Saturday, July 11, 2009

Vacation Day Ten - Labadee, Haiti

Royal Caribbean advertises Labadee as their "private" island ... which is really a beach ... which I have no idea if its private or not. I just know that one day the ship pulled up, dropped anchor, and tendered a bunch of us off for a day of sunning, playing, eating, and dodging the unbelievably pushy and aggressive vendors in the local marketplace.

There is a water park you can play in, and a ginormous slide you can go down, which was sort of funny because its advertised as an "Aqua" Slide and according to the reservation information you must be able to swim to buy tickets which makes sense because according to the photo on the website the slide shoots you off into the ocean which would be AWESOME except it totally doesn't happen. It sits on sand and unless there's a possibility you will be knocked unconscious on the way down and then drown in the inch and a half of water at the bottom, I really don't see drowning as a possibility. Regardless, it was a blast and I went down it four times, so you know it had to be fun if I was willing to climb the damn stairs to top four separate times ....... really, would an elevator for those of us over the age of forty be too much to ask????

An overall view of the water park, which is really not too great a view because I haven't splurged for a wide-angle lens .....



They had teeter totters:



Humongous trampolines, close to ten feet high:



Slides, that really DID dump you into the ocean, which was awesome until you remembered you had your brand-new sunglasses on your face because you are a dumbass (oh wait, that would be ME):




A balance beam type obstacle, with a barrel roll in the middle, which was a hoot to watch because kids have no sense of pride when it comes to falling off something, over and over and over:




These bizarre float-y running mats, which the kids used for racing and sliding and jousting and all sorts of balanc-y nonsense:




An overall view of the "Aqua" slide, which did not involve water at all unless you count the water hose at the top, and the water hose at the bottom which the guy used to get the sand off your feet:



Kendrie, enjoying her trip down:




Kellen, who is clearly concerned with his overall form:




Brayden, getting the most of the spray at the end .... by this point in the day it was about one hundred and fifty degrees, so climbing the steps to get the cool water at the bottom was not unreasonable:




Blaine, trying to look as cool as possible while keeping water from shooting into his ear and out his nose:



And me. Hello, cleavage!



Primarily, I learned four very important lessons on this day.

1. To get up on the trampolines and slides and climbing, floating toys requires an inordinate amount of upper body strength.

2. I do not have an inordinate amount of upper body strength.

3. Sometimes resting at the top was required, before I could summon the energy to hurl my body towards the water and then swim to the next obstacle. While I was very "Survivor" in my mind, I'm afraid I was very "Wipe Out" in my actual performance.


4. That Blaine is probably the smartest one of us all.

16 comments:

Cindy in Yukon said...

Looks like you are having tons of fun! Enjoy the "cooler" weather as it was 112 degrees here this afternoon :<(

Haley said...

Oh my goodness...the water toy park looks just like the one in West Virginia we visited this week (minus the clear, beautiful water!). I climbed up one of the thingies and that was it. My upper body strength is totally lacking! There was also the issue of the life vest riding up to my ears, which I truly believe impended my abilities on the obstacles... :)

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Pam D said...

Yep, Blaine and I are on the same wave length. Can I just say that I would LOVE to see you in "Wipe Out"? That would be the funniest. show. EVER.

hyzymom said...

When we went to Labadee on our cruise 8 years ago, they didn't have anything except pushy vendors and floaty mats. Looks like things have improved. What fun!!!

Tammy said...

Looks like ya'll are having a ball! Don't those teenagers in the library know who you are?? You need your hook up Kristi, or else I would just sit have to sit here in Fort Worth, (106 degrees) and not get to go anywhere this summer! lol (Good thing I'm not acutally there, Blaine would have to scoot over, he he he!

joanne said...

upper body strength + me = 0, same with the cleavage..;p

Leeann said...

Loved this entry from start to finish. You guys are having an amazing vacation and I am really enjoying watching you enjoy it!

Anonymous said...

That looks totally FUN!

Anonymous said...

Oh, that looks like soooo much fun - especially from up here, 20 miles south of Seattle, where it's - you guessed it!!!! - raining........lizinsumner

Anonymous said...

Ummm, is that vomit on the side of the slide on the photo of Brayden? Other than that, it looks awesome! I was having blood pressure issues & if I closed my eyes & imagined sitting in a hammock on the beach, I'd get a lower reading! Works every time!

Rachel in ND

Anonymous said...

Am I the only one who thought Blaine was on his cell phone on the way down the slide?? ha ha
I think a good caption for that photo is:
"hello, can you hear me now?"

Shanda

Cathy said...

FUN FUN FUN
Love all the water stuff there, but he pic of Blaine is the best! So jealous of all of it!

Anonymous said...

Blaine looks so relaxed

Where were yall at (or port of call)

Lisa

Natalie said...

I actually thought Blaine was on the phone as he came down the water slide. Yes, I'm that big of a dingbat.

Natalie said...

I just saw Shanda's comment.

Shanda,
I'm sorry because by saying I thought Blaine was on the phone when you already did, I implied you are a dingbat like me. I would never lump any other poor person in with me. My apologies!

Anonymous said...

It seems like you should have explored more of the private island. You missed out by staying near the fun slides all day. Tons of trails that lead to breath taking views,one of my favorite islands and I cant wait to go back.