Over a year ago, us and some of our very best friends (Morgan, Jenn, Jacob and Valerie) decided that if we were all gonna move far away from each other, we had to make sure we saw each other at least once every couple of years. So we started planning our first get together. We were aiming for the spring of 2016 but with life (and a lot of excitement), we moved it up and moved it up until it was the first week of February! We decided on a cruise for the six of us. We narrowed down dates, set up all our plans, picked our cruise, and Jake and Val even got their plane tickets. A week before our trip a dumb mosquito-carried disease started making a scare all over South America and parts of the Caribbean. Normally, it's not too harmful. If the virus is contracted it can cause mild flu like symptoms. But, leave it up to our luck that it happens to affect pregnant women in a much more severe way. Jenn is pregnant. It was heartbreaking to come to grasps with but I know the decision had to have been the hardest for them. Ultimately, their baby and it's safety were top priority and they decided to forgo the cruise. There was a lot of banter about what alternatives we had so last minute but it was eventually decided that the four of us would go ahead on the cruise without Morgan and Jenn. It was awful. I wanted to throw up the whole week. It just stinks when the universe works against your best laid plans. But we decided that even though it wasn't what we wanted or had planned, we had to make the best of it. I just didn't want our vacation to be ruined because we were sad the whole week wishing Morgan and Jenn were there. And as much as we reminded ourselves of that, we failed pretty miserably. We had fun, don't get me wrong, but we missed them so, so much. I am already looking forward to our next vacation with all six of us. Please let it be soon.
Phew, with all that being said, here's the rundown on the cruise.
It started on Friday with a drive up to VA. We flew my mom into town so she could help my sister watch the girls. We picked her up in Raleigh on the way up north. We got up there Friday evening (around 11pm). On Saturday we hit up the big mall in their area. It has a ton of great stores. After the mall we went across the street to . . . CAFE RIO! Josh kept saying, "I can't believe I'm actually eating this. I mean, I knew we were coming, but I just wasn't thinking it was really happening!" So funny. And so stinking delicious.
We did a quick grocery shopping trip, headed back to the house, packed up and said goodbye! We then drove, about six hours (WITHOUT KIDS), to Greenville. We stopped at the airport on the way, where we met Morgan and Jenn and picked up Jacob and Valerie! It was so much fun seeing them! I can't believe it had been six months since we'd been with them. It was a relief to realize that being all together again felt like we'd never been apart. Love them all so much.
We headed back to Morgan and Jenn's house and hung out talking and eating and catching up on life. The next day was Sunday but we didn't go to church. Morgan and Jenn went to sacrament, but we ended up sleeping through it. We got up leisurely (no kids!!), got ready and headed to downtown Greenville. We walked around downtown a bit, walked through Falls Park and gave Jacob and Val the tour. Well, Morgan and Jenn did. We just tagged along. We headed back late that afternoon, ate dinner, played games and hung out. It was a wonderful day.
On Monday morning we got up bright and early and made a mad dash for Columbia. Jacob and Valerie's luggage was lost on the way here and the airline could not find it. So we had a couple hours before we needed to leave for Charleston for Valerie to buy everything she needed for a week long cruise and trip to the Bahamas. Talk about stressful. I was actually impressed with how smooth they handled it. I would have been losing my mind. But they seemed totally calm. So we got to Columbia, hit up Target first, got all the essentials, created a game plan, hit up the mall next, split up and tackled the list! We did it all in about 3 hours. It was pretty crazy. After the mall we headed to our house to switch out our bags (for our cruise bags), let Valerie change (she'd been in the same clothes for three days), and drop off Morgan and Jenn's kids. Even though Morgan and Jenn weren't able to go on the cruise, they drove us to Charleston and dropped us off, which we were so thankful for.
