SB - Day 4

On Tuesday, we were at sea all day.  This was our view for breakfast.. as far as the eye could see.

Since we were at sea, that meant the pools were crowded.  We tried to find more inside things to do.  There was a giant movie theater and they showed movies periodically.  After breakfast we went and watched Frozen in 3D.

We played 9 holes of mini golf...

While Brian and Hudson did the detective game again,  Reed and I played Bingo (one of our favorite things from the whole trip)...

We watched "The Golden Mickeys", a Broadway type show - singing, dancing, etc.  I thought it was cute.  It was in the Walt Disney Theater which reminded me of Bass Hall, but on a smaller scale of course.  

Our dinner rotation for tonight was at Animators Palette again, so we decide to skip and do our own thing.   Reed wanted to see Monsters University in the theater and Hudson didn't, so we went up on deck and he ate chicken strips and fries and watched Cinderella on the big screen for a while.

Then he decided he wanted to go see Monsters, so we went in the theater, sat down by Brian and Reed, and watched about 30 minutes of it before he decided he wanted to go (There's evidently something a little scary about that movie to him).  We got some soft serve ice cream and then went back to the room where our towel elephant awaited. :)

SB - Day 3

The day started with me getting up before everyone else and enjoying the sunrise out on our balcony. It was gorgeous!

 We docked in Nassau, but our excursion wasn't for a couple of hours, so we played some games...

and did a little detective game they had on he ship.  I only have a video of it and I can't get it to load, but it was pretty cool. 

We got off the ship to go to our excursion at the Atlantis Resort.  

For the ride there, they PACKED the buses full.  There was only 1 little fold down seat left in the middle of the aisle, so my poor husband had to cram himself in it.  I will say, it looked pretty funny!

The grounds of the hotel are beautiful.  They have a ton of places to see stingrays, sharks, etc.  The aquarium was awesome.  There were all kinds of fish and the boys really seemed to enjoy it.

Here they are in front of an "Atlantis" scuba diver. (Notice Hudson's Vanna White hands... I have several pictures of him doing this.)

We ate lunch and started back towards the ship.  This is us trying to get a picture... Hudson cracks me up.  This kid has personality (well, that's what I choose to call it.)

That's better. :)

As I was uploading pics, I realized that I don't even have ONE picture of the four of us from this trip. Boo.

Anyway, Monday night was Pirate Night.  We got cleaned up for dinner and put on our bandanas they left in our room.

Yep...personality.

Tonights ketchup was a skull and crossbones Mickey.  

After dinner, we went up on deck for the Pirate Party.  They had a skit with Captain Jack Sparrow - very cute and the boys were enamored.

Then came the fireworks... it was really cool to watch fireworks on a cruise ship.

We had to walk back through Cabanas (the buffet restaurant to get back to the elevators that went to our room, and they had these carved watermelons places around the tables.  

They also had a crepe bar (crepes, strawberries, bananas, chocolate sauce, caramel, whipped cream, etc.) so yeah, we had some of those. :)  When we got back to our room, our towel monkey was waiting for us. :)

Spring Break - Day 2

We woke up and the boys and I headed down to breakfast at the hotel.  This hotel is where a LOT of people stay the night before cruising, so breakfast was packed. We grabbed a few things and went back to the room to finish eating.  After doing research on the internet, we decided to wear swimsuits for boarding so that we could go straight to the pool (our luggage wouldn't be available in our staterooms until later that afternoon anyway).

 After a short shuttle trip to the terminal, we had to wait outside before check in. This is them waiting in line... no idea what they are looking at.

After security, the check-in process and getting the boys signed up for the kids club, Hudson wanted to take a picture with Olaf.

We waited about 30 minutes and our boarding number was called.  This ship is HUGE!  this is only half of it - I couldn't fit the whole thing in my frame.

We ate lunch at the buffet and then straight to the pool.  They had a large screen over the pool where they played movies, trivia, etc. 

My little dudes in the pool.

