We Took our Talents to South Beach

Not really. But I promised Andrew that I would use that as the post title because someone is still a little bitter about losing Lebron to Miami.

We actually took our talents to Cape Canaveral and boarded a ship for the Bahamas. Spoiled rotten? Yes. But after one of the most frustrating/stressful summers ever, we needed something to look forward to. Call it, vacation therapy. We are big fans of such things. (For those who are interested, Andrew DID in fact get his application turned in to over 60 residencies....just in the knick of time).

A big thank you to Grandpa Stacey who watched Luke for our weekend trip. Luckily there is nothing Luke adores more in this world than spending time with his Grandpa (although binkies might come close).

The Boat

We don't have very many pictures on the ship. It was our first cruise and we loved it. From my perspective, it was so nice not to worry about cooking or cleaning or chasing after a little blonde boy. And those afternoon naps...priceless!

This was for the formal dinner night. We were slightly under-dressed.

And this is from the ship as we sailed into Nassau, Bahamas.

Nassau

Fort Fincastle

Can't remember. Maybe a governors palace or something?

It's pink. That was good enough for me.

This guy forced us to take this picture because he wanted a tip. That was the kind of annoying part of Nassau for me. Everyone bugging us for money. For the record, we did NOT give him a tip because he really shoved that gun into Andrew's neck hard when he pretended to apprehend him. It made me mad. Don't upset the pregnant lady in 95 degree weather.

Christ Church Cathedral (first church built here) was my favorite part of Nassau. I wish we had a video because someone was playing the organ and it was absolutely amazing (coming from someone who isn't a huge organ fan). The music just filled the whole room and you can see why with all those pipes.

It rained. I love how my belly catches all the water.

This is the Queens Staircase. The slaves quarried limestone out of this area to build forts, palaces, etc (see the very high walls on either side). After Queen Victoria abolished slavery, the ex-slaves built this staircase as a symbol of climbing out of slavery and dedicated it to the queen by having each step represent a year of her reign. Very cool.

Overall, Nassau was cool and a great place to pick up some inexpensive souvenirs. But it was not that impressive. Even though we were only there a short time, it was difficult to get a sense of the culture. Paradise Island is where I would recommend spending most of your time.

Paradise Island

Just a short taxi trip from Nassau (over a bridge) is Paradise Island, home of the world famous Atlantis Hotel . When I saw people taking pictures of Atlantis from our ship, I thought they were a little weird. Who takes pictures of a hotel? But I must admit that this place was pretty impressive and had amazing beaches.

We had a little too much fun with the sunset pictures. I guess this is becoming a thing, because people will ask me before we go on vacation if we are planning on taking more sunset kissy pictures. Really, we could have come up with some more fun silhouette pictures for hours, but the sunset insisted on leaving us. Which is okay because night swimming in the warm ocean when you have the beach all to yourself is also quite fun.

I had the awesome idea to do handstands but realized quickly that the big weight I have in the front was going to be troublesome. This was the best I could do.

Here is the Atlantis Hotel. Did I mention that this place is HUGE?! We were trying to get from the beach to the hotel and probably spent 1/2 hour wandering through all these different pool areas with waterfalls, lazy rivers, aquariums, etc. I've never seen anything like it.

Cococay

The last day, we sailed to Royal Carribean's private island known as Cococay. Andrew said it was some of the best snorkeling he has ever experienced. I took his word for it and read a book on the beach for hours. Perfect.

The water is SO clear and blue and WARM. Gorgeous!

This guy that Andrew is pointing at literally spent the entire day walking in the ocean with a metal detector looking for who knows what. So funny.

And that's about it. The only regret was that I didn't look closer when I bought sunscreen and accidentally neglected to get a waterproof kind. We are burnt to a crisp, but oh so relaxed!