Tuesday May 15th

Today just happens to be the anniversary of my Mother's passing. I can't believe it's been 14 years! It doesn't seem possible. I miss her as much today as I did the day she left.

So, um...yeah. A big day in Nassau indeed!

We woke up this morning groggy and tired but ready for a great day in the Bahamas. In the interest of saving time we decided to order breakfast last night and have it delivered to the room this morning so we could eat while we were getting ready.

We were really excited about our plans for today. A couple of weeks ago we looked online through all the available excursions. For today, we booked spots on a private island because we were afraid that we wouldn't be able to find a beach that was crowded and clean. So we were to take this boat to the island (Blackbeard's Cay) and we'd be there until noon.

We got on the boat and took a 25 minute trip to Blackbeard's Cay and it was a little chilly and there were dark clouds but at least it wasn't raining. We got off the boat and were immediately thrilled with the beach and it's cleanliness and the softness of the sand. The water was clear blue and aazing! We got the kids all lathered up with sunscreen and they headed out to the water while I grabbed the camera and started taking pictures. Within about 5 minutes the clouds opened up and thunder rolled as the rain just poured down on us. We sought shelter and waited about 10 minutes until it stopped. Unfortunately, it started right back up and has stormed off and on all day long. We spent the rest of the time on that island just sitting under a patio area. Thank goodness that was there. This wasn't just a little spring rain either. This was a thunder and lightening storm and we weren't even allowed to be in the water if we wanted to.

Somehow the time passed and after a really rocky ride on the little boat we got back to the ship. We dropped the 3 smallest kids off at what they now call "the fun place" and Marleigh, Hubby, and I headed to lunch. The we went out to Nassau to look around and do some shopping where we picked up some souveneirs before finally deciding to stop battling the rain and just go back to the ship.

We took a nice long time getting ready for the formal dinner and enjoyed being all dressed up with somewhere to go. After dinner the little kids went back to the fun place and Marleigh went to the teen room. Hub by went to the casino and won back what he lost last night and I looked around at the shops on board. Then we played bingo for a bit which was a lot of fun!

Tomorrow we get to go to Royal Carribbean's private island all day so it better NOT rain all day again!