Disney Cruise Day 5

Today was our stop at Grand Cayman! We had to tender to the shore, so we had to wait in the Walt Disney Theatere and exit about 40 people at a time. It honeslty wasn’t that long of a wait. And they had Playhouse Disney playing, so Lydia was ok.

Once on the Island, we stopped a policeman and asked him how to get to the Turtle Farm. I had read about it in the excursion info but didn’t want to book an expensive excursion. So, we decided to try it on our own. The policeman told us where we could find buses that were cheaper than taxis. So, we hiked a few blocks and found some mini vans that were apparently buses! It was cheap…just about $3 or $4.

The Turtle Farm on the other hand, was expensive. I can’t remember how much it was but we probably could have bought a Disney ticket or two.

Basically, it was just a giant outdoor farm of huge pools. FULL of turtles. Each pool had turtles of the same age.

The smallest turtles were about 6 months old. (Or was it 6 weeks?) Anyway, you cold hold them. The employees and tour guides were so nice and tried to give Lydia a chance to hold it. We knew that wasn’t going to happen. She didn’t even like it when Les tried to hold it.

We looked at every single pool, watching the turtles swim and dive. You could even buy turtle food and those little/big guys would come swimming for you.

It was fun to watch them come out of the water–they’d shoot water out of their noses and make a big Pfffft! noise. Lydia thought this was hilarious.

They really were pretty impressive. It was just kinda weird–big pools of turtles. Some of them were going to be sold for turtle soup. I can’t remember what happened to the rest of them. *shudder*

Of course, the best part for Lydia was when she got her own “baby turtle”. This thing saved our lives a couple of nights because she HAD to sleep with it. Even today when she sees it she says, “Oooooh. Baby turtle!” like she’s missed it!

While we waited for our “bus” to pick us up, Lydia played with her baby turtle and gave us some great turtle impersonations…she was swimming wiht her flippers and making some realistic Pfffft! sounds. Cute!

We were so hungry

We went to Breezes. It was pretty good…clean, cute and even had a kids’ menu.

The food was good. Not exactly what I was hoping for. Les got some kind of po’boy.

I got some coconut shrimp. One of my faves…

But the main problem was it wasn’t in dollars. So, a meal that was $25 (still kinda expensive) ended up being $50 when changed over to US dollars. *sigh*

After full tummies and an empty wallet, we got back on our little boat.

We saw a pirate ship…

and of course, OUR MICKEY BOAT. I think the Disney boats are the prettiest boats out there. We couldn’t help but take pictures of it!

After a nap, the Oceaneer’s Club was open again for free-play. When we walked in, who was there? BELLE! She was just coloring with about 3 kids!

Lydia thought she was actually in the presence of royalty. Belle was so nice and offered to take a picture with her. It didn’t work out that well, but Lydia loved it.

Then Lydia worked hard at coloring a picture for Belle.

She shyly brought it to Belle and waited patiently until Belle noticed her. Then Belle kneeled down and took Lydia’s picture with joy! Lydia was so honored.

After Belle left, we stayed for awhile and heard the story of Peter Pan. Then Wendy Darling came out and played Hide & Seek with the kids.

Then we walked around the boat and just took in the ocean. I never ever get tired of looking at it! It’s just so clear and blue.

That night was ??? for the show. As a snack we had some yummy chocoalte covered popcorn. DELISH.

Then we had dinner in Animator’s Palate again! Yay, my favorite! Lydia and her new tablemate/friend, played and ate together.

Lydia even wanted to wear my denim jacket so she could look like her playmate!

On the way back to the room, we ran into one of Lydia’s heroes: JOJO! Lydia wasn’t as excited as I was. And the only reason we even got a picture was because I was so loud and excited. It was time for JoJo to leave, but after hearing me gush, the handler let us get a picture.

Good night!

Day 6: Cozumel, Pirates IN the Caribbean

Disney Cruise: Day 4

The next morning we hurried up to Topsiders to get breakfast. There’s nothing I like more than breakfast buffets. Seriously. I love breakfast. We finally found a seat and Lydia ate one of everything.

(look at her tired face!)

