Hi all! For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you've already seen a ton of pictures but for my own memories' sake, I'm going to post a few more pictures and stories here.
We left last Thursday morning for Disney!
We had our magic bands ready, I had done lots of researching before the trip, and we were ready to go!
We arrived at Disney's Beach Club that night. Our room was perfect and we had groceries delivered which was super nice.
Kase had fun playing hide and seek!
We went out exploring right away. The Boardwalk area was so pretty at night.
The kids took a quick swim in the pool (Kael's phone also, sadly, took a quick swim in the pool which left him without a phone the entire trip. He felt so bad about it but he handled it so well. I can't imagine not having my phone for a week and a half).
After that we had dinner at Beaches and Cream. This ice cream sundae was some of the best ice cream I have ever had.
The next morning we were up early to get ready for Magic Kingdom! Had a quick breakfast in the room.
Then were some of the first ones on the bus! Here is Kylee, "taking small children by the hand". Ha!
The Extra Magic Hour was so nice. We got to go in the park early! Such excitement.
We fit in SO many rides right away! Peter Pan was magical- our first ride and no wait at all! Kase said he really felt like we were flying! Next we hit the iconic It's A Small World.
A few more rides, then a quick stop at Gaston's for a cinnamon roll!
It was a gorgeous day and the sunshine felt so good!
We got in line for Splash Mountain since the wait wasn't too long. About half way through (with no way out) Kase had to go to the bathroom and also decided he didn't want to do the ride since the hill looked too high. We somehow convinced him to stick it out though and we had a blast!
Big Thunder Mountain was one of Kase's early on favorite rides.
And Space Mountain was one of Kael and Kylee's favorite!
We pressed some pennies.
Tried "the gray stuff" at Be Our Guest.
And enjoyed a nice sit down lunch inside to cool down and rest our feet. Plus, it was gorgeous in there!
Monster's, Inc. Laugh Floor was a hit with everyone.
Then, off to our final Fast Pass of the day- Seven Dwarf's Mine Train!
We headed back to the hotel for an afternoon swim. The pool area was really cool- even had a sand bottom to make it feel like a real beach! There was also a pirate ship and slide. The kids' favorite part though was the water volleyball.
We headed back to see Magic Kingdom at night and have some dinner. The castle was so pretty all lit up!
We also had a memorable Jungle Cruise ride (Kael thought real alligators might jump out of the water!) and a very punny boat driver. We got back to the hotel tired and happy. Some of us more tired than others!
The following morning was Animal Kingdom!
It was a nice cool morning and again, we had an Extra Magic Hour so we fit a lot in before the park got too busy.
The first ride was Expedition Everest- Kael and Kylee loved it so much (the surprise "broken" track, then going in reverse), they rode it twice! Once with me and once with Kent.
We fit in a few more rides for Kase in Dinoland, then headed for the Kilimanjaro Safari.
This was really a great ride! It lasted long, was nice and relaxing and we saw tons of animals.
We explored a little more then got some Mickey ice cream!
Then we met a few characters! Kase was excited to get autographs and take pictures.
We had a fun lunch at Restaurantosaurus where the kids' lunches were served in fun pails!
Then the kids had fun running around a playground area called The Dig.
The last and best part of our day at Animal Kingdom was r iding Avatar Flight of Passage! We were all just blown away at how awesome this ride was. A total highlight of the whole trip.
Back at the hotel Kase had fun spotting geckos. Also the kids swam a little more even though it wasn't too hot out!
Later that evening we walked to Epcot. It was the Flower and Garden festival while we were there- so pretty! Lots of cool details everywhere.
We enjoyed seeing all the "worlds".
 |
| Here Kase is "hesitating" (he couldn't remember the word meditate). |
We had dinner at Via Napoli in the Italy pavilion, then danced in a brief rainstorm before heading off to explore a little more.
The France pavilion was fun- the kids liked taking pictures there since Aunt Tammy was in the real France at the same time!
Beauty and the Beast.
Kylee and I loved visiting the bakery there and got some beautiful macarons!
A quick late night dip in the hot tub on the way back to our room.
The next morning we went back to Epcot to see the other side of the park. Also we got Kylee some Mickey ears!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Everywhere we walked, Kase wanted me to take his picture.
We tried Coke from around the world. Kylee did not enjoy this one!
Epcot was fun, but probably our least favorite of the parks.
On to Hollywood Studios! Kent, Kael and Kylee rushed ahead to ride the Rock'n Roller Coaster. I knew Kase wouldn't like that one since it goes really fast, so he and I just went at a slower pace and stopped to take it all in. Here he is trading some of his first pins!
Then we saw some Storm Troopers walking around and one picked Kase out of the crowd! Kase got to talk to him for awhile then walk up for a photo.
We also had time to meet lots of other characters. He thought it was hilarious when Chewbacca tried to eat a leaf out of my backpack that Kase had been carrying around all morning.
Then, a much needed relaxing lunch at Sci Fi! Kids thought it was so cool eating in old cars while old movies played on the screen.
