We wanted to do something for our Spring Break this year, and by "We", I mean me and Kristi without the kids. Our last 2 trips have been to Mexico with Ryan and Brandi, but this year was not going to work out because we couldn't go in October and they couldn't go in April. Kristi started talking to Kelsey and Spencer Pankhurst and they we talking about going on a Caribbean Cruise......One thing led to another and before I knew it we were booked to go on a cruise.
My biggest worry was the fact that I easily get motion sick on everything. So I thought I would have no chance on a moving ship. We took the added precautions and got cabins that were lower in the ship and had less movement. We also got these motion sick patches that you put behind your ear and lasted for 3 days. I wanted to do everything I could to make sure I would have fun and not be sick on the ship.
When we booked the cruise it seemed so far away and it seemed like the holiday would never happen. But time rolled on and before we knew it, it was the day to fly out. The Kids would be staying at Grandma and Grandpas for the time we were gone. We packed up everything they needed to keep busy and stay out of Grandma and Grandpas hair. Luckily while we were gone the kids had nice weather to play outside. I am sure by the end of the trip, the kids were happy to come home and Grandma and Grandpa were happy to not be the parents of 4 kids anymore.
We flew from Calgary to Houston Friday night. In Houston we found a cheap hotel, because we had to be up nice and early to get on the ship the next day. We dropped our rental car off at the port and walked to the entrance of the ship. It was just like going through airport security again. The Ship was HUGE!! I knew the ship would be big, but when we saw it for the first time we were blown away with its size. This was amazement was even greater when we realized that there were other cruise ships that were bigger than this one.
We got on the ship and found our rooms. Our rooms were on the 4th floor, which was the bottom floor for rooms. The ship went up 13 floors. There was an elevator and stairs. We could see that using the elevator was a slow process because it would stop at every floor. So we decided to always use the stairs and never take the elevator for the duration of our holiday. This was a good and a bad decisions at times. After that we went exploring on the ship. They had restaurants, theatres, buffets, swimming pools, hot tubs, a water slide, a gym, a basketball court, golf ball hitting stations, shuffle board (which became a fun activity), a library, a games room, a spa, gift shops, and so on and so on. It was basically like being in a travelling city on the ocean.
Our First day was spent exploring and soaking it up in the sun on the boat. We went to a French restaurant that night and I ordered escargot and could only eat 2 of the 5. BLAH. I think we actually hit the gym that night as well, because we were trying to make up for all the food we knew that we were going to eat in the upcoming week. Pretty sure we only made it to the gym one more time after that. Then we found the Card room that night, played cards till wee hours of the morning and prepared for another fun and exciting day.
Our shipped had three stops during our Trip, Cozumel, Belize and Honduras. Our first stop in Cozumel was probably one of our most interesting stops. We had heard that renting scooters and driving around Cozumel was so much fun. You could drive around the whole island in about an hour and a half. First of all whenever you get off the boat you are hounded by people trying to sell you something or have you rent their stuff, Im talking HOUNDED! We walked around a bit and finally found a place that we wanted to rent our scooters from. It was $20 for the day per person. We had to leave an imprint of a Credit Card. I had forgot my wallet on the ship, so Spencer left his card. They offered us to buy insurance for $35 and we kind of hummed and hawed about it. We were not sure if we really needed it, honestly we were just riding scooters. At the last second we decided we better get it just in case.
So we all got on our scooters and we took off to have a blast in Cozumel. About 7 or 8 blocks down the road we noticed that Spencer was not with us any more. We couldn't figure out where he had gone. We thought he had gotten lost or was held back on another light. He didn't catch up and he didn't catch up and we started to get a little worried. Kelsey was starting to panic a little and they decided to turn around and go back and look for him. At that moment a lady from Cozumel who couldn't speak any English came up to the girls and was pointing back down the street and making a hitting motion with her hands. She was trying to tell the girls something. At this point they realized that she was trying to them that Spencer had hit something. Then the lady, in the best english she could, said "He not dead.....He not dead". Kelsey was freaking out, thinking "well is he seriously injured and just not dead?". We had just started to turn around when we saw Spencer riding towards us....Scooter wrecked and bleeding all over.
Spencer had went around a corner and hit some loose gravel and wiped out. He slid across the ground and right into a parked truck. His elbow was cut pretty bad, he slammed his shin into the truck and he had some pretty good road rash. Needless to say their scooter day excursion was done. They told us they were going to head back, but told me and Kristi to keep going. So like any good friends would do, we decided to keep scootering without them.
Spencer took the scooter back to the guy we rented from, happy that we had bought the insurance at the last second. The guy had told us that there would be a $250 deductible that would have to be paid if something happened to the scooters. When spencer got back they told him that it was a $500 deductible that would have to be paid right that second. They actually followed him to a ATM and stood over his shoulder as he took money out of his account and handed it to them. Then Spencer had to go back to the ship to get fixed up. He was going to need stitches in his elbow and to get his leg and road rash cleaned up. He was also going to need some antibiotics to fight infection. All in all the day cost them about $2000 Canadian. Good start to the holiday for Spence.
Me and Kristi scootered around the whole island and it was a blast! We would just randomly stop at different spots on the beach along the coast. We were told to stop at this road side place called "Coconuts". We found the place and went in to have something quick to eat. We quickly found out why they called the place "Coconuts"....wink, wink, nudge, nudge. They made great homestyle food and it was an interesting atmosphere. The roof was lined with old t-shirts that had different sayings and the base of the roof was lined with women's underwear. They also gave us a drink that tasted like pure gasoline.
