Part of that world

A few weeks ago we took a vacation we had been looking forward to for a long time- a Disney Cruise!  We were doubly excited because Thunder's side of the family could all come- Nana and Papa, and Uncle K, Aunt V and R1 and R2 (cousins).  We flew to the Orlando airport on a red eye (which was actually great with kids) and then hopped on a Goofy shuttle to the boarding area.

Here is a miniaturized version of our boat, called the Disney Magic.  And oh, it was magical.

Here we are crossing over onto the ship!  There was an entire crew waiting on the other side and our names were announced over the loud speaker while people clapped.

Our first meal was lunch, and we were still docked.  The food tasted delicious after being on a plane all night long and the kids were so excited to explore.  I loved that they had people to help your kids carry their trays to the table.

We played shuffleboard while we waited for the rest of the family to arrive.

I dressed up the kids in their Disney shirts and tried to get a pic, but Sunrise was not happy to be away from the porthole.

Ahh, that's better.

Here is the slide that goes into the Mickey pool.  There was also a Goofy pool with a giant movie screen, and the Adults-Only pool.

Coming from a snowstorm, we really appreciated the sun!  We spent many hours just relaxing out on deck 10...

... and enjoying the free access to the ice cream machine.

Did I mention you could get room service at any time and it's included??

Coming down the Mickey slide.

Just chillaxin'.

Here is a bad picture of an awesome place.  We rotated dining rooms for dinner and this place was called The Animator's Palate (we also went to Parrot Cay and Lumiere's).  Also you can finally see Uncle K and R2!  When we arrived, all the walls were white and covered in drawings from Disney movies.

You can clearly see how much Sunshine loved it there.

Then as dinner progressed, everything came to life.  It was mesmerizing.

Cloudburst got her hair braided and it stayed in for over a week.

The glass elevators were always easy entertainment.

Our first port of call was in St. Maarten.  Half is owned by the Netherlands and half is French.

Finally a group shot!  Well, minus Thunder who took the picture.  Along the back there is me, Aunt V, Nana, Papa, and Uncle K with R2.  Along the front is Tornado, Cloudburst, Sunrise, R1 and Sunshine.

We toured the island and ended at a Butterfly Farm.

As soon as we entered, Fate spoke and declared Papa to be "Butterfly Man" aka "The Butterfly Whisperer." Butterflies flocked to him and covered his arms.  Why, you ask?  He was wearing a cologne called "Wings."

Here's Nana enjoying the butterflies.

And here I am in front of a giant moth (moths keep their wings open while resting, while butterflies close them).  See, this trip was purely for educational purposes.

Papa was a celebrity.  Even back on the boat he would hear whispers "hey there's the Butterfly Man!"

Sunshine got to show everyone the Monarch caterpillar (he made sure to tell everyone it is poisonous if eaten).

We checked out the beach on St. Maarten for a while, but it was actually pretty windy and cold.  Of course, the kids didn't mind. They were busy finding sea shells with Aunt V.

That night was a big Pirate Party, complete with Buccaneer Mickey zip lining across the boat.  There were fireworks too.

The kids were taken care of in some activities, so we headed down to do some karaoke.  Uncle K did "Tainted Love," complete with every necessary dance move.  Definitely a crowd pleaser.

And then I took to the stage to sing "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic, of course.  I could hear people in the audience saying "dude, she can actually sing!"

The next day we docked in St. Thomas, a US Virgin Island.  We had earlier decided to go Scuba diving, but due to Thunder's injury he had to stick to snorkeling.  He ended up staying out longer than anyone.

Here is a side view of the ship.

On deck, there was always a live concert or movie going on.  Sunrise loved the action.  Maybe that's why he hated sitting still at dinner every single night.

The older boys also clearly love the action.

On Thursday morning, we got to have our Character Breakfast.  The kids loved seeing all their favorites.

Sunrise fell in love with Goofy on the trip, as you can see.

He's still looking at Goofy.  He called out "Goo Goo!" every time we saw him.

And here is Cyprian!  He was our server at every dinner (and yes, cut the kids' food!).  He is just a wonderful person.  We really enjoyed getting to know him.  He is from India and has a young family.  He works on the ship for months at a time and is also a professional chef.

The kids enjoyed all the little extra touches at dinner.

Man, this hat is almost as orange as Thunder's real hair after a week in the sun.

Every night, we were treated to a live broadway-style show.  The kids even sat through them.

Towards the end, the kids got to join with other children from the cruise in a show called "Friendship Rocks."
It was fun for them to be up on that big stage.

There are a few kid-free zones on board.  One is the adults-only pool and another is a fine-dining restaurant called Palo.  All of the food on board was fine-dining (not just Vegas style buffet, but true cuisine), but this was truly 5 star.  It was lovely.

Our last port was in Castaway Cay, which is a Disney owned island.  The weather was a little windy and cool, but we didn't let that stop us.  The men sprinted off the boat to find the best spots and we had a marvelous time sifting the sand through our toes, shrieking down the water slide and scarfing down excellent BBQ.

The next morning (Saturday) we had arrived back in Florida.

The weather was dreary and we all felt the same way!  It was a truly magical week and it was so nice to be able to share it with family.  It was a bit of "happily ever after," at least for a week.