Day at Sea

On Sunday, February 26th, we had a day at sea.  We had breakfast at Triton's.  Afterwards Diane and I took Hudson to an open house to play, while Steve took Nyles and Carter to the pool.

Hudson eating some bacon and a yogurt.  Diane playing Fruit Ninja w/ Hudson at the open house.  They playing Pack-Man and Connect 4.

Aunt Diane and Hudson playing Fruit Ninja.

Hudson and I playing Connect 4.  A cute towel animal in our room w/ Dove Chocolates.

We then went up on deck to see how Nyles, Carter and Steve were doing.  

Nyles and Carter were having fun playing in the pool.

Hudson wanted to play also, so we got him in his swimsuit and he played in the splash pad area.

They then wanted ice cream afterwards of course, but got in the hotel before drying off.

Hudson pretending to be an astronaut then a dinosaur w/ a life jacket.  They had free desserts at the café.  Exploring the view from the balcony.  Carter being silly playing w/ a poop pretending it's a donut.

Later taking Nyles and Carter back to the kid's club while Steve stayed w/ Hudson to take a nap.

Carter and I went to a drawing class, then walked around the 4th level, looked at the engine and played Shuffle Board.

Cool Legos from Aunt Diane.  Enjoying the sea day.

Exploring the top deck.  Carter found a duck!  People like to hide them around the ship for other to find.

After Hudson woke up we took him to another kid's club.  He wanted to color.  

Nyles and Carter played Nintendo w/ another kid.  

That evening after dinner, Nyles and Carter went to the kid's club for an activity.  After coming back, our waiter did a magic trick for Hudson.  It was so funny to watch Hudson's reaction!  Another towel animal.  Hudson LOVED having his own bed to sleep on for naps and bed!

Carter and Nyles wanted to order room service to get Mickey Bars since they missed them after dinner.  We also found a Tinkerbell picture to show Grandma Joann (she likes Tinkerbell).

Our first night at dinner the waiter went to take us to our table and another group was sitting in it.  After figuring out what happened, they then moved us to another table.  We later learned that a group didn't "link" their accounts but they wanted to sit together, so they moved them together last minute, which took our table.  Our new waitress was confused why we were then moved to her area, so the first night was a little rough.  

Another waiter then asked us at breakfast how our dinner experience was the night before, so I told him honestly (not great).  He must had told our waiters, because by dinner that night, we could tell they were trying to make up for it.  The head waiter (over our waitress/drink server) also went out of his way to make things right for us.  Each day thereafter got better and better.  It was a little awkward at first, but it got better and we thoroughly enjoyed our dinning experiences.  It was a great 2nd day on the ship.

Boarding the ship

Saturday morning we woke up to rain.  We had free breakfast at the hotel again, then finished packing our bags.  We then took the free hotel shuttle over to the cruise port close by.  It was a little chaotic in the rain, but we got all our bags safely loaded, unloaded, and over to the port, then we went inside the port terminal. 

The day to board had arrived!  Hudson eating a yogurt for breakfast.  The boys w/ Disney Pez and ChapStick from Aunt Rose (they love it, thanks Rose!).

In the shuttle going over to the cruise port, then waiting to board the ship.  

We waited instead, which was better than the rain, though still a little cold.

Waiting for our time to board the ship, then finally able to go!  So excited!  

They put a green band on everyone that was ready to board (all papers and documents checked), but Hudson didn't like his, haha silly kid!

Officially getting on the ship!  Welcome the McGraths!

Once onboard we were able to get lunch at Cabanas.  A cute sealion down below.

After lunch, the boys wanted to get some ice cream of course!

We then got in the elevator and checked out the kid's club until our stateroom was ready.  

The boys enjoyed drawing and driving the cruise ship.

Waiting for our stateroom hall to open, then checking out our staterooms.  Steve, Hudson and I had an inside stateroom, while Diane, Nyles and Carter were directly across from us in a verandah.

Hudson fell asleep in the stroller again, then the Sail-A-Wave Party up on deck!

And we were off!  Leaving the tip of San Diego, so pretty.  Then dinner that night at Tiana's Place.  

The boys got Mickey Bars for dessert of course!

Our rooms ready for bed.  Carter got to sleep on the top bunk this time.  Hudson also slept in the bed this time vs a pack and play.  He LOVED having his own bed and was excited to go to bed!

We were so happy and relieved to finally be on board the Disney Wonder!  We made it!

San Diego Zoo

Friday morning, February 24th, we had free breakfast at the hotel.  We then took a Lyft to the San Diego Zoo.

Hudson playing with the lock on the safe in our room.  Carter pretending to sit on the car-seat.

We made it to the San Diego Zoo!

We first took a bus tour around the zoo to get ourselves oriented.  Hudson didn't want to sit down, so he was a little upset.  It was a little cooler that day, so most animals were out and about.  A polar bear just relaxing, and a monkey swinging.

Vultures, penguins, elephants and jaguar. 

Hudson still being silly.  Cool palm tree and the koala bear was out moving!  We learned that Koalas can sleep for up to 20 hours a day, so it was amazing to see him up and moving and they usually move at night also. 

Having fun.  Pretty flower.

They only had 2-3 inside exhibits.  This humming bird place was one of them.  It was really cool!

