Dan & I attended a culinary show hosted by the master chef. We learned some practical dishes and cooking techniques we can use in our own kitchen.
Here I'm at the champagne fountain celebration with cruise director Beata. We adopted her into our family since she was homesick on Christmas.
Dan, James, John & I stopped during the celebration (they even had fake snow for us to dance in) to say cheese.
During the cruise the cousins (John, Dave, Amanda, Emily, Dan & James) had a lot of great time together.
Our favorite dessert of the cruise was the Love Boat Dream. It was small but sure a lot of chocolate!
Dave found 20 dollars on the floor and we decided to blow it fast in the Casino before a snow one evening. However, he just kept winning!
This cute couple sure enjoyed their time together and cruise. If we couldn't find them, we knew to find a dance floor; they would be cutting a rug somewhere on board.
Traveling with 13 people is a lot of fun. Here we are posed on our formal night on Christmas Eve. Can you tell Dan is feeling a bit sick?
James & I took Cha Cha lessons together during the day so we could show off our talent to the family later that evening.
John, James, Dan & I entered a very intense Gingerbread House Making contest. We had a set amount of supplies and only 45 minutes to make our creation.
Our ship and a Carnival cruise ship docked the same time at St. Marten. It was a bit overwhelming to stand between both amazing ships.
Our first port stop was at St. Marten. Dan & I spent the day alone together and had a wonderful time walking through the market, taking a catamaran to separate beach and snorkeling.
There's nothing like some cold rum punch after drinking a lot of salt water from laughing while snorkeling!
Our second port stop was at St. Thomas. We spent the day on a tour with Dan's parents. It was great having some alone time with them too.
On our St. Thomas tour we drove to the top of a mountain overlooking famous Megan's Bay. Just than it started to sprinkle and a rainbow went down into the bay...completely amazing. I can see why it is one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world!
Here is our transportation as we toured the island. It's a bit scare riding on the different side of the road as you wind up mountains!
St. Thomas was once a pirate sanctuary. We toured the famous Black Beard's Castle and learned a bit more about the island's dark history.
Heidi and I pounded the pavement in St. Thomas at the markets. We found some good deals and found some bad deals too.
It was great getting home and getting the kids back. We meet my sister in Sioux Falls (she had Zac at that time) and took him for a day to see Grandma and Grandpa (and his 4-wheeler). Heidi and got Ralph the captain's hat and I got Zac a pirate hat so they showed them off together.
