Disney Cruise: Travel + Day 1

(These posts are going to be long and have a LOT of selfies.  You've been warned!)

We were planning on just making the 12-hour drive to Cape Canaveral on Sunday, but then there was snow in the forecast early Sunday morning and we got nervous (and Adam got even more nervous for us than we were!) so we decided to just leave Saturday.  

Because our lives are always more complicated than they ought to be, of COURSE this particular Saturday was the day when I have a 3-hour choir rehearsal, so we couldn't leave until after that.  So basically, I spent the entire morning running around doing laundry and getting us all packed, then I headed to choir and left an extremely long to do list for Craig, which he did a GREAT job of plowing through.  He packed up food, loaded the car, cleaned our guest bedroom, did the dishes and generally tidying around the house, and somehow still found time to trim back our butterfly bush!

I got home and we ate frozen pizza, finished up the dishes, and hit the road!  Craig drove for a couple hours, then I took over and he figured out a hotel for us, and we stopped in Fayetteville, North Carolina for the night.  Slept terribly, but enjoyed our free breakfast, and got right back to driving.

Everyone bought sunglasses at various rest stops

Camille really likes free breakfast!

We got to Cape Canaveral a little after 4pm and got into our hotel right away.  We spent a few minutes splashing in the hotel pool and hot tub and finally found cheap Tex-Mex for everyone:

"Rock the Guac" was delicious!

Then we watched the first half or so of the Super Bowl.  Mostly we were just waiting for the halftime show, which we enjoyed immensely.

Another bad night's sleep.  This hotel looked really cool, but it was not set up well for all of us.  When anyone used the bathroom in the middle of the night, the opaque sliding bathroom door lit up the entire room and woke everyone up!  Not cool, Spring Hill Suites, not cool.  

Waiting until our time to report to the dock was TORTURE but we tried to make the best of it.

FINALLY we could check out of our hotel and drive!  We kept catching these tantalizing glimpses of our ship!

Because of Craig and my tireless work collecting doctor's notes and covid tests and uploading them to the Disney website, we were able to skip the Hunger Games tent because we were already cleared to sail, so that was AMAZING and fast.  Phew!  Then we just had to wait in the terminal until it was our turn to board.

They had a cool model of one of their cruise ships that you could look at

And a deck where you could look at the real deal!

Once we finally got on board, they announced us as if we were royalty or something and Mickey and Minnie were there dancing to greet everyone!  It was such a happy moment!

For various reasons we'd ended up upgrading our connecting rooms so we had a veranda also, which was delightful!  Our steward removed that flap, so it turned into one long veranda.

Kendra borrowed my hat and was even cuter in it than I am.  What a (cute) jerk!

The hot tub had great views (including a glass floor!)

From the pool deck you could watch Disney movies up on a big screen on the ship's funnel, so that was called Funnel Vision

We didn't bother with a lot of the character meetings, but Craig did manage to take Camille to meet Mickey!

All-you-can eat soft serve was a big hit!

Okay, okay, ALL the desserts were a big hit!

Our first day on the ship was Valentine's day!

Camille upon learning the desserts were ALL all-you-can-eat!

At bedtime, our steward would set up bunk beds in one room.  C&C got them the first couple nights-- they were very excited, and Colton shocked us by sleeping latest the first morning!  I... can't remember that ever happening!  He was meant to be a sailor!

We saw the show Believe our first night.  The plot was nothing to write home about, but the music and special effects and singing and dancing was great, so it was still a lot of fun!  We don't manage to take our children to live theater very often, so I was glad we could take advantage of the chance here!

Other Pre-Cruise Stuff

In the midst of all the birthday celebrations, Kendra also participated in the middle school's All District Band!  She had to audition and be accepted, then she spent an entire Saturday practicing with all these new bandmates and they had a concert that evening for parents, playing everything they'd learned that day!  It was very fun and I was super impressed!

