{Half Moon Cay}

One of the dreamy cities we visited was Half Moon Cay. 

This is a private island owned by the Holland America line.  Truth be told, I didn't expect much out of this little island.  Being owned by the cruise line I thought it would be a tourist trap with nothing to do but sit on an overcrowded beach or buy over priced items.  

I WAS MISTAKEN!  Turns out this quaint little spot was one of my favorite ports of the entire trip.  It was a beautiful little paradise that was in immaculate condition.  Admittedly the beach did have a lot of people but considering there were two ships docked sharing the island for the day it was not bad at all.

We enjoyed walking around and just seeing what was done with this small paradise in the middle of the Caribbean.  We saw beautiful plant life, a cove full of sting rays (oh heck no), relaxed on the beach and feasted at a tropical buffet with delightful barbecue.  

The best part?  We enjoyed this romantic trip ashore sans kids as they were busy playing in the kids club with grandma and grandpa.  What a dream!

Here are a few of our favorite parts of Half Moon Cay:

This was the moment I fell in love with this cute little island!

Beach was crowded but we still found some chairs in the shade to relax and just soak in the sun :)

This picture is my favorite... Mike mumbled "good place to take a piss here" and wandered off into the foliage.  I heard "good place to take a picture" so this picture was born.  I was so confused, as was he, as to the timing of the photo... Once we discovered the miscommunication I couldn't bring myself to delete it.  You're welcome :)

Cute bright benches all around the walking trails!  So tropical & fun

The pace of life - sometimes we need this!

Sea Cucumber and a Starfish - these little guys were in about two feet deep of water.  The water is so crystal clear you almost can't tell from the picture they are even underwater!

The big stingray we saw swimming in the cove :S

Captain Morgan bar - right on the beach!

My handsome guy :)

Colorful beach cabanas 

Our ship - took this while sitting on the beach soaking in the sun - doesn't it look postcard worthy?

Ultimate relaxed mode

Heading back to our ship... sad to leave our cute island paradise but not sad to eat the most amazing food at dinner that night :)  

Don't kid yourselves - the kids were in amazing hands and enjoyed EVERY second.  Wesley went from the 7th percentile in weight at his 6 month to the 35th at his nine month... he was in HEAVEN with all the food around him!  These boys just love the simple things and loved the attention from grandparents :)

Stay tuned for more cruise adventures soon :)