3rd Week of May

We got back from our trip to Orlando/cruise on Sunday afternoon.  We all went to bed early so we were ready to go back to school/work the next day.  We had quite a few things going on.  It was a busy week.  Here are some highlights from the week.

Steve and Hudson went to Carter's class for lunch together.  Hudson's description of me for Mother's Day.  Our beautiful Irises are in bloom!

My parent came down for Ali's graduation on Wednesday, May 22nd.  They came the night before and hung out w/ us for a little while.  We ordered pizza and played games.  We love having them over!

Hudson doing a puzzle w/ my mom and Carter playing War w/ my dad.  

The SLC temple under construction.  I had to go into work the whole week.

Wednesday evening we had Rose's family, Chris and the kids (Pauline was out of town), and my mom/dad over to celebrate Ali's graduation that day.  Steve smoked a pork butt for dinner, then we sang Happy Birthday to Rose and Chris.  It was fun to get together and see everyone!

Rose's daughter Sophia is teaching Carter how to solve a Rubix Cube.  He got the first side done after he taught her!  Great quote!  Hudson also graduated from his first year of preschool!

Nyles went into the orthodontist and they put braces on him!

We also got an inverter put on the camper to connect to our batteries to allow us to our 110 outlets.  Our solar panels, then recharge the batteries.  This will make it super nice when we don't have hook-ups (electric or water), like in the Uintas.

Cute Hudson w/ his sunglasses from preschool graduation.  

More beautiful Irises.  Carter's 2 front teeth are FINALLY coming in!

Great quotes:

Finally flying home

The guy at the airport told us that we needed to get back to the airport extra early since it was such a busy airport.  So we woke up extra early Sunday morning, and took a shuttle back over.  Well when we got there, neither the checked bag area nor TSA was actually open.  They didn't open until 3:30am.  So we had to wait a little bit, then used the curbside checked bag services since it was the only thing open at that hour.  We then went over to TSA, which just opened as we got there, and went straight through.  We then took a little train over to the gates, where we waited a couple hours before we took off.

Ready to leave the hotel at 3am in the morning.  

On our first plane ride.  We all took a little nap since we got up so early.

Carter took a good long nap.  Hudson getting a snack after his nap.

We then got to Austin and had a LONG layover (4 hours).  We tried to pass the time the best we could. The boys spun each other around in the chairs many, many times.

There was a funny "pretend" door in the airport.  They rotated through "pretend" destinations.  It was pretty funny.  You'll also notice the trash can going into the wall and the seats disappearing in the wall.

Back on the airplane again.  Leaving Austin.  Hudson asleep again.

Now Carter asleep.  Finally we see SLC and the mountains again!  Later Hudson playing outside.

It was another LONG day traveling, but we made it home safely with no delays this time.  We had a wonderful trip, and are so thankful for the experiences we had together.  We're thankful for the fun we had together, and the memories we can refer back to often.

Great quotes:

Disembarking the ship

On Saturday, May 18th, it was disembarking day ie the day we have to get off the ship.  It's always a little sad to leave the ship, but we had a wonderful week on the Disney Fantasy ship.  A couple things were different this time getting off the ship.  It was our first time out of Port Canaveral (about 1 hour from Orlando), so we're not sure if it's always this way, or just this time, but it was great.  Typically they will start calling character names tags by 8 am or so, and when they call your character, it's your turn to get off the ship.  But this time, instead of calling them one by one, they simply said that everyone was clear to exit.  We had scheduled a shuttle pick up at 9am, so we weren't in a big hurry to get off the ship though.  So, we went to breakfast at Cabanas, and took our time getting off the ship, since our shuttle wasn't until 9am.

Coming down from Cabanas, looking out at the port.

One last goodbye to Minnie, as we get off the ship.  We got off the ship at 8:30am.

We figured we'd have to wait a while until our shuttle came, but we called and he said he was there.  We then just waited a few minutes until another couple got on the shuttle, as we were on our way.

When we got to the airport, I tried checking in, but it wouldn't let us.  I looked and it said our flight was delayed due to weather.  Apparently there was a huge storm over Florida and it was delaying flights everywhere.  We had to wait in line to see what our options were.  Eventually we were able to talk to someone and got our flight changed, but the earliest flight wasn't until Sunday morning now.  We didn't want to chance getting on another flight the same day, and then just get delayed again due to the storm.  We decided to just go back to our hotel we stayed at before the cruise.  Thankfully they had openings.

Carter took a little nap on the way back to the airport (about 1 hour drive).  The boys playing w/ the luggage in the airport while I try to figure out our flight situation.  Finally on the hotel shuttle.

In a studio room.  Thankfully it fit the 6 of us.  Steve, Diane and I slept on the beds in the room, and the 3 boys slept on the couch in the other room w/ the kitchen.  Since we got delayed getting to Orlando, we didn't get to play in the pool, so it was fun to play.

