*Almost Too Many Activities to Count!!

(Wednesday, February 26, 2014 – PM)

Once we were back onboard it was mid afternoon so we ordered room service to tide us over until supper a few hours later.  Next stop?  The pool!

Hannah also checked out Nemo’s Reef and the AquaLab

As our ship left St. Thomas we were on Deck 12 trying out the mini golfing.  By far the most beautiful mini golf course view I’ve ever seen!

Sharon asked if we should grab a scorecard.  I laughed and said, ‘Check out how our girl plays.  It’s a little hard to count!’

We made our way to Deck 4 for a game of shuffleboard before supper but all of the boards were busy.  Oh well, guess we need to leave something for another trip!

Supper this night was back in Royal Court.  I have to say I really enjoyed all of the restaurants and love the rotational dining!  We were able to enjoy all 3 restaurants but our table mates and servers came with us.  Such a great experience!   Hannah enjoyed her evening nap while I ate dessert.  Or more accurately…desserts!  Yes, I must admit all 4 of those are mine!  3 were on a tasting platter and the other well, I just couldn’t pass it up so Tina brought it too!  It’s easy to see how people gain weight on a cruise and yet at the same time we never stopped moving so the scale was very kind to me when we got home.  Colour me shocked!!

Sharon’s dessert this night was so pretty we had to take a picture of it too!

Tonight was the only night we decided to skip the live entertainment so found other ways to get into trouble, I mean, occupy ourselves!  We started out with BINGO for dummies.  (Not the real name but the one that worked for us newbies!)  Sharon and I shared an electronic machine that did all the work for us and all we were responsible to do was:

1. stand up if we had only one number left

2. shout ‘BINGO’ if we had a BINGO and,

3. do the celebratory BINGO dance if we won!

Let’s just say we were pro’s at point 1 by the end of the game and point 2 didn’t happen so thankfully nobody was subjected to us attempting point 3!  It was fun to try though especially since Tonya, Maggie and Barb helped us out.  Thanks gals!!

After BINGO we visited a couple of the stores onboard the ship.  Grandma had given Hannah some treat money before we left and she found this adorable little Simba.  She loves her stuffies and plays with them all the time so I’m only too happy when she chooses to add to her collection.

I treated myself to a Disney Cruise Line charm for my Pandora bracelet.  (second charm from the left).  I love how each charm on this bracelet holds such special meaning!  Thanks again Sharon and Larry for starting me off with this gift of love for my birthday last year!

We were wandering around the ship and Hannah spotted Tinkerbell with no line-up so we ran to our stateroom to grab her autograph album and pen.  Somewhere along the way her pen ran into trouble so Tink put her tinkering skills to work before signing her album.

On a side note, I love this sweet little dress that I’d bought earlier in the day in St. Thomas.  After I’d helped Hannah put it on for supper I slid into the bathroom to grab a quick shower.   I could hear she and Nana giggling up a storm and it was the sweetest sound!  I found out later that when I left the room she created a song and was singing it to herself and had Nana in splits!  The words were something like, ‘I feel like I’m in a box, but they won’t listen to me.  I’m in a boooox, but they won’t listen to me!’  LOL!!!  She and Nana got giggling about her box song!  Heh, guess her box dress wasn’t as comfortable as the Rapunzel dress she’d have worn 24/7 if she could!!  I guess I’ll enjoy these pics of her as I’m not sure I’ll ever convincer her to put it on again!

There were more characters out, some dressed in their cruise finery so we made the rounds.

Snow White with Dopey

Donald

and Goofy.

Hannah looked cute tucked into a ball in this port hole waiting her turn to visit the characters.

Surprise, surprise!  We headed to the Mickey pool for a late night swim.

Mommy, can we go for a swim each night when we go home?

The next pics of my sweet girl you’ll see, she’ll be 5 years old!!!  How could that be???

A Week of Florida Fun with the Grandparents!

Hannah and I have travelled to The Villages for our annual visit with the grandparents for 4 years now and each year it’s a wonderful vacation!  The 6 of us spend quality time together visiting local sites, scooting around in the golf cart, visiting Disney and shopping ‘til we drop! 

