Mickey Boat Day 9- The End!

Saturday October 13th, 2012

Homeward Bound
A 6:15 wake up call from Mickey started our final morning.  Everyone was tired and a bit cranky not wanting vacation to be over or awake.  We had assigned breakfast times and locations given to us the night before- Lumiere's at 7:15.  We ordered food that was barely touched, said the final goodbyes to our table mates as well as Lucie and Johan our servers, then waited a few (very crowded) minutes in the lobby to debark.  Baggage being handled by Disney it was a very simple process, we claimed nothing at customs and a porter took our bags right to the curb.  Jonathan brought up the car and we loaded in the 3 children and 3 suitcases and stroller and hit Interstate 10.  That was it- the trip was over- 6 months we'd spent counting down the days and planning and researching and saving.  I glanced at the backseat to see two sun kissed princesses fast asleep and a wee man with a paci nodding off- it was worth it!  We hadn't know what to expect- just a lot of fun and that's what we got!  There was something for each of us and we will do this again after baby 4 gets older!  It was just as much work as Disney World- we hadn't expected that- but the kids keep you moving and with so many options and things going on there is always something to do!  We knew dinner was going to be a challenge with Sam, we knew the Linley would be a little shy and need one on one time, and we knew that Annabelle would want to be going all the time- we were correct -all these things happen- but we were surprised at how much Samuel slept and was so excited to see the characters- not afraid at all, Linley warmed up faster then I'd imagined and never fussed about taking a rest on the looooong days- she kept up with her sister, Annabelle appreciated the one on one time and was pretty understanding of the limits of the little ones- she adjusted and showed maturity being the great big sister that she is!  The girls have both told us that they would like to do this again and how much they enjoyed the experience!



Monday October 15th, 2012
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Life is back to normal.  Jonathan picked up a new class of 400+ soldier medics yesterday and they started training today- this will be his final class in command- can't believe it!  Annabelle headed back to school and came home with a backpack of makeup work.  Linley and Sam played all morning in pjs as I did laundry.  The dogs were super happy to see us (so much so that I had to clean the carpets).  Baby 4 has an ultrasound later this week-hopefully we'll find out the gender and settle the name debate hahahaha!

Mickey Boat Day 8

Friday October 12th, 2012

The Last Day At Sea
Well the trip was almost over- no one was ready for home yet- the Disney Magic was sailing back into the gulf and we would be back in Texas by morning.  Another beautiful day!  A little time spent on the veranda waking up and then we were out the door to breakfast- by now the thrill of Mickey waffles had worn off and we were back to fruit loops and chocolate milk.  We cruised thru the navigator and learned that a special toddler time was being held- Disney Jr, toys, and dancing all for the littles and their families.  Sam had a great time- he rocked that play date!  He was the most energetic boy there (imagine that!).  The girls were a little old for this setting but in fairness Sam attends things for them far more often so a roll reversal was fine with us:)  We hit up the gift shop once again- Christmas ornament, Minnie shirts, princess coloring book and more.  Shutters is the photo place onboard- and boy that place is a madhouse the last day!  You go and pick up any photos you want to keep and order a cd if you wish- we stood in the long line and went thru the crazy process.  This was not magical and happen to coincide with nap time- you can imagine the joy being had!  So 3 children melting down here led to naps back in the room.  Annabelle and Daddy snuck off to lunch at Parrot Cay- it was surf and turf buffet today.  Later that afternoon the girls went to the club to burn off some energy.  Sam got some one on one time with Momma and Daddy- and pictures taken with Goofy and the Mouse.  

Our last picture with Mickey Mouse

Goofy in swimwear!

Friendship Rocks

The girls had been rehearsing for a cute little farewell performance in their club-time had come to show the parents in the big theater.  The stage was full of cute kids wearing cute yellow shirts.  The counselors led them in some song and dance and Mickey & Minnie joined the goodbye celebration.  We enjoyed the view but Annabelle and Linley were lost in the sea of yellow- every now and then we caught a glimpse of them- Annabelle even gave us a thumbs up from the stage- in typical Linley fashion she was holding hands with the closest counselor.

