Nassau

The first port of call was Nassau, capital of the Bahama Islands. In Nassau we took a taxi to Ardastra Gardens and Zoo. I think that this was the perfect excursion for our family. The zoo was small, but it offered lots of up-close encounters with the few animals that it did have. There were a large number of birds at the zoo.

One of the things that we were able to do at the zoo was to participate in the feeding of the lory parrots. When we entered the aviary, we were given an apple slice. Before too long, Brian was able to lure a bird to his apple. Olivia didn't want to hold the bird, but she did want to make sure that the bird ate her apple and not Brian's.

One of the neat things about the zoo was that they let the flamingos roam around uncaged. These flamingos are apparently "world famous" because they "march" military-style and obey commands (like about-face). There was even a show to demonstrate how they do this. I really didn't see the "marching" part- it just looked like a guy herding the flock in one direction and then another to me. Maybe I just didn't know what to look for. Nevertheless, it was still a lot of fun. After the marching drill part of the show, some of the audience members were invited into the arena. Brian and Olivia went in, and Olivia got to get up-close-and-personal with a flamingo...

...and one flamingo got a little too up-close-and-personal with Brian. This flamingo was really checking Brian out! We left the zoo shortly after the show. Brian and his mom took the kids back to the boat while I stayed in Nassau to shop and visit some of the historic and government sites (like the Parliment Building and the Queen's Staircase).


This day ended with a delicious meal at Animator's Palate. This was my favorite restaurant on board. The room starts off in black-and-white and "animates" as you eat. At the end of the meal everything is in color. After eating, Owen went to the nursery again while Granny Mel and I took Olivia to see that night's show- which was a stage version of Toy Story.

Mickey & Pals

While I was filling out the end-of-cruise questionnaire/survey, I took particular notice of one question. The question asked me if I had experienced a "WOW" moment on the cruise and if so describe it. I answered that my favorite moments were those when I got to see my daughter interact with the Disney characters. It was truly magical. We spent a good portion of our trip looking for the characters, and I believe that Olivia successfully met all of them- many more than once. The only person that Olivia refused to meet was Captain Hook. Whenever we saw a Disney character, Olivia's face would light up. She would wait patiently in line. When her turn to meet the character came she would run up to them with open arms and hug them. Sometimes she even kissed them. We have tons of character pictures. I am not going to post them all, but here are a few of my favorites.

The first character that we met while on the ship was Minnie. Minnie is Olivia's favorite, so she was thrilled to meet her. We actually ended up visiting Minnie on three seperate occasions- this picture is of the first meeting.

We were finally able to track down Donald and Daisy on the last night. Donald is my favorite, so I love this picture. Olivia was also able to meet both Cinderella and Snow White twice.

I think that Brian and I were as starstruck by the characters as Olivia was. Whenever we saw one coming we'd get all excited, too. The wonderful thing about being on such a (relatively) small boat was that you were bound to run into one when you least expected it. Case in point, on the day-at-sea I was holding Owen and looking at pictures in the onboard photo studio. I sensed that someone was behind me playing with Owen. I turned around and who did I see? It was Alice (in Wonderland).

You'll probably notice that I have not posted pictures of Owen with any of the characters. I think that he was scared of them, so we did not make him go to meet them if he didn't want to (and he never really wanted to).

Passing Muster

If you've been on a cruise before then you know that nothing fun occurs until after the muster drill. Our muster drill was not a great experience. Owen and Olivia both hated the life vests- add to it the alarms, hundreds of people, and having to be still and quiet for a period of time and you have a recipe for a breakdown (which Olivia did). It got so bad that a crew member finally said that one of us could leave the drill early and take Olivia back to the room. Below is a video of the kids prior to the drill. I think it clearly illustrates the problem with the life vests.


Immediately following the muster drill was the sail away party. It was a lot of fun. There was singing, dancing, and confetti (a piece of which is stuck on Brian's head in this photo). Olivia was recovering from the traumatic muster drill experience, so she was still trying to adjust during much of the sail away party. She did lighten up a little when Mickey and his friends joined the celebration. As the ship pulled away, it blew the horn. To my suprise, the ship's horn played "When You Wish Upon a Star". How cool!

After the sail away party, we let the kids run around in the splash zone before going to the room. I think that getting wet helped to put Olivia in a better mood.

