Cruisin' with the Holders!

So much has gone on this past week!! I will start with my ultrasound. We found out we are having a healthy, slightly modest little boy!! He only gave us a quick glance to determine if we were having a boy or a girl. Even though it was a quick glance there is no mistaking it is a boy! I have a DVD with part of the ultrasound, but I can not for the life of me figure out how to post it here. It is different from any other DVD I have dealt with. If I ever figure it out, I will post it on here. Until then, here are pictures of his face and profile.

Now we just need to figure out a name for this little boy. So far the name the kids and I like is Preston, but Chris isn’t too fond of that name. So we will see. Feel free to offer any suggestions!

Last night we got home from our first family cruise. We went on a Carnival cruise and went to Cozumel and Progreso. The kids had a blast! Our adventures started with the ride there. We stopped for a potty break and somehow as we were unloading or loading a bird flew into our van. Chris, Sean, Hannah and Matthew were the first to return to the van. Matthew told Chris there was a bird in the back of the van. Chris didn’t believe him at first, but then the bird started flying into the windows trying to get out. They quickly unloaded and opened all the doors. That is about the time Rebeckah, Austin and I got to the van. They told us what was going on and I had to ask them to repeat that because I couldn’t believe they said a BIRD was in the van!

Hannah's reaction to seeing the ship.

The kids were not thrilled about the life jackets!

The whole family as we were setting sail.

On our first full day as sea the kids went to their clubs for a while. We were so thankful that there was a club for Sean and that he actually liked going to the club. In the afternoon Sean and I stayed in my room and tried to nap (we had to get two rooms because our family is too big for one room….we divided up boys in one room and girls in the other). While Sean and I tried to nap (which never happened by the way), Chris took the other kids to the pool. They wanted to go down the big slide. As our luck would have it, the slide was closed that day. So they swam a bit and then got in the hot tub.

Rebeckah's self portrait.

The slide the kids never got to use. When it was open, they were too sunburned to want to slide.

Our second full day we were in Cozumel. We got a day pass to the Wyndham and had access to the beach, pool, unlimited drinks and food. The kids loved the kids pool. It had a swim up bar where they could order virgin daiquiri’s, virgin pina coladas, milk shakes and sodas. They took FULL advantage of that deal! On average they had about 10 drinks each.

Rebeckah chilling in Cozumel with her Pina Colada.

Sean enjoying a banana milkshake.

Hannah enjoying a strawberry daiquiri.

Sean and Rebeckah waiting to order another drink.

Matthew took a picture of my belly.

At the beach they had an inflatable iceberg, a water trampoline and kayaks. Chris took the kids in shifts to the beach while I kept an eye on our stuff and Sean. The girls went first. Rebeckah tried to climb the iceberg while Hannah combed the beach for sea shells. When Chris took the boys to the beach Austin and Matthew climbed the iceberg, slid down the iceberg and jumped on the water trampoline. Rebeckah later took Chris out in a kayak. It depends on who tells the story, but one of them tipped the kayak. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures of the beach activity.

After five hours at the hotel, we headed back to the ship. We stopped in the shops so the kids could each pick out a souvenir. Sean fell asleep in the taxi and slept through the entire shopping trip. He woke up just as we were walking on to the ship.

We docked in Progreso on our third full day. We didn’t get off the ship that day, instead Hannah, Austin and Sean went to their clubs while Chris, Rebeckah, Matthew and I watched the movie of the day; National Treasure….The Book of Secrets. After the movie Rebeckah went around taking pictures of the ship. She plans on posting them on her blog.

The second longest pier in the world. It is 4.6 miles long.

Hannah had her face painted in her club.

Austin playing putt-putt golf with his kids club.

Hannah playing golf with her kids club.

On Wednesday (the last full day at sea), Hannah and Austin decorated cookies and then Hannah competed in an ice cream eating contest. After the kids ice cream contest they did a contest with the dads. Chris was napping with Sean in the room, so he couldn’t compete. When they called for the moms to compete, Hannah wouldn’t let me participate. She drug me away telling me ice cream wasn’t good for the baby! Later I asked her if she would have been embarrassed if I had participated in the contest and she said she would. To be honest I was a bit relieved. I wasn’t too thrilled about the thought of freezing my face.

The ice cream eating contest

(Hannah is the one in the green shirt in the back.)

Sean showing off the hats he made in his club.

Rebeckah with the friends she made in the teen club.

Pictures I took on our last morning. We were waiting for them to call our section number so we could disembark and start the long journey home.