We continued to explore the coast on our scooters. Finally it was time to go back to the scooter rental place. Me and Kristi had so much fun scootering around Cozumel together! We finished off the day doing some shopping for the boys and being hounded by every seller that their stuff was the best stuff and the best deal.
Our 2nd stop on the cruise was in Belize. We were not able to dock right at a port so we had to take some smaller boats to the main land. We really had no idea what we wanted to do while in Belize. We had a million people hounding us to travel through there company or go to their resorts that they work for. We were told to look for a named Dion and he would give us a deal. We didn't want to just take the first deal we saw, so we decided to walk around and listen to some deals on places to go. Finally we decided to go to this tourist beach with a waterslide, rope swing, water trampoline. We went to find Dion to go and we were told he had left, so we payed for a different driver to take us to the beach. When we went to get in the Taxi, Dion saw us and he was mad that we had taken a different taxi.
Our driver took us to the beach and on the way he gave us a tour along the way. He seemed to know everything about Belize, but I guess he could have been making everything up and we would not have known any better. We spent the day at the beach swimming, tanning, eating and playing on the water park equipment. On the way back our driver took us on a tour of the city of Belize. It was crazy and the people looked like they had very little, but they all seemed so happy. I wish our kids would have been with us to see that. As we were driving he mentioned the LDS church and we asked if we could stop. We stop outside the church and took some pictures.
Our 3rd stop was in Roatan Honduras. Once again we negotiated a cab ride to one of the popular tourist beaches. We were going to pay $70 for a ride to and from the beach and a tour. We only paid $10 at the start and we were going to pay the rest when we returned. Our cab driver suggested that we go straight to the beach and do the tour on the way home because the beach gets packed and if we go early we can get some beach chairs and a good spot. We agreed. We spent the day on the beach. Me and Kristi rented some snorkel gear and went out together. We were able to see a ton of different types of fish. So when the day was over we told our cab driver to meet us back at 1pm because we had to be back on the ship at 3pm and it was around a 45min drive back to the ship. 1pm - no cab driver, 1:15 - no cab driver, 1:30 - no cab driver, 1:45 no cab driver. We soon began to panic that we were not going to be able to get back to the ship in time. We finally convinced another cab driver to leave who he was waiting for and take us back to the ship for $30. We made it back to the ship just in time.
Some of the best times on the ship were listening to live music. The had one performer on the ship that only played requests from the crowd. It was just him, his guitar, and a sound board. He knew and could play almost every song that the crowd requested. He was amazing and we looked forward to listening to him every night.
Kristi and I were in the "perfect couple" game and we won (again, we did on our Mexico resort trip as well). We had to perform some funny routines and games. We karaoked every night. By the time the cruise was coming to an end, a lot of people knew who we were!!
Brody's Play
Brody has always wanted to be in a play, and he finally got a chance with a children's theatre program that was running in town. He got one of the main parts in a play called "Dear Edwina" and he did awesome. He played a kind of "nerdy" kid that was in love with the main character. He had a lot of lines and sang a solo towards the end of the play. We were so proud of him!!
Baseball is in full swing now for the boys. Haydn is playing Intermediate which is a 13 year old league and Brody is playing Minors. The boys have been playing good so far this season. Haydn is in a tough league with teams from Lethbridge and Coaldale. They have won 2 and lost 3. Haydn sees the ball well and rarely strikes out. Brody plays minors on tuesday and Thursday and Majors on Monday and Wednesday. The Majors team asked him to move up because they are short on players this season. So Brody is playing a lot of baseball right now. Brody was Just asked to play on a Raymond team in a Lethbridge tournament last weekend. They won all their games and Brody didn't go out once. He had one awesome hit way out to left/center that he got an inside the park home run on.
Lenny Lou Turned 2
We felt like terrible parents, but Lennon turned 2 while we were on our trip in April. So we had a birthday for her when we got back. I honestly can't believe how fast the last 2 years have flown by with her in our family. She brings so much love into the family (and some sass). She will never know that we skipped her birthday.....well until she reads this when she is older.....so, we are sorry Lenny! hahahaha
Other Pictures
My Back
Right before we went on our trip, I had a mole on my back checked. The doctor said that as soon as I get beck it should get cut out. It has been on my back for a long time, but I just felt it was time to get it checked out.
I got the mole cut out the day after we got back from the trip. It was a way bigger and deeper cut than I was expecting. 7 stitches were used to sew me back up. They took the mole and sent it away to be tested. The test came back and the mole was cancerous. The doctor said that it was all cut out and that he was happy that he had cut so deep.
I had the stitches in for a week and I was able to take the top and the bottom stitches out, but keep the middle 3 in. A few days later we took the middle stitches out, but it was too early and the cut opened up again. I had an appointment with a dermatologist in Lethbridge and he felt like we should cut some more skin off the sides, so he opened the cut back up again and cut some more skin off the sides. 7 stitches (again) and I was back to square 1. I will be going back in a week to see the results of the other skin that he cut off. I also will be going to Calgary soon to meet with doctors up there just to make sure everything is ok and to get things double checked.
It has been a stressful few weeks, but my family and friends have been great to me. Kristi has been so strong for the family and is always so positive! I really couldn't have done this with out her encouragement and love.
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