Fall Happenings

So much has been happening this fall in the midst of school, and I wanted to make sure and document these things for our family.

We took a walk on a beautiful afternoon. We happened to meet a neighbor down the street that owns a horse boarding facility.  She called her personal horses over to the fence and allowed the girls to jump the fence and feed them some apples she brought out. This was the highlight of their day (well probably their whole month), and Ms. Phyllis told us we could come back anytime.

More soccer games were played. 16 to be exact. I love watching my girls play, but I will be glad when we can have our Saturdays back.

Brooke had Market Day at school.  She made makeup containers to barter with, and she was thrilled to dress up in this costume.

This little one also represented her class in the Spelling Bee. I was so proud of her for making it! She was pretty nervous on the day of the bee, and she said she didn't want to do it ever again. 

We went to the Fall Festival at some friends' church like we do most years.  The girls have fun running around with their friends and of course getting candy and their face painted.

Some of them like getting their face painted over and over.  It looks like she made it back four different times until she ran out of face to be painted.

Kayla went on her first overnight trip with school.  The 7th graders went to the Creation Museum and the Ark in Kentucky. She was only gone a couple of nights, but she had an awesome time.  She talked about it non-stop until we forced her to get in bed and go to sleep.

We finally took the girls back to Dollywood. This is probably their favorite place to visit, and they were so excited we were going again.

Somehow my baby is big enough (barely) to ride the Wild Eagle. I wasn't ready for her to ride that, and neither was she. Once we got close to it being our turn she was getting really worried. Her eyes started misting with tears and I almost jumped out of line with her.  Marc kept saying she would be fine.  As we started she was not happy and scared. I kept telling her how brave she was and how she was finally riding the Wild Eagle.  About halfway through she said, "I'm doing it! Sissies, I'm doing it!" She loved it! I'm so proud of her for overcoming her fears! Now she may have a permanent indentation where I was gripping onto her leg...

We've bought the picture for each of their first times riding the Wild Eagle. Too funny.

This picture make me laugh every. single. time. It is hilarious.  Kayla and I have the same exact look on our faces, and Brooke and Macy have the same look.  That's the one that cracks me up.

It was a chilly day, but we had such a great time.  The girls thought we were driving back home after we left the park, but we surprised them with a night at a hotel. Marc has high hopes of pulling off a Dollywood day trip one day soon. We shall see...

Headed Home

On our last day at sea we enjoyed the pool and food some more.  The girls also went to the towel animal class where they learned to make several animals. They really enjoyed this.

 

Of course they also had to check out the chocolate bar in the afternoon.

Macy and Brooke ordering a pizza. :)

We loved having a balcony for the week.  It gave us some extra space, and perspective.

The girls did a great job ordering each night off the regular menu rather than the kids one.  Marc and I enjoyed trying many of the nightly themed specials, but frog legs were not on my list. I've had them before, but I didn't really want them again.  Of course Marc ordered them thinking he could get the girls to try them - not like HE wanted to try them though. Anyway, Marc asked the waiter to place it in front of Brooke when it came. You can see her reaction below as she figured out what it was.

She is so animated in her facial expressions!

I can't remember what night this was from, but I didn't want to leave off the night we played shuffleboard.  Isn't that a "must do" on a cruise ship??

We enjoyed our Shrimp Basket on the way into town, and we enjoyed our Whataburger on the way home.  We can't pass either stop when we are traveling south!

 

We had such a wonderful week away being unplugged from our busy life. I just love adventures with my little family!

Progreso and Merida

Progreso, Mexico is the port closest to Chichen Itza and other ruins.  Marc and I have been there and remember that as the hottest day of our lives. So we opted to take a tour into the capital city of Merida. It was about a 45 minute ride, and it had a beautiful city center. Our tour took us around some of the buildings, and then we enjoyed a "local" lunch before heading back.

This cathedral was one of the oldest in the Americas.  The inside wasn't as elaborate as the cathedrals we had been in before, but it was still large and impressive. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures from the inside.  Mass was actually going on at the time, and we didn't want to disturb everyone.

Inside the government palace.

Someone was excited to finally get a coke on her vacation.

The market was full of many beautiful items.  These rugs were stunning in their vibrant colors.

This is what the bus ride back to Progreso looked like.

It was a hot, and adventure filled day in Mexico, but we were excited to be back in our air-conditioned room.

Cozumel, Mexico

I first port was Cozumel.  It looked like it was going to rain all day, but the morning was clear and we only had to cut our day short by about 30 minutes.

We took a taxi ride to Paradise Beach.  The kids enjoyed a nice beach area that wasn't too crowded and a beautiful pool too.

Paradise Beach has inflatables in the ocean. It took a little time to figure out how to get around on them, but after a little practice near the shore we were ready to head out.

I only got a few pictures from the day since I left my camera on our chairs. It was surprisingly harder to swim in the open water from one piece to the other, but the girls did great. Climbing up was also a challenge! At one point I fell off the side of one and came up sputtering.  The family got a good laugh out of that one.  On another inflatable the girls would climb out to the end and Marc would jump on and send them flying.  He figured out how to best launch them after sending Macy a couple feet into the air.  Brooke was next and unfortunately she was thrown about 7-8 feet above the water and came crashing down.  After the initial stunned feeling she was back to enjoying her time out there, although she wouldn't let anyone flip her off again!

The girls ended their inflatable adventure with this spinning one. 

They went out on some kayaks.

And tried a little paddle boarding as well.

We ordered lunch from the bar menu, but Kayla opted for some tacos from the taco truck.  She loved them and we had to order her a third.

Back to the ship to clean up for dinner. Tomorrow would be our final stop in Progreso.