3rd Day on the Cruise, Day at Sea, Pirate Night

The 3rd day of our cruise was a day at sea.  It was relaxing and fun to explore the ship more.  Here are some highlights:

On our way to breakfast, the boys checking out the view.  We decided to go to the sit down breakfast since we weren't in a hurry to get off the ship.  They had lots of yummy options, including Mickey waffles, bacon, hash browns, fruit, etc.

Silly Carter and Hudson at breakfast.  Joann by Pixie Hallow, and more ice cream of course :)

After breakfast we explored the ship while Hudson went down for a nap.

Thankfully the water was calm while we were at sea.

We ran into Rapunzel, Donald and Daisy while heading to the kid's club.  The boys made pillow cases the night before at the kid's club and brought them back to finish the next morning.  I then showed them the front of the ship so they could see out as well.

Nyles going down the slide at the kid's club, called the Oceaneer Club.

The boys thought it was fun to climb the poles on deck.  We of course had to get some ice cream.

Too funny.  While eating ice cream Nyles dropped some on his shirt, and it just happened to go below Mickey, which makes it looks like he was peeing, haha :)

Other passengers hid ducks around the ship to find, and we found a couple.  The boys thought it was a lot of fun.  In our stateroom we had LOTS of movies to watch if we wanted, in addition to the movie playing on deck at the pool and in the movie theater on the ship.  Steve would watch a movie while Hudson was down for a nap or to bed at night.

That night was Pirate Night where you could dress up if you want to.  We brought t-shirts to wear.  We were also provided Mickey pirate handkerchiefs to wear.  The kid's menu was provided on a captain's hat, pretty fun!  Hudson usually just wanted plain noodles to eat, and Nyles and Carter would get steak.  The server would also cut up their steak, which was awesome!

Dave and Joann in their pirate attire.  Hudson took Steve's phone and took this cool picture of his crayon and cornbread.  During dinner they also had a pirate parade for people to join in.  The boys went w/ Steve and did the limbo.

Pirate night at dinner.

Hudson after eating his Mickey bar for dessert.  

We didn't notice but Carter apparently wrote his name on the tablecloth (oops).

Cute Carter and Hudson after eating their Mickey bars for dessert.

More pirate activities after dinner.  We ran into Captain Hook and Smee.

Group picture, and looking out at sea.

Professional picture w/ Captain Hook and Smee.

Another professional one in our pirate attire.

Captain Barbossa towel design, playing shuffle board on deck, and a picture w/ Stitch.

More fun on deck and ice cream.

Diane gave the boys a cute Lego Pokémon ball.  They loved to visit Diane's room and play.  

Our rooms were all next to each other so it was easy to visit.

The boys wanted to order room service once so they did that night. 

They ordered cookies and Mickey bars of course.  Yummy yummy!

Steve put Hudson down for bed, and the rest of us went up on deck for the Pirate party.  They had the characters come out, then lastly Mickey came out and started the fireworks!

Mickey saving the day!

Fun fireworks up on deck!

After the fireworks they had another special buffet available for everyone.  After a quick snack we headed off to bed.  It was a fun day at sea!

2nd Day on the Cruise, Castaway Cay

The first night on the cruise during dinner, I started to feel sea sick, like the room was spinning.  Steve had a motion sickness patch so I put that on behind my ear.  It helped some.  Steve stayed w/ Hudson after dinner and put him to bed, then the rest of us went to the show.  

The next morning though I was still feeling sick to my stomach.  It reminded me of morning sickness.  I stayed in bed while everyone else went to breakfast.  After they got back, Dave and Steve gave me a blessing of healing.  Miraculously I started feeling better shortly after, so I got dressed for the beach and we headed out.  I never felt that sick again, the rest of the cruise.  I'm so thankful for power of the priesthood.

We made our way off the ship and onto Disney's private island, Castaway Cay.  Earlier it looked like it might rain, but thankfully we had NO rain the whole week!  We had absolutely beautiful weather the whole week, between 75-80 degrees!  Here are some highlights from our first day at Castaway Cay.

Riding the tram at Castaway to get to the family beach.

Cute Hudson playing in the sand.  Beautiful scenery.  Picture with Jack Sparrow.

So gorgeous!  We bought snorkel gear for each of us and brought it w/ us so we could snorkel as much as we wanted to.  It worked out really well and we all had a GREAT time snorkeling.  That's pretty much what we did the whole time there.  There is a section just for snorkeling and they have hidden things you can find, in addition to the fish you see.  There is a statue of Minnie, Daisy, Dumbo, Mickey, pots, motor parts, and submarines.  It was really fun to find and see under water.

Going out on the tram, Hudson playing in the sand/water, Carter going snorkeling, and eating lunch.