After breakfast we began the best discovery of our week. The child care called The Oceaneer’s Club on the Disney ships is phenomenal. I know there are kids who never want to leave! (Which is a totally different post, but still…) Well, Lydia is too young to go to the childcare but we still wanted her to experience some of the stuff. So, we followed along in our Navigator (the big schedule of events) to see what was going on in the Oceaneer’s Club.

This morning was Do-Si-Do with Snow White. We walked into the Oceaneer’s Club and asked if we could hang out for awhile. They gave us Visitor tags and said, “Have fun!” We walked into the room—which is really a giant pirate ship complete with riggings to climb, a stage, slides, tv’s, computers, games books, tables and more! All the kids were being instructed to stand on the white line. I don’t know why, but this was so cute!

Lydia was then given a paper heart on a ribbon to hang around her neck. She knew something very special was happening.

Soon, Snow White entered and began telling her story! Lydia was dumb-struck.

Snow White had everyone do a special Seven Dwarves Do-Si-Do and all the kids walked on the white line around the room with her. Lydia had no idea what she was doing but was very obedient and stayed right with the kids next to her. She was even holding the hand of the little girl sitting with her!

At the end, each child got to give their heart necklace (which was really a wish) to Snow White so she could put them in her wishing well. It was a cool way to let every child personally interact with Snow White. She was so good–corralling the kids, making them stay in line, etc all by herself…and still acting like a Princess.

(side note about this Snow White: on the Disney boats, there are only a certain amount of people that play the characters. I noticed it a lot more this time than last. This Snow White was also Cinderella in one of the evening shows. I noticed lots of the “handlers” were also some of the Princesses, so they must have taken turns being characters and handlers. Anyway, this was the best Snow White I’ve ever seen. She was like the cartoon come to life. Amazing.

Here’s a few more shots of the Oceaneer’s Club:

Lydia and me in the rigging at the top of the boat.

One of the big slides.

Another slide.

The stage where the counselors led the kids in games. Or they would pull different curtains across to set the scene for a new character.

After our dance, we headed out to the deck to check out the water. This is really my favorite part of the boat. When I’m an old woman, I’ll go on cruises just to read and watch the water from a deck chair.

We headed indoors to see what else was going on. Lydia enjoyed just looking around. As we were sitting here watching some kind of game downstairs in the atrium, Lydia suddenly jumped into my arms and started wailing. I had no idea why. Then I looked up and saw that Goofy had just passed us.

He had terrified her!

She was screaming so loud and so hard that Goofy’s handler came back to check on her! Poor little thing. She still talks about how tall Goofy is!

After our Goofy fright, we headed off to Lumiere’s at lunch. There is just nothing like wearing shorts and sandals…while dining at a table with linens! Every time you walk into restaurant, someone hands you a santizing hand wipe. Lydia thought thse were great fun and wiped everything she could find.

We tried the pool after lunch and a nap. But it was so windy we didn’t last long.

After the pool, Lydia went sans clothes to watch Peter Pan in the room. (My other fave thing about the boat–Disney movies all day long!)

After the movie (and a few clothes), Lydia found her streamers from our deck party. She began jumping and dancing around proclaiming we were having a party in our room!

(not the best video, but look at her cute feet!)

We did a little more exploring of the boat,

then headed back to the Oceaneer’s Club for Toddler Time. This is when all the other kids are gone (for who knows what exciting thing) and they lay out games, books and toys for toddlers and their parents to use. We also got full run of the place and played with EVERYTHING!

(wow, we’ve all got some crazy hair going on!)

That night our show was The Golden Mickeys. It had all of the favorite characters in it and is a very enjoyable show. If you get there early enough, you can even be on the big screen-pre-show! We were there early, but hadn’t dressed up, so we didn’t get interviewed. Oh well.

After the show, we decided to skip dinner. *gasp* I know. We just wanted Lydia to get to bed earlier to alleviate the crazy not-sleeping thing. So, we had a picnic on the floor with room service while Lydia entertained us with ballet.

But we should have just stayed up because I don’t think Lydia went to bed until about 2am.

Oh, and one more shot of the sunset…

Nice, huh?

Day 5: Grand Cayman, Sea Turtles & Belle

Disney Cruise Day 3: Key West

Day 2 started with a Character Breakfast! We actually wish it had been later in the week, so Lydia could have warmed up to the characters. So, it was yummy and fun, but Lydia didn’t get into it too much.

