A few months back, a group of our friends were planning a cruise to the Western Caribbean and we thought it would be a great idea to go and get away. As the trip came closer and closer, it hit us harder than we thought it would at the time of booking: we have to leave Kallie. I had traveled a couple of times for work but those were just 1-3 nights at a time where I had full FaceTime capabilities to still see her everyday. This was going to be 8 days in the middle of the ocean with spotty, overpriced internet. I started to panic. I wasn’t ready to leave my baby that long. Everyone assured me it would be fine, and I knew she would have the best care, but it made me sick to my stomach at the thought of not seeing her for that long.
The cruise turned out to be great, but I missed Kallie even more than I thought I would. The second day we were gone, we got a text from her babysitter Paige that Kallie was running a little bit of a fever and they were taking her into the doctor. My heart sunk. Josh and I had all sorts of parent guilt because we were out basking in the sun while our baby was at home sick and on an antibiotic. She needed her mom to hold her and snuggle with her. We were lucky she had my mom and Paige to give her a lot of love while we were gone. We tried the best we could to not stew over it, I may have shed a few tears about it, but there was nothing we could do about it.
Paige would send us a million Snap Chats a day so we could at least see her because FaceTime or Skype didn’t work very well. The highlight of each of our days was sitting around our phones and waiting for each video to load so that we could see a 10 second glimpse of what Kallie was up to, or how she seemed to be feeling that day. I know we sound so pathetic, but it really was our favorite part of every day.
Our cruise went to Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel (Western Caribbean). Everywhere was gorgeous! The boat was awesome with a Flowrider and rock climbing wall! I was sore for a week after from doing both of those – joke’s on me! Josh took the cake for most competitions won including mini golf, black jack, ping pong, and a few more…such a proud wife moment. At Haiti, they had a big water park full of inflatable toys that we played on (so fun) until someone got stung by a jellyfish and I got bit by sea lice (whatever those are). The rest of the time we decided to play it safe and stay on the beach and soak in the sun.
Jamaica was a blast!! We did a canopy zipline through the jungle and then hiked up Dunn’s River Falls (note – if anyone does this cruise make sure to book your excursion through the ship because all of the places have contracted with the cruise lines and you aren’t even able to go to some if you didn’t do it through the ship). In Grand Cayman, we found a private boat to take our group of 14 out snorkeling and swim with the stingrays. That was such a surreal experience! A couple of the guys, unbeknownst to us, were putting squid on our backs so the stingrays kept on swimming up on all of the girls. It was so scary but cool at the same time. Mostly scary though. I couldn’t stay in the water too long because I chickened out. I jumped in long enough to experience it, get the picture, and peace out. I would highly recommend it, though.
Cozumel was surprisingly one of my favorites. We rented scooters and rode around the town, went to the little shops, and ate at a local, authentic restaurant. It. Was. To. Die. For. Out of all of the exquisite food the whole week, that was our favorite! We just got yummy tacos, fresh guacamole and fresh salsa and it was SO good. I’m salivating just thinking about it. Josh and I really liked this stop because unlike the other ones where we were going, and going, and going, this one we got to spend more quality time together (heart eyes).
By the time the last day came around, we couldn’t WAIT to see Kallie. It was hard to sleep that night in anticipation. When my mom showed up at the airport with her, Kallie had the biggest smile and was so excited to see us. I guess she really does know who we are :). Come to find out, my mom had fractured both of her legs while we were gone, too, and still took care of a sick Kallie before and after work – she is a saint! She didn’t want to tell us because she didn’t want us to worry. Needless to say, Josh and I felt AWFUL once we found out. As much fun as I had on the cruise and loved being able to spend more time with Josh and our friends, I was SO glad to be home with my little sweetie! It is good to take a break from work and the daily grind to get refreshed, but it will be a while before we take our next long vacation sans Kallie!
Did you have as hard of time as we did leaving your littles for a trip?
What has been one of your favorite trips?
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