrity gossip he shared about the island, and wandered off into the city. We walked for a long time and with each step we grew a little more skeptical about ever finding a beach. Finally we found one that was worth swimming in. The rain finally stopped and we had about two and a half hours to enjoy the beach. Jeremy and I had taken our goggles and we swam a little in the waves just enjoying our freedom. I never thought my husband would actually swim "laps" with me in the ocean, and I admit I was really happy to have him there. Since there was no sun to speak of I was a little chilly and decided to lounge in the sand for awhile while Jeremy floated in the waves looking for seashells for the girls.
Too soon it was time to get back to the boat. But this time we weren't fools, we found a taxi that took us right to the port, no more walking for us! Kristen's wish was to have her passport stamped. When we walked though security she asked about that and learned that we needed to take our passports to the small building next door. Well, our formal dinner was coming up in about an hour and we were leaving the port soon too. All four of us ran back to our rooms, grabbed our passports, and ran down the docks to get them stamped. I'm glad she's just a touch crazy because I was happy to have that stamp too.
That night was formal night on the ship. I blow dried my hair for the only time on the entire vacation and put on my little cocktail dress that I've only been able to wear one other time, and met my handsome husband for dinner. We were absolutely starving. We hadn't had anything to eat since lunch and went through three bread baskets waiting for our meals. We were finally fed, full, and happy and walked around a bit wondering if we should have the ship photographer take our picture. We decided against the bill and took our own. The ship's photographer couldn't have captured all of this personality at all!
We ditched our ball gowns for our swimming suits and went to find a hot tub to hang out in. We chatted with some of the other passengers and I found myself reliving my days as a swimmer, one of the girls was just getting ready to head to college to swim. She made me really miss it. Once we were feeling thoroughly cooked we started walking back to our rooms only to find that we had walked into a huge deck party. There was music blasting, a buffet line with tons of food, and people everywhere. We piled our plates up high and found a ping pong table in the corner. We had a hard time playing really competitively because of the slope of the ship, but that didn't stop the boys from goofing off. Jeremy hit one serve so hard that it sprung up through a crack in the ceiling. The ceiling was made of canvas that had been stretched across the playing area, so we were able to push it enough to cause the ball to pop out. I still think we were pretty lucky to get that ball back. When we were wrapping up a nine-year-old kid came and asked to play with us. He had no idea what he was doing and trying to keep score on a make believe game was surprisingly hard. I think we played five rounds with the kid before finding a way to excuse ourselves. It was 12:30 and I was exhausted!
Our excursion the next day started early. After staying up late so many days in a row I was beginning to feel a little groggy but I was determined to do everything anyway. I was so happy to walk outside that morning and see sunshine! I was finally able to enjoy the crystal blue Caribbean waters I've dreamed about and feel the sunshine warming me up from the inside. We docked at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean private island. I want a private Caribbean island!
We were scheduled for a kayak tour first thing and as we walked to the other side of the island to get our kayaks I loved how peaceful the island was and how much color there was everywhere. The kayaking trip was awesome! The water was super shallow for about five miles from the shore so we could see everything. We saw starfish, stingrays, sharks, conch, and lots of fish. I really didn't want to return the kayaks because of how awesome it was. The only reason I didn't mind returning the kayak was because we had access to some snorkel gear and I wanted to see all of those ocean animals from in the water.
We decided to take our snorkeling equipment back to the other side of the island where it was a little bit quieter to see if we could find those sharks we had seen earlier. It took us awhile to find a premier viewing spot and we kicked for a long time over the sea grass not really seeing much. We found a sea cucumber, a sea urchin, and a jellyfish but we were going for big game! Finally we worked our way to the kayaking spot and immediately found the stingrays we were looking for. Some of them were nice and let us follow them for a bit, while some of them took off as fast as they could. Our adventures weren't without their set backs though. Kristen was stung by a jellyfish on her leg, and Jeremy was stung a couple times by something else. I wasn't eager to swim back over that sea grass again so we walked back to the ship. It was a pretty amazing day on a Caribbean island, I was just disappointed we only had one day of sunshine to enjoy.
Back at the ship we ate with Erhan one last time then went to the Broadway show in the theater. We were all so worn out we had a hard time staying awake through the whole production. The irony is that once it was done none of us wanted to go to bed since it was our last night on board. We pulled out the playing cards again and settled down with our last daiquiris of the trip. We played until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I didn't want the trip to end, but I guess that has to happen to all fun times.
The next morning the whole ship was up early to prepare for disembarkment. We had one last excursion planned and met a shuttle getting off the bus to take us there. We shared the shuttle with the passengers who were going to tour the Kennedy Space Center. We all wanted to stop and visit there but decided to wait until we could take our kids. After we dropped off the space tourist we went to our airboat tour. The airboat was pretty much how I pictured it to be, but we had sweet headphones to wear so we could talk above the noise. As our captain took us out on the St. James' river we saw so many alligators. They were in the water, warming on the bank, and crawling down the bank to get away from us. One alligator misjudged our speed and I'm pretty sure we ran over the guy. Luckily there's nothing on the bottom of the boats that will harm them, but I still think he had a nice headache after we passed by. Back at the dock we were able to hold some young alligators. They were each about three years old, and I was shocked by how soft their skin was! I couldn't stop petting them...it was a little ridiculous.
Our last night of adventure before we headed home to reality was a Blue Man Group concert. We had third row seats and fully anticipated getting splashed by something. We came prepared with our own rain ponchos but ultimately didn't need them as the venue provided them for us. It was a little ominous seeing everyone on the first four rows covered in plastic. I had no idea what to expect, but the show was fabulous. There was a lot more humor in it than I thought there would be. They also really involved the audience. Even before the performance started they had the audience chanting, cheering, and making noise. They came out into the audience at least four times and kept choosing volunteers. For one of their main acts they chose a woman who was obviously terrified to be up on stage. I didn't think she'd even make it down the aisle without collapsing from stage fright. To my surprise the lady was a hoot! She really stepped up to her role and did a great job until she had fake vomit shooting out of her vest. She almost lost it. And I am slightly disgusted to say that was what we were hit with the most. Not the pretty paint, but the vomit. Ew! I preferred the giant white balls falling from the ceiling and the toilet paper attack.
The rest of that night and the next morning is a bit of a blur. I know a cruise is supposed to be relaxing but I feel like it's going to take a long time to recover. Jeremy and I were both totally exhausted. But at least we were exhausted from a good time.
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