5 Year Anniversary/Brett's Graduation Cruise

Although my leg was hurt we had to go on with our plan to enjoy a 4 day cruise to Cozumel Mexico. Although there were some things we would have enjoyed more if I had not been a wheel chair, we really enjoyed ourselves! It was nice to get away just the two of us to celebrate together. Special memories were made and the things we were able to do, were a blast. Hopefully the next time we go one of us won't be a cripple!

I can't get the text to be directly under each picture to describe it, each number describes what each picture is as you go down.

1.) Finally rented a wheel chair (that cost a whopping $85 to rent RIDICULOUS!)and headed to our first dinner (6/2) in the Windstar Dining Room.

2.) The first day at sea (6/3) we spent a lot of the day just walking around the boat, checking things out. When finally figured out a way to get my wheel chair up to an open deck, there was a rain storm...but we weren't getting wet! The ship was able to maneuver and we were sailing BETWEEN 2 patches of rain. Very cool!

3.) First day at sea's evening dinner was "formal" attire. You can't really see our clothes, but Brett wore his suit and I wore a black dress I bought in Houston the few days before.

4.) Each evening there is a show with music and choreography. I especially enjoyed this one since it was Country music themed, even if it was the EXACT same show I saw the last time I was on the boat (3 years ago!)

5.) Each evening when the staff cleans your room and turns down your bed the fold up a towel animal. There was a different one every night!

6.) Brett's favorite thing on board! The 24 hour ice cream machine! He visited it SEVERAL times!

7.) A pic of Cozumel as we were getting off the ship. It was a little rainy that day as well, but made pretty pics of the sky.

8.) Brett in one of the shops looking for a pair of sunglasses. He wasn't prepared for any kind of haggling, but the shops owner knew I was and quickly came to haggle with me after I loudly told Brett the price he was asking was WAY too much! It's funny that they will do just about anything to get you to buy things in their stores!

9.) We planned to do the Mayan Ruins tour before I hurt my leg, but since I was unable to do the walking we decided to do the tour called the Scoot Coupe. It was basically a glorified go kart that traveled around the island with a few different stops. This pic is to show off Brett's helmet. Now...most of you know that our children have/had ginormous heads. What your probably didn't know is that they get it from their dad! Brett's regular motorcycle helmet is a Adult XXL. (Now you see why our kids get it from him.) But the HILARIOUS thing about this pic is that the helmet given to him on our tour was a Youth XS! Bahahaha! It looked a lot more funny in real life, but I got a huge kick out of it. Eventually I traded him!

10.) Pic of us in the scoot coupe as we pulled up to one of our stops.

11-14.) One of the stops was a restaurant. We ate and were able to walk along the beach and took lots of pics. Several beautiful views of the "resort like" restaurant and the water. Several pics were taken!

15-16 and 18.) Another place we stopped on the tour was called "The Lookout." More views of ocean waves crashing up on the rocks and neat things on the beach.

17.) We were walking along (well I was limping along!) and saw a hermit crab! I've seen these in pet stores and my sister, Krista, actually owned one, but it was super cool to see one in it's own environment. We actually saw another small one, but it wouldn't hold still long enough for a picture.

19.) After the Scoot Coupe tour we did a little shopping. It's by far a tourist city! They say the shops are only open on the days a cruise ship docks and as soon as the ship leaves, they close down! We bought a few souvenirs for the kids and ourselves, but also glanced around in a jewelry store. Shops like this we figured were set in stone on prices, so we only planned to "look." Looking in a jewelry store is NEVER a good idea, especially in a place like Cozumel. They "capture" buyers and really try to lure you in. We looked at a few tanzanite rings. Gold is outrageous right now, so anything we looked at was sterling silver, but even then things seemed high. They kept saying if you buy this ring then you get this necklace for free! (Supposedly the necklace was $500 if you just bought it outright from the store.) I wasn't in love with the ring that she showed me, but asked if there were any others similar in price (about $100) or cheaper to the one she showed us. She brought us back a couple that were more expensive...$175 and $215. Well of course the one that was $215 was the one I liked (That's how they get you!) It's was neat to look at the rings, but still in the back of my head I knew Brett was going to smack me into reality that we were absolutely not going to do this. But he seems to be okay with getting it than me! I'm trying to convince myself this isn't a good idea and he said, "But Kayla you're going to get the necklace too!" But then the lady said.. "Ummm, no. The necklace not free with this ring." Disappointed, that's when I realized it wasn't mean to be. I nicely told the lady that was probably the deal breaker, and that if I wasn't going to get the necklace too, it definitely wasn't worth $215 for a Sterling silver ring. Disappointed she said okay, and I told Brett to just hurry up and leave. (I felt a little bad, because we kinda mislead a sale for her, but I really didn't want to spend that much money anyways.) He wheeled my out of the store and down the street, and we then hear... "Wait, wait a minute. I talk to boss. Come back in!" A little annoyed we returned to the store, but actually I was excited because I didn't know you could "haggle"at a store like this! She punched a few numbers for us and asked what we wanted to do. She said she could sell us the ring I wanted for for $179. I then asked about the necklace too. She said the necklace wasn't possible. So I told Brett again it was just time to go. She freaks and then said "More money off?!" All in all she go the ring down to $130 from $215. It was still probably more than we should have spent, but it was a neat experience and the a souvenir that will last a lifetime!

20, 22-23.) In 2005 GGma and GGpa took our family on a cruise for their 50th anniversary. These pics are reenactments of silly pics taken on that trip. Most of you that were on that trip will remember! :)

21.) Chocolate Melting Cake. This was the best dessert on the ship! I had it every night at dinner (along with a few others in addition to it on some nights!)

24.) Sitting IN THE SUN on one of the decks! (Yes everyone, I actually sat in the sun on this trip!)

25.) Playing our favorite game in the study of the ship. It might be more fun on trip than when we just play at home!

Well, that's the trip in a nutshell!!! I hope you enjoy the pics!