Bahama Cruisin'

Hey Friends and Family!

Tyler and I went on another trip, and this time we hit up the Bahamas! A few months ago, my sister in law, Courtney, called up all the siblings asking if we would want to go on a cruise with her and my brother, Jared. We, of course, were in! We love family time, and we love vacations, so we said yes pretty immediately. It also worked out great, because the timing of the cruise was the weekend after finals week, so I knew that I was going to be needing a vacation! Caleb and Becca were also able to say yes, so we planned it, and last week it happened!

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale, FL late on Thursday night. The next morning, we ran across the street for a couple hours of beach time before we would be meeting up with the siblings. So, the last few times that we have been at the beach, it has been a California beach. Well, let me just refresh everyones memories that Florida beaches are completely different! First off, they are WARM! Its like wading into a luke warm bath. Secondly, they are clear! Tyler and I threw our goggles on and were exploring the ocean. The beach that we were at didn't have any waves, so we got pretty far out and some some ocean wonders. I think a Florida beach trip is on the new annual to-do list.

After cleaning up and meeting with the family, we headed over to the cruise ship. We were cruising with Royal Caribbean on the Majesty of the Seas vessel. This was Courtney and Jared's first time cruising, and it was the second time cruising for the rest of us. However, it was everyone's first time on this cruise line.

Aboard the boat, with the Miami skyline in the background. 

We spent our first night on the boat filling ourselves with all the you can eat meals, watching the family comedy show, and exploring the boat. The next day we arrived at our first port, which is Cococay, Bahamas. It is a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. We took a shuttle boat over to the island. We went snorkeling and just played beach bums all day. It was the best.

While on the island, Jared and Courtney found a more private beach area. Once we met up with them, we had lunch and then they took us their discovered spot. We took a little nature hike in our flip flops and ended up on the perfect beach. The Bahamas are a dream! 

Jared & Courtney

Caleb & Becca

Tyler & Rifka 

That night we hit up dinner and some karaoke. It by far was the funniest, most entertaining karaoke that I have ever watched in my entire life. Just an example story, a gangly tall, older man, wearing high top socks, shorts and a floral shirt, and basically just missing his fanny pack, got up and sang "I'm too Sexy for my shirt" in a demon voice. I'm still mad at myself for not pulling out my phone to record it. It was hilarious and unexpected. 

The next day, we arrived at Nassau, Bahamas. We rented 3 mopeds and drove around the entire island. Truly, it was so much fun! It was amazing to drive around the little roads, and the whole time we felt like we were on the movie, Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn. It was so much fun!

We went to Atlantis, which is this large hotel/casino/mall on the island. It is uppity-uppity and it a large tourist attraction.

Afterwards, we found the Straw Market, which is just this huge building filled with little stands where locals sell their crafts and souvenir items. We also drove past all the gorgeous beaches and found a delicious restaurant on the backside of the island. It was the best. I don't think that there could have been a better way to spend our day. We finished it off by stopping at one of the gorgeous beaches and swimming. Both Tyler and Becca found some starfish in the ocean. We also had fun exploring the bottom of the ocean and found a huge lobster. It was the perfect day.        

Jared & Court

We bought some coconut milk.... of course!

That night we hit up dinner again for the last time, and then stayed for 10 minutes of the comedy show and then hit up karaoke again. It was a great trip.

Our dinner waiters (who were the nicest guys!)

The next day we had breakfast and then departed the ship. Caleb and Becca had to head back down to Orlando to meet back up with their kids. It was so fun seeing them again and spending time with them. Jared, Courtney, Tyler and I headed down to south beach just to check out it, drove past the temple, and then we hit up Dolphin Mall, which is probably the biggest mall I've ever been in within in the US. Afterwards we headed to the airport and split up to make it to our flights.

It was such a great trip! Thanks again Jared and Courtney for putting it together and making it happen! It definitely will need to happen again.

As always, thanks so much for reading and keeping up with our busy lives!

With love,

California Dreamin'

Tyler and I got the lucky chance to go back to his home state, California! We LOVE it there, and every time we visit we question why we aren't living there. We are sunny, beach-bum people at heart.

We took the trip because we were having a Jensen Family Reunion. Tyler and I headed out a couple days early so that we could have a mini-couples trip. Lets be honest, with us both having full-time work, full-time school and being so busy at church, we definitely needed the couple time! We flew into LAX and, because of our delayed flight, missed our connecting flight to San Diego. For some reason the airlines locked up our luggage in some facility a few miles away, and couldn't get it out until the next morning. We ended up renting a car around 3am Arkansas time, arriving at our San Diego hotel around 5am Arkansas time, and then sweet Tyler went to the airport to pick up our luggage around 7am from a packed flight that they were able to fit our luggage on. Craziness!

In-N-Out Love! 

Despite the traveling fiasco's, we tried not to let our day get wasted and went to the beach. It turned out that my Brother and his family were in town from Arizona for the weekend, so we met up with them at the beach. It was the perfect day!

My sweet SIL, Becca! It was awesome seeing them! 

After beaching it up, we hit up one of the best firework shows we have ever seen at Oceanside. It was perfect because it was right outside our hotel. We just sat in the parking lot and watched the magic, and then walked the strip to see what yummy treats all the food trucks were selling.

That's the pier where Tyler took me to tell me he loves me. Maybe I'm corny
for posting it, but oh well! I still love it and think it's tender! 

The next day we went to the Oceanside beach. That's the beach where Tyler told me that he loved me for the first time, hence it is our favorite beach. After that we headed off to Point Loma. It's this gorgeous lookout over the pier and the ocean. It was a great view, and it was fun to explore with Tyler.

Tyler get's onto me when I start focusing too much on taking pictures. Below is an example of me losing my camera privileges. He ran at me and took my camera away. The good news is, I documented it! See Ty! Aren't you glad I take pictures and catch your great expressions! ;)

After Point Loma, we returned our rental car and met up with the Jensen family. The reunion was a blast. We did everything from boating, kayaking in La Jolla, surf lessons, boogey boarding to having Mario Kart and Dr. Mario Wii tournaments. It was great! We had a lot of fun seeing all of the family, especially since we are the odd ones out, in regards to not living in the Northwest part of the states. We especially had fun catching up with Tyler's twin, Travis, and his wife, Cami. We went non-stop from activity to activity.

Surf Lesson, Brah! 

Cami and Christopher

Travis and Cami 

Ty and I

Happy Gene! He just loves the family time! And we love him.. and his hat! :) 

So, shout out's of thanks are owed to Gene and Michele for wanting and making a family reunion happen. We are so glad we were able to go. Also, shout out of thanks to Cami, because she planned all of the activities and worked out the kinks. It was perfect, seriously! We had so much fun, and we haven't been so tired in a long time!

Overall it was an awesome trip. Now we're home with piles of laundry to do and work to catch up on. We are heading off for another trip soon with two of my brothers to the Bahamas. Like I said earlier, we are summer loving, beach-bums. Summers are the best!

Thanks for reading! We love you all and appreciate you catching up with our busy lives!

With Love,