Looking through the porthole on the way to the pool…

…while wearing her new water shoes.

The kid pool was nice–lots of different depths and very warm. But we still had that silly cold wind! Lydia was a little intimidated by all the kids and was content to just sit with her feet in the water.

I think she was a little more excited to just walk back to our room…

…with her banana.

Then it was time to get off the boat and see Key West!

Lydia was really excited because Key West has roosters walking around everywhere. Here she is signing “rooster”. She loves roosters because Papa likes roosters.

The only thing I wanted to see in Key West were the key lime pies! I had seen a special on FoodTV about a frozen keylime pie dipped in chocolate that you can only get in Key West. So, once we found those, I was content to just wander around.

And yeah. It was delicious.

We spent the rest of the day looking for sandals for Lydia and enjoying the quaint little town. Key West reminds me of Savannah, only more tropical. I wish we had rented bikes and rode around because it’s so cute there.

(look you can see my little baby bump!)

And here’s a picture Lydia took of the scenery…

Then we found a cute courtyard with a fountain and took a little break there. Lydia loved it.

Her favorite part was picking up the dead leaves and placing them on the fountain.

After wandering around for a half hour on the advice of a woman who told us there was a Crocs store in Key West, we bought Lydia some cute Mary Jane crocs and a Minnie Mouse jibbit (cheaper than on the boat!).

She is slightly proud of them.

After one photo op, we’re headed back to the Mickey boat!

That night, we got to meet Snow White. Lydia was a little afraid, but after tomorrow (stay tuned!) Snow White easily becomes her fave!

The show that night was Alfred & Seymour, a hip hop comedy duo. They are so hilarious. Lydia didn’t get into it but Les and I laughed the entire time.

We had dinner at Parrot Cay and ate some delicious food, of course. Honestly, I can’t remember if this was mine or Les’, but I thought it looked like a smiley face, or even a “hidden Mickey”, so I had to take a picture.

The highlight of the evening, though, was meeting our table mates, a couple and their 4 year old daughter. They live in GA and go to our church. How random is that?!

Lydia had SO much fun with their little girl. I see many a playdates in our future!

Day 4: Day at Sea and a do-si-do with Snow White!

Disney Cruise Day 1 & 2

Just that title gets me excited!

Les and I have already done two Disney cruises, but we really wanted to do one for our first official family vacation this year. We figured we wouldn’t be cruising for awhile…two babies in a stateroom doesn’t sound fun. We tried to find a date in March but the price wasn’t right. So while I was in Minnesota two weeks ago (another vacation…) Les called me and said, “I was booking our cruise for April, but I just found the best deal! Do you want to leave on Saturday?!”

As in THIS Saturday?

The day after I fly in from Minnesota?

I said, “I’m game if you are!”

So, on Saturday morning, a mere 12 hours (or less) since I landed in Atlanta, we drove towards the sunny state of Florida. After a few stops at Target and TJMaxx to pick up some summer clothes, we headed out. Our first stop was at a rest area for a little leg-stretching and a snack. I was going to give Lydia pretzels and raisins. When she saw that big vending machine, she said, “I want M&M’s!” Guess what she got?

Yeah. So, Lydia actually did great in the car. She didn’t fall asleep, but she kept herself entertained reading and talking…and drinking.

Les’ grandparents live in Savannah, so we decided to hit Florida via their house. We finally got to Grandpa & Granny Ann’s right at dinner time so we jumped back into the car and headed to one of their favorite seafood places for dinner. I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of my meal. It was just one giant plate of friend shrimp. I just don’t think it gets any better. Yum.

When we got home I let Lydia play UNO with Granny Ann before bed. How cute are they?

Lydia finally went to bed while the rest of us stayed up and watched I Love Lucy. The next morning, we got ready and headed off to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. Hashbrown Casserole here I come! Yumm.

(Yes, Lydia is wearing the same outfit as yesterday. We kinda forgot about the whole traveling clothes thing. I didn’t even think about the fact that even though WE were going on vacation, the warm weather wouldn’t be traveling with us!)

Thanks for letting us stay with you Grandpa & Granny Ann! You were a fun way to start our vacation!

