A SURPRISE Disney Cruise!

About a month ago, we found out that Disney was offering a Florida resident deal on their cruises sailing from Port Canaveral. I had really been wanting to take another one since our last one (in December of 2011) was kind of stressful what will all five of us in one VERY expensive cabin, Bailey having a broken leg and Liam being a (nursing) baby (with food allergies) (who only wanted his mommy). In fact, when we got off the boat that time, Will said, "never again!" BUT Disney cruises are really the best and I wanted to take the kids now that they are a little bigger.

Well, I called and found out about the deal and it turns out that the cabins that were on sale can't accommodate five people, so we would have to get two cabins--two CONNECTING cabins with balconies! And it actually worked out cheaper than the one cabin we would have gotten! For me, that cinched it. Will was on board and he decided that we shouldn't tell the kids that we were going. It was a really hard secret to keep, especially after Mimi and Grandpa decided they wanted to go, too!

A couple days before we left, we asked the kids what they REALLY wanted to do this summer. Bailey shouts, "GO ON A CRUISE! And go to Chuck-E-Cheese and see Muppets Most Wanted." So Will said, "I can promise that at least two of those things will happen!" :)

On Thursday, June 5, we loaded the kids into the car and told them we were going to the beach. All the way to the port Will kept dropping little hints like, "Who wants to go really far out in the waves today?" LOL. They were clueless. We almost got caught when we were nearly there and Bailey decided to look behind her and saw all of the suitcases in the back. As we got closer, we pointed out the cruise ships to the kids and asked them if they wanted to go see them up close. They were pretty excited about that. Then Will said, "What if we just drove in there? Think they would let us on the boat?" Bailey and Liam were cheering and saying, "Yeah, yeah!" but Emily was like, "No, it doesn't work that way." We finally told them that we weren't going to the beach but we were going on the Disney Dream. They were shocked. I don't think they actually believed us!

In the port there was another surprise--Mimi and Grandpa were waiting for us!

We really had a lovely time on the ship. Three days was pretty short--I didn't feel like we got to take advantage of everything they have to do. But we did manage to see two shows and do lots of swimming and AquaDuck-ing and eating!

The girls also did a special Glitter and Glow makeover in Mickey's Mainsail. They got their hair and makeup done as well as a face gem and a hair clip to keep. Then we went to the princess gathering and they met Rapunzel and Ariel.

 On deck 11 with Mimi and Grandpa!

 Ready to set sail!

Liam fell asleep during the Golden Mickeys and the slept through the whole dinner at Animator's Palate! He missed Crush the sea turtle chatting with Emily.

In the Mickey pool

 Bailey and Daddy just after B's first AquaDuck ride!

 in Nassau

 After the AquaDuck with Mimi and Grandpa

 on our balcony

 posing at Castaway Cay

 Pa giving Liam a ride to the beach

 Saw this crab on our way to the beach! I don't think I've ever seen one "in the wild" before!

 Bailey met Captain Jack Sparrow while we were walking around Castaway Cay

 Love this--found this note from Bailey on our cabin door.

 Princess makeover!

 Princess makeover!

Unfortunately the trip was over way too soon but it was definitely a summer vacation to remember!

Our Summer List

Each year since Emily started school, the kids and I have been making a summer wish list with lots of fun ideas that we want to try to do during the summer. Here is this year's version of the list:

My goal is to do as many of these as possible! As you can see, "board games" has already been checked off--hooray! We'll keep you posted!

Summer Break!

Today was the girls' last day of school. I can hardly believe it--I'm now the mommy of a THIRD GRADER and a FIRST GRADER!!

Both girls came home with excellent report cards. Emily scored 100% on the district math assessment. She also got straight As all year long. Bailey scored a 3 in writing, which is the highest score they give kindergarteners. She got straight Ss on her report cards all year.

When I picked them up after school, they were so excited! Emily is psyched about summer break. Bailey isn't so sure--she loved school and she didn't want it to end.

Here they are getting off the bus!

After school we had a special lunch of pizza and cheese sticks. Then I took the kids to the splash park to play. We had a lot of fun!

We got ice cream (and frozen lemonade for Liam) from Burger King on our way home. It was a super fun start to our summer break! We've started writing our summer wish list--more on that tomorrow.

Bailey's Frozen party

Today was Bailey's 6th birthday. We decided to have a Frozen-themed party and it was so much fun! I really got into the theme (thank you, pinterest!!) and had lots of decorations, themed food and games, fun goodies for the kids, and a beautiful gown for my princess.

We served yummy snacks like Anna's sandwiches (pb&j, of course!), Sven's carrots and other yummy treats (veggie tray), Olaf's snow-dipped fruit (fruit with white chocolate dip), Kristoff's icicles (rock candy), Elsa's ice wands (pretzels dipped in white chocolate with sprinkles), Anna's snowballs (powdered donuts), plus a beautiful cake and cupcakes that were all frosted sparkly white.

I hung snowflakes and paper lanterns all over the play room and it was simply magical in there. We had a long table with snowflake centerpieces and a shimmery wand or glow necklace for each guest. B invited her whole class so we had a  LOT of kids here!! We played freeze dance to music from the movie; do you wanna build a snowman with toilet paper, construction paper coal and carrots, and tape; pin the nose on Olaf, and pulled the ribbons on the piñata. Everyone got a prize as well as a "do you wanna build a snowman" kit to take home, which was filled with marshmallows, pretzel sticks, chocolate chips, and a rolled starburst "nose." We also had blue swirl lollipops with Thank You! stickers on them.

The big surprise of the day was when Aunt Joann arrived for the party--from Pennsylvania!! We weren't expecting her but it was so wonderful to see her.

Bailey did a fantastic job opening her gifts. She took the time to read every card (out loud) and really was thankful and excited about every gift--and she had a LOT of them!

All in all, I'd say it was a very successful party!