Valentines Day

Valentines Trip aboard the Norwegian Dawn

J and I went on a cruise with our best friends for 11 days down in the Carribean.

We stopped in Samana, Tortola, St. Maarten, Antigua, Dominica, Barbados and St. Kitts

What an amazing 2 weeks!

And we did it all WITH OUT KIDS!

Maybe it makes me an emotionally detached mother, but I THOROUGHLY enjoyed time alone with my hubby!

So here are some pics (now I can make you look through vacation trip photos from your computer hahaha) of our adventures.

The statistics show the average "cruiser" gains an average of 3 lbs per day!

We tried to fight the average by taking stairs and walking/exercising every day, but alas fell victim to the weight gain curse.

The BEST way to explore and view the islands is by scooter, hands down!

Just watch out for hot mufflers they tend to leave nasty burns (Ask J)
The Gorda Baths
I discovered a new love for snorkeling!

Saw some amazing shows aboard the ship, one of our favorites was the Hypnotist.

Actually we went to a few free seminars about sleeping better and diet and such and came home with a thumb drive of all his hypnosis stuff. We use them regularly, especially the sleep one. It's phenominal!

I mean really scooters are awesome, but you actually get to wear incredibly cute helmets too!

While scootering through one of the islands we snuck into a "private beach club" and discovered this amazing beach! Luckily my smart hubby drove us to the Dutch side instead of the french side, that was we wouldn't feel over dressed in our bathing suits. ;)

While I enjoy the "cruising" style, I was frustrated that we didn't have more time to explore.

Barbados!

On this island we chose to do the Sea Turtle excursion, which included snorkeling near the beach, watching ONE sea turtle get fed, and checking out ONE sunken ship. The beach was awesome but we only had about thirty minutes to enjoy it.... I think I should have opted for ONE beach day. hahha

A taste of the islands ice cream in St. Kitts

Oh so delicious!

We had an extra day in Miami when we returned, so we rented a car and drove the Florida Keys with our friends. While exploring we found an endangered bird conservatory...

Some VERY friendly pelicans.

And some really interesting/beautiful architecture. Construction here takes into account some very different types of weather than what we are used to. Tree house on the beach anyone?

We also found a huge Boating Flea market with some very interesting merchandise.

For lunch....

Some alligator and dolphin (also called Mahi Mahi in some places, not the kind of dolphin you're picturing!)

The neatest restaurant ever!

This was the waiting area.

One of the pull offs near the board walks, where we watched some guys on surf boards with parasails... don't remember what it's called. But it was beautiful, even a little over cast and it was warm!

What an amazing two weeks!

I don't think I could ever get tired of seeing palm trees and being warm.

Maybe this will have to become an annual thing!