I am thankful that not only does Hannah enjoy shopping, she enjoys window shopping.  We can easily spend hours in stores and she doesn’t ask for anything most times although there are exceptions to that for sure!  Early on Nana taught her the skill of ‘holding something and then putting it back’ and it’s still something we do.  I learned this from her years ago and use the time walking around the store to decide if I really want to buy something.   Hannah gets lost in books that she carefully reads as we make our way through the store and then we put them back on the shelf.  It’s a great skill to have and so helpful when I’m not always having to say ‘no’ to her.

These were pretty common sight last week.   

As Canadians we cannot beat the deals we get on purchases made shopping in the US and both Sharon and I made dents in our Christmas shopping lists. 

The week that we visit we rent a second golf cart so the 6 of us hop on the carts and off we go!  This is such fun especially since we leave cool fall temps at home.

This video gives you a glimpse into how we make our way around the villages – and why we don’t want to go home at the end!  You’ll notice we’re one of the many golf cart paths that run beside major roads, the main road to our left and a golf course to my right.  And, if you look carefully at the spot where I show the mirror you’ll see that a regular part of Hannah’s golf cart riding is that it puts her to sleep!  I have lost track of the number of times she’s napped in the cart!

A break from shopping at one of our favourite restaurants.  Mmmm!  Still miss Olive Garden now that they are no longer in Canada. 

The result of all this shopping?  THIS!!  Thanks for your help Hannah!

Hannah is wearing an adorable little outfit that our friends Lisa and Briana just shared with her.  So cute!  Thanks Lisa!!

Puppy and Fairies and Shopping–Oh My!!!

Tuesday was a kick back day filled with a little bit of this and that. 

The 3 girls started their day as they spend most days when given free time at home – destroying hanging out in the playroom.  Hannah has quickly fallen in love with Dusty and I’ll be shocked if pleas for a puppy don’t follow us home.  Oye!  Goldie her fish will have to suffice for now.

We had decided the day before that purse shopping was on the roster of  AM  activities.  The girls decided they needed to dress up for the occasion which resulted in many to smile as they twirled, leapt and spun around the mall.

Since our past experience in purse shopping had been a marathon affair, we went prepared with LeapPad and iPads in hand.

Once the girls were settled M3 and I set to the matter at hand – finding a new purse. 

I walked around with my jaw open as names like Coach and Vera Wang lined the shelves.  Surprise, surprise though – we had a great time and before we knew it the winning bag had been selected!  It met the requirements of:  cross-body strap, lots of pockets and a new one – totally hides the butt!This last ‘happy bonus’ was a new one I wasn’t aware of but can fully appreciate and may instil myself the next time I go purse shopping….at Target or Walmart!    It was a successful adventure in purse shopping and one I will happily do with you again M3! 

The girls in turn were disappointed that we were done so quickly as they were quite enjoying their time together and the rare treat of shopping with electronics in tow.

After a yummy lunch that included the promised aioli and French fries we made a final stop at a grocery store.  My Disney lovin’ gal spotted gift cards immediately which is not something we have at home.  She thought they were pretty neat and asked me to take her picture.

The final event of the day was a big one for both mommy and Hannah!  Ro and Ree’s babysitters came for the evening and watched the 5 girls while the adults went out for dinner.  Hmmm…I wonder if Hannah was seeing double when she was surrounded by 3 groups of twins!

We enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner in the city and the girls had a blast together!  Hannah ran and jumped into my arms when I walked in the door and covered me with a bunch of kisses and then told me about the fun they’d had together.  Her first babysitting experience was a huge success.  Yay!

A Long Overdue Weekend with the Family!

Last weekend my parents, niece Rebecca, Hannah and I loaded into the van and took the 4 1/2 hour 8 hour drive to visit our extended family.  It was wonderful!!

 

Due to illness and a storm at Christmas, for the first time in 40 years we missed our trip to visit the family so we were excited for this visit.

