HAPPY 50th ANNIVERSARY!!!!
To celebrate my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, they treated our entire family to a 5 day cruise to Bahamas and Grand Turk. Now that we are spread across the Midwest & West Coast, we only get together at weddings -- which is lame because you don't get to hang out as a family. So, for 5 days, we did 100% family time -- eating, tanning, swimming, shopping, karaoke, and hairy chest competition.... oh yes, photos included! Whoever said "what happens on the ship, stays on the ship" was lying!
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| Our little family. |
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| Us. |
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| 6 years ago we were here on our honeymoon. |
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| My favorite girl. |
I've gotta admit, she's darn cute but she's stressful to pack for! I had a lot of anxiety about what to pack for a cruise. It's not like you can run to Target for more formula or grab another diaper pack from the closet.... you are on a floating Target-less boat that doesn't offer many options if you run out. Welp, it all turned out perfectly. Plenty of diapers, she ate all the cruise food, and wore a couple nights of dirty PJ's but she lived through it :)
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| Guess who won? |
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| Pretty awesome brother. Possibly even awesomer daddy. |
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| Dip in the pool. |
Naptime, bedtime, and the 3 hour time change all proved *interesting* on the cruise. With 3 kids on 3 different schedules, we would often laugh that as soon as Brynn was up from her nap, Chloe was ready to go down then Zade (and Mimi!!) would follow soon after. It was tricky and definitely held us back from fully embracing all that the cruise ship had to offer but I wouldn't have had it any other way. If it was just the 3 of us, I probably wouldn't chose a cruise again with a baby this age but TOTALLY worth it to have the entire family together.
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| Cheesy grin. |
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| Sweet smile! |
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| Pretty mama. Pretty baby girl. |
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| Only pic of my brothers & I. |
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| Awwwwww. |
Grand Turk was a our first stop. Beaches weren't too crowded but had rocks in the shallow water that led to a few stubbed toes. Near the end, we headed over to Margaritaville which had a huge pool.
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| Love my mama. |
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| She's B-E-A-U-tiful (and she's going to kill me for posting this!) |
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| Yep. We did this. |
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| Possibly the only man in the world that wears JEANS to the beach. |
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| Freaking beautiful. |
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| Two grand-daughters with Mimi & Papa. |
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| While parents are away, cousins will play. |
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| Tuckered out. |
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| Love, love. |
Final stop, Nassau Bahamas. My thoughts? Wished I had stayed on the ship. Too crowded, too hot, and too commercialized. Next time I will take advantage of the empty pools on the ship!! Buuuut, we got a couple photos!
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| I am officially a bahama mama. |
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| Stinkin' hot in Nassau |
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| Love our munchkin. |
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| Rocking the karaoke. |
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| Hunter & Sheila ready for some hairy chests |
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| Strutting his stuff.... |
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| 4th hairiest man on the cruise! |
Food was great, as always. My husband about fell off his seat when I told him I think my favorite food was the prosciutto pizza that I got for lunch. It was AMAZING. But, as far as fancy feasts, I had a variety of gazpacho, soup, chicken, pork, pasta, and more dessert than I need in a year!
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| Chewing on a spoon with her great grandpa. |
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| Daddy's girl. |
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| Loves. |
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The cutest cousin cuddle ever. He was rolling back and forth hugging her -- ended with her head
smacked into the wall. Totally adorable while it lasted :) |
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| Summer to remember. |
Chloe adapted well to all the newness and change. The trip started subpar because Chloe was teething, cranky, and drooling excessively. At home drool isn't a problem but when you have limited clothes, it's a bit nerve racking. But, Sarah was prepared and brought her amber teething necklace which worked wonders for us. Happy baby=mama dealing with the necklace for photos.
As far as food, she usually ate a banana at breakfast, watermelon for lunch, and steamed veggies at dinner. So proud of my little eater who was willing to eat zucchini out of my pasta dish the night that I forgot to order her veggies. She's such a trooper.
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| Slept through the comedy show. |
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| Sexy newly-ish weds! |
My family is awesome. Started with these two lovebirds,
they had 3 girlie girls,
each married strapping gents,
and those couples had 3 kids each.
So far, we've now added in 3 spouses and 3 great grandkids....
Equals 23 unique, special people. If you have the chance to meet any of them,
DO IT.
Each one is pretty darn cool.
Loved our trip. Love these people. Who's ready to go again?!?!
