Parker vs. Disneyland

Just over a week ago Chris and I decided to join his mom and siblings in California for one last Disneyland adventure.  We had some Disney dollars to use, and a free place to stay and we though "why not?".  We don't know when we will be back again, and anyone who knows us knows how much we love Disney.  Plus we just had to introduce Parker to this magical place :)

We got Parker a Mickey Mouse when we went on our Disney Cruise, and we just had to bring it on the trip.  I'm telling you, he has been attached to him every since!  Every time we would ask him where Mickey was, he would look at him with his eyes and get a big smile on his face.  We've got another Disney lover in the house!

Parker loved the rides -- even despite his face on the picture above.  We took him on a lot of rides, but I think the most loved one was the Buzz Lightyear one.  It was awesome to see his face light up on each ride. 

We even got him his very own Mickey ears!  He wasn't a huge fan of wearing it...good thing they have those elastic straps!

Overall we had an amazing time.  We are so grateful to Chris's Mom for letting us tag along on their trip!  I'm so glad that we were able to take Parker to this magical place.  Until next time!

Cruise Trip - Part 3

Our third stop was Falmouth, Jamaica.  This was a new port, and a new stop for the Disney Cruise Line.  It was really pretty walking around.  I loved all of the historic looking buildings that were built out of brick.  Once you walked out of the port, oh man!  We walked around to do some shopping and I was called "pretty" lady so many times, and to come see their shops, it was crazy!  Jamaicans are very nice, but have no sense of personal space.  

After exploring the port, and getting some fun items, we decided to head back to the ship to relax on the deck.  It's a good thing we left when we did because not too long after a huge wave of rainstorms came through!  It was pouring like crazy.  It was fun sitting on the deck watching the storm pass by.  Overall, Jamaica was really pretty, and it was fun to see what we did.

Later that night, we partied with everyone else for Pirate Night.  Now if you've been on a cruise before, you know that there are formal nights that you dress up for.  On this ship, this is the formal night in the sense that everyone was dressed up!  I was actually cornered in the elevator and scolded for not wearing any pirate gear...oops!  Haha.  We learned our lesson for next time.  Luckily the cruise provided free pirate bandannas, so we could be slightly dressed up.  But they had a cool pirate themed show on deck, followed by some fireworks, and a feast!

Our last stop on the cruise was Disney's private island called Castaway Cay.  This was such an awesome place, and another favorite for us!  We were a bit bummed the weather wasn't great, and we tried to get all we could in during the morning before the rain came.  We went swimming, enjoyed riding bikes around the island,  and had a yummy BBQ lunch along with ice cream cones!

The island felt very Disney-like, and it was fun to see the detail that was all around.  We wish we could've had better weather, so we could've enjoyed the island more, but what can you do.  It was still fun to do all that we were able to.

Overall, the cruise was amazing!  We had so much fun, and would go back (and hope to go back) one day.  If you are wanting to go on a cruise, and wondering which cruise line to choose, this is definitely the one you want.  It is a bit pricey, but for good reason.  The service is amazing, food was delicious, the detail and the ship was indescribable and always clean, and the crowds were minimum.  Best cruise experience I've had yet.  So definitely hands down worth every penny spent.

Paradise you were good to us...hopefully we will meet again one day soon!

Cruise Trip - Part 2

Our first stop on our cruise was Cozumel, Mexico.  Unfortunately the port excursion that we had booked was canceled because we were the only one's that booked.  We were pretty bummed, but we decided to explore the port and see what there was to offer.  We found a company that rented out Jeep's for the day.  So we decided to do that and drive around the island, which ended up being really fun!

Chris had a blast driving a stick shift again, and I gripped the seat while he drove due to the fact that there were no seat belts in Mexico!  Just kidding, I wasn't gripping the seat.  Chris is a great driver!  But we drove alone the coast of the island and stopped at several beaches along the way.  One of them had a little hut with some authentic Mexican food, which we enjoyed for lunch.

The water here was so beautiful!  I couldn't get over the shades of blue that we saw.  These pictures don't do them justice.  After we returned the car, we did some shopping along the coast then went back to the ship to enjoy the pool for a bit because it was hot!!

The second day we sailed to Grand Cayman.  This was by far our favorite place of the whole trip (minus our last stop, which I'll talk about later).  The water here was even more incredible then it was in Cozumel.  We had to be tendered from the ship to the port since most of the island is surrounded by reefs. 

Seriously people, that water!!!  I want to go back just looking at these photos.

For our port excursion, we went to a place called Rum Point.  It was a private beach that you had to take a catamaran too, which was really fun.  Chris and I got a place right at the front of the boat, so we had some great views of the water and the island.  When we got to the beach, we enjoyed some yummy lunch, and then swam for a bit.  We then headed back on the catamaran to our bus that took us to the ship.  Overall, it was beautiful, and we would go back in a heartbeat!

More to come on our cruise!!

Cruise Trip - Part 1

OK, I seriously promise I am going to get better at blogging.  I am SO incredibly behind, it's not even funny!  But this has been a crazy time for our family -- Chris graduating, my family here, us leaving on vacay, and now being home and getting back into the swing of things.  So I have lots, lots, lots to post on, so stay tuned!

Now on to the fun stuff!!

(sorry for the legit overload in pictures!)

Chris and I were very fortunate (thanks to a number of things given to us at the beginning of the year) to go on a Disney Cruise this past week.  Neither of us had ever been on this particular cruise line, and we were more than stoked to go and share this experience together.  

If any of you know my husband and I, you know that we are big Disney fans.  In the 4 years that we've been together, we've done something Disney related at least once if not twice each one of those years.  We're crazy, I know.  Haha.  We just love it too much!

We decided to turn this vacation into a celebration of a number of things - Chris graduating, our 3 year anniversary, and anything else we could think of!  We had a layover in Minnesota on our way out to drop off Parker with my parents, which was a bit hard seeing this was our first time apart from him that was longer than a few hours, but it helped knowing that he was in great hands, and we knew my family would take advantage of every second they have with him.  We flew to Orlando and found a hotel close to the airport, and the next morning we headed to Port Canaveral where we checked-in and got on our ship!

We walked through these awesome Mickey ears, and were welcomed onto the beautiful Disney Fantasy.  This ship was breathtakingly beautiful.  I'm not even exaggerating.  The details are incredible, and endless!  Chris and I were finding new things throughout the whole week, and we couldn't get over how clean the ship was and stayed!

The ship was designed after the 1920's era, and so everything throughout resembled this chandelier, or was tied to it somehow, which we loved! 

We got very lucky with our room!  Our room was located on the back corner of the ship, which was a handicap room, but since it wasn't needed that week, we got it.  There was so much room, it was awesome!  But we had great views from our balcony and when we came into a few ports.

There are so many pictures that I am going to post on this trip, that I'm going to do it in several posts.  Stay tuned for the next one, which will be up tomorrow!!

So, in the words of Mickey, "See ya real soon!"

(just couldn't resist :) haha)