Day 3 - Day At Sea

On Day 3, we spent the day at sea.  It started off chilly, but by the end of the day it had definitely warmed up.  Alyssa spent the majority of the day with her new friends swimming and hanging out in the hot tub. Alaina spent the day on the water slides, playing miniature golf, and playing ping pong.

Oh yeah, and I may have paid the girls each a dollar to go dance with some drunk lady.  They just thought she was really happy. Yep, mom of the year...

Alyssa dancing with the waiters at dinner

A friend met us back in our cabin:

Day 4 - Nassau

On day 4 we went to Nassau in The Bahamas on a shore excursion to Atlantis. Loved this place - we definitely could have spent more than 1 day here.

Our Ship

Another friend...

Day 5 - Freeport

On Day 5, we had a shore excursion in Freeport.  We all got sunburned the day before, so we bought the girls hats to hide from the sun. We rented a car and drove out to Lacayan National Park.  There, we did a little hiking and explored caves.  

 Then, we hiked through a swamp to a very beautiful and remote beach.

My relaxing view from the beach.  That's my feet with the girls chasing Ryan in the background.

For our friends and family back in Indiana who were building snowmen, here's a sandman we built :)

 More fun pictures

  

Day 6 - Our Final Day At Sea

Our final day at sea was a chilly one.  It was too cold to swim or even spend any time outside, so we found lots of shows and activities to keep us entertained.  Any day that starts off with a chocolate fountain HAS to be good!

Later, we played a scavenger hunt game which included dressing this poor man up as a pretty woman...

  We ran out of time in the Bahamas to get the girls braids, so we had their hair done on the ship:

The girls cashed in their tickets from the arcade and picked out these lovely prizes:

We also played Win, Lose, or Draw and a 90's music trivia game.  The girls finally got up the nerve to sing karaoke in front of a crowd and did a great job!!!  Here's a short clip:

The girls and I volunteered Ryan for a game where he had to blow up a balloon and knock plastic cups off a table.  He beat his competitor and won a trophy.  So proud!!!

The girls with our waiter, Delroy:

The girls talked Ryan into buying them giant lollipops

Day 7 - Debarking the Ship in Charleston, Museums in Raleigh, & Back Home Again

Our final day of vacation started off early.  We were off the ship by 7:30 a.m. and walked to our car in Charleston.  The girls slept most of the 4 hours back to Raleigh.  Our flight didn't leave until 5:30pm, so we killed time checking out the free museums

Overall, it was a fantastic trip filled with wonderful memories!