Disney Cruise!!!! Day 4

Day 4 of our cruise was a day at sea. The kids spent a lot of time in the kids zone while TJ and I relaxed. The kid zone put on a little show in the theatre that we attended. Brena rocked the show :) Tyler wouldn't even be in the show. Here's Brena walking up to the stage:

Doing their performance.

Can you see Brena in the front row - tallest little girl there?

That night we ate at the Animators Palate for dinner. We rotated to a different restaurant every night. Our servers stayed the same - so we had the same servers every night wherever we went. We didn't pick the restaurant, it was already set up for us. There was of course a different dinner menu every night. TJ enjoyed eating lots of seafood (most of you know I despise seafood). This night was a dress up night, we didn't really dress up. Mostly because I just didn't think about packing a fancy dress.

The kids loved getting their desserts at the end of the meal - Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream with sprinkles...mmmmm

This restaurant was fun because it started out in black and white - even our servers wore black and white. Then there was a big show in the middle of dinner and color came all over the walls and our servers all came out together in colored vests. It was fun.

That night there was a pirate party! Again, we were supposed to dress as pirates, but I didn't think to pack anything like that. I'm such a party pooper! Not really, I'm just don't plan very well.

There was a big show, lots of pirates and dancing and Disney characters all over.

Mickey Mouse was gliding over our heads to get to the pirates!

We also had fireworks that night! Disney said they are the only cruise line allowed to do fireworks at sea? It was fun!

Of course the kids loved seeing the fireworks.

What a fun day at sea we had! If you've been on a cruise you know that every night you get a towel shape in your room. This was my favorite, the monkey. We also got Disney wrapped chocolates every night with our towel friend.

Disney Cruise!!!! Day 3

Day 3 of our cruise we pulled into Nassau. TJ and I left the kids on the boat and we went exploring. We looked in lots of little shops. Then we took a taxi over to the Atlantis to check it out. It is huge! We looked over there for a little bit, then decided to head back to the boat and spend some quality time at the adult only pool! There are 3 pools on top the ship. The two kids pools, then the adult only pool with 2 hot tubs. They had the best lounge chairs with awesome full length pillow tops - ahhhhh - I could have spent every day up there!

Inside the Atlantis. I realize looking at these pictures of myself that I look like an old Floridian lady that is too tan and has too blond of hair!

That night the princesses were out! Brena loved every minute of having her pictures taken with them.

Cinderella was fun, she wanted to twirl with Brena.

While we were waiting in line, Brena heard Snow White talking to another little girl and Brena said "mom, it sounds like Snow White!" I said yes, she talks like Snow White. Well, the line attendant corrected me immediately and said "what do you mean she talks like Snow White - she is Snow White." So sorry!

Brena's very favorite princesses right now are Tiana and Jasmine. I couldn't help but think that those are two very independent princesses - no waiting for a prince to rescue them...just like Brena - very independent!

Disney Cruise!!!! Day 2

Day 2 found us at Disney's private island in the Bahamas - Castaway Cay (pronounced key). It was fabulous! Only Disney cruisers are allowed on the island. They have an adult only beach so if you want to drop your kids of at kid camp on the beach you can do that, then head on over to the adult beach. Yes, they have kid camp on the boat and on the beach! They have this water slide out in the ocean that the kids went up and down most the day. There was also another beach with a rope climbing area and other water activity fun. There was snorkeling which TJ did - I didn't do it because he said it wasn't as good as Hanauma Bay in Hawaii, so I didn't bother leaving my sunbathing chair :) Once again, there was food everywhere! It was so nice not ever having to worry about carrying any cash for food or anything because it's all included in the cost of your cruise!

The gorgeous aqua water...

The slides...

TJ stole my float!

This is the Flying Dutchman boat from Pirates of the Caribbean! I saw Jack Sparrow but didn't get in line soon enough to get my picture with him :(

Of course there were Disney characters and princesses everywhere!

Also, on this night they put Toy Story 3 in 3D in the Walt Disney Theatre! I was glad we hadn't gone to see it yet - seeing it for free was awesome! I cried it was so good!