Her teacher provided her with this crazy mask that splits open so you can play your instrument while masked!  Covid has given us some truly wild inventions...

Another thing that happened was that I interviewed for a job at my local library!  Adam insisted I buy a jacket thing to look professional, so we went shopping, which was definitely more fun than shopping by myself!

Unfortunately, I did not get the job.  So that was disappointing.  But the interview took up a lot of mental space in my head that week, so it's worth mentioning here, I suppose.  Since learning I didn't get it, I've signed up two kids to play baseball and a third to play tennis, so maybe it's for the best.  I'm not entirely sure how people have time for parenting AND jobs... 

My friend Kari and I were chatting at church when we realized we looked like twins!

We ordered snorkel gear for everyone before our trip, since it was cheaper to just buy ahead online than rent them (and this way we get to keep them, too)!  Camille decided to test hers out in the bathtub...

Colton is trying to get his hair to be as awesome as Craig's...

Colton and Camille got to go to Sydney's painting party

For reasons that I can't remember now, Craig and his boss were rollerblading at work!

Colton and Craig built a 13-story treehouse out of Legos...

Tom and Donna were getting rid of this couch, so we took it off their hands for them!  We moved our brown couch down to the basement, and gave our old blue sectional away on Nextdoor.  So much furniture rearranging!!!  Few things make me happier.

And finally, I came across this on Instagram, and its truth cannot be denied:

Camille's Birthday

Before I could even worry about our cruise, we needed to celebrate Camille's birthday!  She was, naturally, very excited to be turning 7.  She hasn't really had much in the way of birthday parties (thanks, Covid!), so we let her go to the trampoline park, Jump, with Colton, Sydney, & Beth and they had a wonderful time.  

Waiting to get inside

I think it's safe to say that they enjoyed themselves!  It makes me laugh how in most of the photos they just look like they're floating in midair!

My personal favorite!

And then I served them peanut butter brownies!

On her actual birthday, she brought hostess cupcakes to her classmates, we gave her our present (new duplos) and let her pick what we had for dinner (pigs in a blanket, but I added Costco mac'n'cheese and some roasted vegetables to the mix so it felt like a meal and not just an appetizer) and I made her a cake...

And of course, she was busy all day fielding phone calls from grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins singing to her, so that was very fun!

She wanted fans, so her Aunt Leah obliged!

And Aunt Natalie sent this awesome Minnie Mouse necklace!

And then on Friday, we celebrated with Tom and Donna!  We ate at Mission BBQ, and when I told our server it was Camille's birthday, she went all out having the entire staff sign a card for her and bringing us brownies and apple cobbler, so that was unexpected and fun!  I sort of wished I hadn't bothered getting her another cake, but what can you do?

Yay for Mission BBQ treating her like royalty!

And then presents from Grandma and Grandpa!

She was hoping for bongos...

and...

...an accordion!  Our house is going to be even louder than ever!

She was also very excited to receive an echo dot!  Which she has renamed Ziggy!

And this time I just bought a cake from Costco.  And it was amazing.

So I believe Camille was very properly fêted!  She brings so much joy and enthusiasm to our family-- we love our little Karma Chameleon so much!

Happy 7th Birthday, Camille!!!

Third Time's a Charm

Sorry I've been MIA on this here blog!  Things have been nuts-- Camille had a birthday, I've been running around trying to get all our ducks in a row so we could leave on our cruise (while also trying too hard to not get my hopes up that it would actually work this time), and then actually leaving and-- you know-- cruising!  Because we it did!  We actually made it to Florida, we got on the boat, and we had a wonderful time.  HUGE sigh of relief.  And now I'm back and I'm just itching to blog about everything, but first I really need to get my laundry under control (I've washed five loads, probably have two to go, but none of it's put away).  

But expect to see a LOT of pictures very soon!  So many pictures.

Leaving home!  My friend Adam was concerned that we'd forgotten a kid, but if you look closely...

There he is!  #nochildleftbehind 😂