Friday we were with Uncle Paul and Aunt Louise's family.  My cousin's little guy is just 4 months younger than Hannah and the two of them get along famously and picked up where they left off last year! 

Bec was a great help with the kiddos and they thought she was amazing!

Mom and Dad offered to watch Hannah for me for a few hours so that I could go out with my cousins to see '42 - The Jackie Robinson Story'.  It was a great movie and we had such fun together!  Going to the movies is one of my favourite activities and I don't get to go often so this evening with Aaron and Candace was a special treat.

Saturday we hopped across the border and enjoyed some shopping.

Saturday night we went to Uncle Tim and Aunt Chris' and I was thrilled to spend time with my cousin Bridget.  She's my fellow Disney lovin' cousin so we always have much to talk about.  Bridget and I have never lived closer than about 4 hours away from one another but we're super close and I cherish the bits of time that we get to spend together.

Now Bridget and I are excited to see that the next generation in Rebecca and Bridget's daughter Molly are wonderful friends too!

Bridget's kiddos are baseball players and Hannah had fun learning a bit about the game from them this weekend.

 Good throw baby!

A wonderful weekend filled with the love of family.  Perfect!

And We’re Back!

Whew!  We’re back in the land of blogging.  Yay!

When the power button went on my netbook I was stumped.  Thankfully there are only about 10 days of photos that need to be downloaded from it and I have a friend who is going to help me with that.  Thanks Shawn!

I was able to keep in touch and read blogs via the iPod but it wasn’t conducive to blogging.  My desktop bit the dust more than a year ago so I used the netbook almost exclusively.  I wasn’t sure how I’d purchase a new computer but then creativity set in and voila – a new little computer.  I earn points by banking and shopping at a financial institution that is linked with my favourite grocery chain.  I had points saved up just in case we went on strike (Thankfully we settled in January so that is behind me for another 2 years – phew!!  Thank you Lord!) so started looking there as I’d purchased a TV from them with points in the past.  It wasn’t going to work since they don’t carry computers.  Too bad!

Then, as we were grocery shopping I saw our solution!  I was walking through the store when I noticed they carried Best Buy gift cards.  Voila!  PC points used to purchase Best Buy gift cards which in turn were used to purchase the netbook.

Ahh…so nice to be back in the land of blogging and preserving memories for my sweet girl and myself!

Finally!!! Welcome to Canada Target!!

For a little more than 2 years now we’ve been seeing signs like this posted outside a number of locations that will be opening as Target stores.

I fondly remember the day the announcement was made that Target was officially coming to Canada and the excitement that I felt.  I’m a Target fan during our US visits so very happy to have them close to home now. 

3 stores opened a few weeks ago but they were all located more than an hour away.  This week one of the stores just 10 mins from our home opened and Hannah and I were excited to be invited by special friends to enjoy and sneak preview the night before the official store opening!  Oh baby, we were all over that!

Even though it was less than 48 hours before spring arrived you’d never know it by the weather.  It was a nasty, cold, snowy evening but a little snow wouldn’t stop us!  We even stopped to pause for our obligatory ‘Uncle Mark’ picture with Hannah perched upon the (cold, wet…oops!) red Target ball!

LOL!  Just realized I was concentrating hard on on getting the sign at the top that I completely cut off the red ball she was sitting on!  Hehe….you can imagine that’s where she’s perched!!  Hannah’s ‘cousins’ Tor and Josh were with us for this special evening of fun!

Hannah was the first to use this cart. 

I remember when she used to stay in carts!  (Hannah – 23 months old and Ben, Jan 2010)

Now she hops in and out like a jack-in-the-box so we quickly traded in the big cart for a small one to hold our few purchases.

We were even there for the official ribbon cutting which was neat!

Hannah with our 2 purchases.  Surprise, surprise – a princess bathing suit and Cinderella shoes.  That’s my girl!

For 2 years we’ve been seeing pics of the sign posted at the top of this post.  This week I took a picture of the back of the sign and I think it sums things up perfectly!