On the way to Port Canaveral, a mere 4 hours away, we were on the lookout for a good place to buy Lydia some sandals. I knew she’d need some sandals to wear with her dresses and also just around the boat. So, we saw an outlet and stopped there. Out of all the silly shoe stores, NOT one had a decent pair for Lydia. We wasted an entire hour there and ended up at Port Canaveral thirty minutes before our boat set sail! *whew*

Lydia was getting consistently more grumpy so when we finally got out of the car and I fixed her hair and put her cuuute Mickey mouse hat on, she wasn’t the happiest.

We walked straight through the ticketing line, got our picture taken and went right to our room! Oooh! I was so excited. Just walking into that boat is an adventure. It’s beautiful!

Since we’ve sailed with Disney before we got a big gift bag of Disney Cruise stuff–2 bags, water bottles, pad of paper, pen, lanyards and a bath toy. Lydia was so excited about our presents!

First things first, we had to do the evacuation drill. We all strapped on our life jackets and headed to the Walt Disney Theater to hear a spiel about what we do if we’re drowning. Like anyone is going to stand in line if we’re sinking. Anyway.

Lydia looked cute and she was so serious!

Just a few minutes later, the Adventures s Away deck party started! We got perfect seats right at the front and even though it was very windy, we sang danced twirled our streamers with the best of them!

After a little singing and dancing with our cruise staff, the characters finally came out!

I have to say, I love me some Mickey Mouse. And I’m a little embarrassed to say that it almost brings tears to my eyes when I first see him. I don’t know, but the build up of the characters coming onto that deck and beginning our vacation is too much! So, there I am trying not to look like a freak while wiping away tears and Lydia is almost crying from fear! Look at her eyes!

She did not know what to think! We ended up leaving early so we could get ready for dinner.

After getting slightly dolled up we headed to our evening activities. (I had to wear jeans. I just don’t have 7 summery semi-dressy outfits in February!)

Our first stop was getting pictures with Minnie & Mickey. Lydia was not excited about this. But look how cute she is! (she meaning Minnie, but Lydia, too!)

(notice, tennis shoes with her dress. blast that outlet mall!)

Then we headed to the show. It wasn’t a full blown out show, it was really just an introduction to the Disney boat. A few words from our Cruise Director, Christiaan (who was really great, btw!) and a few songs and dances with the characters. Also, a musical comedian (which I just don’t get, since I’m not musical) and a really funny hip-hop comedy duo.

Finally at 8:00 we got to dinner. Disney does the rotation dining which means you go to one of 3 different restaurants every night. Your wait staff travels with you so they know your preferences but you get the fun of a new restaurant. We were lucky enough to be in Animator’s Palate first. It’s a really cool black and white room–the walls are covered with “pencil drawings” of Disney characters and then big framed pictures of others. The columns in the middle of the room are giant paintbrushes. During dinner, the paintbrushes and some of the framed pictures on the walls change. Lydia was so entertained by this! (Thank goodness!)

I don’t remember what Les and I ate. By the time 8pm came, my body only wanted sleep, not food. But Lydia did get some Mickey pasta…

…and a Mickey ice cream, of course!

I don’t think she knew what it was at first, but she got the hang of it pretty quickly!

Then it was time for the show! Yes, the show! The lights were dimmed, and a cartoon came on the screen. I can’t remember all of it, all I know is suddenly the black and white walls changed to brilliant color along with all the framed pictures…

…and Sorcerer Mickey came out to walk around the dining room!

Lydia was pretty impressed. (I was, too.)

Then it was off to bed! Or a better title might be where-Lydia-cries-and-screams-and-Mommy-and-Daddy- gnash-their-teeth-and-still-end-up-co-sleeping-which-is-just-another- word-for-”no-sleeping”-day-one. *sigh*

stay tuned for day 3: the pool and Key West!

uh-oh

I just noticed I never finished our beach vacation from October. Oops.

This is why I don’t regular scrapbooking. I only have one scrapbook and it’s only updated to our honeymoon. Yeah.

Well, I’m pretty excited about our Disney Cruise so I think I’ll be updating that first. Then I might get back to the October beach vacation some other time…keyword: might.

Beach. Day 2. Part 2 (aka Post-Nap).