The Last Night

Right after Friendship Rocks it was our final dinner.  Sam was falling apart at the seams and it was one of the times that room service was made for- but being the final night we toughed it out.  The girls had the chance to say goodbye to their new friend Ava at dinner and we enjoyed David and Linda's company- so even with our tired monster we made the most of it.  Sam didn't make it to the evenings farewell show- I stayed back and packed up our stuff as he crashed in his clothes on the bed (neither pjs nor bath were worth the battle- I surrendered!)  The girls came back telling me all about what I'd missed- they had a good time with Daddy our last night.  Jonathan helped with the final packing and we set the bags out the door to be waiting for us off the boat in the morning (Disney magic again!).  

Mickey Boat Day 7

Thursday October 11th, 2012

A Good Morning

Swimming Lu

This beautiful morning we woke up in Cozumel, Mexico.  The weather was hot!  We were scheduled to be here until shortly after lunch- its a short stop- so again not having preplanned a port adventure, we decided we would stay aboard and take advantage of the empty pools (there aren't any excursions recommended here for 3 and under but shopping would have be fun if there had been more time).  Breakfast at Topsiders and then swimming all the way to and through lunch:)  The littles loved it!  4+ hours of splashing, sliding, and swimming.  Annabelle made some friends and they played the entire time together- jumping around like kindergartners do!  There was an ice cream break before lunch (because we are super cool parents like that!).

Mermaid Annabelle

Our very own sea MONSTER

oh, there's my son

Afternoon

Lunch, change and craft!  The family craft this afternoon was princess crowns- decorating them with markers, jewels, glitter and more.  Craft time with followed by story time with Princess Belle in the Oceaneer Club.  Very exciting!!!  We later learned from the girls that Princess Belle read them a story about the Beast and then the girls made another craft- the Beast's enchanted rose.  Sam was in need of some play time so he went to Flounder's Nursery for an hour.  Mommy and Daddy enjoyed drinks at the bar and taking in the view from the aft deck (farthest rear you can get) it had a great view of Cozumel as we were leaving.

an hour without children

wearing our creations

Evening
Alice was out and about before dinner- she remembered us from the tea party.  And we got to see Mickey once again!

This evening we skipped our fancy dinner- and surprisingly we ended up eating one of the best dinners of the trip!  Jonathan got a fantastic steak and the kids and I enjoyed a wonderful pasta and chicken dish.  Dessert was had by all!  We had a small break before the night's show so we squeezed in a bath for the little babies.  All clean and happy we headed down to catch the Broadway style show Dreams.  This was by far my favorite show of the cruise!  It was great- the songs and choreography were fantastic- the effects were wonderful, streamers shot out, it snowed on the audience, bubbles danced above us- and the sets were fabulous!  

Mickey Boat Day 6

Wednesday October 10th, 2012

A Late Start

free range chicken

My morning view- Sheriff Woody

sailors 

Lulu and Momma

It took half the week but the kiddos finally got used to no alarm clocks and slept in- longer then even us.  Yay for that small victory- Daddy and I were more than ready to sleep past 6am on day 1 of vacation hehehehe.   So breakfast was late- we did our usual Topsiders buffet.  Annabelle and I reviewed the navigator (this is tv style guide to the days going ons) over our endless pineapple and watermelon and bacon and grapes, and scrambled eggs.  She found something listed for the club that she wanted to attend so after breakfast we took her down to play.  Jonathan and I had been wanting to get to the very front of the ship and get a picture- so we headed all the way up to deck 10 with the little kids, we reenacted the Titanic scene at the helm and snapped some pics.  By now it was noon and there was a Mickey and Friends dance party in the lobby- this is right up Lu's ally.  Sam crashed in the stroller- think he slept over half the trip!  Jammin music, lots of characters and plenty of small chickens all gathered around clapping, shaking booties, twisting, and jumping- flashes going off in every direction by the paparazzi parents and me.