Then we grabbed Rush's and hit the road to Charleston. We got there just toward the end of boarding so we did a quick drop off and goodbye. It was heart wrenching leaving Morgan and Jenn in Charleston and getting on the boat. I'm pretty sure we all cried. But we vowed to make the best of our trip. Getting there at the end of boarding was the best ever. Our last cruise, we spent 2 hours checking in. This time it took all of maybe 15 minutes. No lines. Wonderful. We got all registered and got on the boat!
The strawberry soft serve was the best!
We dropped off our stuff at our rooms then went out to the top deck to watch the departure and call the girls. I wanted to FaceTime with them before we lost a signal during the night. It was so much fun seeing them. I don't think I had ever FaceTimed with Piper and she was so cute kissing the phone and squealing with excitement from seeing us. They seemed so happy, which was a huge relief. Then it was almost time for dinner. We had our own dinner table for just the four of us, which we loved. I don't like the idea of sitting with a bunch of random people I don't know.
The rest of the week is a bit of a blur, so I'll do my best.
Day 2 was a day at sea. We discovered the library for playing games, ate so much food, went to two comedy shows, and laid out on the serenity deck. It was surprisingly warm that day, so we took advantage of it. That night was the fancy dinner so we got all dressed up, took photos in front of the sunset on the deck and then went to dinner.
It was warm, but dang it was windy!
Our fancy dinner night picture. Thanks Josh. Real cute. hahaha
Also, here is a side by side of our fancy nights from our cruise 5 years ago and this one. The picture is terrible, but you get the idea. Haha.
The next day was our first day off the boat. We stopped in Freeport, Bahamas. It was a somewhat depressing town. A lot of tourist stuff right off the boat and a lot of rundown city outside of that. We drove about 20 minutes through the town to a place called Paradise Cove. It's a private beach. We payed like $4/person and got to enjoy the beach and limited amount of people. Then we rented paddle boards and snorkeling gear! Paddle boarding wasn't the most enjoyable (at least for me). Everyone else seemed mostly fine but it was so windy that day that I really couldn't seem to stay still. Every time I stood up, or even kneeled, I would turn into a human sail and fly away from everyone. Then paddling up the current, against the wind was almost impossible. It got to the point that I decided to just head closer to shore so I could use my feet, then they got on the loud speaker and yelled at me because they didn't want the paddle board to hit the reefs. Needless to say, I was pretty embarrassed and frustrated. Haha. But I did eventually make it back to the group. After we finished on the boards, Jake and Val played on the beach and Josh and I went out snorkeling. It wasn't like the pictures, but I love snorkeling so we still had a lot of fun. We followed the reef and saw a few really pretty fish and a bit of coral. After a long day on the beach, we headed back to the boat. Jake and Val went ahead and got back on while we shopped around the little shops. We picked out some little weaved purses for the girls.
The pictures got worse as the days went on...
Or better? hahaha
That night we ate dinner, played with giant playing cards and went out for late night miniature golf. That was one of the funniest nights. They found this hole where you could hit the ball backwards through the hole and it would shoot up really high in the air. Jacob was laughing hysterically. He could not handle how funny it was. Of course that made us all laugh too. After mini golfing we played shuffle board and watched Valerie dance with a random lady and almost take her shirt off. Long story. ;)
Giant playing cards. So funny.
The next day was another day off the boat. This stop was in Nassau, Bahamas. This stop was our favorite! We started with a short taxi drive to Paradise Island to see Atlantis. Atlantis is a world renowned hotel. It's huge and beautiful. We walked around (what parts we could) and took some pictures. We walked all around the marina and looked at the most incredible yachts. It was such a gorgeous day. After that we grabbed a taxi and headed into town where we met for a food tour! This was the most incredible thing ever. I'm so glad we discovered it. Our tour guide was amazing. She could talk a million words a minute and she talked, not only about our food, but about the city, the country and the history. We stopped at 5 different places on the tour (all on foot). We started with a full meal. It was conch fritters, chicken, rice, fried plantains, cole slaw, and macaroni and cheese. The conch fritters were so good. You know conch, as in a giant conch shell? I could not believe they were good, but they really were. They were probably my favorite thing on the tour. Then we got a delicious limeade. We stopped all along the way and saw historical buildings and learned all kinds of interesting things. Next we tried a local soda (everyone else tried a beer). Then it the chocolatier for amazing chocolates! Next up was a greek restaurant for greek salad and conch chowder. Finally we had a stop for dips, spices and dressings and our last stop for rum cake! Yum. I want all of it right now! It was such a blast walking around the city, seeing the real town, experiencing it all like a true Bahamian. We all loved it. It ended right at boarding time. So we hopped back on the boat and went to dinner.
