Catching our breath in Cocoa Beach, FL

When our cruise was done, the ship dropped us off back at Port Canaveral in Florida.  I had made reservations before we left for a couple of nights in Cocoa Beach...and boy am I glad for that.  We were TIRED, haha :)!  All that go, go, go had caught up with us and we were ready to crash.  Check-in wasn't until the afternoon, but we went on over with hopes of getting in early.  The lady at the desk was super nice and graciously let us into our rooms half a day early.  So thankful :)!  The rest of that day is a blur...it involved sleep, lots of sleep :), and a pizza delivery at some point.

After catching up on some much needed rest, we did venture out a little bit over the next couple of days.  The very first place we went was Olive Garden.  It was Tristan's 9th birthday and little man wanted some pasta for lunch...

Happy Birthday Tris :)!

We also did a little (more) shopping at Ron Jon's, they have the best selection of flip-flops (which we pretty much live in)...

Stopped for a coffee or two ;)...

The majority of our stay in Cocoa Beach was spent just hanging out in our rooms.  I had tons of unpacking/repacking (and laundry!) to do.  I had to pull out my Tetris skills to get the car repacked with all of our new souvenirs and things that followed us home from the Bahamas :).  The kids enjoyed a few days of uninterrupted lego building and play.  They have learned to quickly make themselves "at home" wherever we are, for however long.  A good thing, in my opinion :).

All rested up and ready to go...where?  Stay tuned :)...

That was fun, let's do it again~

Our evenings on the ship were all pretty much spent the same way...

Watching The Lego Movie on the big screen.  Some evenings it played early, sometimes later...

the expressions on all the kids faces that are watching the movie...cracks me up :D

The best movie watching treat after a day in the sun was an ice cold coke-float.  Coffee cup from the beverage station, then add a swirl of soft serve ice cream, next stop off at the pool-side bar for a shot of soda and a straw to sip it with.  Perfect :)!

The views...

It never, ever gets old :).  Love all the different shades of blue...

To top it all off (for me anyway), the sunset...

There was another cruise ship in the distance.  Actually there were several, but one that kept coming closer and closer...

The kids resumed their posts at the ping pong table.  This night they played with their new friend Alick, a little boy from India...

At one point we passed the island of Freeport, Bahamas.  The lights were so pretty :)...

And last but not least, the little room critters that were waiting for us each night...

CocoCay, Bahamas

A beautiful private island...

We were warned before departing that the ship waits for no one.  If you aren't back on board in time, it will leave without you.  I'm thinking...really?  You mean it?   Yes, please ;).  I'll just stay right here...

Unlike Nassau, this island is accessible only by tender.  The cruise ship anchors a distance offshore and smaller boats run back and forth all day ferrying people to/from the island.  We were on one of the very first boats of the morning going over to the island...

I had been to this island before and knew that most people tend to gravitate towards the nearest beach area.  I also knew that if you are willing to walk a little ways, you will only be sharing the beach with a small handful of people.  Of course we went for the walk :)...

Down at the far end of the island, we claimed our spots for the day...

It was a day spent lounging in every possible way...hammocks, beach chairs, floating mats...if it was there, we lounged on it :). 

The kids did take lounging breaks to swim and explore.  Swimming in the Bahamas is kinda like swimming in the most amazing tropical aquarium that you can imagine.  The kids were amazed at the variety of creatures that were just "right there", swimming right alongside them.  They brought the ones that they could up to show me (and then put them safely back)...

gorgeous Queen Conch

See my anklet?  Mother's Day gift from Trev :)

The day passed by way too quickly.  Before we knew it, it was nearing evening and time to return to the ship.  As tempted as I was to "accidentally" get left behind on the island ;), we gathered our things and headed back towards the tender boats.

**I don't know what I was thinking (or not thinking...), but we did not use the first drop of sunblock that day (total Mom fail).  We were on the beach and in the water for a little over 7 hours that day from 9am until just after 4pm (i know, i know...).  Fortunately, we didn't burn as badly as I know we could have...just a little red with sore shoulders and backs.  A few months earlier, I had stumbled upon the craziest sunburn solution that really works like magic.  I had been using raw Tupelo honey as a face wash (it does amazing things for the skin!) every day.  One day I had gotten a little too much sun on my face and it was red, etc.  I did my normal routine of washing with soap, rinsing, then apply the honey and let it sit for 15 minutes and rinse with water only and pat dry.  The next day, no trace of sunburn whatsoever and I never peeled.  Magic :)!  So...after our day in the Bahamian sun, I had the kids each get their showers, then while standing in the tub, I had them rub the burned places with the honey, etc.  They went from it hurting to wear a shirt to perfectly normal the next morning (we did this at bedtime).  Obviously, sunblock would have been the better choice to begin with.  But for those times that you forget or it doesn't work well enough, grab some good quality, raw honey (not the grocery store junk).  ~I just had to share this with ya'll, the results were so amazing (and yes, it's a little weird...but so what).

Cruising with kids...

...is awesome :).  Tiring (they don't sleep!), but very awesome :).

After a full day of touristing it up around Nassau, the ship was our playground for the evening.

We arrived back on board just in time to catch the last bit of sunset...

Nassau is a pretty city from just about any angle...

Oops, I got lost in the views and my kids left me behind.  Hehehe...

Just kidding.  Sort of ;). 

The reason we had decided not to finish our walk to Junkanoo Beach and instead return to the ship was because of something on board that the kids really wanted to do.  The ship we were on had a huge outdoor movie screen on the pool deck and the movie of the evening was going to be "The Lego Movie".  Lego's are a big deal in our house (when you live in a tiny space they are the perfect toy) which meant that this movie was a big deal.  None of us had seen it, so "The Lego Movie" it was...

all cozied up and ready for the movie :)

When the movie was over, we were all hungry.  We had missed dinner and the regular dining areas were all closed.  No worries, there is ALWAYS some place open on a cruise ship to grab some food.  We headed to the Solarium for pizza and nachos (best nachos ever)...

It was late, but there are no bedtimes on a cruise ;).  The kids wanted to play ping pong, so that's exactly what we did :).  Some other kids joined in, so I resumed my important business of  "soaking up the views" at the nearest open window :)...

Our ship was in port until midnight.  Then it was bye-bye Nassau...

pilot boat following along to pick up their guy

We stayed on deck for about another hour or so, you can't rush a good ping pong tournament ;).  By that time, a party had started up poolside and it was getting a bit loud.  We snuck in just long enough to grab a few plates of delicious munchies and then headed off to our rooms.  The surprise that I mentioned was waiting for us?  Critters!  One was even hanging from the ceiling!

Hahaha :D, they were towel animals that our room steward had made for us.  Too cute :).