Category: Current Family Life

Well it dawned a beautiful sunny day, and we were docked at Disney’s island Castaway Cay. We ate a leisurely breakfast, and packed up to go to the beach. They have done a lovely landscaping job, and the walk from the ship to the beach was very scenic. They have even marooned a ‘wrecked’ pirate ship in the bay. There are neatly dived areas for boating, snorkling and family swimming. Apparently teens and ages 18+ have their own separate beaches as well. After standing in line to greet and meet Mickey, goofy and Donald, we finally made it to the beach. We found a nice spot under a palm tree and an umbrella. The water was VERY chilly, but that didn’t stop R from having a great time. I confess I just couldn’t bring myself to put J in the water despite the fact that he was dressed for it. He and I lounged on the chairs in the shade and chatted with E and Oma. It was a nice morning. For lunch we ate ribs, hamburgers and hotdogs. Plus some really good mangos and strawberries. You could already tell at that point that the weather was starting to change (they had warned us a cold front and storm were moving in) and we hiked back to the ship. There J and daddy had a nap, while R and I went to the mickey pool. The water was quite warm, and R wasted no time at all jumping in. She puttered around quite contentedly with her goggles. The wind picked up, and the sun started to disappear. I left her swim for about and hour and a half, then had to drag her out. Once out of the pool she was so cold that I easily temped her back to the room with a promise of a hot shower. Once in the room she decided that she in fact wanted a bath. So she spent another 30 minutes in the water.
We did some organizing, and then wandered around the ship. We got a family picture with Dopey, and even met Princess Tiana (Princess and the Frog). R also insisted on seeing Goofy. During dinner we were supposed to be leaving the island. Oma and Opa got the low down from some crew, that we had already tried to leave the island, but the wind was too strong for us to make any headway. They said we likely had to wait for a tugboat to come and help us out. As of a few minutes ago when I checked our from our balcony, we still hadn’t moved. I’m not sure what that means for our arrival in Port Canaveral tomorrow, but it looks a lot like we’ll be late. No worries for us though, our plane doesn’t leave until 9:30pm, so no rush for us thank goodness. The next post will likely be from home. I’ll wrap up our adventure then. Sorry, no pics, I’ve got to get packing!

It was quiet day at sea. We had breakfast together. After that, R, daddy and E went to see the movie “The Princess and the Frog” the new Disney movie. I tried to get J to sleep, but he only slept about 45 minutes for me. We had some play time, then it was already lunch. R had a great feast. She ate crab, where she had to crack the claws herself, and oysters. She also tried some sort of shrimp like creature that you had to crack in half, then pull out the meat, but she didn’t like that. She is loving this sea food fest. After lunch, daddy and R had a nap. She’s been so excited these last days that she isn’t sleeping as soundly, and is just to wired to sleep in. I took J on deck, and I piled the blankets on him. While it was sunny, there was a very strong wind with a distinctive chill to it. I had to go in to get a sweatshirt, and even then I wasn’t warm until I sat in the sun with the black shirt on. Finally around 4 J was asking for a bottle, so we went back to the cabin. I fed him, changed him, and put him to bed. He only managed about 30 minutes of sleep before daddy and R came to change to go swimming. A crazy idea, with that cold wind. We met everyone for supper. R tried lobster for the first time and decided she liked it. E has been trying to get us to go to Red Lobster (the restaurant) for months now, and I think she has finally found an ally in R. Of course, near the end of dinner both children melted. J cried and cried for a bottle, bed and quiet, while R hurt her foot and was equally loud in her cries. We got back to the cabin, soothed hurts, and all changed into PJs. J drifted off quite quickly, but R took some time to unwind. Tomorrow we are at “Castaway Cay”, the Disney owned island for a beach day. According to the map they provided it looks like great fun. However, I don’t think it is supposed to be super hot, so we’ll have to see how it goes.

Busy day. We started off with a nice buffet breakfast in Parrot Cay. We were docked at Grand Caymen today, and the tenders didn’t start until 10am. So daddy and R went to the Kids club for a bit. While I was getting our things together to go ashore, there was an announcement. A cold front was coming in (storm to follow), and the third party tenders decided to cut off all tendering at 2pm. So our time ashore was shortened by 3 hours. This led to a big line up to get a tender ticket, to get ashore. We finally made it to the island around 11am. It was HOT. Hot and muggy. R had decided to come, and she (and us) seemed to regret that immediately. She was hot, bothered, tired, and very unhappy. Needless to say we didn’t stay too long. We made it back for a later lunch, and she and daddy went swimming. J had a spectacular nap today, 21/2 hours! He needs it. He has a little cold. He’s a bit stuffed up, but he is definitely horse when he cooes.
Today’s dinner theme was pirates. The wait staff were all dressed up like pirates, and the guests were encouraged to dress like pirates. J-bean wore his Treas(red) shirt. It is special to us, as it was bought well before we had a specific second child in mind. He is greatly treasured though. That’s about as pirate-ish as we got. However, at the table they had little pirate bandanas for us. It made for cute pictures. J had enough around dessert time, so I took him back to the room. As soon as we got into the quiet, he smiled. He’s now lying in his crib, thumping his legs every so often.
Tomorrow is a nice calm day at sea.

