CYJ - the Spencer Era

For the first time in history, we dropped off all 3 children at CYJ, and for the first time in history, we had one child who wasn't having enough success that camp decided it would be best if Spencer returned halfway through. Here are some memories camp shared of his time in Chalutzim 2025.






And of course, the support system that was with him all along:

Harmony of the Seas

Jon and I have prided ourselves on prioritizing sneaking away once every year or two, just the two of us. And for the 2nd time in our lives, we took to the seas! While three kids were off at sleepaway camp, we headed to Galveston to board Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas and the world's fifth largest cruise ship.


We were spoiled by exciting onboard activities, hot tubs overlooking beautiful water, endless food opportunities, evening entertainment, and no prep work/cleanup on our part!













After the first 3 days of cruising, we landed at Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas for a "Perfect Day at Coco Cay."



Back on board to cruise towards the Mexican peninsula.

Sunset:

Sunrise:



Our next stop was at Costa Maya, where we took a bike ride to the teeny tiny town of Mahahual, whose population was half of the guest count on our cruise.



Bike break:

Glass-bottom kayaking:


The very next day, Harmony docked a bit farther up the Mexican peninsula in Cozumel, where we joined a dune buggy and snorkeling excursion.


The snorkeling adventure had to be cut a little short due to the humongous storm that opened up right above our heads.

With the storm mostly past us, we had more dune buggy riding to the next beach:




Back on board, we had one remaining full day to cruise at sea on our way back to Texas.

Shabbat Shalom from Royal Caribbean!

Last sunset from the boat:

At the end of the week, we were back in Galveston and were forced off the boat, back to the real world.

Video highlights from the trip: