Disney Cruise

 After months of talking and planning we were finally at the cruise terminal and ready to depart!  We have enjoyed our other Disney experiences and had high hopes that the cruise would also have the same Disney feel... it did not disappoint.

 We boarded the ship and quickly got settled in our room, headed for the pool and then to the castaway party on deck.  It was fun to meet up with all of David's family.

 The ship was still decorated for Christmas so we enjoyed the decorations.  We also had many chances to meet the Disney Characters... Amelia got to meet each of the princesses again (and the lines weren't nearly as long as Magic Kingdom!)

 The first morning, this was the view out our veranda... Nassau, Bahamas

 We took a excursion that was a city tour and stop at the Ardesta Gardens and Zoo

 Amelia and Samuel got to be "co-pilots" on the trip around the city.

 This zoo has a flamingo show and Amelia was picked to get her picture with these birds.

 David enjoyed feeding the parrots.

 After a bit of shopping we headed back to the ship.

 Our second port was Disney's private island... Castaway Cay.  The day was cool, cloudy, and a bit drizzly, but we still did a bit of exploring.

 These got out of order... that evening was Pirate theme night.  Samuel even borrowed a costume from friends and really was in the spirit.

 We had amazing food each night!!  Disney is unique for it's rotational dinning.  Different places each night, but your waiters follow you.  Lots of great food and places.

 More Castaway Cay

 Amelia did brave the ocean and tried the waterslides at the Cay.

 Some formal pictures

With the Aunt and Uncles

 Our server Jason... he was great with the kids

 Due to weather the fireworks were delayed 1 day.  Even though it was cold at home, it was not like we were basking in the sun and heat.  It was cloudy, windy, showers and low 70's.  We still were glad to be away and relaxed, watched movies, shows and explored the ship.

 We did manage to take lots of rides on the aquaduck though!!

What a fun trip!!  We enjoyed our 4 days at sea with the Baird Family.  Thanks to Mom and Dad Baird for planning and proposing this trip.  

Disney World 2014

 We're Back!!  We escaped the coldest air of the season (decade?!) and flew off to Florida.  Back in April, David's family started discussing doing a Disney Cruise to celebrate a special birthday!  We decided to add on several days at the beginning and go back to Disney world.  Crazy yes, but we love Disney and decided to stay at a new resort... Animal Kingdom Lodge and have some bonus time at the parks.  We loved the view out of our balcony each morning... the African Safari...

 We were test participants for Disney's new magic bands.  We loved the ease of the bands, but disliked the regulations on Fast Pass +.  It really changed how we toured the parks.  It didn't help that crowds were still high from the holidays.  Good thing we know our way around pretty well by this time.

The day  we arrived we just enjoyed our resort and did some swimming.  Just so you don't feel too bad, most of the days were cloudy and cool for Florida.  Right after swimming, a rain storm blew in.  We had one day of sun at the parks but the high temp was 50... still better than -50 ;)

 New resort mugs with our snack.  The resort had lots of entertainment... Samuel enjoyed the African drummers.

 Our 1st morning we headed to Animal kingdom and enjoyed a breakfast buffet at tusker house.

 In the afternoon we headed to Magic Kingdom... crowds were crazy!!!

 Morning of the second day we headed to Hollywood Studios.  Samuel enjoyed meeting Jake.

 In the afternoon we headed to Epcot

 We had dinner at garden grill and got to see some more characters.

 Getting ready to leave our resort for the cruise.... I never get tired of looking out that window.

4 parks in 2 days... we set an ambitious schedule ( I would not recommend this to new disney visitors).  We picked the rides and shows we wanted and enjoyed being together as a family.  The kids did pretty well with this busy plan... we knew we could relax on the cruise. We loved staying at a new place and trying some new restaurants and experiences.  Pictures of the cruise coming soon......