Bustin a Move!

a step with Stitch  

a dance with Dale

a march with Mickey

A duo with Daisy

Here Comes the Rain

On to lunch- we all ate outside this sunny afternoon.  We had just arrived in Costa Maya, Mexico.  This is a tiny port in the jungle (not even really a town) and there is plenty to do for adults but its slim on the family selections of port adventures- we had already decided to stay onboard this day and forgo the travel required to visit the Mayan ruins -JP and I really would have loved to do this but its wasn't a good suit for the 3 littles.  After a quick bite the kids wasted no time and headed for the pools!  It was sunny and humid low 90s- what you'd expect of Mexico this time of year.  In less than 10 minutes the sky was overcast with those big heavy rainclouds.......annnnnd here came the rain!  After a mad 

(and wet) dash to get towels, stroller and shoes we went back to the room for plan B.  A present of the day and creative time was followed by a voluntary nap (crazy huh?! must be that sea air).  

 We ran into Snow White today- she was missing her dwarfs so these two stood in:)  All smiles there!  We caught a meeting with the Ducks as well- Donald and Daisy are sort of exclusive- they are not around at the same time as the Mice.

Dinner and Villains 
Tonight's dinner was served at Animator's Palate.  So neat- the walls are covered in sketches that come to life as you dine!  The servers even wore black and white vest with sketches that were splashed with color at the end of our meal.

Ava and Linley

Daddy and Princess Belle

 This evening the crew were out visiting- to the right of Linley is Peter the cruse director (the voice of the Magic I call him).  You hear from him each day- he introduces the shows, makes announcements and weather reports.  He was super nice, as were the other crew members- and as you can see this little girl can steal the attention of anyone- she's a cutie!  Villain's Tonight was the show this evening.  The bad guys had to join forces to fill the evilometer!  We grabbed seats and enjoyed the performance.  Then it was back to room 8076 for sleepy night for most of us- Annabelle and Daddy took a late night swim and watched a movie on the huge screen above the pool:)

baboons! 

Mickey Boat Day 5

Tuesday October 9th, 2012

Grand Cayman Awaits

A wake up call from the Mouse and we hustled off to breakfast gearing up for our port excursion in GC.  We met up with the others going on the same excursion and waited on the tender (the wee boat that takes you from cruise ship to port- this port is to shallow for our boat to dock up close).  We became the Goofy group and wore Goofy stickers to be able to identify our group members-there were about 30 people.  The Goofy group exited the ship onto the tender by swiping our key to the world cards.  It was a short trip on choppy waters to the shore.  We were met by GC port authority and salesman- many of them happy to see us and thanking us for coming ashore- tourism is a main source of income for this island.  Goofy group was led to a bus and we were taken about 2 blocks along the coast to the Atlantis Submarine tour.  In a small air-conditioned building filled with island souvenirs and fishtanks we had a short wait before loading the semi submarine.  This is where having a stroller is worth the hassle- we were busy unloading Sam and gathering our belongings so the end of the line is where we ended up- in turn this meant that we were the last ones down the hatch and had more room and fan exposure (it was cramped and hot quarters).  The semi sub was a regular boat on top that had a basement like a submarine- benches for sitting and windows for viewing the ocean life and beautiful coral.  Again a camera can't do it justice and the view thru the lens was especially distorted by the thick glass windows.  We pulled away from the dock and in a matter of 3 minutes the ocean floor went from sand to coral.  We saw fish right away- nothing huge or predatory- the small ones that are colorful-there were a bunch of different types.  We saw 2 ship wreaks and learned some island history from Manny our tour guide.  Jonathan saw a sea turtle!  We missed it and that was a bummer but like I said there were a ton of fishies.  Sam fell asleep and Linley lost interest after awhile but the rest of us really like it!  Weirdest fact of the trip: 65% of the world's sand is made from coral and rock the other 35% is made from Parrot Fish poop!!!!  No joke, these guys eat coral all day and poop out sand- up to 2 1/2 pounds a day!

The captain got in and fed the fish coconut bread at one point

We took a short stroll back to our port taking note of the businesses along the street- yes, there really are 100s of banks in the Cayman, jewelers and tourist bars brought in the crowds.  Coconut salesmen, tables of giant seashells, fancy tropical drink stands, hair braiding stations- the port was lined with all this and more. 