We took our first spin on the Aqua Duck.  Reed wanted to ride by himself, so I went with Hudson.  Brian took a picture from the deck below - you can barely see Hudson's head in front. :)

After swimming for a bit, our stateroom was ready so we went to go check it out.  As soon as the boys felt the ship move, they had to run out to the balcony and see what it looked like.

We got settled in our room and before we knew it it was time for dinner.  They have everyone on a dining oration through the three restaurants, and our first one was The Royal Palace.  It had a princess/prince charming type theme.  

Hudson wanted ketchup with his french fries and of course our waiter made a Mickey Mouse head.  It was too cute. :)

We ended up not doing much Sunday night - we had an excursion on Nassau the next day, so we rested in our room and watched one of the many Disney movies you have access to.  When we came back to our cabin after dinner, they had done the turn down service and Hudson's bed had a little surprise on it... wearing my sunglasses. :)

Spring Break- Day 1

A little over a year ago, before he was in Kinder, Hudson and I were watching TV one morning and Cake Boss happened to be on.  It was an episode where the entire family had gone on a Disney Cruise.  It showed them on various parts of the ship and Hidson was enamored.  The part that really got him was when they went on the "Aqua Duck" - a clear tube water coaster/slide that goes around the top of the ship.  He kept saying "Mom, do you see that? Do you see that slide?  Mom, look at that slide!" Brian and I talked about it and decided it would be fun to take them on a Disney Cruise for Spring Break.  Since we were only a couple of weeks out from Spring Break, we decided to go ahead and book a little over a year in advance. AND I KEPT IT A SECRET FOR A YEAR.  Gold star for Mom!!! 😊.  I didn't want to tell them that early, because it would be a constant "When are we leaving? When is the cruise? Is it time yet?"

Uh, no thank you.

We chose Disney because of a few reasons-

1. We have been to DisneyWorld and Disneyland and have loved it.  The people that work for Disney are awesome.  They want to make your vacation an experience.  The parks are always so clean and we have always had the best time.

2. Reed is greeting older and we are on the tail end of Disney still being fun.  It'll be nice too because they aren't interested in any of the characters, autographs, etc. so we won't have to wait in line for that! 

3. Castaway Cay.  I purposefully chose a cruise that went to the Bahamas so that we could go to Castaway Cay which is Disney's private island that the ships stop at for a day.  

4. Lastly, we chose Disney for the slide on cake Boss that started it all. 😊 DCL has 4 ships and the Aqua Duck slide is on 2 of them.  We chose the Dream because it has the Aqua Duck and stops at Castaway Cay. 

So, after Brian and I got back from Mexico, I decided that it was close enough to tell the boys.  I made up a mini scavenger hunt and they went though the house getting clues.  At the end, I had made a "Countdown to Disney Cruise" sign I had made.  They were excited, but not as excited as I would've thought.  Once we sat down, looked at the ship online, watched videos of the waterslide, etc.,  they have gotten more excited. As they were getting ready for school last week, Hudson looked up at the countdown and said "It's only 9 days until we get on the cruise ship?  I'm so excited! Reed, are you excited?"  It was pretty cute.  Here they are with the sign this morning... 

Today we got up and headed out to get donuts for breakfast... It's the best way to start vacation, right? 

We went home, finished packing and then headed to the airport. (By the way, NEVER fly Spirit Airlines.  They hit you with so many hidden fees that IT. IS. REDICULOUS.  Lesson learned - never again. Ever. Very bitter over here.) After check-in and security, we went to get some lunch... Pizza. We're off to a super healthy start. 

At the gate, I did this - 

Polka Dot "Minnie Mouse" Jamberry nails, Starbucks and my essential oil handbook.  Not to shabby.  We let the boys break out the games.  This is a very accurate picture of my family in any situation where we have to wait. 😊

 We boarded and had to take the token selfie... 

Brian was on the row behind us, so he didn't make the cut. 😊 

An uneventful flight and quick drive to the hotel... Well, long enough for Hudson to bite the dust... 

...and we are checked in and ready for bed. I think we're all going to sleep well tonight!