On the tour. Our tour guide Alanna. (left)
Conch chowder and a salted caramel chocolate.
Key lime white chocolate. So good.
True Bahamian meal.
Atlantis.
Inside the hotel (right)
Atlantis was really breathtaking.
We had one more day at sea after our two days off the boat. I honestly don't remember much. I think we tried out the piano bar (for music), shopped a bit, went to another comedy show, spent a bunch of time in the hot tubs, lounged out on the deck and just soaked in our last day of the cruise. I do remember this was the worst day for sea sicknesses. Valerie and I spent a lot of time on the deck trying not to feel sick. There's always that one day, I swear.
We docked in Charleston on Saturday. We got off the boat bright and early. Morgan and Jenn were gracious enough to come pick us up (way earlier than anticipated) and we headed downtown to explore Charleston. Charleston is one of my favorite (if not my absolute favorite) cities in South Carolina. It was such a fun day. It felt perfect being back all six of us again. We sampled pralines, walked through the slave market (and bought stuff, of course), ate lunch at an incredible BBQ place, and took a ton of videos and pictures down by the water in the park. It was a chilly day but it was so much fun. I really, really enjoyed that day.
LOVE this man of mine.
After that, it was back to Columbia for quick goodbyes before I jumped in my car and headed back to VA to get the girls. Josh had to stay back because he was headed back to work on Monday. Such a bummer. I missed him, for sure. But I survived the drive! I got there, peeked on the girls (both asleep by this point) and hit the sack. It was a long day. Sunday was church, relaxing, dinner and preparing to head home Monday morning. Monday we headed out, dropped my mom off at the airport on the way and drove all the way home. What a week!
A lot of it feels like it never happened. Vacations always go by so quickly. But it was seriously one of the best weeks of my life. Renewing Josh and I's relationship was wonderful. Spending time with Morgan and Jenn and Jacob and Valerie was the absolute best. Some of those moments will be things I never forget. The cruise was incredible, relaxing and a blast. Overall, we had the most incredible time!
A huge shoutout to my sister and her family for watching our girls and loving them so much. They were so selfless to take them on for that long of time. It was a huge blessing to us and we can't wait to repay them. And another thank you to my mom for flying out and helping too! The girls had a blast.
At the library!
Helping Aunt Jamie make dinner.
P.S. A huge congrats if you read this entire thing. Because, man, that was a lot!
It started on Friday with a drive up to VA. We flew my mom into town so she could help my sister watch the girls. We picked her up in Raleigh on the way up north. We got up there Friday evening (around 11pm). On Saturday we hit up the big mall in their area. It has a ton of great stores. After the mall we went across the street to . . . CAFE RIO! Josh kept saying, "I can't believe I'm actually eating this. I mean, I knew we were coming, but I just wasn't thinking it was really happening!" So funny. And so stinking delicious.
We did a quick grocery shopping trip, headed back to the house, packed up and said goodbye! We then drove, about six hours (WITHOUT KIDS), to Greenville. We stopped at the airport on the way, where we met Morgan and Jenn and picked up Jacob and Valerie! It was so much fun seeing them! I can't believe it had been six months since we'd been with them. It was a relief to realize that being all together again felt like we'd never been apart. Love them all so much.
