Boy does he know me or what?

I had a birthday a couple of days ago and to appease my five kids we did the whole blow out the candle on the cake custom. Well of course I made a silent wish. I would hate for a wish to go wasted. After I finished Ryan looked at me and said "a seven day really". As in a 7 day disney cruise. It just surprised me that he was so right on. Anyone who truly knows me probably would have guessed. I just hope that it didn't ruin my wish since he guessed it. But if it did I guess he can make my wish come true. He's made so many come true already why not one more.

Spring Break 2012

I have been sick for the last few weeks so between that and just not planning we were not at all busy during spring break.  I feel bad for my kids it has been boring and I have very little energy. It is a good thing they can enterain themselves. Dressing up is always fun but it is funnest in mom's old dress.

Next year I really need to have something planned. Derek was getting so bored he was ready to put the dress on. It is crazy that the same dress looks so different to me on each kid. Each one seemed to bring their own personality to it. But the most amazing thing is if Irelee really wants to wear this for her own wedding (unless Jenna gets married first and takes it) it won't take much to alter it for her.  I think I can wait another ten years for that though. Ryan keeps telling me six.

15th Anniversary Disney Cruise

Ryan and I flew into Orlando, Florida late on the night of Jan. 25th. We arrived around 10pm.  The next morning we needed to be on the boat for our anniversary cruise. We were both so excited but after the plane ride we were tired. The bed at the hotel was not very comfortable but we had to get some sleep. We woke up at 6am (4am Utah time). We were tired but excited to go. We were able to get breakfast at the hotel and then we took the shuttle back to the airport where we could check in for the cruise. Many people just check in at the cruise port but it was so much faster and easier to check in at the Disney desk there in the airport. We couldn't wait to get our cruise started and because we were there early we were able to get the first bus out.

We got this boarding pass. The boarding pass is how they regulate the order of getting on the bus. Concierge goes first and then 1 and so on so 2 was a really good number.

We didn't have to wait to long as soon as the bus was full we were able to leave and it filled up quickly. Let the fun begin!

Ryan took this from the bus as we were pulling in.

The rooms are not ready until 1:30pm so we walked around the ship and played a little goofy golf.

There were diagrams and everything but it didn't seem to help.

Ryan decided to read up on how to improve his game. See he knows how to waste time on vacation.

I am so happy I don't have to wash dishes this big everyday but we had to pay for our cruise in some way.

We tried on the life vests like good kids. I am just happy you no longer have to wear them to the life boat drill anymore.

We got back from the drill and watched from the veranda. Only Jodie and anyone who has seen Three Amigos would know why I'm laughing right now. People were on the shore waving goodbye to us.

We didn't know what else to do before dinner so we went to the spa tour. Ryan was already relaxed. When we do another couples cruise the spa will be a definite.

I know this picture is a little dark but this was our room. It wasn't huge but for the two of us it was perfect.

The food is so delicious. The first night I didn't see a dessert that I really wanted so I asked the server if I could get a creme brulee. He was so great, he brought me two so I shared a little bit with Ryan. This may be the reason I gained seven pounds in one weekend. It was so worth it!

Every night we would retire to our stateroom and find our room tidy and a cute towel animal waiting on the bed for us.

                     We had fun decorating our door. It was never hard to tell which one was ours.

             This was the beginning of our second day.  We took this while standing on our balcony.

  

       It was so nice to live like a queen for a few days.

And I would not replace this king for anything in the world.

As a kid I was known as the picky eater. I have tried to develop a more sophisticated palate since then. I ate snails! I probably won't do it again they had a strange texture.  I will try anything once as long as it won't kill me and it's legal.

When they asked us what we were celebrating we told them our anniversary so they brought this out and sang to us.

The head server and assistant server had a few tricks up their sleeves. It was fun. I know it is hard to see but there are two toothpicks.  One is in the cork and the other is between the fork prongs. The two toothpicks make up a right triangle. Either we are really easy to entertain or this was an extraordinary fete.

Ryan saw this and decided he had figured out where all of Charlie's shoes disappear to. Every dining room was spectacular but we were having too much fun to stop and take pictures all the time.

This was the day we stopped at Castaway Cay. We had to ask other people to take our picture for us. I am wondering if this person was a professional. It is the best picture of the whole group. With the exception of the extra person in the background.  You can't have it all.

We only spent a few hours off the ship. We had this taken on our way back from Serenity Bay. Serenity Bay is a 18 and older beach so we will not be able to visit when we have our kids with us.

This was the view of Castaway Cay that we had from our veranda.

This was our last night. We were in Animator's Palate. It is so neat. Throughout dinner Crush and other characters of Finding Nemo swam in and out of the screens and talked to different people in the dining room.

