The First Family Cruise

Last January, two groups of friends and us decided we should do a big family cruise. So the Barnes family and the Vowles family and us booked a cruise. Will and I decided to make it a surprise for our kids. Our friends were nice enough to play along, even though it was completely torture sometimes!


Will and I played out about a dozen different ways we could break the news to them. The plan we finally decided one ended up working great!
We left Saturday and drove to Vegas. We weren’t able to make it for the party but we had fun playing anyways. The adults played a bunch of games while the kids played together. They had fun at the park, in the hot tub, and having sleepovers in the fort! We were also able to go to a Halloween carnival with Grandma K and Grandpa Bill. 


We asked Ryan and Alex if we could come hang out with them in Vegas the weekend before the cruise. It just so happened to be cousin Kelsi's birthday, so that was perfect! We told the girls that we were just getting out a town for a bit to hang out with family, and they were all for it.

Monday morning we left. We were really careful how we worded things. Like, we were leaving but we didn't say anything about going home. 

So we got in the car and started driving. The girls read books and watched a movie. They had no idea that we weren’t driving towards Utah. Alana made a couple comments like “There is a lot of California license plates around here!” and “Are we in New Mexico or something? It is hot in here!”

Will and I were trying hard not to point things out or use words that would indicate that we were in California. 

They had no idea until Naomi looked up from her book and read the cruise terminal parking sign!  

We showed them the boat and Naomi started screaming and freaking out. “We are going on a  cruise!!!!!!“ Alana was unsure and was guessing it was just a ferry ride. 

We found a parking spot and told the kids the story about us booking the cruise back in January and not telling them about it. They were completely shocked but so excited!  That was about when Alana started believing us.

We got checked in and was on the boat within 10 minutes.

We looked around, saw the Queen Mary, found our friends and got some food.  We answered all the kid's questions and they were all for it!

The boat was decorated for Halloween. They had lots of Halloween themed activities too. 

The girls were excited for our room. They loved the towel animals and the bunk beds.

Each night, we were able to have dinner together as a big group. The dining room staff was very nice and accommodating. 

Dinner is always the best place to take funny pictures.

That night we took the girls out on deck to show them all the water.  Naomi got super scared. But it was beautiful. 

The next day we went to Catalina. The girls got to experience a tender boat for the first time. We hiked with the Vowles up to the bell tower. We stayed for the chimes, then hiked down to find the best ice cream on the island. So delicious! Then we went to the Catalina Island museum. It was cool learning about Mr. Wrigley, the cubs, and all the stars that lived there.

The following day we went to Ensenada, Mexico. Alana got up early with me to see the sunrise, and Naomi joined us to see the boat dock. We got off the boat and wandered around with the Vowles. We took the shuttle to downtown and did some shopping. We ran into the Barnes’ and they told about an awesome candy shop. It was the best place in the whole city. They weren’t selling the usual cheap, made in China stuff. The owners were kind and sweet and didn’t pressure us. So we bought a few things there. 

When they were getting off the boat, the girls got to hold a parrot! So cool!

That night was formal night. We totally forgot to take a nice group picture before all the kids ran off to play.  But the food was delicious as usual and Naomi got to see the Capitan from far away. 

During dinner, the waiters started dancing and all the kids joined in! It was hilarious!

The next day was a sea day. We enjoyed our time on the boat. The adults watched comedy shows, played trivia games, relaxed, ate, and played card games. Will really enjoyed taking naps and reading. The kids enjoyed playing in the pool, running around with their friends, playing ping pong, and eating all the delicious food. And so much ice cream! 

The kids even learned how to make some towel animals!

I got some cute pictures of the girls before dinner. 

Then the girls messed around with the camera while we were waiting for dinner. 

It was delicious as usual. Alana tried the frog legs. She didn't like them, but she at least tried them!

 The waiters saw the girls practicing their towel folding skills on their napkins, so they showed us some of their skills. It was great! This is a mouse that likes to jump across the table.

They also made us a spoon head person! Alana loved it!

Friday, we drove home. 

The girls had so much fun on the whole trip. I think we are going to take them on another one!