By dinner time, everyone was in a much better mood. There are three regular dining rooms on the Wonder, so we got to eat at a different one every night (with only one repeat). On the first night we ate at "Triton's", which is the most formal of the three. All of the food on the ship was fantastic- and there was plenty of it. Following dinner Owen went to the nursery, and the rest of us went to the nightly show. On this night, the show was the "Golden Mickeys" which was an Academy Awards-like show that gave awards to the "best" of Disney (best villian- Cruella Deville, best buddies- Woody and Buzz, etc...). Each "winner" preformed a musical number when they accepted their award. It was a really cute show. This show marked the end of day one, and we all went back to the cabin for some much-needed sleep.

Ready to Cruise

We have just returned from our Spring Break Cruise on board the Disney Wonder. This was a fantastic vacation! Our 4-night adventure took us to two islands in the Bahamas. Now that I'm back, I must say that 4 nights were not enough. Disney certainly knows how to treat their guests! I guess it goes without saying that I will be publishing several posts chronicling our trip.




The vacation began last Saturday. We left the house after lunch and drove to Cape Canaveral, FL. We weren't going to board the ship until Sunday, so we stayed the night at the Radisson Resort. The kids were tired and hungry after the drive. Fortunately, we met up with Brian's mom and Charlie quickly. Note to self: going on vacation with grandparents is great- extra eyes and hands are very helpful.


After eating breakfast the next morning, we still had some time to kill before boarding the shuttle to go to the cruise ship. We passed the time by walking around the resort. Olivia enjoyed feeding the fish in the koi pond, and Owen was just glad to be outdoors. We checked out at noon and boarded the shuttle. Olivia started getting really excited at this point because she realized that she was about to go on "Mickey's Boat".

Swamp Run

This morning I participated in the Swamp Run 10K. This was my first 10K, and I'm a little tired this afternoon. I ran a decent race and finished in 58:25. My goal was 60 minutes, so I'm thrilled with this time. The race was held at Laura Walker State Park, and the course was great. Part of the course ran around a lake, and another portion was on a nature trail. It was a true cross-country adventure. In this picture, I'm about to cross the finish line (which is good because I do not think that I could have gone another step). My cousin, Thomas, has really gotten into racing since going with me last time, and he also ran today. He did well enough to earn a trophy.


After the 10K race, there was a 1-mile fun run. Brian, Olivia, and Bailey ran in it. Want to guess who finished dead last? That would be runners #530 and #531 (Brian and Olivia). Olivia "ran" pretty much the whole way, though. Brian said that what really slowed them down was Olivia's fascination with the lake. Apparently, their course ran by the lake at two different points, and Olivia didn't want to go away from the lake once she got near it.



Eventually, everyone made it across the finish line and received medals for completing the run. All things considered, the race was a lot of fun.

P.S. Brian wants it to be known that had he not been with Olivia, he would have finished at the top of the pack.

Owen's First Birthday

Today was Owen's first birthday. It's hard to believe that he is already a year old. Time really flies! We had a family party this afternoon to celebrate the big occasion. The first picture here shows the birthday boy with his party hat and personal cake. Owen really liked his cake, but I think that more got on his face than in his mouth.

Owen received a lot of nice gifts. He hadn't quite gotten the hang of opening them, but Ava and Olivia were more than happy to help him out. I think that Owen actually got a little overwhelmed at one point, but he managed to get through. The present that Brian and I got for him was a baby swing. And where did we put that swing?---On our new swingset, of course. It just so happened that one of last year's swingset models turned up on a truck at Brian's work last week. Since the set was an older model, it had been marked down- way down. Brian was able to get a really good deal on it, and so we had an extra little birthday surprise for our kids. They enjoyed playing on it, and we are looking forward to using it a lot this spring and summer.

Eight Years and Counting

Warning: This is going to be really sappy.

To My Dear and Loving Husband

By Anne Bradstreet

If ever two were one, then surely we.

If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee;

If ever wife was happy in a man,

Compare with me ye women if you can.

I prize thy love more then whole mines of gold,

Or all the riches that the East doth hold.

My love is such that rivers cannot quench,

Nor ought but love from thee, give recompence.

Thy love is such I can no way repay,

The heavens reward thee manifold I pray.

Then while we live, in love let's so presevere,

That when we live no more, we may live ever.