Cruise!

We didn't have enough time to do a week long cruise and Universal so we decided to do a 3 day cruise. We ended up booking a cruise on the Majesty of the Seas which was the same cruise ship I went on with my family when I was younger, except it was recently renovated. We had such a great time together. The kids loved the activites on the ship--the rock wall, swimming while watching movies (the BFG and Secret Life of Pets), ice cream on the pool deck to their hearts content, the food--we had so much fun being together.

We had a day at sea and then the Bahamas! The kids told us all they wanted to do was go to the beach. So that's what we did. When we got to the beach, the girls wanted to get their hair braided. Beatrice (aka "Skinny) braided Lily and Taylor's hair and then Ella decided she didn't want to. We spent the entire day swimming, snorkeling, and enjoying the sun and the beautiful white sandy beach. We stayed until the sun was setting and walked back to the cruise ship to get ready for dinner. We lucked out with the dining because our assigned table was a corner, rounded booth with just our family. There are only a few of these booths, the rest aren't quite as private as they share tables and are in rows surrounded by people on all sides. We loved our dining experience as we felt like we were the only ones there in our little corner. Nower (from the DR) and Na (from China) spoiled the kids with lots of attention and desserts.

Among all the family memories we created, the most lasting one came a bit unexpected. In order to make the dates all work out with flights we had to book a cruise that was Friday-Monday. Andy and I had decided that we would go on the cruise but we wouldn't do anything that would break the Sabbath. I guess since we had made that decision months before when we booked everything and since we didn't tell the kids in the beginning we forgot to tell them the plans. At dinner on Saturday night the kids remembered the next day was Sunday and were wondering what we were going to do. The itinerary was scheduled for the private island, Coco Cay. After dinner we went back to our room and had a discussion with the kids. We asked the kids what we should do. There were tears from the kids as they made the hard, right decision that we would observe the Sabbath. There were tears from us parents as we testified to our kids that they would be blessed and remember this moment as Heavenly Father would bless them far beyond what any excursion could give them. We ended with a prayer and tucked the kids into bed. It was a powerful experience in that little room that I'm sure made a lasting impression on our kids. Definitely the priceless highlight of the whole vacation. 

We woke up Sunday morning to an unexpected storm and very rough seas. An announcement came over the intercom system informing everyone that they were going to cancel the Coco Cay stop because they couldn't tender in with the rough seas. I was so grateful we had discussed and had the experience the night before. If we had just said, "Let's see what happens" we wouldn't have been able to have that powerful experience with our kids because the decision would've been made for us with the cancellation and no lesson would've been learned. We had a fantastic day together. After breakfast we spent the morning reading scriptures and had a little devotional. Then we found an empty lounge and played cards and hung out for most of the day. The seas were really rough and Ella was having a hard time. She was getting sick as we were getting ready for bed. Luckily her sickness didn't ruin the experience for her but I think we were all ready to get on land the next day. Fun, lasting memories, and we were just getting started...