Disney Cruise - Day 3

Castaway Cay - Disney's private island.  

We started the day with a 5K - I got 2nd overall and 1st woman.  Not that it was really timed or anything but it was fun to race and to get a Disney finishers medal.   Amy and Jan did the race too - it is always so much fun to race with friends.  It was crazy hot and humid during the run.

It rained for a little bit so we left the beach and grabbed lunch in the covered veranda.  With everyone else on the island.  It was so crowded but still so much fun.

The rain was coming down like crazy. 

When it cleared up we hit the beach again.  The boys all went snorkeling and saw some awesome stuff.

We all went for a bike ride around the island - a total of about 2 miles.  The bikes were crazy old and rusty and Sophie was tired and wanted to walk most of it.  But it was still a fun time.

I think she needs a bigger bike...

The view from a watch tower we rode to.  You can see our ship in the background.

We totally earned ordering 4 deserts with our long bike ride

Our servers were so great with the kids.  They would make Mickey shaped ketchup for the kids to dip in and do magic tricks to entertain them while we ate.  

It was Pirate night today.  So after dinner we got to go to a Pirate Party on the deck.  There was a show and fireworks and we all dressed up.  It was so much fun!

Disney Cruise - Day 2

Our first stop was the Bahamas.  We made this our big excursion and went to the Atlantis water park.  It was a little crazy getting our tickets.  We bought rooms at a hotel that had free passes with it.  You got 4 passes per room so we did 3 rooms then bought 1 more pass.  We had to book rooms, check in, check out, get passes, etc.  In the end it was totally worth it but it took some time and was a little crazy with so many kids.  The water park was so much fun.  We had a little rain off and on which "beached" us a few times but we still had plenty of time for swimming and water rides.  The Lazy River - or as we called it the "not-so-lazy river" was a blast.  It was really long and had rapids and huge waves.  Several people got knocked off their tubes by the crazy ride.  I loved it! There was also rides that went through a pool with sharks in it.  So fun.  I even went off a crazy "back breaker" ride because Claire did it.  It was so fast and scary and I never want to do a ride like that again.

Each night on the ship we had dinner in a different dining room.  Today was dinner in the Grand Ballroom where we had French food.  Todd and I had Tayson, Luke and Sophie try escargot.  We didn't tell them what it was until they finished eating it. 

Tayson wasn't a huge fan and was totally sicked out when we told him it was snails.

Luke liked the taste and had a second piece. He wasn't even too freaked out that he ate a snail.

Sophie didn't mind it all either.  Although sh didn't want seconds.  And we didn't even try with Claire.

After dinner we always went and watched the singer in the main area.  The girls loved her and would sing and dance along with her.

Then there was always a show.  Tonight's show was the Golden Mickey's.  It was so much fun.  Disney sure does it right.  The cast and songs and costumes were amazing.  And the kids were so entertained.

You've got to love the all day all night soft serve ice cream.  It wouldn't be a cruise without ice cream!

Disney Cruise - Day 1

After a quick breakfast at the hotel we caught a shuttle to the port.  We were all crazy excited!  When we got to the port it takes a while before you actually get on the ship.  Lots of paperwork and lines - but we got there at a great time so it wasn't bad at all for us.

While waiting they had Mickey and Minnie there for a photo op

Here we go....

This picture sums up how the lines were going.  Sophie was crazy!

As soon as we got on the ship we changed into swimsuits and hit the pool before the ship even left dock.

As we left they had an awesome welcome aboard show.  It doesn't matter how old you are - Micky is fun and always makes me smile.

Tayson on the big screen

Luke

Sophie

Claire

The whole crew

Our room had a deck - it was so awesome!

Disney Cruise - here we come

Grandma Johnson took all of us to Orlando and on a Disney cruise for family vacation this year.  Because of schedules and cost we decided to go during the school year so we pulled the kids out of school for a week to go on the most amazing vacation ever. 

Day 1:  Travel day.  Our flight left in the afternoon so we had plenty of time to get ready and to the airport.  We are all so excited for vacation!!  They each packed a bag to take on the plane with a few things they would need before we got on to the ship.  

All 4 kids were really great on the flight and had lots of stuff to do.  We didn't get to the hotel until about midnight but they were all troopers!

Go Bulldogs

Luana wanted to go to a Provo High football game so we put on our green, bought some sandwhiches for the tailgate party then had a total blast at the game.  It's fun having a high school kid in the house.  Provo won the game too!! Go bulldogs!!

Picture Day

I might be a little too relaxed when it comes to school pictures.  I let the kids pick whatever they want to wear (Tayson even has on the same shirt he wore last year....didn't realize that until after school).  One of my favorite things about school pictures is that they can be so funny.  The kids all ended up looking good in their pictures this year.  I can't believe all 4 kids are in the same school right now and I can't believe how old they are getting!!