Trip with the cousins - Jamaica

Our third and final stop on the cruise was Montego Bay, Jamaica. We went to a beach club for the day on recommendation from BIL#2's friend from work. It was a nice place, not as many amenities as the beach in Cozumel, but it was nice.

J & M playing with the underwater camera






Girls burying O in the sand


and turning her into a mermaid


B eating a Jamaican Patty


DH & I came to Jamaica before to run a half marathon with S#2 & BIL#2. We got in a van and were driven from the airport to the resort.  We left only to run the race, and stayed the rest of the time on the nice compound of the resort. I now realize that the resort protected us from the multitude of Jamaicans asking us to buy stuff, braid our hair, buy more stuff, eat their food, look at their stuff, braid our hair, and buy more stuff . They blocked you walking down the street, they came up to you while lounging in a chair on the beach, they even approached you while floating in the water (he was the Water salesman, he said it was his schtick). Although the beach was nice, the water was nice, the reef was nice, I didn't like the experience that much. I would go back to Jamaica but I would go to a resort.

Trip with the cousins - Grand Cayman

The next stop on the cruise was Grand Cayman. S#2 planned a snorkeling/stingray city tour for the family.

We had to take a tender from the cruise ship to the port. It was a confusing process and we barely made our tour.  One temder later and we would have missed it. We did get to see the cool pirate ship while nervously waiting our turn.


The boat tour took us snorkeling first.







M


S#2


DH (and J behind him)


A

Next we went to see the stingrays.  This was a cool experience. They were creepy when they swam around your legs, but they felt so soft. We all kissed the stingrays for good luck. Unfortunately, something happened with the camera. All of the pictures from snorkeling were saved but none of pictures or video from the stringrays were there. They disappeared. A took this picture from the boat of stringrays in the water.


The bus driver for the tour was interesting. He kept stopping the bus to point out the iguanas. The iguanas were imported to the island years ago and, without a natural predator, they have multiplied. The driver especially liked to see iguana road kill. A took this cool picture of an iguana on the abandoned boat at the dock.



Back on the cruise ship, A&E were disappointed that the stingray pictures went missing, so they re-enacted it for us using their souvenir stuffed stingrays. They hung one blue blanket from the top bunks for the sky and the other blue blanket for the water.

A surprised


E nervous


E holding the sting ray


A kissing the sting ray for 7 years of good luck


E kissing the sting ray for 7 years of good luck


We had a nice time in G.C. Next time I'd like to check out the beaches. The water there was unreal, so clear and so blue, I imagine the beaches are beautiful too.

Trip with the cousins - Cozumel

Our first stop on the cruise was Cozumel, Mexico. BIL#2 had a recommendation from a friend to go to Paradise Beach. It had lots of chairs for adults to lounge and lots of toys for kids (and adults) to play on.

the toys


lounging


hair wrapping


DH climbing the iceberg


he made it!


and so did M


E on the slide


A on the slide


B off the slide


J under a big splash


J without the splash


A&E on the beach


B's souvenir from Cozumel - a blue panther Mexican wrestling mask

After lots of guac & chips, fish & shrimp tacos, Miami Vices, snokeling and playing we headed back to the ship. It was a long day of sun and fun.

Trip with the cousins - New Orleans Day 2

Sunday morning we had a few hours before we had to board the boat, so we headed downtown to check it out. A made beignets in her class at DECATS this summer and she really wanted to try some at Cafe Du Monde.

We parked the car and checked out the river. See our boat in the distance.



We walked to Cafe Du Monde and encountered this:




Long, long lines. We were ready to walk away when DH and I asked each other, 'Isn't there a to-go window?' DH went to check it out, a minute later he was calling my name, telling me to come quick. There is a small room inside at Cafe Du Monde and there were empty tables and we got one. I'm not sure why all those people are waiting in that long line. Ten minutes later, we were eating beignets.




Doesn't he look happy?

We walked around Jackson Square, checked out the art work, found the little bookstore I love, and petted a horse.




It was a quick trip around downtown but worth it. We headed to the dock to meet the cousins. After a long time in line carrying 2-3 12-packs of diet coke (cost-wise, I decided it was cheaper to bring my own diet coke on board, and BIL#2 helped me out carrying them through the line), we were finally aboard and heading out to sea.

Trip with the cousins - New Orleans

We spent the last week on a vacation with S#2 and family.  We took a week long cruise out of New Orleans.  It was a nice vacation and fun was had by all.

The cruise left on Sunday but we drove in on Friday so we could enjoy a few days in New Orleans. Saturday S#2 & the kids and I met up with friends from Kazakhstan at the New Orleans Zoo. DH and I have been to New Orleans several times but this was my first chance to go to the zoo.



Crazy B!


S#2 thought this was funny so I took a picture. One monkey is eating bugs from the other monkey's armpit. I told her I would blog it and I don't think she believed me.






Kids in a tree


Kids in a net


Enjoying the "Cool Zoo"

After the zoo, we went to the one spot I really wanted to hit while in town, Frankie & Johnny's.  I told S#2 about it and she said her friend had already mentioned it for lunch. I got a shrimp po-boy and shared fried pepper rings with DH.


The food was as good as I remembered. After lunch we had another N.O. tradition that I had never experienece before, snoballs. The line to get one was a testament to how popular the place is.






After my big lunch, I decided to skip the snoballs. S#2 got a limeade and made me regret my decision. Too bad, but I wasn't going to wait in line for another 30 minutes for one of my own. If we ever make it back, I know exactly what I'll order.

At the end of the day we headed out to a Zephyrs game.  We were suppose to go on Friday night but there was a horrendous rainstorm and it was cancelled.  We were treated to a double header instead.


The ballpark was nice and small.  It was bobblehead night.  The bobblehead was the coach of the LSU baseball team and I had no clue who he was, but he used to coach at ND, so we'll keep it. The baseball bingo was fun to play, almost as fun as scoring a game. One of the kids got a baseball tossed to them.  None of the other kids pouted over not getting a ball.  It was a very nice end of a very nice day.