Disney Cruise - Day 2

This was our first full day on the boat.  We started out the day with the all-you-can-eat breakfast.  It included lots of pancakes and pastries for the kids.  Big surprise.  I don't know why they didn't go for the smoked salmon.

Morning on the balcony

 During the day we spent a lot of time at the pool. The girls and I did a little shopping, and had lunch with Grandma and Grandpa (And, no, we didn't buy those hats..just tried them on).

Here the girls were playing with their new toys while we were waiting for lunch to arrive.
 

Cory and Grant went to an animator's class to learn how to draw Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

The stairs to the left in the picture below was where the line formed for the Aquaduck water slide.  I rode it several times with the girls.  It was not super fast, but we had a lot of fun zipping around high up above the ocean.

I was able to get a good picture of the "Mickey" pool because they had to drain it and refill it for some reason. (I probably don't want to know why, so I'll just believe someone dropped a little ice cream in it.)  Below they were still filling it up so no one was allowed in.
 

 
We spent some more time at the pool, and then went to see the ventriloquist perform again in the afternoon because Grant really enjoyed her show the night before.  After that, we got ready for dinner, and ate in the Enchanted Garden restaurant. Munir made some fun hats for the kids out of the table napkins.

Peter Pan Hat

Minnie Mouse Bow

He also made this lovely rose for Johanna.

Hey, wouldn't you know that Julia was trying to stick her finger in the water of the fountain?

After dinner, we enjoyed some live music, people watching and free cocktails at the Captain's Reception in the main foyer.  The kids also got a chance to meet Peter Pan and Tiana.
 

Peter Pan was looking for Tinkerbelle when we caught up with him, and later that night we saw him running through the boat being chased by Captain Hook.

We took Grandma and Grandpa to see Brave for the first time in the Buena Vista 3D Theatre, and the girls were able to visit with Snow White before heading to bed.
 

 Another fun day aboard the high seas!

Disney Cruise - Day 1

On Saturday, October 19th, we left home bright and early to begin the first day of our Disney Cruise vacation.  We stopped at St. Louis Bread Co. for breakfast where we met Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Paul. We arrived at the airport shortly thereafter, and made it smoothly onto our non-stop flight to Orlando.  After our two hour flight, we arrived in Orlando and boarded a very nice, comfortable Disney charter bus which took us on a fifty minute drive to Port Canaveral.  During the ride we had the pleasure of watching some old-school Mickey Mouse cartoons, and played a little Disney trivia.  We pulled up to port and got the first view of our ship, The Disney Fantasy, which started sailing last year.

Right before we boarded the ship, we checked in and the kids were given their i.d. bands which they would wear the whole time, and would give them access to the kid's only clubs. They also snapped these pictures of us.  What a good-looking group!

  
As we walked on board, we were greeted by crew clapping and welcoming us aboard.  We quickly found our state room, 8058 on Deck 8, and began to get settled in.  Grandma, Grandpa and Grant stayed in the connecting stateroom, 8056.  There was a panel in the ceiling which opened up to become a bed a night, as well the coach with opened into a bed.  Every night when we came back after dinner, all the beds were out, and then our room attendant, Ekarat, folded them away while we were at breakfast.

We were also able to see the Disney Ship, Magic, from our balcony as it was unloading passengers.
 

  
We began to explore the ship, and made our way to the upper deck where we had lunch and and then briefly watched a "casting-off" performance by the crew. 

They had one of the pools covered up for the performance, and the other pool was very crowded, so we found the ship's water park where the kids played for awhile.
 

 

The kids decided they wanted to get in the pool, and Johanna and Julia tried out the water slide.
 

 

Julia doesn't seem to be quite as excited as Johanna.

Later on, we unpacked our bags and headed to our first nightly dinner reservation at 5:45 pm.  There were three restaurants on the boat which we rotated through during the week, but our waiters, Munir from Brazil, and Ruben from Portugal, followed us every night. After dinner, we went to watch a "Welcome" musical production/comedy ventriloquist show/introduction to the boat.  Afterward, we came up to our staterooms, and found the first of our nightly chocolates and Navigator, which told us all about the following day's activities.  We also received the tickets for our port adventures. Exciting!

 Cory took a look at the Navigator, and saw that Belle was scheduled to be out, so before bed, he took the girls to see her.

 We had a busy day, full of adventure, but it still took everyone a little while to settle down and fall asleep that first night.

 

Patient Appreciation Picnic 2013

On September 21st, Cory hosted his annual Patient Appreciation Picnic.  It was a beautiful day, and there was a great turn-out! Everyone enjoyed lots of yummy food and wonderful music (all provided by patients).  The kids especially enjoyed the playground, balloon making and face painting.

 

  

Uncle Andy and Cousin Cooper

Aunt Heather with Cooper