Dolphins! Dolphins Everywhere! (beach post 5)

Another highlight of our vacation was a dolphin/sunset cruise on the Sea Quest. We've done this on several other occasions, but on a different boat, and have always had a great time. And now that the boys are a little older and can enjoy it more we were excited to do it again! We set out hoping we'd see some dolphins, and additionally hoped that they would be close enough that the boys would be able to catch a glimpse. This was the dolphin and sunset cruise of a life time. I could not even count how many dolphins we saw, but they were everywhere!! The crew were loving it and made remarks that this was one of the best cruises they had! The sunset was also gorgeous...and it seemed to linger on longer than normal just so we could get the perfect pictures. And the crew got the kids involved and had fun music, encouraged dancing, and just made the entire trip a party. It was loads of fun and the boys loved it!!

While we were waiting to board the boat, Josh bought some fish food to let the boys feed the fish off the dock.

Getting excited to get going! Sometimes it is hard to contain excited little boys, but they did a pretty good job of hanging out and being patient. While we were waiting we saw a pirate ship pass by, and the kids decided that was the next boat we would go on...  And Finn did a little pre-party dancing in the aisle while the boat remained docked.

Once we got going and drinks were passed out, we toodled around the harbor and looked at celebrity homes before heading out to sea.

Vanna White's house...

Garth Brooks' house (I think!) and maybe Bette Midler's next/near to it (?)

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw's house

 

A super cool group of condos and restaurants and shops...and this is where we ate with Wesley where we saw such a pretty sunset!

 

At some point the captain brought out a box of saltine crackers and told everyone to put one in their mouths because we were going to feed the seagulls. I don't know if anyone did, but then he told us he was joking...and that if we just held the crackers up in the air the gulls would take them. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen...those seagulls swarmed the boat and got their fill of saltine crackers! And to my surprise, no one was pooped on!

As we were killing time before we made our way to dolphins and the sunset, going as fast as the boat could go, I loved watching my boys. They were so content and happy. And they were so good. They took in all the sights, enjoyed walking about the boat when we slowed, drank their sodas like big boys. We passed by our condo and the kids thought it was so cool to see our "home away from home" from a different view. We also passed by the the Sea Blaster, which is another boat that we have been on several times. It is also very fun, but we really did enjoy this booze-cruise the best of all of them!

While we were out in the ocean cruising along, the kids all got a chance to captain the Sea Quest. My boys jumped at this opportunity and took their short-term responsibility very seriously.

And then suddenly it was dolphin time. And we were surrounded. The dolphins were everywhere! They were so playful and gave us an amazing show that lasted for quite a while. They surfed in the wake of the boat, they flipped and dove, swam around and under the boat. They were so close. There was even a baby dolphin that was super playful...but I couldn't pick it out when I went back to look at my pictures. The best part: the boys got quite a show!! It was  more than I could have ever hoped in a dolphin cruise!

After the dolphins we got a showing from one of the prettiest sunsets. It was stunning. And unlike most sunsets that seem to give a beautiful showing for a split second before the sun melts into the water, this sunset really did seem to last. We got a bunch of gorgeous pictures. And tried to take some nice pictures with the boys...Finley is anti-picture though and refuses to smile and fights to get down/away.

As the sun began its descent into the water the crew turned up the music and encouraged everyone to dance. It didn't take much for me or Keagan...and we had a blast! Finn was a bit more bashful...like his daddy? There were some young singles (read: no kids, out to have a good time, etc) and they were so sweet to the boys. One of the gals taught Keagan (and me!) how to do the Nae Nae. I had never heard the song...but it was catchy and we had a lot of fun dancing!!

 So much fun and great memories!!!!