They had lunch provided at one of two places, called Cookies.  They had ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, fruit, chips, cookies, and of course more ice cream.  Since it's Disney's private island, its all included as part of your cruise.  Thankfully Hudson took a nap in his stroller during lunch.  

He woke up just as we were finishing and had a couple things to eat and some ice cream.  

Then back to playing in the sand.

We found a sand dollar while snorkeling, but weren't able to bring in on board.  

There was plenty of shade under the palm trees and umbrellas.  It was wonderful!

Making our way back to the ship.  Getting a picture in front of the Disney Magic before boarding!

Back on board, on our way to dinner.  They did a presentation of Tangled, and brought lanterns out by our tables.  It was Rapunzel's birthday so we had birthday desserts.  It was a lot of fun and the food was yummy!  The boys ordered steaks, which they thoroughly enjoyed! Hudson had to try the Mickey bars this time too.

More fun towel designs after dinner.  We found Daisy Duck on our way to the kids club.  The boys slept in Dave/Joann's place each night since Hudson went to bed earlier and we didn't want them to wake him.  The housekeeper made up the boys' bed in Super heroes, which they loved!

It was a super day and we had a lot of fun!  We were thoroughly enjoying our cruise to say the least!

Boarding the ship, 1st day on the cruise

 

Our day of arriving at the cruise ship finally came!  On Monday, April 25th we took a shuttle from our hotel in Fort Lauderdale down to the port of Miami, which took about 35-40 minutes.  

Zero days left!  A pretty flower outside our hotel and another lizard.  

Hudson trying to push grandma Joann in her wheelchair.

Dave outside the hotel walking w/ Hudson.  Finally on our way in the shuttle.  

Thankfully Hudson took a nap on the way down. 

After getting off the shuttle, we dropped off some of our luggage to go to our staterooms, then checked in for our cruise.  We then all had to get tested for Covid.

Waiting in line for our turn to get Covid tested.

Once we were tested we had to wait.  Thankfully they switched from PCR test to Rapid Antigen, so it only took 15 minutes, but the 15 minutes lasted a while ;)  Thankfully we all passed and were cleared to board the ship and sail!!!

Getting onto the ship.  The boys got to meet Captain American also.

Welcome the McGraths!

To say we were excited to board is an understatement!  It was such a relief after all the months of being careful and cautious wearing our masks, especially the boys at school.  We were all so thrilled to finally be on board the ship and start our cruise vacation!!!

While our staterooms were getting ready, we got a bite to eat and explored the ship.

The boys were excited to get an ice cream cone and go swimming especially!  They also just started bringing back the Sail-A-Wave deck parties again after stopping them due to Covid.  Our staterooms were ready about this time, so Dave volunteered to take Hudson back to the stateroom for a nap. 

We finally made it and were sailing away!

Saying goodbye to Miami and hello vacation at sea!  Carter going down the slide at the kids pool area.

That night we had dinner at Rapunzel's Table.  The food was great and of course the boys had more ice cream, specifically Mikey ice cream bars for dessert!

After dinner, Steve stayed at the stateroom w/ Hudson so he could go to bed.  The rest of us went to a show, Rapunzel the musical.  It was awesome.  The boys loved it too!  I liked it better than to movie.

Nyles and Carter w/ a cute towel animal they made for us before going to bed.  Hudson loved to play w/ the remote and phone any chance he could, so we unplugged the phone.

It was an awesome day!  We were so excited for the days ahead of us!

Flying out and fun in Fort Lauderdale

On Saturday, April 23rd we headed out on our big adventure.  Rob met us at our place, then we loaded up and went to the airport.  Rob dropped us off, then drove our car back home.  He then took Piper over to K-9 Lifeline, by our house, where she stayed while we were gone.  Phil dropped off Dave, Joann and Diane just before us, so they were already there at the airport.  

We borrowed Rose's strolled since our jogging stroller didn't fit the car seat and our old stroller that fit it broke.  We needed to bring Hudson's car seat for the airplane ride, shuttle/rental car, and he many times takes his nap in it too.  Though it was extra "stuff" to bring, the strolled ended up coming in handy many times carrying some of our bags, plus Hudson took a nap in it while on the beach.

Nyles, Carter, Hudson and I ready for our fun adventure (after getting dropped off at the airport). 

Joann had a wheelchair she was in most of the time since her knee is bad and needs replaced once we get back.  Hudson and Carter liked to get rides w/ her as well on her lap.

We then got our luggage tags, dropped off our checked bags, and headed through security.  We made it through just fine, though a couple of our bags had to be rescanned, then we were on our way. 

Hudson walking w/ Grandpa.  Here we go: Nyles, Steve, Joann, Dave, Diane, Hudson and Carter walking through the airport.  Hudson even helped roll the suitcases along at times.

We flew w/ JetBlue so our terminal was on the other side of the airport, so we had a pretty good walk getting there.  Thankfully they had a "lift" to help you and the moving walkways as well.

