Still Dragging Out This Cruise Post

Ok, trying to fly through the rest of this trip so I can at least be caught up for our next one! So sorry for the horribly written, non proofread text. :)

Cruise Day 3, Continued

Playing on the magic interactive floor in the big kid's club

Later in the evening on Tuesday, we all went to check out  the kid's club on the ship. I can't remember what it was called, but it was the club for older kids. They have the Small World Nursery for babies and toddlers 3 and under, a younger kid's club, and an older kid's club. Once a child is 3 you can sign them into the kid's club and leave them there for as long as they want, for FREE!! The Nursery is still a steal at $6/hr for the first child and $5/hr for any additional children. All the clubs are amazing with tons of different activities and the supervision is great.

Before dinner that evening we did the rounds of meeting the characters, then we decided to send Lizzy back to the nursery since she was getting super tired by that point and would definitely not make it through dinner. This was a real life saver, because Annie is a dream to take out to dinner (knock on wood), so it was nice we could have a special evening with just her. That night we ate at Animator's Palate, which has an "animation" theme. Annie especially loved it because there were TVs and Crush the turtle would swim around the walls interacting with diners. My favorite part was the Mickey chairs, super cute!

Dinner at Animator's Palate

Day 4 

On Wednesday it was back to Castaway Cay, and this time Joe and Lizzy were able to join Annie and me on the island. We took the girls swimming in the ocean and they LOVED it. We also played in the splash pad and enjoyed another island BBQ.  

The girls with Chip and Dale on Castaway Cay

After lunch we went back on the ship and the girls took naps and then went to play at the nursery. (It sounds like sent them to the nursery a lot, doesn't it?? They really were not there very often!) While they were in the nursery Joe and I took the opportunity to enjoy a little bit of pool time alone. I even ordered a strawberry daiquiri, watch out! We also rode the Aqua Duck (giant water slide) together, really fun! After picking the girls up, Joe took Annie to one of the live shows while Lizzy and I walked around the shops. We attempted to bring Lizzy to dinner that night since it was our last night, but after 5 minutes of  her screeching, knocking everything in sight off of the table, spilling water and eating several pats of butter, we decided it was in everyone's best interest that we take her back to the nursery, where she promptly fell asleep.

Day 5, Disembarkation

Annie out cold amongst the chaos of trying to get packed up in the morning!

Of course the girls picked the ONE day we had to get up early to be off the ship to sleep in. We had to wake them at 9:30 and high tail it off, I think we were some of the last people to get off the boat.  It was a really easy process, we had placed our big luggage out in the hallway the evening before, so when we got off the ship we went to a baggage claim area to pick it up. One of the luggage attendants helped carry it all the way to our car in the parking garage. We then drove back to WDW and checked into the Grand Floridian, where we got upgraded to a room in one of the concierge buildings. It was a HUGE room with a separate sitting area where we set up the pack n play for Lizzy, and Annie slept in one of the big beds with rails that the hotel provided and set up for us.

Grand Floridian Room

After getting set up in our room we had lunch at the pool and Joe had to fly to Philadelphia to do some interviews. I took the girls back to the room for naps and then we took the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom. This was the point in the trip where I stopped taking pictures and notes so I am not exactly sure what went on, but I know that it was pretty crowded and miserable. After a nice relaxing Cruise with Joe there to help, taking the girls to the Magic Kingdom alone was A LOT of work. I think we only managed to make it on 1 or 2 rides before throwing in the towel.

One of the best things about a concierge room is the lounge where a selection of food and drinks were provided (free) throughout the day. It's especially nice when you have young ones because you can always get cold milk. The girls and I ate dinner there (really good selection of hot and cold items), they had their bath, we went for a walk around the resort and then it was bedtime. 

Joe thankfully came back the next afternoon and gave me some alone time at the pool which was amazing!! We spent Friday and Saturday nights at the Grand Floridian and got in some good time at the Magic Kingdom and headed back to Burbank on Sunday afternoon. It was really a GREAT trip and I know that the girls really enjoyed themselves. For the most part they were really well behaved despite being out of their normal routines and probably very tired a lot of the time. 