We headed back to Morgan and Jenn's house and hung out talking and eating and catching up on life. The next day was Sunday but we didn't go to church. Morgan and Jenn went to sacrament, but we ended up sleeping through it. We got up leisurely (no kids!!), got ready and headed to downtown Greenville. We walked around downtown a bit, walked through Falls Park and gave Jacob and Val the tour. Well, Morgan and Jenn did. We just tagged along. We headed back late that afternoon, ate dinner, played games and hung out. It was a wonderful day.
On Monday morning we got up bright and early and made a mad dash for Columbia. Jacob and Valerie's luggage was lost on the way here and the airline could not find it. So we had a couple hours before we needed to leave for Charleston for Valerie to buy everything she needed for a week long cruise and trip to the Bahamas. Talk about stressful. I was actually impressed with how smooth they handled it. I would have been losing my mind. But they seemed totally calm. So we got to Columbia, hit up Target first, got all the essentials, created a game plan, hit up the mall next, split up and tackled the list! We did it all in about 3 hours. It was pretty crazy. After the mall we headed to our house to switch out our bags (for our cruise bags), let Valerie change (she'd been in the same clothes for three days), and drop off Morgan and Jenn's kids. Even though Morgan and Jenn weren't able to go on the cruise, they drove us to Charleston and dropped us off, which we were so thankful for.
The strawberry soft serve was the best!
We dropped off our stuff at our rooms then went out to the top deck to watch the departure and call the girls. I wanted to FaceTime with them before we lost a signal during the night. It was so much fun seeing them. I don't think I had ever FaceTimed with Piper and she was so cute kissing the phone and squealing with excitement from seeing us. They seemed so happy, which was a huge relief. Then it was almost time for dinner. We had our own dinner table for just the four of us, which we loved. I don't like the idea of sitting with a bunch of random people I don't know.
The rest of the week is a bit of a blur, so I'll do my best.
Day 2 was a day at sea. We discovered the library for playing games, ate so much food, went to two comedy shows, and laid out on the serenity deck. It was surprisingly warm that day, so we took advantage of it. That night was the fancy dinner so we got all dressed up, took photos in front of the sunset on the deck and then went to dinner.
It was warm, but dang it was windy!
Our fancy dinner night picture. Thanks Josh. Real cute. hahaha
Also, here is a side by side of our fancy nights from our cruise 5 years ago and this one. The picture is terrible, but you get the idea. Haha.
The next day was our first day off the boat. We stopped in Freeport, Bahamas. It was a somewhat depressing town. A lot of tourist stuff right off the boat and a lot of rundown city outside of that. We drove about 20 minutes through the town to a place called Paradise Cove. It's a private beach. We payed like $4/person and got to enjoy the beach and limited amount of people. Then we rented paddle boards and snorkeling gear! Paddle boarding wasn't the most enjoyable (at least for me). Everyone else seemed mostly fine but it was so windy that day that I really couldn't seem to stay still. Every time I stood up, or even kneeled, I would turn into a human sail and fly away from everyone. Then paddling up the current, against the wind was almost impossible. It got to the point that I decided to just head closer to shore so I could use my feet, then they got on the loud speaker and yelled at me because they didn't want the paddle board to hit the reefs. Needless to say, I was pretty embarrassed and frustrated. Haha. But I did eventually make it back to the group. After we finished on the boards, Jake and Val played on the beach and Josh and I went out snorkeling. It wasn't like the pictures, but I love snorkeling so we still had a lot of fun. We followed the reef and saw a few really pretty fish and a bit of coral. After a long day on the beach, we headed back to the boat. Jake and Val went ahead and got back on while we shopped around the little shops. We picked out some little weaved purses for the girls.
The pictures got worse as the days went on...
Or better? hahaha
That night we ate dinner, played with giant playing cards and went out for late night miniature golf. That was one of the funniest nights. They found this hole where you could hit the ball backwards through the hole and it would shoot up really high in the air. Jacob was laughing hysterically. He could not handle how funny it was. Of course that made us all laugh too. After mini golfing we played shuffle board and watched Valerie dance with a random lady and almost take her shirt off. Long story. ;)
Giant playing cards. So funny.
