Gibson Family Reunion 2011--The Cruise

Monday, November 14, 2011

We left our house at 7:30am.  Susie's family and Mom and Dad met us there.  Mom and Dad rode down with us, and Susie's family was right behind us.  We arrived in Long Beach at the Pier around 12:30pm.  We met up with the Heflins, Bishops, and Williams as we were waiting in the long lines to get on the ship.  It was a long check-in process.  We finally got on the ship in time to eat lunch!  It was so fun to see everyone!  We explored the Carnival Paradise Ship, registered the kids for Camp Carnival, and went to the Safety Instructions.  Then we went to dinner at 6pm.  Brady sat at the kids table, and Logan sat by Gavin and Riley at Grandma and Grandpa's table.  After dinner, we dropped the kids off at Camp Carnival while we went to some shows.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

When we woke up, we looked out our window to see that we were in Catalina Island.  We got ready, and went up to the Lido Deck for the Breakfast Buffet.  We all wore our Reunion Cruise shirts that Darin designed.  After breakfast, we put the kids in Camp Carnival.  The kids loved camp carnival.  They had so many fun activities for them to do.  Then we picked them up at lunch time, so that we could eat something, and go over to the island.  The line was so long to get off the ship that we decided to take our big group picture on the ship looking at the island.  It was hard to get a just cousins picture because the little ones kept running off, but we managed to get one.  After the picture, we went swimming.  The pool water was really cold, but the spa was really nice.  The kids loved it!  Brady was the only one to brave the pool, but it didn't last long.  He went straight back to the spa!  Then Logan and Clark wanted to go back to Camp Carnival.  Brady wanted to go with us to Catalina Island.  There was no line to get off the ship, so we took the Tender Boat over to the island.  We met up with the Heflins and the Bishops.  We played some frisbee on the beach.  Brady loved playing on the beach.  Vince threw the frisbee in the water, so he went to fish it out.  When we got back on the ship, we played some mini golf.  This was one of Brady's favorite things to do on the ship.  At dinner, it was formal night so we all had to dress up.  Everyone looked nice, and they let whoever wanted to dance.  It was a fun day! 

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

 Look really close, and you can see Grandma and Grandpa waving to us from the Lido Deck.

This was our Ensenada, Mexico Day!  After breakfast, we dropped the kids off at Camp Carnival.  Then we were off with the rest of the adults to tour Mexico.  We didn't think that the kids would have fun looking in shops.  They had a fun time playing with their cousins.  We got a few souvenirs and Christmas presents.  We got a mexican sun dress for our niece, Avry, a Batman Cape for our nephew, Quinn, red and black Spiderman Capes for Brady and Logan, and Hello Kitty bracelets for our niece, Abby.  It was fun to walk around town, and that was all we needed to see of Mexico.

When we picked up the boys from camp carvival, they had there face painted.  We took them to dinner that way.  At dinner each night, they have the kids dance with the waiters.  Logan loved it, but Brady wouldn't do it.  Usually Brady is not shy, but for some reason he was shy about this.

Will and Riley got on the Family Feud game, and Vance participated in the Minute to Win it games.

Then later that night we picked the kids up and went to the Family Kareoke night, where Vince and Brenna sang a song together, and Will and Eve sang a song together.  Logan and Clark were so tired that they fell asleep at the place where they had the Kareoke.

When we got back to our room, we found a Dinosaur made out of towels.  Each night, Housekeeping would have our beds ready for us to sleep in, and they would make a different animal out of towels.  The kids loved it!!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

 Today was our fun day at sea.  We tried to find a quiet area of the ship so that we could have the presentation from Grandma and Grandpa Gibson about their mission.  It's hard to find a quiet place, but we did manage to find a place that no one was using at the back of the ship for our group to meet.  Susie got hot chocolate for everyone because it was cold and windy.  Grandma and Grandpa gave a short presentation about missionaries, and it was just what we needed to hear.  Then we had our annual talent show.  Logan sang "I'm a VIP" with my help.  He also sang the ABC song with Aaron and Bryant.  Logan was being a little shy because at home he usually belts out those songs, but he sang them very quietly.  Brady showed off his soccer skills by doing his toe touches on the beach ball instead of a soccer ball.  Clark showed off his kicking talent by kicking the beach ball.  Eve and Brenna danced, Tessa, Breann, Anna, and Gavin sang some songs.  Everyone is so talented.  I also passed out little journals for all the grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa's testimonies in them.
Some other activites of the day were mini golf, swimming in the spa, and of course camp carnival activities.  It was a great day! 

Friday, November 18, 2011

We are now back in California.  We packed up, went to breakfast, and began waiting for number to be called to get off the ship.  The kids enjoyed some more ice cream.  We're gonna miss having ice cream any time we want.  We finally were called to disembark the ship to go through customs.  More lines to wait in.  We drove straight back to Las Vegas.  We had a great trip, and it was fun to see everyone!