I can't wait until we have the opportunity to do another Disney Cruise, it will be even better when Lizzy is a bit older and more independent. Becherer/Fleming/Koutnik/Hattman/Birmingham Family Vacay 2013, anyone?? :)

More Cruising

Cruise Day 2

Monday morning we arrived at Castaway Cay in the Bahamas. After breakfast at Cabanas, the buffet restaurant on the 11th deck, we left Lizzy to take a nap in the room while Annie and I disembarked to check out the island. I've never been on a cruise that takes you to actual port cities, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but Castaway Cay was pretty great! There is a nice beach, a few shops, some bars, a place to rent bikes, over 3 miles of trails, and lots of other recreation activities like snorkeling, para sailing and jet skiing. Annie and I played it safe and just went to the splash pad. We then ate a barbecue lunch and for some reason I think the food on the island is much better than the food on the boat. They had a ton of traditional bbq offerings like hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs, salads, corn on the cob, chips and cookies. They also had soft serve machines! I think Annie ate an average of 2 ice cream cones a day on the trip.

After lunch we boarded the ship again and brought the girls to the "It's a Small World Nursery." I was really impressed with the childcare on the cruise and the childcare workers were extremely nice and friendly. I felt really comfortable leaving the girls there, and I think they had a good time, too. The nursery had a play area in the front with a ton of toys and then a separate room in the back with dimmed lights, cribs and rockers. While the girls played at the nursery I went and worked out at the gym and took a shower. I know that is a lame way to use up the babysitting time, but Joe had to work and it was nice to have a little break! Later on in the evening we ended up putting Lizzy back in the nursery while we went to dinner because she didn't get a good afternoon nap that day and there was no way she would have made it through dinner. We had dinner at the Royal Palace again that night and I really wish I would have taken a picture of the menu or written down what we ate for dinner...sorry, Diz!  But again, it was less than spectacular. On the bright side, one of the desserts on the children's menu was a Mickey ice cream bar so that is what Joe and Annie got every night for dessert. Amazing!

Some "friends" were visiting the nursery when I picked Lizzy up after dinner. She was less than thrilled

True or false - Peter Pan is the creepiest Disney character in person

After picking Lizzy up there was a really fun "pirate party" on the pool deck and a very impressive fireworks show. It was neat to think about the fact that we were watching a huge fireworks show out in the middle of the ocean!

There was a special gift waiting for us in our room every night after dinner. I can't tell you what they all were in case they are re-gifted during this year's White Elephant

Cruise Day 3

The next day (Tuesday) we were at sea. After eating at the breakfast buffet (decent), Annie and I went swimming while Lizzy took her morning nap.  It was so fun getting to spend all that time with Annie, she is at such a good age for this kind of stuff! We alternated between swimming in the Mickey shaped pool and Nemo's splash pad, and then Annie dined on a lunch of chicken nuggets while watching Cinderella on the big screen at the pool. Toddler heaven!

Eating Mickey Waffles for breakfast! Not a bad view

Doing a little golfing after breakfast

Speaking of toddler heaven, later in the day we stumbled onto a "character dance party" and I really have to imagine that it was the best 20 minutes of Annie's life thus far. Pictures don't do it justice!

Wow, these posts take way longer than expected to complete. Almost halfway through the cruise - more coming soon!

Bon Voyage! Day 1

On to the good stuff - the cruise itself! First off I want to say that since this cruise was chartered for DVC members it had very low occupancy (70%) and an unusually small number of children. This was all great news! It never really felt crowded to me, and since there were so few kids, it was never a problem to check the girls into childcare and the lines to meet the characters were always short.

When you walk onto the ship, they announce your family over the loudspeaker and there are a bunch of employees lining the entrance applauding you, kind of cheesy but fun. Joe had to go to a work event after boarding, so I took the girls up to get some ice cream where we ran into some "friends!"

We then changed into our swimming suits and headed over to the children's splash area called Nemo's Reef. Unfortunately you have to be potty trained in order to swim in the regular pools so Lizzy had to stick to the splash pad. It's a nice, safe option for babies, and the water was really warm. The girls loved it!

After we were all splashed out we grabbed lunch from one of the Cars themed quick serve windows. These take out places are open almost all day/night long and offer a variety of options. They serve pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, french fries, sandwiches, wraps, salads and fresh fruit. While unlimited food anytime you want it may sound amazing, I hate to say that the food was not great. I might even go as far to say that the pizza was bad. 