After lunch we headed to Toy Story Land. Kent and Kael held our spot in line for the Slinky Dog Dash while we met Woody and Jessie!
A brief rain passed through- I had been carrying ponchos around for the last three days so I made Kylee wear one even though it didn't rain hard. Ha! She was a good sport about it.
Our very last ride was the Tower of Terror! We had a Fast Pass for only 3 people so I waited out with Kase. By this time of the day he was tired and I just didn't feel like pushing it. He doesn't really like to be scared anyways.
Kael and Kylee loved it though!
Such a fun ending to our days at the parks. We headed back to the hotel for a swim, then a late dinner at ESPN Club.
On our way there we saw the most hilarious street performer doing yo-yo tricks!
The next morning we explored the Boardwalk a little more and Kase bought a couple souvenirs.
We had one last breakfast and character greet before hopping on our bus to the cruise!
The boarding process was quicker than I expected.
And our room was awesome! I'm so impressed with their use of space. It didn't feel crowded at all.
And we loved our own private verandah!
We checked out all the kids/teens clubs.
And had our first ice cream!
The Sail Away party was super fun. Totally got us in the cruise spirit!
We enjoyed dinner at the Enchanted Garden where Kael even tried some lobster ravioli!
Kase did such a good job entertaining himself with coloring at all of our nice dinners.
And he really liked his pasta!
But he really, really liked the Mickey bars for dessert.
All cozy in the bunk bed!
Later that night we caught our first show of the trip- The Golden Mickeys. We just loved all the shows on board! Kael and Kylee then jetted off to hang out with friends and go to the Teens Club. They stayed out later than us every night!
The next morning I was up early and Kent had a quick FA meeting.
We enjoyed seeing the sunrise off our verandah.
Then got off the ship at Nassau, Bahamas!
The dolphin swim as a favorite memory of the trip. Our group went last which meant we got some extra time alone in the water with the dolphins! Kael even asked if we could throw a football to them so everyone got a turn doing that. Kase's throw was spot on and the dolphin actually caught it!
After the dolphin swim we had a little time to splash around in the water and play on this giant obstacle course. Kids loved it!
On the 20 minute (ha) ferry ride back to our ship, Kase and I played a lot of tic-tac-toe and he beat me every time.
In paradise with my people!
We made it back on the ship just in time for a late lunch, then poolside movies!
That night Edward Jones had a fun character meet and cocktail reception for all of us. The kids looked so great all dressed up and enjoying their smoothies!
We loved taking pictures of this view!
Kent made fun of me for taking pictures of the food but it was so pretty every single night!
The next morning we were up early so Kylee and I could do the Castaway Cay 5K!
What a beautiful view of the ship on our walk to the starting line!
Kylee managed to work our way to the very front of the pack!
She took off and I told her to not wait for me at all. I was so proud of her! I got to see her as our paths crossed one time during the race. She was the first girl to finish, the fifth finisher overall, and she had a time of 21:31! But my favorite part of all was seeing her standing right under the time clock with a big smile on her face cheering me on to finish.
Mickey toes in the sand!
While Kylee and I were running, the boys were meeting Captain Jack Sparrow!
Castaway Cay was just beautiful and it was the perfect day. Nice and warm but not too hot, plenty of things for the kids to do- it was one of our favorite days of the whole trip.
A much deserved cookie ice cream sandwich!
Some shuffleboard in the shade!
I can't get over the color of the water!
Kase found (probably picked) this pretty flower for me!
We made some awesome sand castles.
And headed back to the ship tired, happy, and a little bit tan, even!
Watching the ship push off from Castaway Cay from our verandah was fun.
Loved the crew that pulled out big Mickey hands to wave good-bye to us!
Then...Pirate Night! Yes, I brought all of this from home and yes, tons of other people did the same.
We even had a fun pirate themed dinner with our waiter even in pirate gear!
The Mickey pirate show was fun!
But the late night show and fireworks were even more amazing! Such a fun and memorable night.
The next morning Kent and I enjoyed early morning coffee together on the deck while the kids slept in.
Then we all rode the AquaDuck! Kylee convinced me to try it, and I'm so glad she did! Later we convinced Kase that it wasn't fast or scary so he tried it too! So much fun.
Since this was our last day on the ship we wanted to make sure we tried and saw everything!
So we hit the top deck for some Goofy Golf!
And a few gorgeous photo opps.
Kael got a hole in one!
We had a really nice, relaxing day. Swam, watched baby crawling races, got all packed up, let the kids go to kids club...it was a great day.
That night we got all dressed up for our final dinner!
After dinner the kids got to trade pins with the ship's officers! So fun!
And Kase got to meet Captain Mickey!
Then we caught our last and very favorite show- Beauty and the Beast. You guys, it was amazing!
We had such a great trip. Looking back at all these photos makes me really appreciate all the family memories we made over the last week and a half!
Here are a few final photos from our Memory Maker. Hope you all had a great Spring Break! The kids all happened to pick up colds in the last few days so I think back to reality tomorrow is going to be tough on us all!
