Day Three

This was such a great day! Abby was recovering from her 15 hour day the day before and not having naps for a couple of days and she slept really late.  This was the day we were in Mexico and Aaron was signed up to do a dolphin encounter.  (Abby was too young).  So, I stayed with Abby and caught up on my Bible Study while she rested.

 

Then we had a super delightful breakfast just the two of us.

My one picture of Cozumel.  Sheri took a ton of great pictures of the dolphin encounter and I am so grateful.  That will be a post by itself.

After breakfast we swam until lunch.  It was so nice because a lot of people were off the ship.

 

 

 

 

Minnie was ready for dinner!  Each night after dinner the kids went to do activities and the adults hung out together.  Aaron had a couple of places he could go.  His favorite was the lab.  They had computers and all kinds of really neat stuff.  There were planned activities each hour all day or you could play on your own.  One night he did a cooking class and made chocolate chip cookies (which he got to eat) and one night he built a car to race in the Piston Cup Challenge.  Abby could have also gone to the kids activities (they are officially for 3-11 or 3-14 year olds, depending on the room, but since she is over 2 1/2 she can go as long as she doesn't get upset), but I put her in the nursery instead and she had soooo much fun.  She made a craft each night and we got to bring them home.  They also took her picture and sent those home.  They said that one night she spontaneously started singing The Wheels on The Bus and got the entire nursery to join in.  The leaders got out the tamborines and they had a show! She really enjoyed the nursery and the workers told me they really enjoyed her, so that was fabulous for us.

 

 

 

This was Pirates Night, so Minnie was dressed as a Pirate before dinner.

We all got to be pirates at dinner!

 

The kids obviously had a blast on this trip and Jory and I really enjoyed it, too.  It was a great balance of family time, kid time and one on one time!

Day Two

 Breakfast on the second day. The meals were so much fun.  People just brought you whatever you wanted!

 

Waiting in line for the Princess Gathering.  FYI, the Princess Gathering was the only thing that was a bit of a beating.  It was a photo opportunity to see four of the princesses at the same time and get your picture with each.  It was wildly popular (each time - there were three with the same princesses) and it took so long because everyone was having four pictures made.  We waited an hour for this and then Aaron wanted to do it again.  Ummm, no.  After that we only did photo opportunities with one character and there really wasn't much wait. 

 Aaron always introduced himself and Abby

 

 Rapunzel,

 Ariel,

 Cinderella,

 Tiana

After the Princess Gathering the kids hung out in Grandma and Grandpa's room for a bit while Jory and I got some coffee!

 We ate lunch on the pool deck.  Tarzan was playing on a movie screen.  There were always three movies showing on board, two in theatres and one on deck.  The one on the deck was always Rated G.  I thought that was pretty cool.  I wouldn't have spent cruise time to sit in a movie theatre and watch something I could watch at home but I thought it was fun to have it going while we were eating outside.

 We went to a live show after lunch.  It was Toy Story, The Musical.  It was really neat.

 The kids had bunk beds on this trip which they considered awesome, but it took them so long to settle down and stop talking to each other each night and naps were just non-existent.  We're lucky we survived without having to throw someone over board.

 We went swimming in the afternoon.

 The kids loved the pools

 And the grandpa!

Before dinner we waited to see Cinderella again and got her autograph

 After dinner sundae.  Aaron honestly believes all meals come with dessert now!

Cruisin'

 

 This was right before we boarded.  We were so glad these folks came with us.  It was priceless for their grandkids and we enjoyed spending time with tim.

 Looking at the Port of Galveston

 

There was a Meet the Characters party by the pool and Aaron loved it!!

 

 

 Waiting for dinner.  The dinners were great.  All the meals were.  There were so many choices.  I wanted to eat in every restaurant for every meal.  I think I would plan my meals more strategically if we went again.

 The kids got a fabulous Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bar for dessert the first night.  Grandma Sheri was so jealous they brought her one!

 After dinner Aaron and I waited so he could see Mickey again.  He had changed his shirt and was sure to point that out.  This was actually Mickey Mouse.  As opposed to Chuck E Cheese who is a man dressed up like Chuck E.  Just so you know.  That makes it super cool.

We're Back!

We got back from our Disney Cruise last night. It was fantastic.  Aaron swears the best part was Mickey!  He stood in line, patiently, to see Mickey three separate times and he was thrilled when Grandma bought him his own autograph book so he could see Mickey write his name!  When he saw Mickey in the hall he went nuts.  It was so cute!  And every time he saw Mickey he showed him the shirt he was wearing and told him something really important.  Precious.  There were tons of wonderful pictures taken by the ship photographers, but I only bought one - Aaron with Mickey.  He is taking it to school tomorrow because he gets to have a special Show and Tell to share with all his friends about his Disney Cruise!

 

We got to Galveston with no problems and the check in process was pretty easy.  Here we were waiting for Grandma and Grandpa.  The kids were sooo excited to see their grandparents!

 

Pictures before we even boarded

About to get on!

 

I have a lot of pictures to go through and I really don't know how to blog about everything.  It was such a great experience.  I loved seeing the wonder in the kids.  Especially Aaron.  Abby was a bit young to get it all, though she loved dressing like a princess (and getting to swim every day except one - that's magical in her book!), but Aaron was truly taken.  He keeps asking when we can do it again!

New Year's!

 On New Year's Eve we headed over to The Cotton's house to celebrate with the Elliotts and the Huffmans.

 Grace and Abby were fast friends.

We had a really good time and the food was soooo good! Toby smoked meats for fajitas! 

On New Year's Day Jory jumped in the lake with a bunch of his friends.  I have no idea why.

 

 

 

 The kids had fun throwing rocks while we were waiting for the show to begin.

 Pre jump

 Abby with her favorite.  Seriously.

 Everyone ready???

Afterwards we went to the Huffman's house for chili which was delicious and we had a homemade birthday cake for Erin Vande Zande.  It was so much fun.  The kids played outside and the adults got to chat!

We had a fabulous New Year and are so excited for 2014!

More pictures

 Here are a few pictures that were on my phone.  I'm trying to get away from using it for pictures but sometimes I just grab it.

 The kids decorated cookies a few days after Christmas.  They had so much fun!

 

 Some of our presents arrived from Ohio this week!