Tastes pretty good to me, mom!

By that point the rooms were ready and the luggage had been delivered, so we went to our state room on the 10th deck to check things out and get unpacked. We were super lucky to have been put in a Deluxe Family Room that had some extra space and a balcony. It was HUGE by cruise standards and I never once felt claustrophobic. We had a queen size bed and a couch that converted into a bed, plus a pack n play in the corner for Lizzy. My favorite feature of the room was the curtain that you could pull to separate the bedroom area from the living room area, so we could keep the girls somewhat separate if they didn't sleep at the same time. 

View from the entry way. Bathroom to my left. Separate areas for shower and toilet

After unpacking we had to convene for a mandatory emergency drill in an auditorium. After confirming everyone was present by scanning key cards, they gave a short presentation about emergency protocol, life boats, life vests, etc. We then went back the room for much needed naps. I guess at some point during naptime the boat started to move, but we didn't even realize it! 

Joe had a business dinner that evening at one of the nicer restaurants, Palo, so SUPER MOM took both girls to our 8:15 dinner at The Royal Palace. The people sitting at the table next to us looked at me like I was crazy when I showed up alone and wrestled Annie and Lizzy into high chairs. I was thrilled when Joe finally showed up halfway through the dinner. At the sit down dinners all the food and soft drinks are included, and you order off a regular menu. But again, the food is less than spectacular and I would say we left most of the dinners still hungry. They also have a children's menu offering all the standard kids fare.

After dinner we met some characters (becoming a very regular occurrence, to Annie's delight) and then called it a night. Not bad for our first day!

DVC Member Cruise and Walt Disney World, Part 1

LAX to MCO and Cruise Departure

Yes, our vacation was so amazing it's going to require separate (very detailed) blog posts! Since a big part of writing these posts (in addition to sharing with family) is for Joe and me to have a record to look back on someday, I wanted to include as much as I could about our trip, and I apologize in advance for all of the probably very boring details. It's helpful for us to look back on some of the travel stuff to see what worked and what didn't. So here it goes....

I'm sure you all know this already, but Joe was invited on the Disney Vacation Club 4-night 5-day Member Cruise to do a little bit of work. He was allowed to bring along up to three guests and since he doesn't have any friends, the girls and I got to come along! Joe and I had done a quick 2-night cruise on the Disney Dream (a new ship in 2011), but this was our first time bringing any babies along.

After packing EVERYTHING up the night before, we left the house in a Hyundia Santa Fe (hey Flemings!) rental car at 6am on Saturday morning for LAX. Side note: You need a lot of stuff to travel with 2 kids... not sure how you guys do it with 3 or more! Joe was kind enough to give me his seat in first class (1B) while he sat in the back with BOTH girls, and I have to say it was the most relaxing five hours I've experienced in a while. We bought Elizabeth her own seat on the plane and brought her car seat along, which was a God send. She is VERY rambunctious these days so it was perfect that she could be strapped in for most of the trip. Plus it gave her a nice place to fall asleep.  The girls both behaved extremely well and I received lots of compliments from passengers deplaning about how good they were, and how great Joe was with them!

And before I forget, here is what we brought:

• 2 car seats (checked one, brought one on plane)
• 2 small rolling suitcases (both checked)
• 1 giant duffel (checked)
• Joe's backpack (carry on)
• Mary's diaper bag (carry on)
• 1 double stroller (gate checked)
• Ergo carrier (carry on)

Catching a wink on the flight

Super-flier opening her airplane snack box

One funny blip - when Joe had to take Lizzy back for a diaper change (I must have been too busy in first class watching Battleship with my noise-canceling Bose headphones on whilst eating a delicious breakfast to notice what was going on back there in steerage), he left Annie buckled into her aisle seat watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. When he returned, Annie had unbuckled herself, climbed over into Lizzy's car seat by the window, found Lizzy's pacifier and fallen asleep.

We arrived in Orlando around 4pm and checked into the Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport hotel to stay for the night since the cruise didn't leave til the next day. Joe used a Diamond confirmed suite upgrade and we received an amazing suite with a bedroom, huge living and dining area, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. Probably larger than our house.

Didn't take any good pictures of our room, but it was great! 

