Dolphin time at Blue Lagoon Beach

We went on a 4 day Disney cruise to the Bahamas last week. The girls were excited to be on the Dream again. I had forgotten how large it is, and easy to get turned around.

We drove down to Florida, and the girls were so relieved to get out of the car and onto the ship. They didn't want to waste any time hitting the pool. I forgot to get any pool pictures that morning, though.

Ben's mom got to come with us this time. It was fun to have her along.

Poor Evie fell asleep sitting up at dinner. So I took her to the stateroom to lie down. I was concerned that she'd wake up and be confused, but when I checked on her after dinner she was still sound asleep. I woke her up so she could go to the Golden Mickey show with Grandma. She had really been looking forward to it. The other 2 girls didn't want to go since they've seen it a few times already.

Kiersten was very attached to Grandma and wanted to be by her side as much as possible.

In Nassau, we took a water taxi to Blue Lagoon beach. It was a bit of a ride, but the kids had fun.

At Blue Lagoon, we got to meet a dolphin named Salvador. He is 10 years old.

Everyone got a chance to hug and dance with Salvador.

The girls sure got a kick out of it. It was pretty fun, and he's so well trained.

Then we all lined up for our kisses.

He tasted a bit salty. Kiersten and I each got 4 or 5 kisses before he moved on. She felt very special. Kara chickened out and asked for a high five instead...

We also got to feed him a fish.

Evie got scared and dropped her fish into the water. So she got to try again, and did much better the second time. She was still nervous, though.

We also got to feel his back and belly.

All of the girls were hesitant to put their hands in his mouth.

He was a very friendly dolphin, and this is one of my favorite things we've done. The girls were so happy and didn't freak out, so it was a perfect outing. Evie did fall into the dolphin tank at one point, but Ben and I were both quick to reach in and grab her out, so nobody said anything. You might think she'd be traumatized, but it didn't even faze her.

After we reluctantly said goodbye to Salvador, we had a few hours to spend on the beach.

It was gorgeous! Perfect soft sand, and clear water. Kara was a little miffed about the lack of waves, but when we went to the other side, there were some decent ones.

The beach is definitely Evie's happy place. She's thrilled to just be there sitting. I always plan on buying sand toys, but we never need to. The beach is entertaining enough.

Kara is funny. She talks pretty tough, but gets freaked out much more quickly than the other 2. I think she watches too many ocean documentaries, so she's worried about what might be in the water.

Kiersten just loves to look for seashells. She has so many, that we've told her she can't take any more home, unless they're very impressive or different. But she still collects them, and then buries them for someone else to stumble across.

These pictures are from the part of the beach with some waves. The girls had a blast, and we finally saw some fish. I think there were too many people on the calm side scaring them away.

Because, how else should you pose in paradise?

I got a few fish pictures that turned out. Here are a few Sgt. Majors.

Evie fell asleep on the ride back to the ship even though a dance party had broken out, and was quite loud. She really can sleep anywhere it seems.

It was a perfect day. It was probably around 80-85 most of the day, and none of us got sunburned that day. There was also a light breeze keeping us cool.

The girls swimming back on the Dream. The pool was very crowded during the day. I missed being on the smaller ships, because the pools are the same size, but there are a lot more people to get in your way on the Dream.

While the kids were in the Oceaneer Lab, we hung out in the adult only pool. It's the best place to spend time, and never crowded at all. I've never seen more than a handful of people there. We had the hot tub to ourselves, but it was too hot, so we didn't stay in there very long.