Grand Cayman :)

I realized that I forgot to share one sweet part of our second day.  Throughout the week, we met lots of different people and shared brief conversations- most revolving around the 'where are you from' and 'what did you do when we stopped in Grand Cayman' variety.  On our second night, we sat next to a sweet mother and daughter.  They were enjoying the cruise while the rest of their family- the father and 3 sons- toured different baseball fields.  It was so cute to watch them interact, see how much they were enjoying their mother-daughter trip, and chat with this precious 8 year old girl.  Later, Cori commented, "I'd be okay having a daughter some day if she's like that girl."  To fully appreciate this, you have to know that Cori, who grew up with an older brother (no sisters) and spent his childhood playing in the woods and riding dirt bikes, is intimidated at the thought of having a daughter some day.  When he thinks of having a son, he can imagine a million things they could do together, but I think he's not quite sure what to do with a daughter.  I've assured him that if we have a little girl someday, he'll fall in love with her and be wrapped around his little finger, but this sweet interaction was just the reminder he needed that little girls can be great.


Monday, July 2: Day Three.


We pulled into the port at Grand Cayman around 8am, and Cori and I managed to drag ourselves out of bed early enough (hey, we're on vacation!) to grab breakfast and get on the little boat that ferried us to the island.  

heading towards Grand Cayman!

We hadn't booked an excursion with Carnival beforehand, but we knew we wanted to go snorkeling and figured we'd have plenty of options once we got there.  First, we walked around the little touristy area where we arrived...

After taking this picture, Cori said, "I saw the way you were looking at him!"  ;)

We ended up finding a group that took us to see stingrays and snorkeling.  It was great!  They drove us to another dock, then took us out on a boat to 'Stingray City.'  We got to hold a sting ray, which was pretty cool.... and also pretty slimy!  Afterwards, we went snorkeling.  I'll be honest, I enjoyed the snorkeling, but it wasn't as cool as I'd expected.  I think part of that is because we weren't in the greatest spot- it wasn't as colorful as I'd expected- and the other part is because apparently it is possible to be a bad snorkeler, and I am!  I kept getting water in my mouth and having trouble with my mask.  All the same, it was pretty cool.  Sadly, no pictures of us with the stingrays- we were cheap and chose not to buy the ones they took of us.

beautiful view!

After our stingray/snorkeling expedition, we had a little spare time before we headed back to the ship, so we stopped at a cute little restaurant.

My drink- I think it was called 'the Pirates ARRGGH.'  My favorite part was the little pirate's flag. :)

Since our ship was leaving at 3, we headed back on board.  We took showers, ate lunch, and then Cori watched the Truman Show on tv while I snoozed.  Afterwards, we headed to dinner and then enjoyed some quality time walking around the top deck of the ship.  I was so thankful for this precious time to relax with my husband as we enjoyed each other and the beautiful weather and views.

nighttime on Carnival Paradise

me and the hubs

And of course, no night on a cruise ship is complete without a towel creature...

Our elephant!