A Skirt for Then and Now

In 2006 Sharon and I took her granddaughter Victoria (left) and my niece Rebecca to see 'The Nutcracker'.  It was an annual tradition to do something special at Christmas with the girls and to buy them matching outfits.  In 2006 it was these beautiful skirts.

And now, 9 years later Rebecca's skirt fits Hannah.  Awe!

I have a few of Rebecca's clothes tucked away for Hannah and it warms my heart to see both the girls wearing them years apart!

Disney Cruise 2015 ~ Castaway Cay

(Tuesday, Feb 24, 2015)

Our ship stopped at Castaway Cay last year but between the cooler weather and rain I can’t say we were overly impressed with Castaway Cay (*gasp!*) so this year I was neither here nor there if we stopped there again this year.  We were told that the 2 cruises on the Wonder prior to us had not been able to dock at the island so had had an extra sea day and that was just fine with me.

Well, let me be the first to admit that if this had happened this year we would have missed out on a lot!!  I now understand the love people have for Castaway Cay!!

The day dawned bright, sunny and warm and we disembarked shortly after breakfast.  I was thankful to finally get a picture of all 7 of us together!!  Not the most perfect picture but one I’m still so thankful to have!

I love this little pic that we snapped on the way off the ship.  Heh…check out Hannah’s face!

We took a tram to the second beach stop and found our spot on the beach.

Hannah spent ages digging in the sand and was a happy, happy little girl!

Many of us also went snorkelling and that was a real treat too!  There weren’t many fish but it was still a fun little adventure.

Hannah came out for a little bit and then chose to go back to the sand with the grandparents and mommy ventured off alone.  (I keep my camera in a waterproof case while near the water which is why you sometimes see round black shadows in the corners of some of my pictures.)

I ventured out quite a long ways and had to search for a while but eventually located some of the treasures sunk at Castaway Cay. 

It was fun to find these but I’ll tell you, the swim back in was a long one and I was pooped!  It was nice to stop and tread water at a couple of the lifeguard towers and get to know these folks a little bit.  It was here that I found out there are about 100 people who call CC home that live there!  I can’t imagine!!!  There is nothing…n-o-t-h-i-n-g there!  Once a month they go to FL for immigration purposes and then after working for 4 1/2 months go home for about 6 weeks.   I’m thankful they’re there but that would not be my idea for a choice of employment.

By the time I got back mom and dad had enjoyed their lunch and the rest of us went once they returned.  Cookies Too is one of the delicious BBQ restaurants featuring a number of delicious BBQ treats to eat and fresh salads too.

We got ice cream that quickly turned into ice cream soup in the beautiful sun and heat!  (We were so NOT missing the snow and cold at home!!)

By this point in the day Nana had worked her magic and talked Rebecca into going into the water.  She hadn’t brought her bathing suit and went back to the ship to get it but found out that unfortunately as she wasn’t 18 if she went back on the ship she wouldn’t be allowed to get back off.  A quick improvisation and she swam in my bathing suit cover up and some of her own clothing.  She’s not a fan of heights so we were even more impressed when she climbed up Pelican’s Plunge and rode the water slide down!  Way to go Bec!!!

Late in the day we bumped in to Hannah’s pool buddy Miranda and the girls had fun swimming together.  They could have splashed in these inner tubes for hours.

All too soon the day was drawing to a close and it was time for us to make our way back to the ship.  It was nice to be greeted with cold flavoured water to refresh us after a day of fun in the sun!

There was still much more fun and excitement before us this final day on our ship but I’ll save that for the next post.

Disney Cruise 2015 ~ All Aboard!!!

(Friday, February 20, 2015)  We were SO excited for our cruise to begin that we booked the earliest shuttle we could and arrived in time to be the first in line and the first in the terminal!  Woot!!

Glimpse of the Disney Wonder as we arrived at the Port of Miami.

It was great arriving early as we were able to check in, register Hannah for the Oceaneer’s Club, meet Mickey and wait (im)patiently for the approval to board!

We filled our time with photo shoots.

 

Around noon the announcement was made that boarding could commence.  Woo hoo!!!  Goosebumps!!

We immediately made our way to Parrot Cay to enjoy a delicious buffet lunch.

We took a tour of the ship during the afternoon

then made our way to our lifeboat drill.

After the drill it was time for the All Aboard show and to wave to family and friends watching our ship leave port via the port webcam…far, far away.  The Port of Miami webcams don’t get very close but we still had fun waving.   Papa got his Mickey groove on!

After the show it was time to change and head to our first dinner. Disney cruising offers something unique to cruising in the form of rotational dining.  We always sat at the same table number and had the same great servers but we rotated between 3 different restaurants throughout the cruise.  This night and our final night we were at ' target=_blank>Animator’s Palate.   It was neat as the restaurant (and server Beata’s clothing) starting the evening in black and white

and then everything transformed as the evening progressed.

Dinner was followed by a welcome show in the Walt Disney Theater and then a first glimpse at the shops onboard where we bumped into our friends Liz and Ava who were also sailing on the same cruise.  Such cute little sailors!

Good night!  It was time to turn in and be gently rocked to sleep by the sway of the ship.  I could get used to this!!  Yo ho, yo ho a sailor’s life for me!!

Mani and Pedi Treat–Cruise Prep

Saturday Hannah, Mom, my niece Rebecca and I shared a wonderful morning together as we went to a local nail salon for manicures and pedicures. 

Hannah was overwhelmed by the selection of colours but she finally narrowed it down (ok….with a little ‘guidance’ from Mommy).

You need to know that Hannah’s feet are beyond ticklish and she made me giggle over and over again getting her toes done.  (I’m not sure Katie was quite as entertained since she needed to remove the  polish not once but twice after she smudged her toes with her wiggling.  Oops!)

She also found the chair massage.  Adorable!

Becca shares her ticklish feet with her cousin Rebecca!

Minnie toes – check!  Bring on the Mouse!!

Fall Fun

As our friends to the south celebrate Thanksgiving today (Happy Thanksgiving!) I realized that I’d forgotten to post our Thanksgiving pictures last month.  It was a beautiful, warm sunny day and we enjoyed such a wonderful day together!  The leaves we showing off their beautiful colours and the girls had such fun raking them, jumping in them and tossing them in the air!

Hannah and Makenna are so close and I love the friendship these cousins share!

Add to this cousin love big cousin Bec Bec and they are a happy crew!