On the 9th we left for Fort Lauderdale,
and on the 10th, continuing our “year of travel” we, after losing three hours of our hotel nap time due to our red-eye flight delay, boarded the beautiful Celebrity Eqinox.
We were super stoked to be onboard with our favorite captain, Kate! (we loved her on our last Celebrity cruise and follow her @captainkatemccue & her adorable feline sidekick @bugnaked on Instagram)
Tony only got a little embarrassed when she noticed us staring at her from our balcony and waived at us! (actually he was super embarrassed and ran inside immediately, LOL)
On the 11th we just enjoyed our balcony, some delicious food including tea time for Christian and I, and some comedy in the theater.
The next day was a sea day, so we explored, enjoyed watching Dirty Dancing on the real grass,
the kids made friends in the Kids’ club, and we had fancy dress-up dinner. I forgot to get any pictures of us all dressed up, but after I finished my makeup (including fake eyelashes) I did chase the kids around until they took selfies with me. Christian even taught me the duck face
Monday, August 12 was our first port—Costa Maya, Mexico. We went on an excursion to the Chacchoben Ruins and loved exploring them! We were just disappointed that our driver did not speak English, so we missed out on getting the information that people who reviewed this excursion on TripAdvisor raved about
. 
Next, we went to the Ibiza Sunset Beach Club for a few hours of beach time and a yummy lunch. Cute local kids who were walking the beach made Faith and I flowers out of palm leaves
On the 13th we were in port at the island of Cozumel, Mexico.
We went to the Ocean Beach Club and just relaxed all day at the beach. The kids got to hold an iguana, and later we enjoyed the most amazing guacamole and pico with chips!
August 14th we got to visit Grand Cayman. We took a 45 minute boat ride out to stingray city
and experienced one of the best (if not the best) excursions, ever! We loved all of the wild stingrays swimming around our feet and bumping into us, kissing and being hugged by them, and feeding them. The water was clear & warm and the sand was like powdered sugar.
Next, The boat took us to a reef where we got to snorkel for over an hour. We were surrounded by amazing fish
and saw several lines of squid swim by!
Back on land, we enjoyed some fresh coconut water and chewed on some sugar cane.
That night, Tony and I went to a party on the ship. Such an amazing day!!
August 15th was our 27th anniversary.
It was a sea day, so we found some fun onboard. Christian and I did a galley tour and saw the inner workings of the kitchens.
The four of us had a huge sudoku war where we raced through game after game in the café (Tony won the majority, but Faith & I each pulled one W).
Christian got his photo with his favorite statue, I am not familiar enough with art to know the meaning of a silver potato with legs
We competed against other families in general trivia and tied for first place!! (Christian was obviously over being photographed at that moment!)
And they gave us a special anniversary dessert at dinner that night.
August 16th we arrived in Key West and visited the Butterfly & Nature Conservatory.
It was incredible! Large and small butterflies filled the air and occasionally landed on us.
In addition, there were birds, turtles and flamingos.
We loved it so much, we went through a second time!
Afterward, we went to Fort Zachary Taylor beach and swam a bit. I asked the kids to make a heart with their hands, but the best Christian could muster was a fist bump 
He also decided to pose pointing to a rock on a tree trunk. He certainly keeps things interesting!
As we were leaving Key West, we took some selfies on our balcony and watched our captain assist an officer in her first time steering a ship out of port.
That night we swam in the serenity pool,
then the kids went to the teen farewell party.
The next morning, I got up early and watched the sun rise from the top deck.
After disembarking, we went to Fort Lauderdale beach since our flight didn’t leave until after 6pm. Tony and Christian didn’t want to fly home covered in ocean water and sand, but Faith and I jumped right in. When it was time to leave I gave my usual farewell to the beach—not ‘goodbye,’ but just ‘until next time!’
We made the nonstop flight back to Salt Lake that night on standby (flying for free ROCKS!) and we were excited to collect our Skittles baby from my parents’ house.
We are so lucky to be able to travel so much and this trip was amazing!! Here is a collection of our souvenirs:
August 19th I took Christian to his brand new Jr. High (both new to him AND just barely built). We were on our cruise for back-to-school night, so I took him over so he could find his classes before school started.
It's a pretty cool school! Shoreline Junior High, home of the Shoreline Sharks.
The 20th was his first day of school.
He was super excited and loved his new kicks (meaning shoes. They are Nike Air Jordan Legacy 312)
Davis High only started the Sophomores on the 20th, so Faith's first day of school was the 21st.
August 22nd the kids and I visited the Kaysville Farmer's Market where Faith was not thrilled I was taking her picture
and Bud got to feed an alpaca.
Faith had taken a selfie with my camera a month or two before and I had fun using that pic in an artistic photo editing app. She is so gorgeous!
On the 31st we were at the condo in Park City and everyone (mom & dad, Sarah's family and Joy's family) went to the Sheepdog Trials at Soldier Hollow. We loved the wild animal and bird programs,
the hands-on displays,
and the herding competition.
And Faith loved getting her favorite gyros!
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