Boarding the Ship

On Saturday, November 25th, it was finally the day to board the Disney Cruise ship!  We had breakfast at the hotel, checked out, then waited for our shuttle in the lobby.  The shuttle was running behind, but we were close to the port, so thankfully we all still made it one time.  

Boarding Day!  We could see the ship out our hotel window!  Lynsie and Claire ready to go!

Olivia, Claire, Alexa and Lynsie playing on Joann's wheelchair.  Hudson sitting on Joann's lap in the wheel chair parking spot.  Hudson coloring w/ Isaac while we waited.

Steve, Dave and Cameron ready to board.  It was actually Cameron's birthday!

Conor and Carter waiting for the shuttle.  We went over in 2 shifts, 12 at a time.

After going through several "hoops" we finally got over to the ship!

Carter, Hudson and Nyles ready to board.  Claire, Conor and Stacie walking onto the ship.  

Dave, Conor, Steve, Joann, Hudson, and Diane walking on.

We made it!  Steve, Joann, Hudson, Dave, Nyles, Penny, Phill, Conor, Claire, Stacie, Diane and Carter.

Another group picture and family picture in front of the huge gingerbread house on the ship.

We then went up to Cabanas for some lunch and to go swimming.  Hudson was so excited to finally go in Mickey's pool (now that he's potty trained), in addition to the splash pad like before.  We also took turns going on the Aquaduck before it got busy.

Hudson going down the slide in the splash pad and playing in the water.  

Carter and Hudson eating ice cream after swimming.

Our rooms were ready shortly after, so we went to drop off our stuff.  Steve and Diane have sailed 5 times now, so they're "gold" status, so they gave them another welcome gift (wet/dry bag), in addition to the "regular" one (cute bag).  We stayed in an inside room w/ a virtual porthole.  It was pretty neat since we were facing the back of the ship, we could see the camera of what you could actually see from the back of the ship.  Nyles and Carter stayed in the bunk beds in Diane's room and Hudson w/ us.

We then had the muster drill.  Our meeting place was in the theater.  Hudson fell asleep by this time.  After the muster drill, we went upstairs for the Sail Away Party up on deck.

Hudson asleep in the theater during the muster drill.  Nyles at the port, ready to start sailing.

Steve took Hudson to do sleep for a little bit, then came up and met us on deck.  

Cameron w/ his Happy Birthday signs we brought for him and Steve to use.

Hudson and I at the Sail Away Party.  Everyone dancing at the party.

More dancing.  Dave, Hudson and Steve up on deck.

Some family pics!

Dinner time at the Enchanted Garden!  Hudson had fun "painting" his hamburger.

Fun times!

Yummy food and desserts.  Singing Happy Birthday to Cameron.

Hudson just wanted the sprinkles on his Mickey Bar for dinner.  Fun towel animal.  

Hudson likes to talk on the phone, so we just unplug it most of the time.

We then went over to Dave/Diane's adjoining rooms and sang Happy Birthday to Cameron again.  

Then over to the evening play; The Golden Mickey's!  Hudson fell asleep again!

At the play together!

It was a busy, fun packed day.  We all made it on board and were ready to start our family Disney Cruise vacation!  Oh yeah!!!

What we are grateful for this day:

November 25:

• Steve- Family time on the cruise ship.

• Penny- We finally got on Mickey's boat! We got to swim and go on the Aquaduck!

• Nyles- Conor went to the play, The Golden Mickeys, and liked it!

• Carter- We got on the ship!

• Hudson- The cruise.

Great quotes:

Day in Fort Lauderdale

On Friday, November 24th, we went over to Fort Lauderdale Beach Park after breakfast at the hotel.  We all took an Uber/Lyft to get there, which was about 10 minutes away.

Hudson digging in the sand.  We brought our collapsible buckets and shovels since that is what Hudson loves to do most at the beach.  

Carter and Isaac at the beach.  Everyone getting in the ocean.

It looked like it was going to rain all day, but amazingly it didn't!  We lucked out!

Joann hurt her "good knee" a couple days before we left unfortunately.  

We made her a makeshift chair in the sand.  Joann and Dave.  Cool waves.

Playing in the ocean waves.  It was so fun!  Diane and Joann sitting in their "sand chairs."

More fun at the beach.

Hudson was getting tired, so Steve took him back to the hotel to take a nap.  

We still had snow at home.  The countdown was getting closer to getting on the cruise!

