Grand Cayman--Everyone else

Besides my two guys, all the rest of the family went snorkeling at the reef and in Stingray City. I've only snorkeled one other time and it was hard to get it all right after you jump off a boat into water (obviously) over your head. Once I had all my breathing/mask/fins coordinated, I really enjoyed it! There is no way I could have taken pics underwater, too. You'll just have to imagine all the little tropical fishies I saw. No Nemos, plenty of Dories and others :)

Snorkeling at "Stingray City" (just another part of the sea where the stingrays hang out) was really cool. I didn't get up the nerve to touch one, but I did fine observing :)


My brother kept making fun of my hat, asking me if I had plans for gardening later :)

Um, anyone, and I mean ANYONE who knows me, knows that I brought my own stinkin snorkel. There is NO WAY one of those was going in my mouth!

I'm not sure what my nephew was looking at. Whatever it was must have been gross!

So the boys had our camera with them and I figured since I was going to be with 15 other family members, someone could take pics. Well, I've stolen what I could find from FB, but if anyone had anymore from that day, or any underwater ones, let me know!

Grand Cayman-the boys

We planned different activities in the Cayman Islands. My boys went a turtle preserve/reserve/farm/breeding/save us from extinction something or the other. They had a good time and I wasn't there so I can't say anything else about it, HA!

Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico

I have rarely been hotter or more miserable in my life, but dang it all, we saw Tulum! Who wouldn't want to see Mayan ruins perched right on the Mexican Riviera? We really were hot and miserable, but I was so happy to get to these ruins. I won't bore you with the history-but isn't this place awesome and beautiful?

I like this pic below because you can see how huge the ships are (with the itty bitty people) and how beautiful the water is along Cozumel--even when it's deep enough for the cruise ship.

Despite the heat/humidity, Ben and I decided that we MUST return to Playa del Carmen/Cozumel. It was soooo gorgeous. Maybe for 10th anniversary. Any other takers :) ? It would be a fun grown-up trip!

Jamaica

We left shmoo on the ship at his much-beloved kids' club and headed off to the beach. It was lovely and unforgettable! We picked a private beach so that we wouldn't be harassed by vendors and hair braiders (yes, Karla, I AM thinking of you right now!). We were hanging out in the water when all of a sudden a man with snorkel gear on popped up with things for sale. He wasn't wearing a trench coat, so as far as I could tell, the items must have come from inside his swim suit, gag! Anyway, he was selling shells and bracelets, and despite not buying anything, I admired his ingenuity.

It was the nicest afternoon ever: just the two of us, tropical drinks and a beautiful caribbean beach!

On the Cruise Ship

I didn't take a lot of pics on the actual ship. Some of these were stolen from facebook. No names on the blog...

My brother on the right. Why, yes, it was a hairy chest contest :p

A lot of people in my family did a lot of karoke. Sometimes in bathrobes :)

All my bros and my honey :)

All 3 grandsons share a name in common :)

Shmoo was in cousin heaven!

My brother and I have the same biological parents. Idk why he's so tan all the time!

Happy 50th anniversary!

Beautiful cruise ship!

He loved the kids club!

Honey getting in on the karaoke action. Bad photo, I know.

Mom hesitantly trying escargot.

Shmoo ordered a shrimp cocktail every single night. Minus the sauce and decorations, it's just boiled shrimp :)

Happy Anniversary!

Ok, so we're all exhausted and I'm without makeup and it's a cheesy photo that we took of ourselves on the cruise, but I LOVE it :) We just celebrated our 6th anniversary! I love him! I'm pretty sure he loves me too ;) Yay marriage!

No, I haven't given up on the new blog. We've been out of town for a while--Honey is already back in NJ, but Shmoo and I are still living the good life in TX. (Well, the good life that is unbearable heat and massive quantities of mosquitos!)

Actually, we've been extremely, massively spoiled. My parents took the kids and grandkids on a cruise for their 50th anniversary! We left from Galveston and went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. It was soooo beautiful and so fun to be on the cruise with everyone. The pictures are going to have to wait til we get back to Jersey next week. It was amazing and I'm still suffering from post cruise depression ;)

After the cruise, Honey had to return to NJ immediately since he didn't truly have any vacation time earned yet. We were so glad that his new employers didn't have a problem with him going. Shmoo and I have been taking advantage of our extra time here by visiting with family, eating at Chickfila and seeing movies for less than half the price than we would have to pay in NJ. I went to see Wicked in Houston, which I LOVED LOVED LOVED! I didn't like the ending though; I really thought Elphaba should have died. Several people now dislike me for that opinion so I'll just go ahead and say that I wish Harry Potter would have "stayed" dead, too. Too many easy happy endings!

Anyway, we are happy to be here in TX where we have people to hang out with. New Jersey is lovely, fun, beautiful, and filled with stuff to do, but we are lonely there. We hope to remedy that situation in time as we become more involved with church (when we get assignments), school, activities, etc., but right now it's mostly just the three of us trying to keep each other company. It's a sad thing when you don't have anyone to put down as an emergency contact on your kid's school enrollment :(

On a more positive note, NJ is turning out to be much better than it is rumored to be! I guess I'm going to have to go up to the northern part of the state to see if it's ugly with rude people, cause we certainly aren't seeing that where we live. I am loving not pumping my own gas, there's no tax on clothes or shoes, and preschool is free! My parents just might disown me for my positive opinions about this Yankee state.