August 18, 2010

It's about time I finish my honeymoon stories. On the 18th we ported at CocoCay, Bahama's. It's an island that only Royal Caribbean owns. We had to port in the middle of the ocean and shuttle to the island on a boat. We got to the island and gathered our snorkling equipment and went to rent a locker then realized that we had to actually pay for it and not just credit it to our account like we had thought. So I laid in the nice hot sun while Mr H. ran back to our ship to get some money. He must have been gone a while because I fell asleep waiting. Once he was back we took pictures. Like these ones: After the pictures and getting our valuables put in the locker, it was time for snorkling. Can I just say:

I LOVE SNORKLING!?

It's so much fun! We were able to see a whole lot of different things. We were so engrossed at what we were looking at that we went beyond the boundaries and a lifegaurd on a wave runner had to tell us to go back...Oops! Here are a couple of things we saw:
Sea Urchin
Jelly Fish
1st Sting Ray After swimming for a while we took a break and sat down in the shade...I was looking for shells on the white sand and I was doing quite well. Until I picked up one and claws came out and wrapped around my finger...it scared the crap out of me. It was a little hermit crab. It was so totally cool (after my heart stopped beating out of my chest). Once our "break time" was over. We went continued swimming in the water. We found some more things while scavenging the ocean like:
Ship Wreck
Swimming with TONS of Fish

2nd Sting Ray

After our little rendezvous we decided to return our equipment and get something to eat. But unfortunately we were too late and lunch was already served and over with. We hadn't eaten or drank anything from about 9am to 2pmish. It was so hot and being in the ocean just made us so thirsty and luckily we found a fountain of water to drink from. Surprisingly we weren't hungry so we walked around the souvenir shops and bought a photo album. After looking around and finding nothing more to see we loaded onto the boat to take us to the ship. Once we were on the boat I knew this wasn't going to be good. I felt the boat rolling with the motion of the ocean and I knew I was in BIG TROUBLE! I looked for a seat close to the edge of the boat because I knew I was going to be sick. Unlucky for me...it was packed so we sat and I just prayed that I wouldn't "get sick". The boat transferring us have two levels and we were on the bottom and at least it was a little cooler and in the shade, but that didn't help very much. There was so much rolling...and rolling...and rolling. Once we parked next to our ship the boat unloaded the top level first...I couldn't wait for them to unload us so I ran to the front of the boat and hopped over the gate that we weren't supposed to cross until a boatmen opened it and once I was off the boat I felt a tiny bit better that I wasn't rolling anymore. But I wasn't out of the woods just yet. I had to wait in line to have a gaurd check and scan each and every person trying to get back onto the ship. As I was standing there my field of vision was disappearing I was swallowing hard to try to keep whatever it was from coming up. Once I was cleared to get on the ship...I sprinted to our room and into the bathroom were I could finally stop trying so hard to keep it down and I just let it come up until I was coughing and choking. I was laying on the cold bathroom floor thinking that I was going to die. Mr H. finally got to the room and I told him we needed food and water and that I needed a cold shower.

After cleaning the sand from hidden places in the cold shower I started feeling A LOT better. When Mr H. was in the shower and I was putting on my clothes I realized that I was burned REAL bad (I didn't realized just HOW bad until that night). Once we were clothed we went to eat and drink to replenish what we lost having fun in the ocean.

Later that night, my skin hurt so bad that I couldn't even sit down...it hurt so bad I would cry. And aloe was NOT packed...not my fault though, I didn't know where we were going. We paid $13 on the ship for some aloe though which worked out. Both Mr H. and I were burned to a crisp. I was in so much pain that I asked Mr H. to give me a Priesthood Blessing. And can I just pause for a moment and tell you how grateful I am for the priesthood and the blessings that have been recieved because of it. I am grateful that my husband takes the time to serve others...but esspecially his family. I love you Mr H.! So after the blessing I still felt awful but Mr H. suggested we go see the comedian to take our minds off of the pain and it worked for an hour but going to bed was torture. We hardly slept at all, we missed home, and were in pain. It was a good thing that it was the last night on the ship.

Next time I think we will be more mindful of the time and not be out in the ocean that long. Surprisingly we DID have sunblock on...but we need to remember to REAPPLY. Always rehydrate ourselves. I think we'll need a little better planning next time...and YES there will be a next time!