After a good nap, Lydia and I decided to head over to the park. (Les was still sleeping…)

We had so much fun swinging…

swinging some more…

chasing butterflies…

walking on the dock…

where we found some starfish!

Then it was time to head to the beach again!

Lydia’s favorite thing was to play in the sand and find shells. She filled up her whole nature-catcher with shells!

Then we just played & hung out with our family.

Let’s go! It’s dinner time!

We went to a yummy steak/seafood restaurant. Les and I split the fried seafood platter. We ate some a lot most of it!

But Lydia had broccolli!

Lydia’s favorite part was looking with Judah at the big fish in the aquarium!

day 3. coming sometime…

Beach. Day 2. Part 1.

We started off the day in our little trailer eating oatmeal (’cereal’ Lydia says). She was so excited. She wanted to sit in her booster chair. She got to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we were eating. It doesn’t get much better than that for her!

We got dressed and ready to go but stopped long enough to pose in front of our trailer.

Then drove our golf cart to see if the rest of the fam was up. And they were! Lydia and Bryar got a little ball time in.

We got to the beach and Les took Lydia down. This was the closest she got all weekend. She ended up being terrified of the water. So, that called for some fun times of her clinging to me for hours at a time.

Progression of fear…

Hi Daddy!

Lydia, isn’t it nice? Let’s get in the water now.

WAAAAHHHHH! Up! Up! Up!

After an introduction to water and waves, we did what kids do best–play in the sand!

Judah, showing the girls how it’s done.

I decided to make sea turtles and a few starfish! Free hand, of course.

Here come Grammy and Bryar Rose!

Bryar is one serious digger.

After awhile we all decided to get comfortable in the beach chairs. Here’s Lydia loving a pink chair!

Grammy & Bryar waving to everyone in the water.

Grammy & Grandpa.

And Judah.

Later on, Lydia & Bryar decide to take a walk down the beach while Grammy watches.

On the way back to our beach home for lunch, we stopped by the pool! Lydia loves to wear her “armies”.

But we didn’t do much swimming because it was so cold! What am I talking about? I didn’t do any swimming! One look at Scott’s face and there was no way I was jumping in!

Judah is a tough guy, so he didn’t mind!

I think Lydia was holding on to Grandpa to keep warm! Her little lips were blue and she was shivering!

Uncle Scott trying to get a smile out of Lydia.

Daddy & Lydia decide to test out the kiddie pool. Yep. Still freezing.

Finally, we gave up on the pool, wrapped up in a beach towel and it was off to the trailer for a nap!

day 2 part 2 coming soon…i hope…

The Beach Day 1

We set off about 9am. We stopped by quickly to pick up Les’ mom. She wanted to ride with us so she could get there before the rest of the crew who were coming after church. I guess I packed my camera away because I didn’t take any pictures till we actually got there. But nothing exciting happened on the way down there–just a quick stop at Sonic for a cherry limeade and lunch.

When we got to our beach house, I was impressed! I remember we had these little places in Orlando, too. It’s kind of like a trailer park, only a lot cuter. People own these little places then rent them out when they aren’t home. I guess it’s mostly snowbirds who use them during the winter and fly home for the summer. Anyway, Les, Lydia and I had our own 2 bedroom place while everyone else was in a 3 bedroom trailer. They were both very nice and furnished with everything we needed! (Well, we actually did run out of toilet paper on day 3…)

Anyway, to be a true member of this new community you had to have a golf cart! Lydia thought this was the best thing ever. We weren’t even moving and she was giddy!

And now, one of the 3 of us. It’s sweet, even if I do look weird.

We headed off to the grocery store to get food for the next few days. That took about 3000 times longer than it should have. But that’s what happens when you’re buying for 9 people. Lydia was starving and kept asking for milk. We finally got her back to the il’s room to eat and who shows up? The rest of the crew. Oh well. I guess she wasn’t as hungry as she was excited to see them. They played for awhile and then we whisked Lydia off to bed to get some rest for our big day in the sun!

(stay tuned for day 2: the beach, the water and the sand. pretty exciting, huh?)

Wordless Wednesday

Lydia on our mini vacation to Nashville this weekend.

And waiting in the “updown” (elevator).

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Wordless Wednesday

My hubby on vacation pre-baby. Somewhere in FL.

(see my other ww here or visit wwhq here)