Disney Cruise!!!! Day 1

When TJ comes home from deployment we always take a big trip somewhere. This time I had my heart set on going to Germany. Unfortunately, you are not able to get passports for your children unless both parents are present...I guess there's too many parents kidnapping children or something. So, I couldn't get the kids their passports. I have always wanted to take the kids on a Disney Cruise. They have amazing kid areas that you can check your child into from 9am-midnight or later some nights. We thought that would be the perfect vacation - we could be alone when we wanted to, or have the kids when we wanted to. We did a 5-night cruise. We went to the Bahamas and Disney's private island - Castaway Cay. We got to pull into Castaway Cay two different days, so that was quite a treat. WOW does not even describe this vacation. It is worth every penny. It was an amazing experience. In fact, Tyler wouldn't even speak to us for about two days after the cruise because he was angry it was only a 5 night cruise - he wanted a 12 nighter. The kids are still talking about it, and TJ and I are still dreaming about it. Because I have a bazillion pictures I guess the way I'm going to do this is by days. Day 1 - getting on the boat!

Daddy dropped us off at the cruise terminal while he went to park the car. The kids were so antsy to get on the boat.

We made it in the terminal, now we're just waiting for our number to be called.

We headed straight up to the pools as soon as we got on. This one is the Mickey pool with the slide. The kids loved, loved this area. Right behind there is a self-serve soft-serve ice cream machine...pretty sure the kids ate their weight in ice cream! And on the other side was a self-serve drink area. Tyler thought he had died and gone to heaven drinking soda anytime he wanted. I just had to think to myself "it's vacation" let him have fun. Then in the front was the all you can eat pizza...you get the picture, there was food everywhere.

This was the Goofy pool with the Ariel view t.v. always showing Disney movies while you lounged in the pool.

Tyler heading down the slides...

My big head blocking Ariel...

Brenalee's Ballet Recital

Brena had her first ballet and tap recital in June. She has been taking ballet and tap for almost two years. She didn't get to do the recital last year because we thought we would be living in Hawaii. She was very upset when recital time came and all the little girls were in the recital costumes and she didn't have one. That was a hard day! I promised her she could do it this year. She was so excited to wear her costume and dance! They performed two different Shrek songs, so the bright green outfit was perfect. You Belong to Me was the ballet song and Best of Our Lives was the tap song. This girl can really shake her hips! TJ and I don't know where she got her rhythm from - because it wasn't from us! I have come to realize that Brena will be our music/dance girl.

Together again

I can't describe what it's like to live without your husband for a year. I don't know what it feels like to not see your daddy for 6+ months. I can tell you it's really hard, there's lots of tears and it's not fun. I can also tell you that this makes it all worth it. THE HOMECOMING! The absolute excitement, joy and adrenaline is fantastic! TJ finally came home May 28. He was scheduled to be home May 27. He called the morning of the 27th and said he wasn't coming home that day. That was a really sad day. But, at least he was only a day late! And, there are still people who haven't even come home yet - so I feel very blessed to have him here with us.

We waited in the hanger for about 1-1.5 hours waiting for the plane. It was just a little bit delayed. Someone had set up tables for the kids with signs they could make for their dads. There was some refreshments and water too. It was nice to talk with the other spouses while we waited. But, it was hard to wait!! Every time we heard a plane we thought "is that them??!!"

Finally the plane landed and was coming in!

Then the plane was at the hanger! Can you see TJ's head up in the window?? It seemed like forever before they opened up the door to let the guys out. Then they opened the door, but a customs agent had to go on board, so we had to wait for all of them to go through customs. Thankfully it didn't take too long - but it felt like it!

And then there he was! Walking across the tarmac in his flight suit - I wanted to run out there so bad, but there was a line we weren't allowed to cross!

Finally he got to us! The kids were SO excited. It was so fun to see their excitement and the joy in their eyes seeing their daddy again. It was a very, very special moment.

The sad thing is that we will have to be doing this again in 18 months... But, for now we will enjoy every minute we can with our very special daddy/husband.