It rained pretty hard for a while, so we got out of the pool and went back to the room.  After it stopped raining, we went out for a walk.  We saw quite a few of wildlife on our walk.  There were LOTS of snails all over the sidewalk!

The Hyatt House we stayed at.  Pretty flowers and some ducks.

More fun on our walk, big puddles from the rain.  A stray cat.

We then went over to IHOP for dinner.  They had kids eat free w/ adult purchase, so we got all 3 kids' meals free!  Hudson fell asleep for a little bit.  Carter and Hudson's dinner yummy!

Nyles and Carter on the pull out sofa, and Hudson on the end.  

They watched a little show, then we went to bed.

We tried to get to bed early since we knew we had to get up early the next morning.

Castaway Cay

On Friday, May 17th, we landed at Castaway Cay.  Because we had to come back all the way from the Virgin Islands, we didn't get there until 10am, instead of 7 or 8am.  Since we knew we were going to be later getting in, we had a slower morning and didn't have to rush.  Here are some highlights of the day.

 Hudson getting some breakfast.  Land ho!

Our characters we made the night before at Animator's Palate.

Hudson found a little crab.  Beautiful flower.  Group picture.  Another beautiful bush.

A lizard.  We decided to rent the bikes and go see some sights we hadn't seen.

The cruise ship (Disney Fantasy) from a lookout point.

An outhouse haha.  Family picture.  Cool airplane.  Pretty flower.

Another pretty view from the island.

When we were done, we got our 5K medals, then went back to the beach.

We then went to cool off and play in the water.

We then went snorkeling and more fun in the water.

The boys wanted to try the water slides, so we went over there.  Hudson first watched his brothers to see if he could do it on his own since only 1 person at a time can go.

After watching his brothers he decided it was his turn to go.

Steve going down the waterslide at Castaway.

They did it!  Hudson thought it was so much fun!  We had to finally tell him time was up and we had to go.  The time went so quick at Castaway.  We stayed as long as we could until the cast-members told us we had to get back to the ship.

Taking the tram back to the ship.

Beautiful shot in on the island in front of the Fantasy ship.

We said goodbye to our wonderful and amazing wait staff: Andrea (Drea) and Ruli.  

Yummy dessert and cute heart towel for our last night.

Our doors w/ our magnets.  We had connecting rooms, which had a door inside so we could go in between each other's rooms.  It was awesome!

One final show for our last night.  Carter found another duck.  Hudson got his popcorn, but like every night, he fell asleep shortly after it started.

We had an amazing day at Castaway Cay.  It's definitely one of our favorite places to go to.  The weather was perfect and the water was just right.   It's always sad on the last night, but we had an amazing time.  We had so much fun on the island and savor those memories. 

Day at Sea, #3

On Thursday, May 16th, we had another fun day at sea.  Here are some highlights.

Cute towel animals.  Cool mural and chair by Guest Services.

We did the Midship Detective again.

Then checked out the Teen Club at the front of the ship.  They have their own pool area.  The cast put on the show "Frozen" at noon, so we went and watched it.  It was really good, as are all of their Broadway shows!

Beautiful, calm waters again.  We then checked out the splash zone for all ages (they don't have this on the Dream, so it was fun to use it on the Fantasy ship).

We found another hidden duck!  The boys love to look around the ship and find ducks that other people have hidden.  They can either take the duck, or re-hide it.  Back in the splash zone.

It was a warm day, so the water felt great!

The boys having fun in the water!

A kid pooped in Mickey's pool, so they had to close it to drain it and sanitize it. Erg! The boys swam in Goofy's pool instead.  After changing, we went to meet Mulan.  The boys got a snack at the Cafe while waiting to meet Mulan.

Meeting Mulan, playing shuffle board and enjoying the beautiful ocean scenery on Deck 4.

Back at the Enchanted Garden for dinner.  The lights/ceiling changes color while we get our food, representing sunset in France.  It's really pretty.  Then the lights open up to become flowers.  Carter made a "fort" out of the stuff on the table.  He was pretty proud of his creation.

Pretty fountain in the restaurant.  Yummy desserts.  Getting the stroller after dinner.

The boys just playing.  A monkey towel animal back in our stateroom.  Cool Wall-E towel animal in Diane's room.  Carter also got a towel animal from the gift shop as his souvenir he bought w/ his own money.

I love the murals in Cabanas; so incredible!

Since we had already seen the show in the afternoon, we went up on deck in the evening to watch a movie on Funnel Vision.  Hudson of course said he was hungry, so he got some fries/chips.  Nyles and Carter wanted to swim and go on the Aquaduck.

It was another super fun day at sea.  It's always sad knowing it's your last day at sea and the cruise is coming to an end, but we knew we still had a day at Castaway left.