Our big news for the month is our 12 day trip to Houston to visit Megan’s mission/Cruise to the Caribbean to celebrate Devin’s high school graduation. Take a look:
We had so much fun in Houston getting to visit the people and places that Megan grew to love so much on her mission. Megan often talks about southern hospitality and how gracious the people of Houston are, and we discovered that she was not exaggerating! We stayed with 2 of the families that she got to know on her mission and they were both so gracious and welcoming. We also visited with families that she knows and loves. It was amazing to get to know these wonderful people who knew Megan as a missionary and who love her so much. When we went to church in the Memorial Springs Ward on Sunday (where Megan served for nearly 7 months), the Elders currently serving in the ward greeted us with, “Well, if it isn’t the infamous Sister Ririe”. :) We forgot to take pictures with every single person/family we visited, so you will just have to imagine the friendly and wonderful people of Houston. We did get to go to the Houston temple together, which was an awesome experience!
We also took some time in Houston to visit the touristy sites that Megan never got to visit while she was a missionary. Here are some pictures:
The Houston Water Wall, which is so impressive in real life. We were all soaked!
NASA! This was definitely on Bryce’s list of must-see attractions, and it was really interesting and inspiring to learn more about the history and future of space exploration. Pretty much learned that engineers rule!!
The Kemah Boardwalk - we had fun exploring this historic amusement park along the gulf coast. Super hot day, though.
The Houston Zoo - tons of fun on a rare coolish day! Plus we got to experience a true Houston downpour while we were here, which made Megan happy. :)
The Museum of Natural Science - fascinating exhibits, especially the gems and minerals. Nature is amazing!
After all that fun in Houston, we boarded our cruise ship in Galveston. We had a great time and managed to avoid most of the wet and stormy weather in the area. Our first day at sea was rainy and stormy, but it was acually fun to have one day of rough seas. Other than that we had great weather and a ton of fun!! We had 3 days total at sea, but as you can see, we weren’t lacking for fun things to do on the cruise ship:
Our ports were even more fun! First stop - Cozumel, Mexico. We took a jeep tour and I had a blast driving one of our jeeps around the island, while Bryce and Seth went with another couple in a different jeep. It was a little crazy in the city, but once we got out near the beaches, it was lots of fun and so beautiful! We visted some small Mayan ruins, a lighthouse and two beaches along with having an authentic Mexican lunch - delicious! The kids all loved the Mariacha band that serenaded our lunch.
Second stop - Grand Cayman. The only problem with this stop was it was too short - we could easily spend days in Grand Cayman! The water was clear and so blue and the snorkeling was awesome. We loved our visit to Stingray City and getting to be in the water with and feed these gentle creatures. We also snorkled along a beautiful reef covered with all kinds of coral and tropical fish.
Third stop - Falmouth, Jamaica. This was our favorite stop! The kids loved the friendliness of the people and the culture of the area. We hiked Dunn's River Falls, which was so fun and also visited Dolphin Cove where we got to take a jungle walk and experience some of the local wildlife and then got to do Autumn’s most desired thing by swimming with a dolphin. It was pretty amazing and a fun way to end our excursions.
On top of our awesome trip, we also celebrated Megan’s 21st birthday (gasp!), spent time swimming and hanging out with friends and just enjoyed one pretty awesome month!!
Have a great July, y’all!!
3 comments:
What a wonderful time. I hope Jeff and family have as much fun.
Wow, sounds like you need a vacation to rest up after all that.
Wow. How fun to finally take the time to read about your fun trip. Looks like you had an amazing time together and lived it up.
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