New Orleans:
Our cruise ship left from New Orleans. Dave and I were SO excited to go here, mostly because Princess and the Frog takes place in New Orleans and we love that movie so much! The city was kind of a let down for us. It was still fun to say we've been there, but it was really dirty, really smelly, and full of trashy window displays. The best part about New Orleans was Cafe Du Monde's beignets!! My entire family was in heaven.
All of us were COVERED in powdered sugar - it was impossible not to get it completely and totally all over your face.
This was us in front of St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. It was a beautiful church, and we were enjoying it with our hot chocolate!
Aren't these to die for????
Before we got onto the ship, we took an old fashioned picture. It was kind of a hull-a-ba-loo because this type of clothing doesn't really work that well if you wear garments. :( I was trying to ask the lady for something to cover my shoulders, and she was making fun of all of these "prude-ish" girls from Utah. She probably thought we were SO weird, because nobody we saw down there was even remotely worried about the way they dressed. We finally found some clothes that worked, and the picture turned out pretty good.
Mom arranged our transportation as a limo! We felt pretty important, and believe it or not, it was the cheapest way to haul all 9 of us around town.
That's the Mississippi River behind us. It is HUGE!
Belize:
Cave tubing. This was unreal. We were all just floating down the river inside of a cave. The cave was beautiful, and the jungle surrounding it was gorgeous!
We also went zip-lining in Belize. It was such a crazy feeling, zipping through a jungle on a cable. It was AWESOME!
A typical house in Belize. Their lives are very simple, and very different from ours. It kind of put things into perspective.
Our AWESOME tour guide, Mike. He was so funny, and so friendly. I think we had as much fun as we did in Belize because he was so fun to be with.
Roatan, Honduras:
Roatan was absolutely beautiful. It was so green and so lush, and just so pretty! We went scuba diving here, and it was Dave's first time ever diving. He did a great job! I was proud of him.
My favorite all-time fish, the Barracuda. They kind of scare me to death because they're so creepy looking, but I love them!
My mask was getting pretty fogged up, but a good picture none the less.
Steph, Dad, and Me.
We got to spend some time on the beach after our dive - it was really relaxing and just so much fun to lay in the sun!
Isn't this guy weird looking?? He was just hanging out on the beach with us. :)
Dave found his 200th geocache in Roatan. The fingers are supposed to say 200. Get it??
The sun going down over Roatan. Isn't it gorgeous??
Getting back on the boat - don't mind our awful looking, tired faces. It was a long day, but a very fun one!
Cozumel, Mexico:
This is where we did most of our diving, and the diving was BEAUTIFUL. Take a look!
Can you believe these fish!?
I can't believe people actually eat those things...
My 2nd all time favorite fish - the trumpetfish. See the trumpet shape??
Look at how BIG this guy is!!!
The fish were not even bothered by the fact that we were down there.
These eels were Dave's favorite.
Progresso was the least interesting stop we went to as far as touristy things to see. There really wasn't much to do, so we decided to rent a car and just drive around rural Mexico and see how regular, average people live. It was very eye-opening. We drove into a city called Uman, and I'm not sure that anyone in that city had ever seen a group of white people walking around their city, because everyone was staring at us like, "What in the world are you doing here?" It was kind of fun to be outside of the tourist section and to see some authentic Mexico.
This was a candy shop, and I couldn't resist taking a picture by the scary Cinderella pinata.
I LOVED the decorations on this Christmas tree, and the fact that Santa was traveling by boat. :)
Dave and I really loved this church. It was SO old, like 1700's old. We wanted to go inside really badly, but it was closed.
Days at Sea/Evenings on the ship:
These boys LOVED karaoke. They would go every single night if we would have let them. :)
Pina Colada/Mango drinks. Dad let us order one because it was Christmas Day, and boy were they tasty!
This pretty much sums up our days at sea. We laid in the sun, read our books, and ate frozen yogurt until we couldn't fit any more in!
Elegant night. We cleaned up nicely, I would say.
They had exotic things every night that you could try for dinner. I think this was the weirdest one - frog legs. Dave also tried snails, fried shark, and duck, just to name a few.
A family volleyball game, plus a few others who wanted to join in. It was really fun to play volleyball in the middle of the ocean!
Chocolate Day!! They had SO much chocolate in many different forms. It was my dream come true!!!!
New Year's Eve:
After we got off the boat, we had a few hours to spend in New Orleans before our flight left, so we walked over to the World War II Museum. This was Dave's dream come true (mine was chocolate, his was history. That's the difference between him and I. :) ). The museum was really, really awesome though, and I learned so much from it.
Germans hid in this while they were protecting the Atlantic coast in France.
This was a landing craft used in WWII to storm the Normandy Beaches.
Dave also sent home a video postcard from the museum. It is so stinking funny that I had to include it. To see it, click here.
Our trip was so incredibly amazing. We had so much fun with my family, and it was really fun to get away somewhere warm and tropical during December. A big thanks to Mom and Dad for the trip!! Let's do it again soon, okay??? :)
LOVED the trip recap - how fun! I can't wait to see more pictures and hear more stories about the cruise!
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