The bad: coming home with 10 days of dirty laundry, realizing that I am the chef, bored kids, and trading Broadway shows for boxing matches between the kids...but in the end the return on investment makes it well worth it!
Here are some of the highlights of our Disney World/Disney Cruise vacation:
The view from our hotel room. (Clearly a much sunnier view than what I am used to seeing out my bedroom window most days in November.)
Spending a day enjoying the resort before spending the next few days at the parks.
Downtown Disney. We had a great dinner at the T-Rex restaurant (you wouldn't know it from the golden arch photo that couldn't be passed up) and then Jack insisted that we rent one of these speed boats so I could zip the kids around. Well, let me restate, not "zip" as it was powered by what looked like a lawn mower engine.
The Castle: Anytime Sage heard anyone even utter the word "castle" in a sentence, she'd immediately yell to them, "No, my castle".
The Characters (Luckily the boys aren't into getting photos with the characters but Sage couldn't get enough of them. I spared you every photo with every character!):
Connor couldn't get enough of the Everest ride at Animal Kingdom. In one day he made it on 6 times. Ty loved the Kali Rapids ride as you can see from how drenched they are in this photo.
From talking trash cans to 3-D movies.
Ty, in a rush to catch up with his dad, quickly throws on what he thought was his denim shorts. Neither of us could figure out why they were so hard for him to put on until he returned with his dad and I realized whose PANTS (yes pants) they actually were...
Disney Cruise Line. This was our first cruise ever but I can't imagine sailing on any other cruise line after this experience. By far the prettiest ship! And where else do you find a dining staff that feeds you? :)
Sage clearly excited about her new purse dad bought her. What was even cuter was to see how excited she was to show it to all the characters who were very kind and acted very interested in her purse:
One thing I learned while on this vacation is that Ty may have a future in entertainment. One of my favorite memories of the cruise is of Ty singing happy birthday to total strangers. This is how it began: Each night the dining room staff would sing to various people for their birthdays. What we didn't know was that on the first night after the crew had finished singing, Ty worked his way over to the table and sang Happy birthday to that person. Apparently he would have to stop half way through the song and ask "what's your name?" It wasn't until after someone approached us to tell us what a great singer Ty was that we figured out what he was up to. From that night forward, when Ty heard the staff start to sing it was a signal for him that he was up next. Throughout the cruise people would say "hey, there's the boy that sung to us last night". So on Mickey Mouse's 80th birthday (which took place during our cruise) Jack made arrangements with the cruise director to have the boys come up on stage that night and sing to Mickey Mouse. They now have special badges and certificates for acting as "onstage peformers". It was so cute to see the excitement on their faces as they got up before hundreds of people to sing Happy Birthday to Mickey Mouse. It was truly magical for them!
Atlantis (We love this place and they had added so much since our last visit. If I can figure out how to download video, I'll have to download the piece of Sage going down the rapids. It is hysterical!):
Castaway Cay:
I just love this photo of Ty with Minnie in the moo moo. Judging from this smile, I think he has a crush on Minnie...
Cocoa Beach: Jack was anxious to return to Ron Jon's for some new swim wear. Ty was excited to play in the waves.
Final analysis: We had a blast. We'll stick to longer Disney cruises and separate trips to Disneyland!
9 comments:
Wow, I'm jealous is an understatement! Some day we might save enough to make it to Lagoon.
My favorite was Ty in Sage's pants.
I almost peed myself when I saw that. Glad to see you guys had lots of fun. Remind me to watch Sage's rapids video next time we see each other.
That last comment was from Gary. That does look like a really fun vacation. Maybe one of these years we will have to join you. That would be so fun to do together with all the kids. Glad you had fun. Good luck getting back into the swing of things. That is always hard when you get home. Talk to you soon,
Kelly
Laurie this looks like such a amazing vacation. What great memories you captured. My favorite by far is Ty's excitment to get going that he throws Sage's pants on. That is hilarious! I am glad you guys had such a great time. Ty and I were told before we got married that vacations and photos are some of the greatest memories you can make as a family and you have proved that!:) Love ya!
You always go on the best vacations. Reading this definitely made me anxious for our next getaway. It has been far too long since we went on a "real" vacation. I think it was to Hawaii...last Christmas *gasp* We have been wanting to get back to DisneyWorld, but I think I might want to try the cruise instead.
OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!! You weren't kidding! These pictures alone make me want to book a disney cruise RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!! Wow. Wow. Wow. WOw. Wow. This looks like the trip of a life time! Although, Taylor would probably be bored without siblings. Your kids are so lucky. You guys are such a fun family! You are so blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful family and do things like this together. So magical!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for sharing these pictures and fun moments from your trip! You met "cap'n jack sparrow on the beach!" No wonder you booked it again already!
Oh my goodness i am jealous!!! That looks like such a blast. We were thinking of doing the same one with all of the Christensen family in a few years, and now we definitely have to!
That looks so fun! What a perfect vacation for everyone.
Laurie, how old was Sage on this trip? We are thinking of going next year when Conner will be 3. Did you take a stroller?
Stink. NOW Sean is sold on the whole idea. A little late, don't ya think? :)
Glad to see you had such a great time. We'll eventually get a vacation in together! Love ya- Mar
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