Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Disney Cruisin'

Disney Cruise 2017 is in the books and what vacation it was.  Last spring, Sandee texted me and asked what I thought about taking a Disney cruise.  I, of course, said.. uh, yes.  
We have been anxiously counting down the days until we left on December 14th and drove the long drive to Florida.  We left on the 15th on the Disney Dream and sailed to the Bahamas.  We got back to Florida on the 18th.  We left feeling pretty refreshed, very full, and content.
*** Warning- if you know me at all, then you know this is going to picture HEAVY!  So brace yourself.   Also, I will caption the pictures later... after loading all these on our slow internet connection, I am taking a break! 


Some of the things we did...
1- Watched the new Star Wars movie with a bunch of Star Wars fanatics and/or Disney fanatics.  Let's just say it was an interesting mix of people.
2- The boys lived in the pool or the water slides.  







3- Watched 3 live performances.  They were amazing and in my mind, competed with mini Broadway performances.  Maybe it was because we were so close but the technicians and actors were very good.  We watched Disney Believe (so good- lots of throw back songs from my era) and Beauty and Beast (watched it twice and I have been singing the songs non-stop).

4- Got off the ship in the Bahamas and swam in the most beautiful ocean.  Seriously, it is amazing.  The water was practically freezing- like, really really cold.  But, everyone got in just because (except for Ashton- poor skinny kid couldnt go in past his knees without freezing.).  Most of us did the big water slide.




























5- We ate and ate and ate.  People were not kidding when they said the food was good.  It is endless and delicious.  Thankfully, I only gained a couple pounds but that is probably do to the amount of walking and steps you have to do while on the ship.









6- Watched a couple deck shows... from the welcome aboard to the fireworks








7- Enjoyed the view.... stunning, beautiful, and at times, breathtaking.












8- Because Ashton is a huge Gator fan- we stopped by the Swamp and visited the U of Florida campus.  When people ask Ashton how the trip was, he tells them about visiting the Gator stadium. haha... what Cruise?





 






 





 It was such a fun trip.... Everyone said that you hardly have to even watch your kids because the kids love the kid's room and the Disney crew is so hands on.  In truth, that was not my experience.  I, honestly, expected a bit of a relaxing vacation but since our kids to not go into the kid's room.  The adults were pretty much on duty the whole time.  Once I realized that was what this vacation would entail- I was prepared... haha... Relaxing and vacation dont go together when you have kids.  :)

Thanks to Papa and Grandma for paying for a quarter of our trip and for letting Ashton and Hunter stay in their rooms (a room for 6 people apparently is SUPER expensive) #largefamilyproblems (though I still refuse to view us as a large family.)

We are all glad to be home, off for 2 weeks from school, and most importantly gearing up to celebrate sweet Jesus!