We had a delightful Chick fil a lunch, naps, and a walk around the airport. Oh, in our brand new double maclaren! A purchase mainly for the trip. Really loved it. Super easy to fold and compact. Anyway - after our walk the girls had their baths and we had a quick room service dinner of pepperoni pizza, hummus and veggies, and spaghetti and meatballs for the girls.  Shortly after, the girls went to bed and I used the hotel gym (would be 1 of only 2 times on the vacation that I worked out.) It was small but nice with views of the terminal and had all the essential equipment.

Orlando Airport = almost as good as Disney World!

Eating dinner! Annie now thinks she can make food appear by picking up the phone and "ordering it."

We all got some good sleep that night and the next morning Joe went to get the rental car, a 2012 Toyota Sequoia which was so large he could barely park it, brought down the luggage and installed the car seats while I stayed with girls. We had a really good breakfast at one of the Hyatt restaurants, Hemispheres. It was extra good because it was free for Diamond members. Let's be honest, we all know that if it wasn't free we would have been eating sausage biscuits off the dollar menu. Now that I think about it, that is an equally delicious option.

Only people in the restaurant!  

All of this part of the trip was particularly fun for me to experience because I got to see what Joe does on a regular basis on his business trips to WDW (tough life, Joe!) I got to sit in his seat on the plane, stay in the hotel he frequents, and eat his favorite breakfast (scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, ham and a bowl of berries).  Nice to be able to see that part of his life! And I think equally fun for him to be able to share it with us.

We then loaded everyone up into the car and did the quick 40 minute drive to Port Canaveral to get on the ship! After checking our bags with a bellman, Joe parked the car/truck in the garage ($75 for parking) and I brought the girls into the cruise terminal where we got in line to see Minnie. Since the state rooms aren't ready immediately when you board, they take your luggage before you board so you don't have to haul it around the ship for the first few hours. When the rooms are ready, your bags are waiting for you there. After we got our picture with Minnie, we proceeded to the check in line which was empty by that point. I think we were the last wave to board. At check in they collect all the proper paper work and signatures, check your passports and take your picture for you room key card, called your "Key to the World Card".  In addition to being used as a key you can use it for charging and you need it to get on and off the ship at any ports. Annie's picture was a real gem as she was throwing a temper tantrum at the moment. Every time her card was scanned during the trip the employee would laugh at the picture of a screaming toddler that popped up on the screen.

Stopping for a quick pic with Minnie Mouse in the terminal before boarding the ship

We then boarded and set sail for Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas. More to come soon!! Please try to keep your anticipation under control. :)

Also, I will be putting a ton more pictures on Picasa and Facebook soon.

Elizabeth's Birthday and Grandma Alice's Visit

Can't believe my little Elizabeth is ONE year old already! Hard to imagine that she was a tiny newborn last summer, this has definitely been the fastest year of my life so far. Since we were planning on trip to Disneyland with Grandma on Sunday and Monday (Lizzy's actual birthday) we did a small celebration at home on Saturday with Auntie JuJu.

See food, open mouth. Classic Lizzy.

Big sister Annie was nice to help Elizabeth open her presents, and then claim them as her own. 

Just a few more pictures of the birthday girl :)

Not quite a walker yet

Lizzy's new trick: fish face

On Sunday Grandma arrived and we headed down to Disneyland for the night. We took in a few attractions at California Adventure that night and returned the next morning for Disneyland. 

Sisters ready for a day at the park!

We hit the jackpot and had a Minnie Mouse sighting as soon as entering the park on Monday morning! Annie has NO fear when it comes to characters.

The day turned out to be very hot and crowded, and I don't think poor Lizzy had a very good time on her first birthday. I don't think we'll be back to DL until the temperatures get a little cooler and the crowds thin out in the fall.

Joe had to head out of town the next day for a quick trip to Japan, but luckily Grandma was in town for a week to help us out! We had lots of fun visiting the zoo and Kidspace Museum in Pasadena.

Annie would spend ALL day at the petting zoo if I let her! She was lying on top of the goats at one point saying "I love him so much!"

Having fun in the toddler room at Kidspace!

Learning about Bugs with Grandma

Check out Annie on that hog

Sisters playing

Sweet Lizzy

Hope to have more exciting adventures to share soon!