The Wolfley's: Fun in the Sun

As a Christmas present, my parents took all of my siblings and our spouses on a 5-day cruise to the Western Caribbean! We all left our kiddos home with our in-laws (Thank You Wolfley's!!) and enjoyed some wonderful adult time all together. It was a fabulous opportunity to have some time alone with Nate as well as with my sisters and brothers without the interruption of our collective 9 children. Being a parent, you take for granted eating a meal without having to cut up anyone else's food - let alone 7 days worth of meals! Oh the simple pleasures of life. :) We spent a lot of time relaxing, reading (I finished all 3 books in the Hunger Games series...which I LOVED), playing cards, eating WAY too much and enjoying the daily entertainment on the ship.

Our first port was Progresso, Mexico. It was 85 degrees - compared to the 15 degrees it was back in Utah - we were in HEAVEN! Unfortunately the beach there was pretty mucky, but we did some fabulous barter-shopping (which I am terrible at!). Nate turned out to be an awesome negotiator and got me some great deals. :) Our next stop was Cozumel, Mexico, which we LOVED! We were planning to go scuba diving, but due to some last minute scheduling issues, we ended up going swimming with dolphins instead. It turned out to be AMAZING and I was so glad we did it! We went to a beautiful resort called Dolphinaris where we swam in a pool with about 6 dolphins. We got to take turns going out and getting a ride belly-to-belly on one of the dolphins. It was the experience of a lifetime! You just sat there and the dolphin swam around you, rolled belly-up and stuck its fins out of the water. Then you grabbed on and she took you for a ride! The one we swam with was a 9-foot, 350 lb dolphin named Olympia. The power was amazing - she pulled us through the water like we weighed nothing! Then we got to give her kisses (both her nose to my cheek, then lip to lip!), a handshake & a hug (she literally put her head in your arm then rolled into you like she was hugging!). Then all the dolphins did tricks for us, which was incredible. Afterward we were fed an amazing Mexican lunch and got to do more shopping. What a day!! The only thing that could have made it better is if the pictures at Dolphinaris didn't cost $70 each. Yeah, it was a bummer because they wouldn't let you have cameras in the water, so if you wanted pictures with the dolphins, you were required to buy the ones from their photographer. I'm sure that's how they make their money, but it sure would be fun to have a picture of me kissing the dolphin or Nate getting a ride. Oh well, at least it's a memory I won't soon forget!

Afterward, while all the girls went shopping, Nate & Ammon rented some snorkel gear and explored a nearby beach. Nate really enjoyed it and had a great time. It was his first time to the Atlantic Ocean where the water is incredibly clear and blue. In fact we had a lot of firsts on that trip: our first time leaving the girls for a week, Nate's first cruise, our first time to New Orleans (we stayed there overnight then our cruise left from there), Nate's first time eating real sushi (actually both of our firsts for eating a lot of weird foods!), Nate was able to read his first non-school related book since 2008, our first time eating ice cream 3 meals a day for 5 days, etc. Just writing this makes me want to go back! Everything about the trip was perfect - we had a blast. Thank you so much Mom & Dad for the fantastic vacation!

Our ship is on the right - the Carnival Triumph