Day 2: Nassau

On day 2, Anh and I pulled back our cabin's curtain and gazed out at our first port, Nassau. The beautiful turquoise water and brilliantly colored buildings made us eager to get out and explore the capital city of the Bahamas. Anh and I had heard mixed reviews from friends about Nassau and quite honestly had considered not even leaving our amazing ship on the first day.Why explore an area labeled by many as "questionable" and "a waste of time" when we were aboard the world's largest cruise ship, a guaranteed good time? Ultimately, the adults decided that with more negative than positive things said about the city, we would leave the kids behind on the ship to participate in the Adventure Ocean children's program and briefly explore the capital on our own.After walking around for a couple of hours and being asked no less than 100 times whether we wanted a taxi or to have our hair braided, we made our way back to the ship. While I won't go so far as to say that we wasted our time, I will state with certainty that the only real reason to go back to Nassau would be to stay at the Atlantis Resort. It looks AMAZING! However, Baylor needs to be just a bit older to fully enjoy the water park there. So, we'll hold off on the reservations for now.Now, I'll issue a warning. You are about to be subjected to photo overload. Our departure was my first true opportunity to test out my new camera, and a cute little Bahamian lighthouse was the victim in the assault. I will admit that I got a bit carried away. Hey, can you blame me? Look at the vibrant water! I've never seen so many shades of blue! Eventually, I had to tear myself away from the balcony to prepare for the first of two formal nights on the ship. We made the most of an elegant evening. Don't my boys clean up nicely?

After dinner, we shed a few layers and made our way to the Boardwalk. The kids needed a little "kid time" after the elaborate meal they had just patiently participated in. I really must praise all four of the children in our group. Each night, they impressed me with their behavior at the dinner table. Of course, the games and videos on our iPhones did help make the 2 1/2 hour dinners more tolerable for them.That night, we acquired a few new friends in the Pets at Sea shop. Jaxon was a "Build-a-Bear" rookie, but something tells me that we'll no longer be able to slip quietly by our mall's shop that has gone unnoticed for years now by my boys. I'm sure Jax will be anxious to introduce Baylor to the art.

Oh, and I'm sure it will come as no surprise that Jaxon selected a race car driver's uniform and red hightops for his white tiger, Shifu. That kid is so predictable!