5 Year Anniversary Caribbean Cruise Part 3

FRIDAY we made our final stop in Cozumel, Mexico! We didn't have an excursion scheduled and planned on a beach day, but when we realized there wasn't a good beach close by, we just walked around the shops and bought some souvenirs for the girlies. We spent the afternoon on the sun deck reading...literally for 3-4 hours. It was heavenly (next time we'll wear more sunscreen, oops....). The rest of the day was filled with the usual...eating delicious food, watching shows, playing games. It never got old, I tell ya!

SATURDAY we slept in (once again, never got old) and had our couples massage later in the morning. They went too hard on Robbie and not hard enough on me, haha, but it still felt wonderful. We packed up in the afternoon and just enjoyed our last full day on the ship.

SUNDAY we were up bright and early and were over 2 hours early for our flight. We had smooth travels and were beside ourselves with excitement to see our kids. It was a wonderful reunion. There's nothing like all being together as a family and absence reminds you how much you love you each other. I am so okay with being a cruise couple for the rest of our lives. Until next time!

5 Year Anniversary Caribbean Cruise Part 2

TUESDAY our ship was at sea, so we slept in, had the best pedicures of our lives, read/napped, watched Ant Man, and snuck up to the hot tub as it cooled down later on.

WEDNESDAY was our first excursion in Jamaica! We took a tour bus down to the Martha Brae River and rafted down on a bamboo raft! It was beautiful and relaxing and took about 40 minutes.

We came back, changed into exercise clothes, and dinked around on the basketball court for a while. There were four others there that invited us to play 3 on 3 with them, but I backed out of that scenario real quick and told Robbie he should play. After only about 15 minutes, he fell and sprained his ankle pretty badly (through his pain, he was able to tell me how bummed he was because of how well he was playing). He put it up and iced it for a while, and later when we went to dinner he felt like he should get it checked out. I ate dinner by myself (boooo) while he went down to the Medical Center. They did x-rays and, thankfully, there weren't any breaks. Just a bad, bad sprain. They gave him a wrap and by some miracle, his ankle didn't really stop us from doing anything we had planned the rest of the trip. A huge tender right there.

THURSDAY was probably my favorite day. We had a bike tour scheduled around Grand Cayman, but because of Robbie's injury we weren't sure if we'd be able to do it. In the last minute, Robbie felt like he would be just fine and we took a chance and headed out with our group. The bike ride was beautiful! I loved how clean Grand Cayman felt. Our bikes were cheap and our helmets stinky, but we loved that bike ride. We stopped at the Turtle Center, a rum cake place (our eyes were opened on this trip to how much people drink and how much is centered around drinking!), and HELL. After our bike ride, we headed back and spent the afternoon reading, playing games, and watching shows. We definitely got hooked on Fixer Upper. FaceTiming our kids was a highlight for us today, they were the cutest. We went to hear the Showband around 9:00 play and loved watching all the old couples dance. Live music is so my jam and I loved every second.

5 Year Anniversary Caribbean Cruise Part 1

We decided about a year ago that we wanted to celebrate our 5 year anniversary a bit early with a Western Caribbean cruise. How did our past selves know we'd need a vacation so much at this very time?? Robbie was starting to come out of one of the hardest years yet at work, and I'd been under a lot of stress and anxiety with the kids and life in general. We needed this! It came at such a perfect time and it was the most wonderful trip. Robbie convinced me to have us go all out and do a 7 day cruise. I had a full year to gear myself up to leave the girls for that long, and I'll admit the first couple of days were really hard for me, but it was so worth it and we made the most of every moment we had just the two of us. Our girls were in the very best care possible and spent the first half with G&G Simons and the second half with G&G Bean. I did a lot of  prep work beforehand with freezer meals and such, which helped me feel better leaving. I wanted it to be as easy for our moms as possible, but Bob joked that they had to buy another fridge to accommodate all the food I gave them. Ha! Our parents are absolute saints and the girls had the best week with them. I LOVE OUR PARENTS.

We came back feeling peaceful, rejuvenated, relaxed, and more connected with each other than we have been in a long time. It was a heavenly trip, I tell you. And a cruise was the perfect option for us this time around. Lots of opportunities to relax and do nothing, while still balancing that with a few fun excursions and activities. We loved not having a schedule and it was a very much needed break for our brains.

We loved our excursions, but we loved even more reading (I got through two books!), watching shows and movies, sitting on the sun deck for hours on end, playing games (Phase 10 and SkipBo were our two favorites), and just being together. The food and dining options were awesome (ice cream cones and chocolate cookies every day) and so delicious. We did the buffet for breakfast and lunch, and one of the dining rooms or specialty restaurants for dinner. Now onto some pics!

SATURDAY we put the girls down at G&G Simons' and headed to the airport. We got into Florida late that night and when we got to our Marriott, they told us they'd overbooked and they'd be sending us to a different hotel down the street. Of course, right? The only (and I mean only) good part of this grungy hotel was the beautiful view. We had a good laugh. Also, we had our first experience with Lyft on this trip, which we liked, and used it the whole time.

SUNDAY we slept in after a long travel day. We had lunch at Cheesecake Factory and boarded our cruise ship shortly after. We explored the ship for a couple hours and were at the perfect spot when it took off from the port. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.

 ^that face tho

 ^my life with Robbie summed up in one picture

MONDAY we took a tender to Princess Cays and spent a few hours in our clamshell reading, relaxing, and walking along the beach. We ate dinner at the Crown Grill. Robbie had the best steak and chocolate dessert of his life, and we loved our waiter and the entertainment.