The next day was another day off the boat. This stop was in Nassau, Bahamas. This stop was our favorite! We started with a short taxi drive to Paradise Island to see Atlantis. Atlantis is a world renowned hotel. It's huge and beautiful. We walked around (what parts we could) and took some pictures. We walked all around the marina and looked at the most incredible yachts. It was such a gorgeous day. After that we grabbed a taxi and headed into town where we met for a food tour! This was the most incredible thing ever. I'm so glad we discovered it. Our tour guide was amazing. She could talk a million words a minute and she talked, not only about our food, but about the city, the country and the history. We stopped at 5 different places on the tour (all on foot). We started with a full meal. It was conch fritters, chicken, rice, fried plantains, cole slaw, and macaroni and cheese. The conch fritters were so good. You know conch, as in a giant conch shell? I could not believe they were good, but they really were. They were probably my favorite thing on the tour. Then we got a delicious limeade. We stopped all along the way and saw historical buildings and learned all kinds of interesting things. Next we tried a local soda (everyone else tried a beer). Then it the chocolatier for amazing chocolates! Next up was a greek restaurant for greek salad and conch chowder. Finally we had a stop for dips, spices and dressings and our last stop for rum cake! Yum. I want all of it right now! It was such a blast walking around the city, seeing the real town, experiencing it all like a true Bahamian. We all loved it. It ended right at boarding time. So we hopped back on the boat and went to dinner.
Late night room service in our robes.
On the tour. Our tour guide Alanna. (left)
Conch chowder and a salted caramel chocolate.
Key lime white chocolate. So good.
True Bahamian meal.
Atlantis.
Inside the hotel (right)
Atlantis was really breathtaking.
We had one more day at sea after our two days off the boat. I honestly don't remember much. I think we tried out the piano bar (for music), shopped a bit, went to another comedy show, spent a bunch of time in the hot tubs, lounged out on the deck and just soaked in our last day of the cruise. I do remember this was the worst day for sea sicknesses. Valerie and I spent a lot of time on the deck trying not to feel sick. There's always that one day, I swear.
We docked in Charleston on Saturday. We got off the boat bright and early. Morgan and Jenn were gracious enough to come pick us up (way earlier than anticipated) and we headed downtown to explore Charleston. Charleston is one of my favorite (if not my absolute favorite) cities in South Carolina. It was such a fun day. It felt perfect being back all six of us again. We sampled pralines, walked through the slave market (and bought stuff, of course), ate lunch at an incredible BBQ place, and took a ton of videos and pictures down by the water in the park. It was a chilly day but it was so much fun. I really, really enjoyed that day.
LOVE this man of mine.
After that, it was back to Columbia for quick goodbyes before I jumped in my car and headed back to VA to get the girls. Josh had to stay back because he was headed back to work on Monday. Such a bummer. I missed him, for sure. But I survived the drive! I got there, peeked on the girls (both asleep by this point) and hit the sack. It was a long day. Sunday was church, relaxing, dinner and preparing to head home Monday morning. Monday we headed out, dropped my mom off at the airport on the way and drove all the way home. What a week!
A lot of it feels like it never happened. Vacations always go by so quickly. But it was seriously one of the best weeks of my life. Renewing Josh and I's relationship was wonderful. Spending time with Morgan and Jenn and Jacob and Valerie was the absolute best. Some of those moments will be things I never forget. The cruise was incredible, relaxing and a blast. Overall, we had the most incredible time!
A huge shoutout to my sister and her family for watching our girls and loving them so much. They were so selfless to take them on for that long of time. It was a huge blessing to us and we can't wait to repay them. And another thank you to my mom for flying out and helping too! The girls had a blast.
At the library!
Helping Aunt Jamie make dinner.
P.S. A huge congrats if you read this entire thing. Because, man, that was a lot!
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