In St. Maarten on Friday, Jeff, Luke and I took a morning ride on the Lord Sheffield Tall Ship.
My handsome men. Luke wasn't a big fan of his life jacket. He preferred to live dangerously.
Luke cried whenever he was wearing his life jacket on the ship so Jeff and I decided to let him go without it so he could actually enjoy himself. We just held onto him the entire time. A couple of older ladies on the ship clearly didn't agree with our decision.
On the ride to the snorkeling location, the crew handed out drinks and slices of french bread with brie and pear slices on top. I'm not big on fancy cheeses (or pears for that matter) so I discreetly threw the brie and pear overboard and enjoyed my slice of bread.
When we arrived at the snorkel spot, Jeff and I slipped on some flippers, put Luke in his life jacket, grabbed a few pool noodles, and climbed into the water. Luke started to cry immediately as his life jacket floated up around his face. He was only getting more upset and it was really hard to hold Luke in the thick life jacket. I told Jeff we could take Luke's life jacket off and I would just hold him tight while we floated together for a few minutes. The water was calm and only 20 feet deep, Luke and I were floating on three noodles right next to our ship, and I had nothing to focus on except keeping both arms wrapped tightly around my little guy so it really didn't seem like a very life-threatening situation. The ladies I mentioned earlier, however, were appalled, and about ready to call Child Protective Services on me. They made a few comments like, "You know you're really scaring us" and "What would you do if he slipped out of your arms? What would you do??" I told them they didn't need to worry because I wasn't about to let my child slip out of my arms. He was very secure. They stopped talking directly to me, swam a few feet away and started making audible comments about me to each other. Awkward.
Jeff was off snorkeling with our group (only the judgy ladies, Luke, and I stayed behind), where he got to witness an underwater scene made up of cannons, a Neptune statue, and a sunken submarine. He was also the only one in the group to notice a foot-long squid before it quickly vanished from sight.
Meanwhile, back at the ship, Luke and I managed to thoroughly enjoy our time in the water, despite the judgmental onlookers. We floated around talking to the ship captain and a female crew member who were still up on the ship. The crew member woman was very friendly, especially with Luke (she has 5 kids of her own). She threw some bread into the water, in an attempt to lure a few fish for Luke to see, but before any fish could even get a nibble, the birds swooped in. Luke was so excited! He loves birds! A huge grin was permanently plastered to his face. He pointed and laughed and tried to swim after them. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't let him just dive into the water and swim after his friends.
After a while, the captain helped Luke and I back onto the ship, soaking his shirt in the process. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the sea breeze until Jeff returned from snorkeling. Jeff and I were thrilled that we had time to jump off the front of the ship a few times before we sailed back to the cruise ship.
Jeff getting ready for the deceptively long drop to the ocean below
Sweet dive
Jumping off of high objects into water is one of my favorite pass-times.
I hate to get water up my nose, so I always plug it just in case.
This cute little girl is Amber. Luke noticed her right away when we were waiting on the dock before we boarded the Lord Sheffield and the two of them ended up spending a lot of time together on the ship. Amber entertained Luke by making "spiders" out of empty cups, playing cup stacking games, and she let him hold her stuffed turtle for the entire sail back to the cruise ship.
Luke with his plastic cup and stuffed turtle
Jeff and Luke lounging on the warm deck munching on ice cubes.
Luke couldn't get enough of ice on this trip! Just like his Grandma Lamb!
Practicing his fencing skills
Luke and Mommy
Luke fell asleep for the last 15 minutes of the trip back to the cruise ship and he stayed asleep in an awkward position in my arms for the walk to the taxi, the taxi ride back to the ship, the walk down the pier and just as we finished getting through security back on the ship .. he woke up. My arms felt like they were about to fall off and Luke decided that that 25-30 minutes of sleep counted as his nap for the day. At least I got a nice little workout!
That day, the rest of the family (except for Greg, who was watching the girls on the ship) did a kayaking and snorkeling excursion together. As you can probably guess, they had a great time!
Kyle and Steven
Ben and Caitlin
Kyle, Steven, Renita, Caitlin, and Ben. Just look at all of those beautiful palm trees. Talk about a tropical paradise!
Jeff gave Luke a shower in our tiny state-room shower before dinner that night. It was our second (and final) formal dinner and we all needed to look our best. Luke had so much fun playing with the shower head and water ...
Always trying to figure out how things work, just like his daddy.
This boy has the longest eyelashes!
Giggling
Doesn't he clean up nice? And notice the towel monkey on the hanger behind him.
Two little monkeys in Steven and Kyle's room.
We got a bat in our room.
After dinner that night, Jeff and I followed Luke while he cruised around the ship with his brand-new walking skills. He was still dressed in his adorable white button-up shirt and tie so he spent an hour getting a ridiculous amount of attention from just about every person - staff and guests - that walked by.
We finished the day with another game night with the family, made even better by frozen yogurt with rainbow sprinkles and the fact that I kicked butt in the dice game (a Fisher family original). And it should be noted that Steven won in "Mormon Bridge" (not sure why it's called that - it's a variation of the card game, Rook) with a perfect game.
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