We then got a bite to eat at Cafe Rio and sat down to eat while we waited for our boarding time.  

The boys thought it was pretty neat to watch the airplanes come and go as well.

Since we had a stroller and the wheelchair, we loaded first.  Our seats were almost to the back of the plane, but closer to the bathroom for our 5 hour flight to Fort Lauderdale.  It was the boys' first airplane ride, and they thought it was pretty awesome!  They all liked looking out the window when the could when it wasn't too bright.

Carter and Nyles loved that they could pick and watch any movie on the screen in front of them during the ride.  And of course they loved the free snacks.  They all did awesome.  Hudson even took a little nap after we got on the plane and did great too!  Once he was up he bounced between our 3 rows, sitting w/ Diane and the boys, or Dave and Joann.  He thought it was fun to visit everyone.

Once we got off the plane, we went and picked up our checked bags, then called the hotel shuttle so we knew where to meet them.  We got to the hotel 15 minutes later (Hyatt House), checked in, and got our rooms.  We only had snacks on the plane ride, so we were pretty hungry.  We walked across the street to get Panda Express, but since it was about closing time (10pm ET), they didn't have much left.  So after getting a little rice for the boys, we went to the next place, Burger King.  They closed their walk-in, so they told us to go through the drive through, though we didn't have a car.  It took a while, but we finally got our food.  

While Steve was waiting for the food w/ Diane and Nyles, I went back to the hotel w/ Carter and Hudson so they could eat the rice.  I also brought microwave macaroni and fixed that for them.  It was a long busy day, so we made up the beds for the boys on the pull out couch, and port-a-crib for Hudson, and went to bed.  Hudson was a little worked up being in a new place, so after putting him in his car seat for a few minutes, he fell asleep.  We then moved him to the crib, where he slept the rest of the night just fine.

The next morning we had a hot breakfast at the hotel.  Steve and Dave then took the shuttle back to the airport to get our car rental.  Once they got back we headed to the beach.  We stopped to get sunglasses for Dave but didn't get them since the lines were CRAZY long (it looked like Black Friday at Wal-Mart for some reason).  Dave and Steve went back that night while on their way to drop off the rental car and got the sunglasses.

We then found a place to park near the beach.  By this time, we all needed to use the restroom and were hungry, so we found a place to eat and use the bathroom before going into the ocean.  It turned out to be a fun place w/ music across from the beach, and the food was actually really good.  Once we were done eating, we went across the walkway to see the ocean.  It was the first time for the boys to see the ocean as well.  They thought it was awesome!

Hudson, Carter and Nyles at Bass Pro Shop.  

Waiting for our food.  Checking out the ocean for the first time.

Heading over to the beach and ocean.  Joann waited by boardwalk under the shade w/ our stuff.  

She took some cool pictures while we were out, like this life guard post and truck.

Hudson feeling the water and waves on his legs.  Everyone playing in the waves of the ocean.

My cute boys! :)

Getting a quick picture and admiring the beautiful ocean.

Getting quick family pictures before leaving.  It's so beautiful!

Back at the hotel, I was getting things ready for Hudson to take a nap, and he got quiet.  I found him in the bathroom rolling out the toilet paper.  There's the ball he was playing with that he left to unroll the toilet paper:).  While Hudson was taking a nap, Steve, Diane, Dave and the boys went swimming at the hotel pool.  It was a little cool, but they still had a great time.

Then after his nap, playing at Dave/Joann's room.  Hudson being an ostrich w/ his head down.  He also liked to give kisses to himself in the mirror; silly kid.  There was lots of little lizards everywhere as well, which the boys thought were fun to see.  We went to TGIFridays for dinner before returning the rental car (Ford Expedition).

3rd Week of April - before leaving on our trip

We had a busy week (3rd week of April), trying to get ready for our big trip and get everything done at home before leaving.  Here are some highlights before we left:

Hudson LOVES water.  We got a new sprayer for the hose so he wanted to water the lawn w/ it.  More Tulips coming up.  Hudson loves to hold Piper's leash as we go for walks.

Hudson also likes to get close to Piper as she's eating.  She's a good "pre-wash" you know :)  

Piper likes coming into our room while I'm working and find any sunshine she can.  Silly Piper.

We had this really beautiful tulip come up (orange/red mix).  I love all the Tulips and pretty flowers.  Hudson also likes to help throw the ball for Piper.  So cute!

Nyles made a really cool wreath at an after-school art class.  Cute Hudson sleeping.  

We had a rainstorm come in w/ some hail too.

We cleaned the house before leaving on our big trip.  Hudson wanted to help mop the floor.

Friday, before leaving on our trip we had to get Hudson tested for Covid before boarding.  We then had to ship it out to be overnighted for the results.  Thankfully it was negative.