 Back to the Magic
 We took the short tender back to the Magic and were in swimwear, eating lunch poolside by noon.  It was a short swim for Annabelle and Sam followed by some R&R back in the room, as Daddy and Lu continued splashing about in the Goofy pool watching Pinocchio.  After the movie even Lulu came back tired and crashed for a bit.  Jonathan and I took advantage of the quiet time and had drinks on the veranda as the boat was leaving the Caymans headed west toward Costa Maya.

YoHo Pirate Night

This was pirate night- a huge event- people go ALL out for this one!  Dads wear fake mustaches, Moms dress like wenches, kids with swords/eyepatches/hooks.  Sam had a long day and our outing had taken a toll on the little buddy- by this point in the trip he had endured plenty of long meals and exhausted his tolerance- so we made a reservation for him at Flounder's Nursery.  This is the 3 and under, hourly daycare on the ship- lots of toys, a slide, tv, music and 4 counselors to care for the 4 kids there- pretty good deal.  They fed him dinner and he enjoyed some romping around while we attend our pirate dinner.  

The Pirate men

ARRRRR!

After dinner we met Peter Pan!  Tonight's show was the new Tim Burton movie, Frankenweenie in 3D.  Not a movie I would go see or rent but it turned out to ok.  Unlike Nemo, this movie wasn't really "enhanced" by the 3D.  After the show everyone was invited to the pirate party on the top deck.  It was late and all the young ones were zombie like.  There was singing and dancing and pirate fun to be had until Captain Hook tired to take over our ship but Mickey came to the rescue- it was a close call.  Then there was a fireworks show:)

Annabelle shaking it!

The Captain, Tinkerbell and the Wench

Mickey Boat Day 4

  Monday October 8th, 2012

Wake Up
They were up early and so we all were up early, we got to watch the sunrise over the western Caribbean.  It was beautiful!  The colors of the sky were not justified thru a camera lens.   Another day at sea with nothing but water- not just blue water or navy, it was closer to the color of that crayon I used to love as a kid, cerulean.

ok, ok I know, not a great photo but its all I've got-insert imagination here!

Character Breakfast

Parrot Cay was the place- Mickey & Friends were moving about the room visiting each table to sign autographs and take pictures.  This is not our first character meal so we were prepared for the kiddos not to eat a thing-its far too exciting and distracting- so if you're a first timer just know that lunch needs to come early.  

                                                                              
Hats!  Our fun loving servers made us all crazy hats to wear- fun times and funny pictures!

Linda and Lu

Sam Pan

Annabelle and Ava                         

Pirate Dad

Club, Craft, Lunch

The girls spent an hour playing in the Oceaneer Club and then the whole family enjoyed crafting buttons together.  Linley made a pink button with a butterfly, Annabelle's was a pink star that she colored with makers, and I made a button for Sam.  Jonathan observed-he's not a crafter:/  Lunch break and then onto the afternoon's activities.  

Movies and Room Service

We got to see Finding Nemo in 3D.  We don't get to the movie theater often so this was a nice perk on the cruise- there are movies showing all the time -a big screen by the pool outside, theaters showing the new releases some even in 3D, and Disney movies playing in the room and even some classic cartoons.    We watched Nemo in the theater and seeing it in 3D was a really cool experience- there were so many details brought to life it was like seeing it for the 1st time not the 1001st time.  Linley and Sam fell asleep - and thats exactly why we don't pay to go to the show lol!  The afternoon ticked by and we played in our room and on the veranda-watching the water was so relaxing and the weather was a perfect 80 something:) We ordered room service around 4:15 for the hungry chickens- another perk on the cruise free room service!  Hamburger, fries, pizza, fresh fruit and the cake of the day times 2 (Jonathan and Sam ate both pieces, there was no sharing).  

This is the life

Room Service 

Dinner and More Pictures

So the kiddos were all fed and the girls went to the club while the rest of us went down to dine at Parrot Cay.  It was a quiet dinner without the active and lively princesses.  The evening lead us to more character meetings in the lobby with plenty of pictures and fun.  Off to bed early- tomorrow was our first stop and we had to get rested up for Grand Cayman.  

Mrs Mouse

the Mouse

 

Calling Pluto like a puppy
he even rolled over for them!

think they like Pluto better than
Buster and Grace

Our friend for the night and Sleepy Dwarf chocolates