Today we stopped in Cozumel. It was hot. When I opened the balcony door in the morning, it was like opening an oven door. Yikes! We met for breakfast with Oma & Opa and E. It had been a rough night for R, she had been so worked up about the show she saw that she was very restless. Turns out she decided she wanted to stay in the kid’s club rather than come explore Cozumel with us. We walked down the main strip. Shopping wasn’t great. I was on the lookout for a super cute Mexican dress for R, and some sort of shirt for J, but there really wasn’t anything to buy. We did get some real vanilla, and daddy got his ‘gekos crawing up his arm’ tattoo.
Did I mention it was hot?? Streamy. It was a long walk back to the ship in that heat. We went right for lunch and I drank lots and lots of water. R was delighted to be with us again, although she had a great time in the club. All the staff knows her there. After lunch R and daddy went to the pool for a few hours, and I stayed with J while he slept, ate, played then ate and slept again. By the time we all gathered again, it was time to get ready for dinner. R was tired at dinner. At one point she was listening to songs on her ipod with her head resting on the table. She is delighted at dinner, because we can just say to the wait staff that she wants shrimp, and despite the fact that plain shrimp aren’t on the menu, they get them for her. We are really quite spoiled. She was game to try escargot for supper. E ate them with her. She wasn’t impressed, but E said the topping was quite strange. Supper ended early for daddy and R, (the tired thing you know) and they went to the bar close by for dessert (Nacho bar). Yes, salty dessert. R also asked the bar tender for a cherry, and he gave her a whole cup full. I must say the staff is very good with kids… and there are a LOT of kids on this ship. Oma and Opa volunteered to watch the kids while they slept, and E, daddy and I went to see the movie “G Force” in 3D. Cute. It’s late now, and I’m trying to get caught up. I totally thought tomorrow would be a peaceful day at sea, but it seems we are already at Grand Caymen tomorrow. I did spy a ‘Swatch” kiosk marked on the shopping map, so I’ll be heading there! Good night.

It’s been a quiet day at sea. R managed to see Mickey and Minnie in the kids club, and later on in the afternoon she saw Chip and Dale in tuxedos!! There was one other totally exciting thing, J rolled over!!!
E, daddy and I sat on the deck and chatted, it turned really windy, and we found a quiet deserted bar to sit and chat in. It had nice big tables beside the couches. I pulled out J’s activity mat, and put it on the table, and placed him on top. I wanted to give him some tummy time. No sooner than I put him down, did he roll over to his back!! Don’t worry, those mummy reflexes are still working, and I stopped him from rolling over the edge! But I must say that is the last time I’ll put him down somewhere and expect him to stay! Of course he wouldn’t repeat the performance for the camera, but there were 3 adult witnesses!
We are getting really well fed on the ship. Oma had had enough one night, so when asked if she wanted dessert, she politely but firmly said she wanted “Nothing”. Sure enough, the cheeky waiters brought her nothing!

We had an early breakfast at 8am at Parrot Cay. R was thrilled because during breakfast characters came around to the tables, Chip & Dale, Goofy, Pluto, Mickey and Minnie. After breakfast R went to the kids club. She is getting used to it, but still wanted us to come by and check every half an hour or so. She wears a bracelet that is scanned in, and daddy carries a pager, so the staff or (R through the staff) can contact us anywhere on the ship. After a very nice buffet lunch at which R and E at lots of Crab that you had to crack yourself, we went ashore. We were docked at Key West. It was a nice place to walk around. Lovely palm trees, and nice buildings. Around the main museum were lots of statues. R had a good time posing with them. Back on the ship she went back to the kids club, and J had a nap. Soon it was time for supper, and then bed. The kids are sleeping now. Tomorrow we can relax, it’s a day at sea.

We had an early breakfast at 8am at Parrot Cay. R was thrilled because during breakfast characters came around to the tables, Chip & Dale, Goofy, Pluto, Mickey and Minnie. After breakfast R went to the kids club. She is getting used to it, but still wanted us to come by and check every half an hour or so. She wears a bracelet that is scanned in, and daddy carries a pager, so the staff or (R through the staff) can contact us anywhere on the ship. After a very nice buffet lunch at which R and E at lots of Crab that you had to crack yourself, we went ashore. We were docked at Key West. It was a nice place to walk around. Lovely palm trees, and nice buildings. Around the main museum were lots of statues. R had a good time posing with them. Back on the ship she went back to the kids club, and J had a nap. Soon it was time for supper, and then bed. The kids are sleeping now. Tomorrow we can relax, it’s a day at sea.

