Mariner of the Seas Vacation, Day 2

 Our first full day on the cruise ship started with breakfast in the dining room.

Someone was very excited about her chocolate pancake. 

Being able to order anything they wanted on the menu brought out some big smiles. 

Of course Samuel would order cereal as a side to his French toast. 

After breakfast, we started adventuring. The kids spent some time in the kids club while Matt and I relaxed and read a bit. 

When we picked up the kids, they were ready to rock climb. How crazy that the kids can say they rock climbed in the middle of the ocean!

We came back to the room to find a lobster towel animal. 

We changed into swimsuits and continued our adventuring with the Flowrider. The kids did a great job and had improved a lot by the end of the week. 

Elisabeth ate a plate of French Fries everyday for lunch. She enjoyed the unlimited fries even more than the unlimited ice cream. 

We played at the pool for the afternoon and then changed for the first formal dinner on the cruise. 

There is no one I'd rather vacation with than these beauties. 

Dinner was delicious. The best meal of the week. 

Nathan was spoiled with steak every evening- and especially with beef tenderloin on this night. The waiter brought him a second steak after he devoured his first. 

French fries and chocolate ice cream are all this girl needs to be happy. 

After dinner we watched the evening show, and then sent the kids to play at kids club for a bit before bed. 

Mariner of the Seas Vacation, Day 1

 In lieu of a beach vacation this year, Matt and I decided to take the kids on their first cruise! We had all been looking forward to this vacation for months, and it had finally arrived. The way the timing worked out was that we were driving to Galveston on Nathan's 13th birthday. To celebrate, we took a detour in Arlington, and he and Matt spent a couple of hours at Six Flags using their season passes they bought for Nathan's 13th birthday trip. 

A few of the bigger coasters had been closed when they visited the weekend before due to flooding, so they were looking forward to getting to ride those. 

Aside from riding in a car for nine hours, it wasn't a bad way to spend a 13th birthday. 

While Matt and Nathan were riding coasters, the other kids and I grabbed lunch, perused a used bookstore, and spent some time at Dollar Tree. 

Then we continued on our journey with a pit stop at Buc-ees. 

We made it to Galveston that evening and caught up with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Becca and Abby who were also joining us on our cruise. 

The next morning at breakfast, Nathan was excited about his Texas shaped waffle. 

We had a few hours that morning before boarding the ship, so we walked around Galveston for a bit. 

Then it was finally time! The kids were so excited about walking onto the cruise ship they'd researched and watched YouTube videos of for months. 

We made it!

We spent some time exploring that afternoon. 

And grabbed our first ice cream cone of the trip! We had to document it!

We also played a round of mini golf before we set sail for the day. 

And swam of course! We didn't waste any time taking full advantage of all the attractions. 

That evening the kids experienced their first cruise dinner. 

Steak for Nathan and lots of sweet treats to end the night. I think the kids were fans of cruise dinners. 

After dinner we watched the Welcome Aboard show, and the kids spent some time at the kids' club for the first time. What a great first day!