Family PIcs

Don't you love when you find a photographer who can make you look better than you actually look in real life?

I challenge you to pick a favorite

Disney Cruise, part 2

Our last port stop was Nassau, which I didn't get many pics of, because a. I didn't take my camera, and b. we were at a water park for a huge chunk of the time. 

We went to Atlantis 4 years ago, and for some reason in my mind, they had really good fish and chips on the beach part of the property. So after spending some time on the slides, we hiked it over to the beach, only to find that they don't accept cash. Bummer. It was all for the best, though, because there's no way the fish and chips would have lived up to my memory, AND the kids had the BEST time in the waves. 

Back on the boat...

 The kids LOVED the kid center. They spent a lot of time there, playing games, doing crafts, playing Gaga ball, baking cookies, etc. But there were also times where each of them spent time with just Greg and I, doing an activity of their choosing, which was really fun.

My fingers may never recover from all the cutting that went into that Yoda right there, but it was worth it. 

I couldn't let the week go by without at least one pic of the Eye Scream stop. We were regulars, to say the least. I also couldn't pass up an opportunity to post one of Drew's finer poses. Zoom in. You're welcome.

Pirate Night

Pirate night happened to coincide with our animation night in Animation Palace. We all got these place mats, where we got to create our little characters, that were later put to life for the show. By far, my favorite dinner.

(Drew's is second from the right)

At the dance party, we saw two too-coolers...

And one actual cool...

Oh, hey there, cell phone. Thanks for taking the focus of this pic. Too bad it's blurry, but I had to get one pic of the nightly shows, which were probably the highlights of the week. They were incredible. The boys probably liked the magician the best, Kate like the "Dreams" show, and I liked the Frozen show. I would pay money to see any one of them!

We also went to a couple shows throughout the day, like a juggler, that was pretty fun. And there was a singer somewhere in there that they, especially Kate, thought was hilarious.

Considering half of my out-takes are pics of 3 "dab"bers, I should at least post one of them. 

If for any ridiculous reason, I ever try to turn down a Disney Cruise in the future, show me this pic. Sir Andre cutting Ethan's waffles, just like the steak he cut for him every night of the cruise. It's the thing dreams are made of, I tell you.

 And just like that... we're cruisers.

Disney Cruise, part 1

We did it. And it was amazing. I did not think there was any possibility that anything could possible live up to the hype that Disney Cruises seem to carry with them. But. It. Did.

The first night, in the middle of the night, we all awoke to the sounds of Ethan being sick. We got all the kids in our bed, while someone came to clean it up. He also had a fever, and since I had had similar symptoms earlier in the week, I just knew it right there that we were going to take turns in bed for the rest of the week. 

THANKFULLY, I was dead wrong. He was a little under the weather the next day, but no more getting sick and by the evening of the first full day, everyone was 100%!!

One of the nights, we got all gussied up (translation= the boys didn't wear flip flops) for the "formal night."

We had the nicest family as our "table-mates." Some nights, it certainly would have been nicer to just be our family, but this family was so so nice and they were on their 8th or something cruise, so each night, Greg and I came packed with an arsenal of cruise-related questions. They came with just their youngest daughter, Sofia, who is a sweetheart. She isn't a dessert fan, so on the last night, when she finally ordered ice cream, the whole table and waiting staff applauded her decision. It was a fun table. 

Before we went on the cruise, we watched a few YouTube videos that other families had made of their trip. The ONE THING that stuck out to each of the kids as something they HAD to do was something called Diaper Dash, where crawling-aged babies craw raced. When I saw that it was on the schedule for the first morning, you better believe we had front row seats. It didn't disappoint. It was really cute (and may or may not cause a tear to sneak out of my eye, missing Benny at home).

 One of our port stops was Castaway Cay, the Disney Island.

 I had read on some blogs that there was a 5K in the morning and that participants and their families are the first on the island. I was willing to take one for the team. I got a little sweaty, and the family got some prime real estate.

Bike rides, water slides, ice cream machines, naps, snorkeling to see buried Mickeys. Disney + remote islands = win.

Every morning, the kids would watch Disney movies in bed, and then we'd have breakfast on the back of the ship.

And some mornings, we'd go shoot hoops and play foosball.

Another port stop was Key West (the first stop, actually).

Man, that is a cute little town. We did a bus tour of the island. Then a pirate museum, which was in my option a snoozefest.

But then we happened upon the aquarium. Our kids never turn down a good aquarium. And their definition of a good aquarium is one where you can hold scary looking spiky, slimy water animals.

Of course key lime pie was involved.