After an extremely restless night (I had those terrible got to get up and pack nightmares) we woke and packed our bags. Apparently they needed to be ready to go at 8am, although I had to call at 10am to remind them to pick them up…grrr.
After some breakfast, R went swimming. It was pretty chilly, the storm that hit the eastern seaboard dumping snow gave us strong wind. I mean strong wind! R came back throuroughly chilled. Anyways. We pack the last bits, and headed for the bus. The bus was very cute, with ‘portholes’ painted on the outside. R managed a short nap, as did daddy, and so did J as I held him. As we approached the ships, our driver pointed out that across the bay you could see the space shuttle that is set to launch tomorrow morning. Pretty cool. The process of getting on the ship was fairly smooth. A guy from Brampton checked us in. R was totally excited because Mickey was there, posing with you for pictures in front of a model of the cruise ship. Did I mention how puzzled we are at her intense liking for these character greetings?? As we walked on the ship, a ‘cast member’ asked our name, and then announced it over a loudspeaker “the HE family from Ontario”…they had a group of staff there clapping! Wow eh?
Once on the ship, we found our room, and got our bearings. As we were heading off to do a few errands, we ran into Oma and Opa. It was nice to see them. Daddy then headed over to the “Oceaneers club” to sign up R. She gets a wrist band with a sensor, and daddy gets a pager. Apparently she can summon us any time she needs us. That’s nice. I was on my way back from checking dinner reservations when they announced our friend’s name, E! Quite by accident I got to meet her as she boarded! We all met up in the ‘topsider buffet’ and had a very late lunch. R was thrilled by all the shrimp she could eat. Only a short time later we departed, and R and daddy danced at the farewell party. I unpacked, and let J have a nap in the room. (ok, I like getting things settled and organized in hotel/ship rooms, everything has to have a place)
Then came the ship drill. We all had to go to our rooms, get on our lifejackets, and report to deck 4. There we were directed to our lifeboat. They took attendance, and made sure we were all wearing our life jackets correctly. Poor litte J. He looked so uncomfortable, but was quite the trooper. We didn’t know how to do all the straps up on his life jacket, but the people next to us did. Here is a picture.

Supper was interesting. The decor of the dining room was all black and white, and slowly came to be colour by the end of dinner. J decided to nap during this meal, and I held him. When our entrees came, daddy offered to take him, but I just decided to wait to eat my mustard/thyme chicken when daddy was done his meal and I could cut mine up. I turned around, and all the sudden this wonderful staff person was cutting up my chicken into bite size pieces! Hilarious! She understood right away that letting babies sleep is far more important than eating hot food. We chatted. Turns out she was the dining room supervisor, and from South Africa. Now that is service I tell you! I was able to eat a hot meal with one hand, and J was able to sleep. Bliss.
After dinner we stopped by the Oceaneer’s club to check it out. Lots of kids, but it seemed to be a really cool place. I think R will like it. Back in our cabin, the staff had pulled down a bunk from the ceiling for R. She’s sleeping up there now, I suppose it reminds her of her bed at home. J is sleeping in a play pen. I’ll be heading to bed soon too, I know there will be lots to do tomorrow.

It was an early morning again for daddy and R. J and I slept in. It was super windy today, and all over the weather channel they talked about the HUGE storm coming for the eastern seabord. They forcasted thundestorms for the afternoon, so we headed to the park in the moring. Did I mention it was WINDY? Very windy. I had to use my clothes pins to anchor a blanket on to J’s stroller. We were back at Magic kingdom, but we managed to convince R to try Tomorrowland. So she rode the Buzz Lightyear ride and liked it so much we immediately had to ride it again. She tried the transportation ride, a train that just circled around the park up high, but was un-impressed. She and daddy did ride Speedtrack though, and I snapped some cool pictures of her driving…although I’m not sure if I’m every going to let her drive MY car…
Then it was back to the tea cups. From there, she wanted to line up to see Ariel. Did I already mention that I can’t belive my child is willing to WAIT in line just to see these characters?? Crazy I know. While the park seems full, it is definately not. The wait times for most rides are only about 5-10 minutes, and that involved just walking from the entrance through the maze, zigging and zagging to get to the front of the ride. Anyways. She had fun playing in some small water fountains while daddy waited in line for the Ariel photo op. Turns out when she got to the front, she was terrified, and just clung to daddy. Thank goodness the little girl that was in front of us came back and took R by the hand, plopped her down beside Ariel and left. How sweet.

At this point I headed back to the hotel with J, the sky looked ominous. R and daddy checked out some other parts of the park, rode on the magic carpet ride, and even saw Jasmine and Aladin. They arrived back at the hotel just as it started to rain, so of course they just put on their swim suits and went to the pool. Why not? The life guard did eventually kick them out when the thunder started.

I did some packing up, and J had a nice nap. It just somehow worked out that we were having supper at the closest restaurant to us, only a 50m dash. It was quite swanky, and I had this most amazing chicken dish. By the way, they are very very good about food allergies here. I mention that I can’t eat onions, and the chef always comes out to talk to me. In fact at the buffet, the chef showed me around the buffet pointing out what had onions in it. He also offered to cook for my separately! Wow. Anyways. We had a nice dinner, and now my family is sleeping. Yes, it’s 8:28pm, and J, R and daddy are asleep. I’m updating you all, downloading some pictures, packing then off to bed as well. Tomorrow we transfer to the ship!
The Zurg has caught R!! (Buzz lightyear ride)

Speedtrack, R driving…

Joseph, just after he woke up. Such a happy boy.

Ariel and R

Donald, Goofy in frontier dress.