Disney Cruise 2013

We took our very first family vacation last week.  In order to avoid having to fly with all three kids, we opted to take a Disney cruise out of Galveston.

Day One

In the car on the way to Galveston

Meeting Captain Mickey in the cruise terminal

Poolside lunch after boarding

Time in the pool prior to sail away

Dinner at Lumiere’s

Day Two

Our first morning at sea

On the sports deck

Back to the pool

Worn out from a busy morning

Tea with Alice

Randomly meeting Belle in the hallway

Day Three

Character Breakfast

Princess Gathering

Queen of Hearts

Daisy Duck

Day Four

On the tender boat to Grand Cayman

At the Cayman Sea Turtle Farm

Nurse shark in the predator tank at the turtle farm

Snorkeling in the saltwater lagoon at the turtle farm

On the tender boat headed back to the ship

Mako shark jaw from Cayman

Coloring on the tablecloth with washable crayons

Pirate night

Day Five

Cozumel Beach Day

Passing our ship on the way to a private beach in Cozumel

Snorkeling in a reef off the coast of Cozumel, the water was beautiful!

On the private beach, lots of floating inflatable slides and trampolines, kayaks, etc.  We forgot to charge our camera…

Grown up dinner for just us

Day Six

Our last full sea day…  Lots of time by the pool.

Magic class for the kids

Kids performance on the big stage

Back to the pool

No pictures from the last day.  It was pretty much just breakfast and getting off the ship.  We were all tired and Clare wasn’t feeling well.

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun.  Lots to do and see each day.  The kids were sad to leave, guess that means it was a success.

Clare is 5!

Can’t believe she is another year older!  We celebrated her birthday the day of by letting her open presents from us.  She got her first American Girl doll, Molly.  She also got Molly’s pajamas and a matching pair for herself.  ( I just learned that Molly is going to be retired, I guess we will have to stock up before it is too late.)  We had a small party the following weekend at a local pottery painting place.  She’s still my baby, even though she is five!

December Recap

As always, December is a crazy month.  We started out with a cub scout overnight campout on the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi.  It was so much fun, at least up until George came down with the flu in the middle of the night.  Jacob was hit two days later, and some of the other cub scouts followed. 

Grace’s Daisy troop had a meeting in December.  They all made cards to take to local nursing home residents.

We’ve added a new member to our family.  A coworker of George’s found a puppy in her yard and had no luck tracking down the owners.  We decided to take him in.  Because Emma was named after the Jane Austen book by the same name, we decided that we needed to keep up the literary theme.  We’ve been reading through the Harry Potter series with the kids, so we named the puppy Harry Potter, but he just goes by “Harry.”

We finally found time to go get a Christmas tree about 8 days before Christmas.  We went back to the tree farm we went to last year, picked out our own tree, and had Daddy cut it down.

I teach CCE on Sunday’s at our church, and as a thank you gift, we received all the parts to decorate a gingerbread house.  We had lots of fun making a mess while attempting to decorate it. 

I also helped host Clare’s pre-K class party.  We did a craft, decorated cookies, and played a few games.

We had to wait to decorate the tree until we had time to all be together.  I think it was only a few days before Christmas by the time we got the chance.

We had our annual Christmas eve pajama opening before I headed into work.  Gree gree and Daddy took the kids to look at Christmas lights while Mommy was at the hospital.

Finally, it’s Christmas morning!  Gree Gree and Daddy had to keep the kids corralled waiting for Mommy to get home from work.  As soon as I got home, I got the camera ready to take pictures of the present opening extravaganza. 

Big gifts this year were Nintendo 3DS XLs for the twins and a Power Wheels (Barbie) Jeep for Clare.   I got a spa day from George, and he got some new work shirts from us.  I think I only lasted about 40 minutes before I was falling asleep on the couch.  I quickly headed to bed anticipating another night of work.  Fortunately, not long after arriving for Christmas night, I was able to go home.  After working 5 out of the previous 6 nights, I was exhausted and so excited to go home and get a good night’s sleep.  What a Christmas gift!

It took a couple of days to recuperate, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed having some time off with my family.  We’re looking forward to a new year.  Can’t believe 2013 is right around the corner…