Next Stop...Costa Maya, Mexico

The water was beautiful and the city was small and very colorful! 

 

 

We didn't have a lot of time at this stop, so much to the kids' excitement, we opted to do the dolphin encounter.  Here are some of my favorite pictures...

 

 

The dolphin swam really smooth and quite fast... which made me panic a little when my swim shorts started to slip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love this picture!

You can just tell that everyone had such a great time with the dolphins.  It was just really fun!  After the dolphin encounter they had an "indoor/outdoor market", so we had a look around.  The kids were intrigued by this guy making name bracelets.  He would write down the name, ask for your favorite colors, start working, and in minutes your bracelet would be done - no pattern.  I wonder how many bracelets he has made in his lifetime?!

 

 

We also made a deal for a "bundle package"... a dress for Karlee and a purse for Kenzie.

 

-A little over 10 years ago we were in Greece and I remembered walking through the "market" in Athens.  The locals would holler at you to come look and buy, and sometimes they would grab onto your arm and try to strike a deal.  It was kind of scary.  I had a little old lady grab onto my arm because she wanted me to buy her tablecloth.  My family members walked off and left me with this very pushy little old lady who would not let go of my arm.  Needless to say I ended up with a tablecloth.-

 

  The locals in Costa Maya were not quite so pushy!  :)  But I did end up with some Mexican vanilla.

 

 

Back to the ship!

 

What a fun and beautiful day!

Our First Excursion

 

We were able to go to the Grand Cayman Islands for a snorkeling, stingray, and starfish adventure!  It was awesome and pretty amazing!

 

There was not a dock so we boarded this boat in the beautiful, beautiful blue waters and headed to the island!

 

Very Excited!

 

Here's hoping that we were waiting in the right spot!

 

 

Here's hoping that we were being taken to the right spot!  Our tour guides were local, their van was old and squeaky, and their boat blew out black smoke and made awful noises if it went too fast.  Their snorkels made you not want to use them (I don't think they have OSHA) and this was our group (you can see that it was a small group and mainly just our family)!

 

And here we are at the right spot!  The water was beautiful!  However, it was cold.... so I chose to take pictures while everyone else snorkeled and I am okay with that!

 

 

They saw some cool stuff ...and I was still okay with taking pictures from the boat!

 

But then we got to the "stingray place" and I had to get in the water because it was very surreal!  These animals were amazing!  They acted like excited puppies that you had just come home to feed!  Kenzie was loving it so much that who knows where she ended up during our "family photo!"

 

 

 Oh, we found Kenzie, but Kavan wasn't so crazy about the close vicinity of the stingrays.  They made him a bit nervous! (Unfortunately, he knows how the Crocodile Hunter died.)

 

 

So, our guides wanted us to really get the "experience" so we kissed them (well, I kissed Layne), and held them, and swam with them, and fed them.

 

 

"Ummm, what is it doing?"

"So silly!"

"Hmmm,  am I enjoying this?!?  Maybe too close!"

"Ok, yep that's better!"

"So fun!"

 

This next picture shows one of our guides holding a stingray.  He was amazing because you could tell that he truly loved these animals.  He rubbed them like you would pet a dog - he held them - he talked to them - he protected them...and us - and he shared his knowledge.

 

 

"Eww, I don't know about this!"

"Ok, it's all good!"

This was a really neat experience!  Karlee had a nervous moment when we were feeding the stingrays because they are strong and can knock you over (and they very much act like excited, big, hungry, puppies), but our other guide taking pictures stopped what he was doing to help Karlee so she wouldn't be afraid.  Our guides were very kind and fun, and very genuine, and made our experience amazing!

They took us to another location where we found some cool starfish!  Everyone loved the starfish, even if they were a little hesitant at first!  The starfish were really cool!  If you sat them on top of your hand, they would attach and not let go until you put your hand under the water.  I don't think there are any pictures of Layne because he went off exploring and having a good time!

 

That was the best day...

EVER...ahhh!