That's right, we're going to be parents soon, so we figured we better get some practice at multi-tasking! We will be celebrating our 5th anniversary this December, my 30th birthday is coming up this weekend, and all the pregnancy books we've read recommend taking a "Babymoon" before the baby arrives. So, in the interest of saving time and money, we decided to combine all these celebrations in a fun cruise to the Bahamas with some friends and family (not necessarily our family, but our family by choice, if we could have a 3rd - the Birdsong Clan!)
We set out from Jacksonville on Thursday for a 4-day cruise to Nassau and Freeport, taking advantage of the federal holiday on Monday for Columbus Day (see, aren't we good at multitasking already?) Here are Jay, Jackson, Betsy, and John boarding the ship:
The cruise was a perfect getaway. We did a great job handling the buffets. We swam in the sea-water pools on the ship and even hit the hot tub the first night (before the water temperature got too hot for this Bahama Mama!) We went on a 2-hour birding tour where I saw 11 new species (including the Smooth-billed Ani and Bananaquit, the species I was most hoping to see). I even got my first pregnancy comment from someone who didn't know that I was pregnant... our tour guide looked me over as I was staring up into the trees and said "Oh, I see you two are making a baby" in her English accent! I absolutely LOVED it and almost cried I was so happy (what a pregnant sap I am!) Anyway, on with the details... We made it to every sit-down dinner and heavily enjoyed the Captain's Dinner menu (mmmm... lobster). We went to a couple of the on-board shows. We ate at Senor Frogs and snorkeled in Nassau. Jay played in the Slot Tournament, but wasn't a big winner (it's the fun that counts though). I spent a lot of time reading my first book on how to take care of a newborn (I'm getting tired of the pregnancy books, and it's about time to start planning ahead anyway). And there was lots of time to catch up with our friends. They even threw us a surprise Baby Shower during our day at sea! Thank you all (especially Betsy, for putting it together), again and again, for the lovely baby boy gifts, the delicious blue chocolate suckers, and for making us feel so special! We are so lucky to have friends like you guys! All in all, we have to say it was a great vacation! On with the photos! Here is Jean waving farewell from the dock at Mayport as the cruise ship passed by (2.5 hours later than we thought it would!)
Here we are passing underneath the Dames Point Bridge (also known as the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge), which is America's longest cable-stayed bridge, spanning the St. John's River
Dianna took a lot of photos at our surprise baby shower (Thank You Dianna!), so here is just one, where the two of us are actually looking at the camera!
Dressed up for the Captain's Dinner
Pulling into port in Nassau, we spied a pair of rainbows
In front of the Cloisters on Paradise Island, on our birding tour
Jay, Jackie, Jeff, Jay, and Eric at Senor Frogs in Nassau
John and Betsy joined us for lunch with a sleeping Jackson (not pictured)
There were 4 cruise ships in port by mid-day. Ours is the white one (hee hee). And yes, Jay is enjoying cheap beer before getting back on the boat...
While in Nassau, Jay found us a beach for swimming and snorkeling. We saw a lionfish, a damselfish, a big red starfish, and lots of other little silver fish. Jay and John jumped off the sea wall. Jackson found lots of seashells and Hunter practiced his doggie-paddle skills. That's Betsy with Jackson and Scott with Hunter in the photo below:
Last night of the cruise... the Birdsongs all got together for some family photos, and we decided to take some of all us "kids" while we were at it! Here are Jackie, Scott, Hunter, Jenny, Jeff, Betsy, John, Jackson, Jay, Denise, Jay, Dianna, and Greg (and yes, most of the Birdsong Clan is clad in Jaguars apparel or colors, and they won!):
Luckily, we flew out of Orlando, so we had some quality time in the car with Jean to tell her all about the cruise. Here she is with Jay at the airport:
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