Visitors!

A few days after we returned from our Disney vacation, we had visitors! My sister was on spring break, so she came to visit with her boyfriend and his daughter. We had a great time! They came in late on Wednesday night and stayed through Sunday afternoon. Jason and I had to work Thursday and Friday, so they entertained themselves during the day, and we hung out at night.

We went out for Coldstone one night. Mmmmmm!

We went to our church Easter egg hunt on Saturday

We played Uno, and Oscar helped

A. LOVED the pugs, and they loved her!

We had a great visit! It was really fun to have a kid around for Easter, because the Easter bunny came to visit!

Back from Vacation

We have been back from vacation for almost two weeks, and it has been really hard for me to adjust to being back. Not only was it nice to just get away from reality for awhile, it was really nice to spend so much time with family. My family was always close growing up, and I am so thankful I married into a wonderful family. And I love all those nieces and nephew--so fun! Makes me wish we lived closer to family......maybe someday!

Last Day of Vacation

Sunday, we had an early breakfast on the boat and then disembarked. After we gathered our luggage and went through customs, we headed to the Daytona Beach area to visit Jason's uncle and aunt. We had a GREAT time visiting them, and even took a Harley ride while we were there. Now we want one! It was great spending time with them--the visit was just too short! We had to head back to the airport fairly early, while everyone else stayed in FL until Tuesday.

The kids had lots of fun catching lizards and picking grapefruit.

Night 3: Triton's

For dinner on our last night of the cruise, we ate in Triton's, a Little Mermaid themed dining room . It was so pretty and very good (I had duck, which was very tasty, and Jason had lamb shank)!

One of Jason's sisters and her husband had an anniversary at the end of our trip, so they were given this very lovely dessert, complete with a "Happy Anniversary" message.

After dinner, we saw the show "Disney Dreams" and then rushed around to get our luggage packed and outside our stateroom by 11 pm.

(oops--out of order) Cruise Night 2: Pirate Night!

Night 2 on our cruise was Pirate Night! We were encouraged to dress up in Pirate Gear for dinner, the show and the Pirates IN the Caribbean Party.

The kids in their pirate outfits. They were SO CUTE!

The show that evening was "The Golden Mickeys"

After the show, there was a Pirates IN the Caribbean Party on deck, complete with music, Mickey and fireworks! According to the cruise director, Disney is the only cruise line allowed to do fireworks while at sea.

Cruise Day 3:Castaway Cay

Castaway Cay was definitely one of the highlights of the Disney Cruise line experience. Castaway Cay is Disney's private island in the Bahamas. We learned, on one of our excursions, that Disney does not actually own the island but leases it from the Bahamian government. The Bahamas is made up of about 700 islands. You can purchase one if you so desire, but if you plan to bring in tourists, you have to lease the island from their government.

The island was VERY beautiful and was not at all crowded, since the passengers on our ship

were the only guests there. Jason and I went on a nature hike and sea kayaking excursion in the morning and rode a banana boat in the afternoon. It was great fun!

The family beach

The kids on the beach

A sighting of Captain Jack Sparrow

A ship from Pirates of the Caribbean

And the sign that awaited us when getting back onto the ship

Cruise Day 2: Nassau

Our first stop on the cruise was in Nassau. We spent the morning doing some exploring and shopping and then hung out on the beach in the afternoon.

The sunrise from our verandah
The lighthouse we passed coming into the island
The straw market--it was CRAZY in there!

Yes, there was a Starbucks in Nassau. We went in but just to use the bathroom. Now I wish we had gotten something to see if it tastes the same there as it does here!
Hanging out on the beach. It was a nice, sunny day but the water was a little chilly.
And I know you will all be impressed with this. This is the hospital where Anna Nicole Smith had her baby and where her son died. I had forgotten this happened in the Bahamas, but our taxi driver back from the beach drove by here and told us this is where it all took place.

Cruise Day 1

After our 5 days at Disney World, we headed off for our Disney Cruise! It was so awesome, because Jason's entire family (except one person) went on the cruise. We are never together all at the same time, so it was great fun. He has 3 sisters, and between them they have 8 kids, so we were able to hang out with our nieces and nephews for a few days. SO FUN! There were 17 of us in our group.

The Mickey pool (there were 3 pools onboard)

Some of the kids in the Mickey pool

At the Sail Away party

During the lifejacket drill

On the first night, our dinner was in the Animator's Palate restaurant. It is a really fun restaurant, because the pictures on the wall start out black and white and turns colors throughout dinner. It was fun and entertaining!

And we enjoyed many Mickey bars during our time on the ship!

Disney World Day 5: Back to Magic Kingdom

Wednesday we went back and spent the day at Magic Kingdom, riding some of the rides we had not been able to get to on day 1. It was a short day, so we were able to go home to rest and swim before returning for the parade and fireworks. The parade was good but the fireworks were really awesome!

And the next day we left for our cruise (and I have TONS of pictures from that, too!).

Disney World Day 4: Animal Kingdom

Day 4 (Tuesday) was spent at Animal Kingdom, which I like but is probably my least favorite of all the parks. Our first ride was the Kali River Rapids. Thankfully we had rain ponchos, otherwise we would have been SOAKED!

On one of the walking tours in the park
Waiting to see "It's Tough to Be a Bug" the 3D show inside the big tree
Expedition Everest, a new roller coaster that is AWESOME!
Outide the Dinosaur ride

Favorite parts of Animal Kingdom: The Festival of the Lion King show and Expedition Everest

Animal Kingdom was a short day, so we were able to go back to the house we rented and napped and swam, then headed to Downtown Disney for the evening.

Disney World Day 3: Epcot

If I had to pick a favorite park, it would probably be Epcot. I love the entire park but especially the World Showcase portion. It is very different from other parts of the Disney Parks in that there are very few rides, but I love experiencing the things from different cultures.

Above is outside the Mission: Space ride. This attraction had special meaning for some members of our party.

Jason and I on the Finding Nemo ride

Inside Epcot is a CocaCola store which offers samples of various sodas from around the world--it was fun trying the different flavors! (mmmmmm, Beverly)

We saw quite a few characters in Epcot!

Jason felt the best way to experience the 11 countries represented was to try food from each. He made a valiant effort but couldn't make it through. Below: crepes from France

Bratwurst and saurkraut in Germany

Mid-day we hit the wall and had to have a latte to perk us up.

With our nieces. They were so much fun!

If you go to Epcot and enjoy fireworks, I would highly recommend Illuminations as a must-see. It is done over the lagoon in the World Showcase and is wonderful. I love it!
Epcot was our longest day but was well worth it. We had a great time!