first, big shout out to my main man Luke who turned 2 today! can it be? on the one hand, i don't want him to grow up and start talking sassy with me and everything else that comes with growing independence. on the other hand, i don't want to have this baby and be telling people that i have a three-year-old and one-year-old.... two-year-old sounds better, yes?
after getting some super snuggly time with lukey this morning, i came downstairs to find 3 walls sprinkled everywhere with chocolate milk. this included the tv! seth was determined to place the blame on luke, even though luke was upstairs, but about an hour later, he came to me and just said "it was me. i put chocolate milk all over the place! i am so sorry".... still in trouble but very glad he came forward. needless to say, no more chocolate milk. also, isnt that such a two-year-old thing to do? very surprised lukey wasn't the culprit, actually.
speaking of living room, look what we came home to from the cruise!
that niche from hell i hated.... gone!! boys are stoked to get playing in there once the carpet and railings are in. must say, i am pretty stoked myself! that also means that i can start doing up sadie's room since we will be moving the toys from the little play room into the BIG one! yay!!!!
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| before |
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| after main level.... built in not finished yet |
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| after upstairs: 455 added square foot playroom! hooray!!!! |
now, onto the cruise! man, it was magical!
first, of course, was the waiting. waiting to get on the plane. waiting during the flight. waiting to get on the boat.... a lot of waiting and LINES. waiting + lines + toddlers = a hot mess. We only lost Seth once. I think there was only one true breakdown.... on the plane. that was fun. but ya know what.... i would do it all again for the adventure and memories that the waiting led to! i think a leash may be order next time. i used to judge, but methinks safety is more important than being judged by strangers. oh, and i found a picture of john lennon with sean lennon age 2 at an amusement park and sean had on a leash. if it's ok for john lennon, it's ok for me :)
Oceaneer's Club
We got on the boat and first thing was first: we found the Oceaneer's Club for Seth and got him signed up! Seth probably spent 3/4th of his waking hours here. He was obsessed! it was perfect for him! they had character lunches, character dances, activities, you name it! he was free to do whatever he wanted within the confines of the space and he never asked to leave. he only ever came out when we made him! We only have a handful of pictures of him in there since after the first day, pictures were forbidden. All i can say is that whenever i picked him up, he was totally entranced in some activity!
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| Luke was only allowed in the club the first day, since it was open house. |
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| checking out the boat |
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| By night... all the clubbin left Seth exhausted. Can you believe that 1/ 2 the time he would even go back AFTER dinner?!! He would go for a couple hours until we got him out to take him to one of our nightly shows. |
Of course, the all-you-can-eat ice cream all day, every day!
Nemos Reef
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| Can't you tell these two are being mischievous? that fish is a squirter! |
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| This was the only day Luke was in Nemos Reef. He much preferred the pool... even though technically he wasn't allowed. Not potty trained. My reasoning: every kid in the pool, potty trained or not, was totally going pee. Even adults. As long as I made sure Luke had pooped earlier, I felt I was fine. Judge me. |
The Pool
When Seth wasnt in the club, he was in the pool!
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| Sitting poolside, watching a movie on the BIG screen |
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| the pool was really fun for the kids when the ship was rocking 'cause that meant that the pool water went side to side as well! |
Animators Palate
This was the best place for dinner for kiddos. there was so much to see on the walls. pictures constantly changing, the color and mood of the whole restaurant changed
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| Crush came out and talked to us! |
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| Seth loved when Crush talked to him! Crush called him "Surfer Seth" |
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| second time at Animator's Palate: we all sat down and drew a character within the confines of the white space |
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| at the end of the night, there was a musical number with our characters as the stars of the show! The black one is mine :) |
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| the second to the right was jeremy's drawing of pregnant me.... that he signed with seth's name. |
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| this was seth's drawing! |
Football on the deck
Gingerbread Houses!
We were so excited to make gingerbread houses one morning! All 41 of us made them at tables by family.
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| Everyone got involved. Luke would get a candy, put it on, take it off, lick it, then put it back. sanitary. |
Pluto
Rocky Seas
The first 3-4 days on sea were brutal. i definitely developed some balancing muscles. the crew members said it was the most rocky the boat had been consistently.
Micky Food
Seth refused to eat anything Mickey. He didn't want to hurt him.
Character Dance Party!
