The purpose of life, is a life of purpose: Our Caribbean Cruise

We've been home for almost 4 weeks now. Looking back through these pictures I'm somewhat melancholy. We had such a great time. It was truly a "break" from reality and we had a nice dose of R & R. No "vacation after our vacation was needed." It was so peaceful to do the things we wanted to do without worrying about what to make for dinner, who's practice we had to get to, if the kids uniforms were all clean, if. . . .

So, I share with you a few (so not to be too long-winded about it) of the blessings and laughs we had . . .

true relaxation

St. Thomas,USVI

We started the day by boarding a small boat. About 30 mins later we were near a remote island where we spent the next 2 hours snorkeling. It was amazing. Mike and I both felt like we were inside a national geographic magazine. St. Thomas blew away our last snorkeling experience, which was in Mexico. The fish and coral were so beautiful. This was Landin and Kian first "real" snorkeling and they both did really well. Landin was such a trooper, he went out for the whole 2 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. Kian was a little more hesitant. He was uncomfortable keeping his face in the water the whole time but he really enjoyed the the payoff- seeing all of the neat fish. I went back to the boat with him a little early. He made friends with the captain and I started drinking the rum punch a little earlier then expected! On the way back Kian was able to drive the boat for a while. This was icing on the cake for him.

Once we were back on land, we grabbed a bite to eat, chatted with some new friends we made and then decided to shop. Many souvenirs, shirts and hats were purchased! It was a perfect day!

El Limon; 45 foot waterfall. Samana, Dominican Republic .

Once we got off the boat in Samana, Mike had an adventure planned for us (shocker, I know.)The plan was to catch a cab to a company that we could rent horses from. From there we would ride the horses for a bit and then hike down to the waterfall. Sounds pretty good, right? Perhaps. The minute we stepped off the boat we were attacked like a swarm of bees on honey. "Where you go sir", "you want taxi, how much you want to pay" " Want to go waterfall". . . And it went on like this for about 1/2 a mile. I grew more and more anxious as I wondered if they would try to get the kids, or if they would ever leave us alone. Eventually Mike was ready to work his magic and he approached a taxi driver. He negotiated a very good price (that would be paid once they brought us back to the ship) for us to get to and from the horseback riding co. So, we were finally on our way.

As we drove, we saw small garage-like houses, old beat-up cars, children running around without shoes and some even naked. It was an eye opener, to say the least. I watched as my children gazed at this world they had only read about and wondered what was going through their minds. I didn't dare ask them right then and there, as I didn't want to offend our taxi driver. But I grew increasingly curious to have this conversations with them.

Once we arrived, Mike began another round of negotiations, but not before the natives had to show us around the "Establishment". Offering us to look at all the local artwork and crafts while they placed anklet after bracelet all over me. They tried to put a pink one on Landin, that's where I had to draw the line.

Once the tour was over we finally hopped on our horses, headed out and almost fell off! The trail was STEEP and the terrain was ROUGH! (did I mention this was Kian's 1st solo horseback riding experience?) But the landscape was incredible! We were in the middle of a rainforest, surrounded by pineapple trees, cocoa trees, mango, papaya and coconut trees. It was so beautiful. About 30 mins later we arrived at a bridge, were we got off the horses and hiked down a mountain for another 15-20 mins. Once we came around the bend,we saw one of the most beautiful 45 ft waterfalls. The rainy day pictures seriously don't do it justice.

So, all and all the experience definitely outweighed the worries. And it was an experience of a lifetime (No need to mention that a young man came up the hill as we were leaving down the hill with a machete in hand)

And as far as the kids impression . . . Kian said this day was his favorite part of the trip and Landin said he now appreciates his country even more. That pretty much sums up their personalities in a nut shell.