While Hudson was sleeping, the other boys wanted to swim in the pool.  It was definitely cooler than the ocean, but they still had fun.  Some took a nap by the pool.

Claire, Hudson and Alexa coloring after he woke up.  

Later we walked over to the Publix store to get a few things.  Pretty flowers.

It was interesting to see Christmas decorations and palm trees next to each other.

Me, Diane, Kim and Stacie.

Cool sand turkey at the beach (someone from our cruise posted).  

The countdown is getting even closer!  Hudson asleep that night after a fun day!

What we are grateful for this day:

November 24:

• Steve- Got to swim in the ocean with Penny and kids.

• Penny- It didn't rain on us today. We had a great day at the beach.

• Nyles- Didn't get sucked up by the ocean current.

• Carter- Got to play in the ocean waves.

• Hudson- We went to the beach.

Great quotes:

Thanksgiving Day, Flying out

On Thursday, November 23rd, Thanksgiving Day, we flew out from SLC to Fort Lauderdale for our family Disney Cruise coming up.  12 of us left that morning, meeting at the airport at 7:30am.  The other 8 left late that evening (red eye flight), then the last 4 the following afternoon.  We had dropped Piper off to the kennel the night before since we left so early.  Our neighbor Karolen was kind enough to take us in our Honda Pilot, drop us off at the airport, then take our car back home.  We met Dave, Joann, Diane, Stacie, Phill, Claire and Conor there.  

Conor, Carter, Hudson, Claire, and Nyles waiting while we check our bags in.  We then went through security and we were set!

We had a little bit of time before our flight took off, so I walked around w/ Hudson and the kids.  Figured we my as well stretch our legs while we can.

We were on our way!

We had a layover in Atlanta for a couple hours, so we had time to get a quick bit to eat.  It was a "nice" Thanksgiving dinner haha not!  But we were grateful to be spending the day together either way.

The 2nd leg from Atlanta over to Fort Lauderdale went quickly, but Hudson still fell asleep for a while.

We made it to Fort Lauderdale!  Hudson at "his" store in the airport.  

Getting everyone from the airport then over to the hotel.

We had to wait for our hotel shuttle to come back since there were a lot of us and lots of luggage.  We finally made it to the hotel though, got a quick bite to eat, then went to bed.  While were were traveling a snow storm hit SLC, so it was nice to get away from the cold!

What we are grateful for this day:

November 23:

• Steve- Had safe flights.

• Penny- We made it to Florida.

• Nyles- We missed the snowstorm in SLC.

• Carter- Got to Florida.

• Hudson- Went on an airplane.

Great quotes.

3rd Week of November, before cruise

Here are some highlights from the couple days before Thanksgiving.  The boys had school Monday and Tuesday and I worked those days, plus had late night so I worked until 6pm covering the queue and chat at work.  We rotate in our team Monday-Thursday plus everyone on Fridays so we only do it but every so often.

Carter at school working on a problem.  Nyles on the right with his hat one, listening to a guest speaker.  Steve took our boat over to LuDean's house so it would be protected from the snow while we were gone.  Hudson w/ his Monster jacket on.

Wednesday my parents came down from Idaho for Thanksgiving.  Since we were leaving on Thanksgiving Day to go to Florida for our cruise, they came to visit at our place.  We then drove down to Thanksgiving Point to go to the Butterfly Museum together.  We found some pretty butterflies!

Taking turns holding the butterflies.

The butterflies are so fun!

One more quick pictures before we headed home so the boys could go to martial arts.  

While Nyles and Carter were gone, I finished packing.  It was great seeing my parents!

A call from Goofy, excited for us to come on the cruise.

What we are grateful for this week.

November 20:

• Steve- For Medicine. 
• Penny- For Priesthood blessings.
• Nyles- For karate.
• Carter- For school.
• Hudson- Dad picked up Nyles and Carter from school and karate and for my blessings.

November 21:

• Steve- Disney Plus to keep Hudson happy while sick. 
• Penny- Last day of work for 1.5 weeks.
• Nyles- No more school until December. 
• Carter- Packing for our cruise.
• Hudson- Go see the Dr.

November 22:

• Steve- Go to the Dr.'s to get meds.
• Penny- Went to the Butterfly Museum w/ my parents. 
• Nyles- Mom packed for us.
• Carter- Grandma and Grandpa came from Idaho.
• Hudson- My garbage truck.

Great quotes: