Day in Progresso

Our next day was spent in Progresso. Once you get off the ship, you have to ride a steaming hot bus up the pier and into the city. Here's my SIL ready for her first day off the boat!

 And, my mom and I. 

Once we got off, we did some shopping. I bought the girls cute little dresses, a little trinket box for G, a fan for myself, and a giraffe for MC. The dresses were the most expensive at $10.00 each, but the great thing about the shopping, is that you can barter for everything. The annoying thing is that all of the vendors are bugging you to come in and it's borderline harassment. 

After we left the market, we started our walk down to the beach. We came across this American man sitting outside his store, and he told us that he set up the store to help the villagers. I'm not sure if his story was 100% legit, but he was convincing, and that's where I got MC the cutest giraffe for only $7.00. He also recommended a restaurant on the beach, that had tables on the beach, great food, and restrooms. 

Here's Chrissy at our table, with her $1.00 fan. 

 And, my mom and I. Pardon my messy hair- it was hot. 

 And Tiffany....

 This was Tiffany's very first time in the ocean!

 And me.....

And my mom and Tiffany swimming in the ocean. Good for them, because I get the heeby jeebey's when swimming in the ocean. I'm terrified of jelly fish. 

We ate chips and salsa, their version of queso, and nachos- all of it was superb then we started our trip back to the boat. 

 We had to walk all the way back to the market where we were dropped off by the buses, and I took a photo of the streets. 

 We finally made it back to the ship: 

 Here's my SIL and I before boarding the boat. 

 There's the port at Progresso!

Our First Cruise Day & Crazy Hats

Tuesday morning, we woke up to this:

I think this my favorite part of a cruise.... being on the deck and looking out and seeing nothing but beautiful blue ocean and gorgeous blue skies. I look at it, and just know that i'm in the middle of such  peaceful surrounding, and I know that God is near. It's just so relaxing. And, breathtaking.

We layed out in the sun for a few hours and did some swimming. Our ship had two pools, and I was so thankful, because most of the kids were in the larger pool with the slide. On my last cruise, I got in the pool once, because there were so many darn kids.

My mom and her friend, Libby, left us and found a cool shady spot to do some reading. We found them once we got hungry.

 Here's my SIL, Tiffany, while we were waiting for the buffet to open.

 And here I am on the first sea day.

That afternoon, Tiffany and I joined my grandma for the art auction. This is actually one of my favorite activities on the ship, and I think it's a much kept secret. Not only do you get to sip on free champagne and view art works worth thousands of dollars, but it's also educational, and you win free stuff! Before this auction, I was not a fan of Kincaid's artwork, but after learning about his work, I appreciate it more.

After the art auction, we showered and fancied up for our more formal dinner night. My SIL and I decided that we all needed to wear fancy hats like they do in England and for the Kentucky Derby, in order to have a little fun. We really wanted to have a theme night for our little group every night, but then we realized, it would be a lot of extra packing.

Here's my mom and SIL on our hat night.

 And my SIL and myself. I think my SIL and mom purchased their hats from Etsy. My little headband came from Stein Mart, as did my dress.

 Here's me with my mom and grandma.

 That evening the wait staff provided a little bit of entertainment and we got in on the act:

 Here's Libby, Chrissy, and Christine in their hats; they were great sports and went all out with our idea!

 And, my SIL and I waiving our napkins around.

 My grandma had to stand up to see.

 There's our waiter, Wera, or "Honkey Donkey" as he liked to be called.

 And, our entire group with our waiter.

And our dining table friends. The couple sitting is from Germany, and the lady standing lives in Kentucky. The two women have been friends for several years, and they visit each other every summer.

 Here's Chrissy and Christine after dinner.....

Then we changed, because, let's face it, we're all mom's and dresses just aren't comfortable after you're used to wearing sweats all the time!

We were waiting on the comedy show, and I couldn't resist taking a crazy picture.

 And, our towel elephant to complete our first sea day!

Bon Voyage on my 30th

We got up bright and early on my 30th birthday, we showered, dressed, packed, and ate a super delicious breakfast across the street from the hotel in New Orleans. And finally, we left for what we had all been waiting for, for months!

The cruise says that you can start the boarding process between 12 and 2, but we were obviously super excited because we arrived around 10. But, it was so nice to get through the checking in process without standing in long lines and the lady behind the check in counter must have loved us, because she allowed us to board in Zone 1. Meaning, we were the 2nd group on the ship.

 We had to take a group photo before boarding!

When we finally did board, we ate lunch. I should've snapped a picture of it, because lunch was delicious! Then, we walked around the boat. I spent the day snapping pictures on my cell and texting them to DJ so he could show G. At one point he told me she said, "it's a hotel boat!" Exactly, my darling, that's exactly what it was. G knew that I would be gone for a week and that i'd be on a boat, but I know she didn't have a good concept of where I would actually be, especially since we spent the week before hanging out on pop's pontoon boat. 

We made it to our rooms, and this is what we were greeted with:

 Pops and Grandma Dee contacted the cruise line and had our room decorated and left a bottle of my favorite wine! I was so excited, and ready to relax with that bottle!

 The ship was suppose to leave around 4, and at that time we found our way on to the "back porch" to wait. 

 I got bored and started snapping pictures of the river. 

 Here's my mom and I on my 30th birthday! 

And, then we cheered and applauded for this guy to finally remove the ropes!

 And, we almost hit this ferry boat!

 Then we saw this....

 Which I think happens to be one of the most beautiful churches i've ever seen. 

And, it was time to get ready for dinner, so ran down to change. Here's Tiffany (my sister in law) and I before our first dinner on the cruise!

 And my mom and grandma trying to pose as I taught them. I obviously failed with grandma.

 Here's myself, Tiffany, and Chrissy- all the 30 year olds!

 We told our waiter it was my birthday, so he thought he'd make me a cat ear hat from napkins. I'm pretty sure, I said, "what is on my head?!" as he sang me Happy Birthday.

 After dinner, we enjoyed our first show on the ship. 

 And finally found our towel seal on the bed, as we crashed into it!

What a fabulous way to celebrate turning 30!