caribbean queen (i think i heard this song 1,000,000 times on this trip)

so, because we are super lucky, we were able to take advantage of Jason's hard-working, prize-winning ways and go on a Caribbean cruise, even though we thought we'd given it up for good.  thanks to my placenta moving to the right spot, and Jason's boss being super cool, we got to cruise 2 weeks late with the pacific north westerners and mid-Atlantic State Farmers.  it was super lucky, since this was the very last week my Dr. would let me travel, and the last week SW would let me fly.  (it was however way after the cruise line let's preggos fly, but we didn't know that 'til we were already on board, and they didn't kick us off.  ignorance, really is BLISS.)

i traveled with my full camera bag, but left it in the safe the whole time.  i opted to just bring our little point and shoot, and have myself a relaxing break from it all. 

the first day was spent sailing the beautiful crystal Caribbean Sea.  it was a little rockier than i had imagined, but lounging on deck with my sweetie hit the spot.  then he sweetened the deal by treating me to a full body massage at the ship's spa!  hello, possibly, the best...day...ever!  and, the food on a cruise ship is as good as they say!!!

our first port was Grand Turk, of the Turks and Caicos.  we weren't allowed to sign up for the excursions we wanted, because i wasn't allowed to snorkel.  so, we went to the beach and swam out the reef and snorkeled on our own.  soon, we were joined by our fellow shipmates who had taken a sailboat or catamaran to the exact same spot!  take that rules!  we had a blast, and i especially loved seeing so many Stingrays.  the beach was beautiful, the weather amazing.  i think in hindsight we would have enjoyed renting a car and seeing more of the island, but our day was fun and relaxing.

our next port was St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.  again, knowing what I know now, i wish we rented a car.  but we did everything we wanted to, I just think we could have done more on our own, rather than with a group.  we spent the morning shopping in Charlotte Amalie, a beautiful little town just a few miles from port. i saw lots of baby stuff i liked, but was restrained by not knowing what we're having.  Jason enjoyed rubbing this in.  we also found some beautiful art, but again i loved all these pieces featuring girls, and didn't feel right buying something in case we have a son.  i'm a little weird like that.  i was also introduced to blue diamonds. they are so beautiful.  i couldn't commit though, i like to shop around.  but i'm definitely saving my pennies for a blue diamond creation someday. 

next we went to Magen's Bay, one of the "top 10 beaches in the world."  i'm sure this is true, but since it was Easter weekend, everyone and their brother was kickin' it at Magen's Bay, and i'm sorry, no matter how beautiful a beach may be the experience is just not fun when you are shoulder to shoulder on the sand and in the water.  this is why a car would have come in handy.  it was a lovely beach, but on our own we would have gone exploring instead. 

 this is a little taste of Charlotte Amalie, the storm doors are so cool.  this was the only time i was wishing i broke that DSLR out of the safe:

 next port, St. Maarten.  guys what we did?  rented a car!  this was the longest day we had in any port so we had planned on a car.  this was a great plan!  it enabled us to explore the whole island and come and go as we pleased.  we got a jeep too, which was so fun.  we did a little circle tour first.  stopping on this pristine little beach, Maho beach i think?  it's so pretty and is right near the airport, there are warning signs that you can be blown over by landing planes and it's no joke!  we watched a few land and it's really trippy to have them come so close.  the right hand photo is one i tried to get of a plane going right over Jason.  i just missed it.  he got some great video though!  we shopped a little in the french town of Marigot and got a fun tribal mask to add to our collection.  later we circled back for some lunch, because i never turn my back on french cuisine!  on the opposite side of the island, we basked and snorkeled some more at Dawn beach.  the Westin has a resort there, and with good reason.  the beach has beauty to spare and the water is amazing.  it was luxury at it's finest.

 that day i started to develop a nagging little toothache. annoying....

that night i couldn't even chew my dinner.....

the next day, a day at sea, i was in full blown tooth disaster mode!!!!  there was nothing i could do but pound Tylenol, hold an ice pack on my face, and for some reason applying pressure to the tooth helped.  oh, and pray i could make it another 4 days before seeing a dentist.  isn't this a great vacation photo?

 thankfully, 'round the clock tylenol dosing seemed to keep everything in check.  though i was far from feeling good, i wasn't chasing after 3 kids, so that perspective helped me relax and enjoy the rest of my trip.  our final port was in the Bahamas, a private cruise line owned island called, Half Moon Cay.  it was my favorite beach day because i got to lay on my tummy for the first time in months!  (and even out my very 1 sided tan) we rented mats and floated out in the clearest water i've ever seen.  we didn't get to do much snorkeling though, the reef was a little too far for me.  Jason didn't feel like lugging me back the 300 yds to shore, even though i swore i could make it!  probably a safe call on his part. 

the whole day Jason kept saying, the seagulls look so different than at home.  since i am pretty much blind, i assured him they were regular seagulls.  i was wrong, they are hyper color seagulls, so unbelievably white, with deep black beaks and bright red mouth, just beautiful against the pure blue sky!  so picturesque!

we wanted to do some exploring in Florida.  good thing we didn't.  by an unfortunate accident we ended up taking the wrong piece of luggage.  luckily, the owner of that luggage found us before we unwittingly checked her bag to Phoenix.  and we had to cab it  back to port to get our bag.  a little hastle, but thankfully we had the time! 

once the clock struck noon, i called my endodontist for an appointment asap!  i promptly had a root canal upon my return home!  it never felt so good to by numbed up before!  i'm still recovering a little from that, but i feel sooooo much better. 

the kids had a blast, as usual, with my parents.  i think they were more sad to see my dad leave than they were happy to have us home. i'm not offended, i'm glad.  i want them to want us to go on vacation!!!!!