Day Five-At Sea

Papa and Will at breakfast

Day number five was spent at sea. The kids enjoyed the character breakfast complete with funny hats made from napkins. Rhian and Jordan also participated in the kid program produced show "Friendship Rocks!" Will especially loved the unlimited chocolate pastries at breakfast!

Jordan and Nana

Taylor channeling Goofy

Group shot with Mr. Mouse

Rhian with a beautiful bow!

Grandparents and Grandkids

Cuba! You could see Cuba from our stateroom balcony.

Day Four-Cozumel, Mexico

The port in Cozumel.

We sailed through the night and arrived in Cozumel first thing in the morning. It was a cool rainy day in Mexico but we still had a great time. We blew all of our money on a shore excursion for Amie, the girls and the Grandparents to swim with the Dolphins. It was the highlight of the trip for them! It was something that Amie has always wanted to do and I am glad she got to do it! That night we celebrated with a pirate themed dinner on board the ship. What a great day!


Three Pirates!

This is the kind of factory store that I can get behind!

Jordan goes for a Dolphin ride!

Rhian too!

Even Papa got into the act.

Amie got to fulfill her lifelong dream of swimming with the Dolphins.

Jordan shaking "hands".

Taylor gets a kiss.

Taylor basking in the "fun"!

Rhian

Rhian gets a kiss.

Taylor goes for a ride!

Making new friends!

Smoochy, Smoochy!

Day Three-Grand Cayman Island

The port on Grand Cayman

Nana, Pop and the girls make landfall.

Three hams at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville

There are still pirates in these waters!

There were these enormous Iguanas all over the island. Some were almost five feet long from nose to tail. Amie was not impressed!

Taylor and Will on Six Mile Beach

Jordan soaking up some rays!

Rhian and Jordan enjoy the ocean.

After a day at sea we made port on Grand Cayman Island. We spent the day sight-seeing and lounging on famous Six Mile Beach. It was a beautiful, warm Caribbean day. The kids all enjoyed swimming in the ocean, except for Will who did not care much for the "saucy water". It was a tad shocking to see the tremendous reach of American franchise restaurants. On the cab ride to the beach we passed a KFC, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns and a Wendy's. Who goes to grand Cayman for a Frosty? We did pass an interesting Irish pub called Fidel O'Riellys. It featured a leprechaun on the sign with a striking likeness to Fidel Castro. It was very relaxing day!

Day Two

This is our waitress, Daniella. She was from Serbia and has visited Poland many times. She even taught us some key phrases in Polish, like "Beer Please!" She was very smitten with Jordan who collected the chocolates from her pillow every night and gave them to her.

This is Taylor on our formal night. She looks so grown up!

Sunset at sea.

Will enjoying the water jets!

Will rides the Mickey slide!

Jordan on the slide platform. What a ham!

Our second day was spent at sea, enjoying all that the ship had to offer. The kids lounged around the pool and we had a formal dinner that evening. Will was especially fond of the 'water jets' in the kiddie pool. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed soaking up some of the Caribbean sun.

Day One-Key West, FL

Land Ho! (This might be my favorite William picture of all time!)

The port in Key West.

We arrived in Key West and spent the day wandering around the island. We took in the original Margaritaville, Sloppy Joe's bar, the Truman summer White house, Ernest Hemmingway's home, the beach where Tennessee Williams used to write and the southern most point in the continental United States. In other words, we did that sucker up Griswald style! Dad got a little cranky by the end of the day! Thank God for booze! Dad was also battling a serious bout of nicotine withdrawal and was not on his best behavior! Still, we managed to have a great time shopping and so forth. We would all love to go back and spend some more time there!

The family at the southern-most point in the continental United States. As you can see, Will showed his excitement by collapsing asleep! I think that comes from Grandpa Dave?

Amie and Bill as we were docking.

The girls at the southern-most beach in America.

World Famous!

In front of the Hemmingway house.

Taylor was psyched to see this sign!

Caribbean Vacation 2009

Sunset in Port Canaveral as we set out to "sail the seeds", as Will says

Buddies at the cast off party

Perhaps they don't get enough attention at home?

Taylor, Papa Bill and Uncle Billy at the cast off party

Taylor and Will waiting to board the ship.

Will was not all that happy about the safety drill!

Given our abuse of prescription medication, we once again found ourselves in an altered state and agreeing to travel with all of our offspring. No simple weekend excursion would get it done for us, we had to take them out of the country! Damn those opiates! We embarked on a Disney brand cruise to the Caribbean this past week. Over the coming days I will be posting the highlights of that trip, as best as I can remember them (we consumed a tremendous amount of rum). I am sure all of our blog followers will be excited (both of you!) to see our vacation unfold. Today's installment: cast off and day one in Key West, Florida. Get ready to live!