Disney Cruise Day 4

Our last day on the boat.  It was a day at sea, and mostly just the two of us!  The kids wanted to hang out in their "clubs" all day long, which was perfectly fine with us!  This is our titanic picture on the front bow of the boat, and where we ate breakfast.

This is where we spent most of the day, here at the adult pool.  We almost forgot that we brought kids with us!  I decided to attend a yoga class in the afternoon, and too bad I didn't get a picture of it, because it was the strangest yoga class I've ever been to.  It was three other GUYS, and me.  That's not weird, right?

Dinner that night was in the Animation Room with these amazing screens on every wall, where all the characters from Finding Nemo would swim from screen to screen and talk to you.

Ania from Poland and Alwayne from the Bahamas, took care of us each night at dinner.  Ania was so sweet and loving, she kissed each of us when we left and thanked US for being nice to her (after she waited on us for three days!).  After we got home from the cruise and had to fix our own boring dinners, our kids kept saying they missed Ania.  We loved her so much we couldn't stand the thought of her hanging out with another family after we left.  As we were getting off the boat and other people were boarding, we were so envious of them that their adventure was just beginning and ours was ending.

Disney Cruise Day 3

This is Disney's private island!!  We snorkeled in this little cove that's protected by a natural barrier.  There wasn't anything to see except tiny little jellyfish that were making Bailey freak out.  And the water was really cold, so we didn't spend too much time in the water.  Dave won us some snorkeling gear the night before at the "Heroes vs. Villians" show on the boat by being the one who cheered the loudest.  So proud of my husband!

This sign shows the path of Hurricane Irene just 5 months ago and how close it came to Castaway Cay.  You could still see some damage to the trees.

Everyone will tell you how fabulous the food is on a cruise, but the best meal we had the whole time was this one here, when they did a big old southern BBQ for us on the beach.  Dave was in rib heaven, and it was much better than the fancy food on the boat.

Of course they had the free ice cream all day long on the beach too.  That's how you spell H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S to Avery.

Next on our "to-do" list was a bike ride around the island.

We rode all the way to the other side through the tropical foilage to this lookout point.

You may have noticed we are missing a kid on this day.  That's because Cade would rather hang out with the awesome youth leaders they have who were doing some fun island exploring and playing games with the kids his age.  The leaders were way more fun than us. ;)

Can you feel the love Avery has for her big sister?

Can we live here?

This may be my favorite picture of all time.  Mainly because Avery was just so completely happy and blissful this entire trip. She loved the big boat, the palm trees, the tropical flowers, the sand, and hanging out in a swimsuit eating ice cream all day.  The whole thing was magical for her. I just wish I could freeze moments like this forever, and live in this dream world!

Saying goodbye to Castaway Cay.  As the boat pulled away, it was time to get ready for our Pirate night.  They had left some bandanas and eye patches on our beds so we could dress up like pirates for dinner and the show.

Dave is rocking his eye patch and Cade is stumped by our server Alwayne's latest brain bender.

On the top deck was a pirate show with Jack Sparrow and canons shooting fireworks.

After the fireworks we danced till we were exhausted.  So much fun in one day!

Disney Cruise Day 2

Our boat ride to Dolphin Encounters in Nassau

We're going to swim with the dolphins!  Not these dolphins, but we had Jake, and another one whose name I forget but was in the movie "Flipper".

We danced with, splashed, kissed, and hugged the dolphins. 
Avery was so nervous and thrilled at the same time! 
The only part she was apprehensive about was the last part where they
came up behind us and put their noses on the bottoms of our feet
 and propelled us like Superman all the way across the lagoon.
 Avery sat that one out, and one dolphin was so sweet,
 he went to the bottom of the ocean, picked up a rock in his mouth,
then gently swam up to Avery sitting on the dock, and gave the rock to her!
 She was one happy girl.

Unfortunately this ridiculousl-overpriced-poor-quality-photo is the only one I got with the dolphin
since I couldn't take my camera with me!

Later we explored the beach a little.  This is my kids first time seeing a coconut tree, and they couldn't believe it.

My tree loving Tarzan

When we got back on the boat, since we were already wet and freezing,
we decided to try the giant waterslide.  
Then we ran straight to the hot tub!

Dinner that night was in the Enchanted Room, themed like Cinderella. 

We loved Alwayne! 
He took good care of Avery and made sure she was completely spoiled. 
Whatever you can wish for, you can have!! 
Sure is different from home, how will we ever go back to reality?

We only had Avery with us for dinner each night, because Bailey and Cade were having too much fun in their club "The Edge" to stop for dinner.  They loved the freedom of hanging out, then going to the buffet to get food or ice cream or drinks whenever they felt like it.  That's heaven!

Even going to the bathroom was a magical experience!
  They were gorgeous,
and spotless,
 and filled with Disney music!

Entertainment that night was a ventriloquist named Taylor Mason. 
Oh my gosh, he was funny! 
When we came home we looked him up on YouTube and watched some more.

Disney Cruise Day 1

Welcome Aboard!! 

It's the best day ever........!!

Our room was so amazing, they fit so much into such a little space and Dave and I even had our "own room" when you pull the curtain.

Exploring the boat that would be our new home for the next 4 days.  Ping pong and miniature golf are not easy on a rocking boat with wind!

Bon Voyage party!

Did I mention how cool this room is?  Disney is A-mazing and they think of everything.  This top bunk comes out of the ceiling, folks! And then there were stars painted on the ceiling!  So naturally, this was the bed that the kids were fighting for each night and we had to have a rotation schedule.

The other cool thing the kids couldn't get enough of was the automatic hand washers in the Oceaneer's Club.  It's like a car wash for your hands. 

Avery loved the towel pets that were left in our room each night.

I love it when my kids are actually ASKING me to take their picture!!

Christmas in June?!

I'm a little behind.  So enjoy Christmas in June!!

What do you think, could they be twins? 
We think so!

Avery said Santa brought her stuff that she'd forgotten she wanted!

Dave wants to borrow that new electric guitar

Cade is in awe of the Harry Potter wand collection.

Bailey doesn't expect much,
she never even asks for things without offering to pay for them herself.
So it's fun to spoil her once in a while, 
because she's always so surprised!

The most thoughtful gift of the year? 
Bailey gave her old DS to Avery.

And Avery's reaction was my favorite moment of the day.



It's a gesture that won't be soon forgotten,
Avery was truly happy when Bailey was teaching her
 how to play all the games.



It's off to church we go! 
I really enjoyed  listening to the choir
 and remembering whom we are celebrating,
and why we received all these gifts today.

I love my new Christmas sweater from Dave. ;)

We ended the day at G&G Lund's with cousins we love,
 and had fun doing some virtual ski jumping.

Carol is opening the  purple socks
with tickets to Donny and Marie from all the kids.
Christmas 2011