One of the days there was a midday dance party in the atrium. At first, not so many people. The boys had a lot of room to dance in their own little way. As the party went on, it became insanely crowded! Characters included Goofy, Max, Mickey, and Minnie
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| let me set up a story. at one point, boston just wanted to lay on the ground. this was before any characters came out. i said, sure, why not but go off to the side so you dont get stomped on. that's when the characters started running down the stairs. first, there was Max. |
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| Max ran down and tripped over Boston, who was already kind of not loving the dance party. Max tumbles over and leaves Boston upset. |
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| had to make this one bigger. Max tries to help Boston up, who is now terrified at this point! Boston screams at the mere sight of Max! you can see Boston in the bottom left of this picture. |
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| Boston was FINISHED and hung out with me on the sidelines but Seth and Luke were still going strong |
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| By this time Mickey and Minnie came out and there was no way for me to even budge in there to get a pic. you can see seth mid picture here. |
Mosaics
Slide
Seth adored the yellow slide! he would go on it over 20 times without stopping for a breath!
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| they had to check his height the first time he went on. he was tall enough but every time he went down the slide, he had to check that he was still tall enough. This went on about 20 times before the slide watcher told him, through laughs, that he really didnt have to check every time. i thought it was cute. |
Luke and Minnie
Luke was a wee bit in love with Minnie. Every time he saw her, he had to go see her and just hug her. Even if there was a long line, Minnie would hold him for minutes at a time and Luke could just close his eyes and pat her back.
The ARR-cade
Jer took turn with each boy to take him to the arcade. I only have pictures of Luke, since I wasnt there when Jer took Seth.
Pirate Day
To say that people get decked out for pirate day would be an understatement! We signed Seth up to go to the Bibbidy Boppidy Boutique to get his pirate on. Since it was Paula's birthday the first day of the cruise, we sent her as a present. We also missed Boston's birthday, so we sent his as a very late b-day present as well!
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| Doesnt she look good! tattoos, sword, makeup, glitter, face gems, necklace with gold coin, and a map! |
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| Boston did great! He loved it! |
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| Seth was actually hesitant! He was dead set on NOT having a beard. |
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| Jack Sparrow costume |
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| Luke was too little for the boutique, but he rocked the bandana |
Family of the Cruise
Not sure why we were chosen as this, but we did not complain! Day one we got a letter saying that we were chosen as the "family of the cruise" and that our room would receive random room service every day! I missed a few pictures, which included cheese and cured meat tray, assorted gourmet cookies, and mixed berry plate.
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| seafood tray |
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| chocolate covered strawberries tray |
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| brownies, cheesecake, eclair |
San Juan
Jer and I actually got off the boat! Denise watched Luke while Seth was in, where else, the Oceaneer's Club. We hiked up a steep hill, through the colorful town. Then, we made it to a big old fort at the top with amazing views!
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| this just made me laugh: "where anything can happen".... like, date rape? doesnt sound appealing. |
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| Awe, the cute couples |
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| you can see our ship in the back |
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| gorgeous view from the WW2 lookout |
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| just us by an old door i liked |
Perry the Platypus and the Stroller
Luke's two favorite things! We weren't going anywhere in this picture.... he just wanted to be buckled in. Had to have his Perry.
Exclusive Character Meet and Greet
Because Jer's parents and grandparents were part of the concierge level, we all got access to a top level lounge where there was a secret meet and greet with a character.... Donald. All of the pictures of the boys with Donald are on Shayla's camera, so I don't have any, yet. But trust me, there was a lot of love.
We also enjoyed some awesome Disney treatment, snacks, and drinks... just for us! The lighting was also great to just take some nice family pictures!
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| All of the great grandchildren, minus one |
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| so many cameras going.... no one looks in the same direction |
Castaway Cay
I cannot express how much i LOVE Castaway Cay (aka Disney Island). It is everything you would expect a Disney Island to be. Pristine sandy beaches. SO clean. really, something for everyone! We hung out at the beach the whole day! I would be happy going to that beach every day!
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| water was colder than you would expect at first |
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| crabby friend |
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| that sand gets into everything!!!! |
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| lunch time! |
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| IF we were sending out a Christmas card, this would be the pic.... FYI we are just going to send a New Years/New Baby card :) |
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| Seth was STOKED to meet them! |
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| Boston... not so much |
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| Seth had some cold coins from Pirate night that he lovingly gave Hook! It was received with a HUGE hug and a pirate dance |
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| Luke loves the ladies |
Homeward Bound
SO SOOOOO sad to go home! The flight home, however, was a lot more calm and peaceful. More sleep and less chaos. Thank you electronics. Also, thank you Granny and Pa for the
Thank you Granny and Pa for an unforgettable trip! I cannot think of one thing that would have made it better! Every detail was accounted for... every need met. We were SOOO lucky to be able to go and spend a week with 41 amazing family members. It was ALL about family... just as a vacation should be. Being away from Utah, it meant even more to us to get to share time with people we miss so dearly. Thank you! THANK YOU!!!
