Our Vacation--Part 1

Disclaimer:  Although it may appear that I am complaining....I am so blessed to be able to take a vacation with our family.  My intentions are not to sound unappreciative or ungrateful.  I am so thankful for an amazing sister in law who planned all of this and did a fabulous job. 

Eric's entire family plus Carley (ie: babysitter extraordinaire) went on a Cruise this year.  There were 19 of us total.....that would be 8 adults, 3 teenagers, 6 kids and 2 babies!  I don't know if I would call it "relaxing" to go on a cruise with that many kids but it was still fun. 
I have two pieces of advice for anyone going on a cruise with lots of children. 
1.  DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT book any shore excursions ahead of time.  We made this mistake....not once but 3 times.  We were not aware that you can actually book your excursion while you are at port instead of booking it through your cruise line.  It can actually save you money. 
There were a few excursions that had we known what we would be doing.....we would not have done it. (More on this later)
2.  If you have a family of 4 or more.....being in a VERY small space for a week is ROUGH!  Pay the extra money and upgrade your room.  Maybe some ships have larger rooms.......but being in a closet with 5 people where you cannot move because of suitcases, pack and plays and people......not fun.  Did I mention there was no window?  Sorry, the painting on the wall that looks like a scene that you would see out of a window doesn't cut it. 
Now I know that you are thinking....."you are on a cruise......you aren't supposed to be hanging out in the room?!"  I know that.....but when you have a baby and a husband who LOVES to nap.....it would be nice to escape the 105 degree weather to relax for a bit. 

That is all the advice I have for now.  On to the good stuff.  Our first full day was an "at sea" day.....and I have no pictures of it. 

The first port we visited was Costa Maya. 

This was definitely our favorite island and favorite excursion. 

Our excursion at this island was "Dolphin Encounters".  Eric and Gavin got to swim with Dolphins. Nolen, Cohen and I got to get in the water and pet the dolphins.  Gavin LOVED it.  I think he has a future in marine biology....because he is obsessed with marine animals.  We don't have any pictures because we were all in the water at the same time and they wanted $500 for the pictures they took....ummm no thank you.

 This little girl......makes us want a girl soooo bad.  She is overflowing with personality.

Nolen and Elliott had so much fun playing in these little waterfalls.

This picture makes me laugh.  You would never know that these two are brothers.

 This was the first island and I am proud to say that Cohen had a good little tan by the end of the trip.

 Cohen and Cade playing in the water.  I think this is the ONLY picture where Cohen isn't pulling Cade's ear or attacking him in some way.  He is such a bullie....not really.

As I was looking through my pictures I realized that I don't have very many of Gavin.  Why?  Because he was so busy having fun with his cousins that I could not get him to be still for a photo shoot.

 My boys!

We had a great time on Costa Maya and while it wasn't the most beautiful island we visited, it was definitely the best day we had.  The excursion was great and so fun for the kids and the pool was the perfect place to hang out and cool off.