Lake Powell & Family Cruise

Kickin myself in the butt right now that it took me so long to write about the end of the summer adventures. Hopefully not too many details are forgotten. The end of August Audrey, Megynn, and I went to Lake Powell with the group LDS.Meet.Me which puts on this event every year.  You just pay the price and show up and your food, gas, and all the boating time you want is covered. It said it was ages 24-35 I believe so we thought perfect we'll be the young ones in the group for once! Well we got there and we were DEFINITELY the young ones by far. Most of the people there were over 30 and a lot were divorced with kids. We were a little disappointed at first because we felt super out of place and disconnected from the majority of people. Luckily Audrey knew Caden and he was 24 and his buddy Tyler was 26 so the 5 of use got acquainted and stayed together the whole 4 days. 



As days went on we obviously became tight with other people that we met on the boats we were on and through the other activities. They had the blob, paddle boards, volleyball, color fight, dancing every night, and some get to know you games. At first it was hard to separate from our group when we were on different boats but in the end we were glad because we did become tight with other people and it made the trip more enjoyable.
It was a great time making memories with Audrey and Megynn. I wish Megynn wasn't in PA school so she could be our 3rd travel buddy! We get along so great.

Then I was home for a week then headed on our family cruise. We left at 5:00am and we got to Miami around 2:00pm which was great because we had to be at the ship by 4:00. There was a small lightning storm so they wouldn't let our bags through the conveyor belt. We waited til about 3:30pm and then made the decision that me the boys and my mom would go to the ship to see if we could get them to hold it, and my dad would wait for the bags. Super stressful time and we got to the port and they said my dad really has til 4:30pm. My dad got the bags 15 minutes after we left and got in a taxi to make it just in time. We were the last people on the ship but we had our bags so we were good to go! The boys and I had an ocean view room which was a surprise so we were excited, then mom and dad were 7 floors above us!
That night we chilled and got acquainted with the ship and all the food they had. Sunday we had our first stop at Half Moon Cay. It was super hot but we all loved how warm and clear the water was. We did the beach Olympics activity, paddle boarded, and got our base tan for the week. Monday was a day at sea, so nothing super exciting just swimming, sleeping, eating, volleyball, corn hole, & a Trivia party.

Tuesday we stopped in St. Thomas and holy cow I LOVE that place! We did a little bit of shopping, then took the sky tram up to the top where you can see a nice view of the boats and town. Then we did our mini-boat excursion. It was just the 5 of us so we got to go fast in the boats and didn't have to wait on anyone. My mom and I were in the back with my dad driving and we felt like we were in a James Bond movie, catching air and feeling like you're going to fall out of the boat. We got to our snorkel spot and saw a sting ray & 2 turtles! That was cool for all of us to see.

Then we had some extra time to kill, so we drove the boats around and saw some sweet ocean side mansions. Then at the end my mom and I had to pee so we took turns hanging off the side of the boat to pee, it was pretty hilarious. That wrapped up our day in St. Thomas and we all agreed it was our favorite. That night consisted of more Trivia party with our cruise director Mike which is where he plays songs of the decade that he is doing that night and then calls people out of the audience to embarrass themselves in a relatable way to the song. Then he also would call out to the people in the glass elevators to dance and shake their booty. It was something we looked forward to every night after dinner!
Wednesday we were in Puerto Rico! Cari Anne (Trennon's GF) lives there so her family picked us up and took us Zip Lining! We got there late cause of traffic and we didn't think we were going to be able to do it at all cause there was a huge school group in front of us. But her parents worked their magic and we were able to do 7 of the 8 lines. It was so much fun flying through the jungle at fast speeds! We then went to eat afterwards at a "Puerto Rican" restaurant and it was fun getting to know Cari Anne and her family a little better! :)
 
Thursday we ported in Grand Turk and we hung out on the beach and at the Margaritaville pool until it was time for our Power Snorkel excursion. We took a drive to another beach area and got instructions on how to work the machine and then headed out. It was so cool cause you can cover way more distance and not be nearly as tired. We didn't see much animal life, they took us to the 7,000 foot drop off which was crazy and then we just had fun playing and swimming around! We then swam some more at the pool and played with the ball we bought and then we unwillingly had to get back on the boat. The last stop is always the hardest :(  
                                                                          Friday was another day at sea and we SLEPT a lot and ate and enjoyed our last day of no cell service and being together as a family. It was such a fun vacation and one I'll always cherish because it was just us 5 with no distractions and our full attention to one another. Here is the link for the video I made of the trip! Www.vimeo.com/joyfilmz/udallcruise