More beautiful birds.

The boys playing on the playground.

More playing around.

Hudson took a little nap in the stroller.  We also saw the python move around.

It is a HUGE zoo. We saw just about everything again by foot after our bus tour.  Cool Lion!

Sloth display, awesome elephants, and other cool animals (can't remember their names).

Elephant, funny looking bird, and Silly Steve.

Steve helping Nyles reach the top.  Carter checking out the stuffed parrot at the gift shop.  

Cool Bird of Paradise flower.  Steve pointing out the camel.

The boys playing on the tractor.  In front of the giraffes.

Cool giraffes. 

Fun flamingoes.

Cool Red Panda and different African deer/antelope.

The camel.  There was pretend "poop" along the walkway which was funny.

Pretty flower.  We saw the polar bears again.  

Hudson loving the stuffed animals in the gift shop before heading out.  

We had an awesome trip at the zoo.  If it was a little warmer that would have been nice, but it didn't rain most of the day so that's a plus!  We were all pretty worn out after a full day at the zoo.  We got some yummy Mexican food across from our hotel for dinner, then took warm showers before bed.  It was a great day!

Starting our trip, going to the airport

On Thursday, February 23rd, the school district called for a 2 hour late start since the snow plows hadn't gotten to everyone's neighborhood yet from the snow the day before.  We were planning to take the boys to school that morning then pick them up at lunch time so we could head to the airport.  But since they would only be there for 1.5 hours, we ended up not taking them at all.  They did some work at home.  I took work off that day as well so we could finish packing and cleaning.  Steve also dropped Piper off at K-9, but they didn't have room for her the whole time we were gone, so Dave and Joann were kind to let her stay w/ them the last few days (big thank you!).  Steve took over her bed, kennel and toys so they'd be ready when they picked her up in a few days.

We met at LuDean/Diane's place for a minute before going to the airport.  Dave and Steve gave me a blessing so I wouldn't get seasick on our trip, then we headed out.  Dave/Joann took Diane in their truck to the airport and we followed behind in our Honda Pilot.  After unloading, Joann jumped in our car and drove it back to their place.

Carter, Nyles and Hudson on the way to the airport w/ Ring Pops!  

Ready to check our bags at the airport!  We brought Hudson's bigger car-seat since we wanted to use Lyft but they don't provide car-seats, so we brought out own.  The airport lets you check them in for free w/ your luggage as well, so that's nice.

After checking our bags and going through security, we found a spot at our gate and waited.  Hudson played a game w/ Diane, while Nyles and Carter and I looked at the Lego store next door.

We were finally off!  

Diane brought some paper and a cool scented pen for the boys to draw, which they loved!

The flight was less than 2 hours, so it felt REALLY quick compared to going to Florida which is 5 hours!  We were there in no time!  We then got our bags and waited for the hotel shuttle to get us.  We ordered pizza for dinner after we got settled.  It was delicious!  

We had 2 rooms w/ 2 Queen bed in them.  Nyles and Carter slept in one bed in Diane's room and her in the other.  Since Hudson is now in his "big boy bed" he slept on our other bed in our room.  Steve just had to lay w/ him a minute then he was out.  We just put pillows around him and he was fine.  It worked out great!

Carter and Nyles drawing.  Our view from the plane.  

Waiting for the shuttle.  Hudson asleep at the hotel.

We were so excited for our adventure to begin the next day!

4th Week of February (before our trip)

Here are some highlights of the 4th week of February before we left on our trip on Thursday.

Monday, February 20th was President's Day, so I had the day off from work and the boys also didn't have school.  That morning I met Pauline at a Pilates studio in Draper and we did a reformer's class together.  I've been doing online Pilates for over a year now, but had never tried doing it on the reformer, so Pauline invited me.  It was 1 hour long and definitely worked my muscles in different ways.  I was sore for a few days after.  It was a great workout though.  Thanks for the invite Pauline!

Pauline and I after our workout.

Then that afternoon I took Nyles and Carter over to our neighbor to get their faces painted for free.  She does it for a living and wanted to update her pictures.  The boys were happy to volunteer!  She did it in less than 10 minutes each, so good!

Nyles w/ his dragon face.

Carter w/ "Squirtle" on his cheek.

We got DUMPED on with snow Tuesday night.  

They canceled school and asked them to do online learning instead.  

It was amazing how much snow we got!  It kept coming down most of the day!  Our snow blower had a hard time moving it, but Steve was able to get it done after a few hours.  If we have another winter like this one, we'll need to invest in a new snow blower for sure.

Lots of snow, basically covering the snow blower.  Great quote!

The Tulips the boys got me for Valentine's Day started to bloom.  So pretty!  

I also finished our 2nd Disney puzzle before we left on our Disney cruise.  Thanks Diane!

When I measured in the morning we had about 16 inches and since it kept coming down we got a few more inches to that.  I finished up work early that afternoon, then went out to play w/ the boys.  Piper was super excited to play ball, though she'd lose it many times in the really deep snow.

Nyles just laying in the snow.  So much snow!

Look at the height of that snow!

The snow plows finally came!

Hudson wanted to come out and play as well w/ his trucks.  Cute boys!

Great quotes: