Our bahama Cruise (part two)

We went on a 4 day cruise so our only excursion was Nassau, Bahamas and it was GORGEOUS!!!  The water was so crystal blue and the buildings there were all vibrant colors just like you would expect.

        

I loved this little lighthouse...

There were 3 other cruise ships docked for the day as well.  We docked next to Disney...very neat boat as well!

We did get off and browse around Nassau for a few hours that morning.  We are not big on all the touristy stuff and shops (because it all ends up on a shelf) but we did need to buy a little something for the kids.  We spent most of our time browsing around downtown and we wanted to see the "real" Bahamas.  We wanted to know what life was REALLY like there.

We were very intrigued by this little Baptist Church we found.  Someone just happened to be in there so we were able to go inside and look around.  The man we talked with was very nice and even gave us the history of the church.  We wanted to go to a service but weren't able to.  It had been in existence for 175 years!

OK...WARNING ON THIS NEXT PICTURE!! ITS A SHOCKER! ADULTS ONLY!

This sign was on the side of a building downtown...I thought I was seeing it wrong.  But nope, I wasn't.  

There were beautiful flowers there...

And we had to make an appearance here just for kicks...

Girls were getting their hair braided everywhere...

They even had a Starbucks...nope too hot.  We didn't go.

This is a quick video I got of a Bahamian band...

Bahamian band from Amanda Lemonds on Vimeo.

After browsing the city for a couple of hours, we came back to the boat to eat lunch and get ready for our excursion.  We went on this catamaran and rode about 45 minutes to go snorkeling...

OH it was beautiful!  I regret not buying an underwater camera but the fish were very pretty and colorful...yellow, blue, red, even rainbow color fish.  The coral reefs were amazing!!!  Excuse my hair here..we had been practicing with our masks after a 45 minute boat ride haha!  Ready to dive in!

Our group snorkeling on the reef....

We got to snorkel for about 45 minutes and then we got back on the boat and they took us to the beach for a little while.

Cute little island...

Isn't the water amazing????

There were very few people there other than our group.  But this family did have their dog that was hunting conk shells it was fun to watch!

We did go to a show almost every night and this particular night they had a guys/gals show and a game show..

We got to see a couple of sunsets along the way...

These are pics of just us throughout the trip. It is always awkward when you go somewhere just the two of you because you either have only one of you in the picture while the other takes it, or you have to ask people to take it for you.  We did a little of both...

This was formal night which was the day of our excursion.  We ate dinner at 6:00 and we got back on our boat at 5:55 so we took showers very fast and arrived at dinner at 6:15!

We had several little spots we found on the boat that we kinda claimed.  Certain times of the day we would go to our "spots."  In the mornings we would go to the back of the boat after breakfast and do our quiet times.  This was our favorite....

The floor above there was this favorite breakfast spot.  These places seem to go unnoticed by everyone else but we loved them!

        

The last morning we got up early to go see the sunrise and it was beautiful!

We noticed we were up with the "old" people (us included we finally accepted) this early and that was just fine by us... 

We hung out for a while while we ported into Miami...

And enjoyed our last breakfast in our "spot"....

It was a wonderful vacation and we are so grateful for grandparents that kept our kiddos while we were gone.  We missed them so much and it was so good to get back to them!  The best sight was when Lolli brought them to the airport to pick us up...when we rounded the corner they all started running to us with arms open wide...the best sight ever!  I just cried and was glad to be home with my babies.  

Happy 7th Anniversary to my wonderful husband...life with you has been amazing and I love you more than I did 7 years ago.  You are my very best friend and I look forward to many more years with you!  You do indeed make my heart smile!  :)