Lets see if I can crank this puppy out before curriculum night...
Us rebel firework watching pirates went to bed happy with dreams of Jack Sparrow dancing through our heads. Ok- maybe that only applied to me. But whatever......
The alarm ringing at 6:45am brought us back to reality soon enough.
Today's adventures: St. Thomas. Activity: Snorkeling with Jaws.
That's how it's billed, seriously, in the Disney port of adventures section. No, no.. it's not. It was just called "half day snorkel and beach day". I added the Jaws part because I just KNEW I would swim into his open mouth and the second I jumped in the water the "da dum, da dum" music would start. And Roy Schieder would appear in a boat yelling "get out of the water".
Shoot, I watch too many movies.
Now, my family was not all together trusting my excursion choices on this trip after yesterday's fun on the island of drunk driving and prostitutes. Hmm. I wonder if Disboards is gonna let that word go through. I'm leaving it to try it out.
I had a lot to prove. I typically do not take ship excursions due to the high cost and high crowd factor of them. I like to venture out on my own. However, we did that last time in St. Thomas and the cost was still very high.. and this particular excursion got extremely high reviews consistently on the boards. And so I decided to give it a go.....
I'll let you determine whether that risk was worth it....
So anyways, up at 6:45 to dress, apply sunscreen, pack some bags & eat b-fast up at Cabanas. The day was kinda overcast which for snorkeling is not a bad thing....
We met in the WD theater at 8:15- there were about 65 of us on this tour and while that number may seem high- out on the catamaran and in the water- it didn't seem crowded at all.
We got off the boat and headed to the pier to board the Virgin Breeze. I will laugh if disboard bleeps out my boat name.
I made the children stop for a picture in the front of OUR boat. I love this picture.
We boarded our boat and found seats in the front. The crew was excellent and helpful. We started about a 20 minute boat ride to our first stop. They passed out snorkel gear and explained the rules & how to work it...
She is listening carefully. This was the first time our kids had snorkeled in the ocean.
She, too, has seen Jaws.
I was trying so very hard to not let my nervousness about sharks ruin anyone's experience.
We got to our first stop and the kids 'geared up'. I mean, how cute are these kids?
I would totally eat them if I were a shark if sharks based their attacks on cuteness.....
Come on people, really.... adorableness in heavy quantities right here:
Side note about this picture... we submitted this picture to China for our 2 year post-placement report. Why? Because here was a little girl- who for 4 years NEVER LEFT A ROOM in China. Who was scared of grass and wind and rain. 2 years later- this girl was willing and able to trust us enough to throw on weird looking gear and jump into a very scary unknown ocean to try! People, this little girls is AMAZING. I love her so much.... side note done.. and please note I will now not finish this post before curriculum night.
I am wordy.
We jumped in the water. And I handed off the camera to the hubs and older two to take pictures. Meanwhile I grasped on to a little girl as we hunted sharks.
(seriously the fins on her- so freaking cute!)
Dad. Camera and two girls meant.. yup.. pictures... underwater.
I'd like to point out that they say you should never wear high contrasting bathing suits or sparkly things in the ocean to avoid sharks. Rebecca chose to wear a neon green and back bikini with sparkly sequins on them. Mom shark proofing her baby..fail!! I noticed this too late. And so I said a prayer to the shark gods that they went after the less cute people (KIDDING!!!)
Okay, so another reason for my fear of sharks in this part is because this is an area known for turtle congregation. And guess what sharks like to eat.. yup. Turtles.
Thankfully, while adorable cute, this does NOT look like a turtle.
However, once Kurt spotted this.. I forgot all about sharks because this, people, ,was absolutely AMAZING!!!!
Wait, it gets better. Way better.
These pictures are not zoomed. We did not chase a turtle. The turtle was just THIS CLOSE to us while we bobbed around as shark bait. It was so, so awesome (did I Say that). Seriously, I was in awe that I was in the water right next to the majestic, wonderful sea turtle. It was so beautiful.
I honestly forgot all about sharks and just stared at wonder at what lies beneath the ocean surface. This is why I push aside my huge irrational fears and actually GET in the water and do this stuff.. and don't share my fears with my children- so they too can experience. Because this is living life. And this is a memory I nor my children will EVER forget .
So. Awesome.
Meanwhile, sparkly shark bait took the camera again.
My three awesome snorkelers not being eaten by jaws. Vacation memories happening here!
Oh, there's our boat. And my mother floating along on a water tube... she refuses to put on a snorkel mask. So she just floated.
After the turtle we moved closer to the reef with the older two while I deposited Char with Gram to float.
I had stopped searching out sharks and instead looked around. (this would have been a perfect time for Jaws to make his appearance)
Oh, and she wanted more pictures of herself. With her sparkly shark bait suit.
We swam back to the boat. Here's the non-sparkly cutie Sarah-
We got back on the boat and started to dry off. And we got ready to for the next part of the adventure....
So far, EVERYONE was loving this trip. Like- 3 months later I am still reliving the awesomeness of this!!!
And for the record.. I DID finish before curriculum night. Bonus!!
