The Cat is Out of the Bag

Well, looks like the cat is out of the bag. Just goes to show you that if you tell the YW anything, then tell them you don't mind if they tell anyone, it gets around!

We are going to be having a baby in August! 

We're so happy and scared and excited and surprised and all the other things going through out minds! We got to see the Little Squirt - as we call them - this week, which makes it all the more real. We do not know the sex yet, but that will come next month.

So, if I'm cranky and tired and grumpy, now you'll know why. No, I don't have a personality disorder! I'm just pregnant!

And Now We Say Adieu!

The last day of the cruise was spent just sort of relaxing. Brent wasn't feeling super hot - remember how he brought pneumonia home as a souvenir - so there aren't a lot of pictures. But here you go...

We had dinner at the sushi place again because, well, we just liked it. It was a good place to eat.

Then there was a BEAUTIFUL sunset that night. Kind of appropriate for our last night on the boat.

Can you tell I was a fan?

The next day was getting off the ship and flying home. Getting off the ship is always a pain. There's just a lot of people to get off. But then we got stuck in Houston on our way home. With a VERY sick Brent, that was not my favorite travel day ever. We got home at about midnight our time, which made for a LONG day.

It was a fun Birthday Extravaganza! I'm already thinking of what to do in 2024! Ok, maybe not thinking so much as having it in the back of my mind. :)

Cozumel

Oh my heck! I have been such a dork about this darn blog. I'm bound and determined to finish the cruise!

Cozumel, Mexico...our last stop on the grand Birthday Adventure. We didn't have anything planned in Cozumel because I had read that this was the place to shop. It was most definitely the place to shop in that there were a lot of shops, but...I'll get to that.

I took a bunch of pictures of the water because it was such an interesting color, don't you think? 

 

I think that color is what they're talking about when they say Caribbean blue!

We also saw a pelican...

It was hanging around some fishermen who were throwing the fish guts to it, so it made for easy pictures.

We found out that Cozumel is the place to go for sea glass. They must throw a lot of glass stuff into the ocean there because it wasn't hard to find at all. I love sea glass.

We took some other pictures...

It was a beautiful day! But...it was a hard day to shop. Why? Well, the shop keepers, actually, most shop keepers, not all shop keepers, felt a need to invite you into their shops when you walked past. Loudly. And with much feeling. It was way too much for me! At least they didn't touch me. In Encinada, Mexico, they touched me. I do not like that!

So, our shopping was somewhat short lived, but we did get a few treasures in our last port.

Then we had some fun on the boat. (I swear some of these pictures are from the next day, but the properties on the pictures say it was the same day so I'm believing the camera.)

Brent is already starting to look a little green around the gills...

There was a funny show with these jugglers, who then gave juggling lessons. We snuck in and watched Dad give it a try.

Mamadillo liked the blue blue sea too!

While the next time I go to Cozumel, I'm going to go snorkeling - remember how pretty the water was - we still had a great time! It's kind of sad to think that it's almost over...

Now THIS is What I'm Talking About

Our next stop was Roatan, Honduras. Roatan is an island off the coast of Honduras and also one of my new favorite places in this world. It is most definitely my favorite stop with this cruise. You'll see why.

We woke up to this...

Isn't that a cute little pier? Very nice. And the trees everywhere. This is what I thought we'd see when it kept saying you had to walk through the "jungle" to get to the different Mayan Ruins. You saw the pictures. I thought a jungle was different.

Mamadillo liked it too!

So, we went down and looked around a little before our adventure that day.

This was pretty much the most Christmas-y thing we saw on the cruise!

Then it was time for our adventure. Anyone who knows me knows that I am an animal lover. That may be an understatement, but it's true. I love all animals, but I love whales and dolphins the most. One of my all time favorite days was whale watching with my mom in the San Juans when an orca swam right underneath the boat and looked at me. Wow. Anyway, I have always wanted to swim with dolphins, but there was a problem. I wanted the dolphins to be well taken care of. I didn't want it to be a money making scheme. So, I thought and thought about doing a dolphin encounter. I talked to a couple fellow animal lovers who had done it and they assured me that it would be great.

So, the decision made, it was time to go on our dolphin encounter adventure. We took a bus through the cutest village we've seen yet to the other side of the island.

This is a picture that they supplied but I thought it was kind of nice to see the whole thing.

We waded out into the water and there was our trainer and her dolphin, Margarite.

It was so amazing to be able to get this close to an animal that is just so darn cool.

At first, we weren't suppose to have our cameras with us. Because they had to take pictures to sell us and they wanted to be able to sell them. I think they were worth it.

When you see this as our Christmas picture this year, just pretend that it was this year and that you haven't seen this before.

After that, they let us go and get our cameras. Dad and I went trudging back to get them and when we came back, this is what we saw.

Yep, Brent and Mom getting extra time petting Margarite. This still makes me sad. I mean, fun for them **grumble grumble** but I wish I had thought of that!

Anyway, I shook that huge disappointment off and took a whole bunch of pictures.

This HAS to be one of my all time favorite pictures, ever!

I almost forgot the video. You might want to turn the volume down a little if you watch it. Margarite is SUPER loud! (Drives Daisy crazy...it's kind of funny!)

Before I was ready, it was time to go back to the ship. It was so much fun. I want to live here and work with the dolphins. That would be so amazing! Too much fun!

We did a little shopping when we got back to the pier.

Mom's more of a shopper than any of us, so we took a picture while we were waiting.

Too soon it was time to leave Roatan and go on to our next adventure. We got a towel crab for the night...

Saw a rainbow...

And a gorgeous sunset...

A perfect end to a perfect day! If you're ever in Roatan, definitely go to Anthony Key! Next time, I'm snorkeling with them!