This was the animal that was waiting for us on our last night.

The trip was great. Things I loved: being alone with my true love, creme brulee, acting like a kid and having Ryan relax and act like one too, being immersed in Disney, being away from my children for a short while. Things I didn't like: being away from my kids, having such a short trip, having to fly hours to get to the destination.

Well now I just have to wait until our twentieth when we cruise to Alaska!

Stay tuned

Soon Ryan and I will be on our anniversary cruise and I just can't wait. Ryan had wanted a 4-wheeler forever. I had many reasons for him not getting one. He thought I was just being mean. I tried to compromise with him and tell him if we had six kids he could have a 4-wheeler. I knew he wouldn't go for it so I still had the upper hand. I am known for letting Ryan have everything his heart desires so it was nice to have one thing that kept the ball in my court. I guess I didn't want to look like a pushover. Everyone has their price though. While we were on our last cruise I mentioned to Ryan it would be nice to rebook and have a nice couples only cruise. He wanted it just as much as I did but he saw his opportunity. If I let him have his 4-wheeler I could get my cruise. Truth is if we go dollar amount he owes me two more cruises. So I will be blogging my heart out about our fifteenth wedding anniversary soon and I hope to have lots of pictures and tons of great things to say.

Okay Kim you asked for it!!!!!!!!!!

My good friend and Derek's preschool teacher has been hounding me about not finishing my trip blog. Yes, I know that this is coming quite late but I got busy with school, kids activities, and my computer wasn't cooperating when I tried to blog. So thanks for the gentle push and I will try to do better.

We got off the ship and went back to Epcot.  This was the only character line we waited more than five minutes in because it was so important for Jenna. She loves Tinkerbell.

Tinkerbell was very funny and very cooperative. Jenna has a pin on her lanyard with Minnie Mouse dressed as Tinkerbell. When Tinkerbell saw the pin she asked Jenna "What's that mouse doing wearing my dress?" then she asked Jenna if she looked better in it than the mouse and Jenna said "Of course."

That night we had reservations at the Biergarten in Germany. Ryan was so excited to taste German food again and he wanted all of us to try it also. It was fun and tasty. As you can see the glasses were huge.

There was a band playing and they invited people to come up and dance no one else went so Irelee and Jenna had the dance floor to themselves. It was a good thing too, they dance a little bit crazy.

Our last morning we had reservations at Chef Mickey's. It was nice to see the characters but we aren't planning on going back. We have plenty of other favorites.

If you look closely, yes Jenna's eyes are crossed. She has too much of her mother in her. If you tell her that though you will have a fight on your hands!

We thought Danica would be excited to see Minnie. She talked about her constantly before the trip but I guess she was just hungry.

These next few pictures are cheesy but everyone has there traditions. Ryan wanted to get a picture of the kids running towards him on the Swiss Family tree house bridge. The very last picture is quite shocking.

Charlie

Jenna

Irelee

Derek



Are you ready for this?

This is the picture that started it all. The first time we were in Disneyworld May 2008.  Danica was even there but I was only 10 weeks pregnant with her. It amazes me how they change so much. All of these precious memories are why we keep going back!

So as Mickey says

"See ya real soon"  (but never soon enough).

Disney Cruise... Day 3 Braids, Skin, and hot girls

This morning we got ready to go out on Castaway Cay (pronounced key). The kids were excited to go out onto the beach. Castaway Cay is Disney's private island. It is clean and so very nice.

We stopped for a picture with Pluto in front of some really nicely decorated anchors.It was nice to have a shady spot for the kids to play in. We were really careful about the sun. We didn't want anyone coming back looking like Sebastian the crab.I loved all of the bright and vivid colors. It was a beautiful day. It is always a nice day for me when I get to see this handsome guy smile.

Irelee had no idea Ryan was behind her. You can tell he was relaxed and just having a good time.

The sand was so clean and white. Derek could have played in it for hours.Sometimes the picture that you thought didn't turn out is the one that you fall in love with.

It may be hard to see but Grandma was helping the kids make sand castles.I tried really hard not to hide from the camera this trip. I may be blindingly white but I didn't look that bad after all. I thought Vickie looked really nice. She managed a tan. WhooHoo sexy.They had a nice little spot for the kids to play in the water. There was a lot to do on the beach. We didn't even experience half of it.

On the island they have a place to eat called Cookies. It was nice to not have to go all the way back to the boat to get something to eat and drink. Ryan was having lots of fun making Danica laugh.One of our struggles on the trip was keeping Danica's hair out of her face. We let her get some braids and it was nice for the two days they lasted. Danica probably would have kept them in longer but Derek started pulling them out and she finished the job.She sat still so well while the lady made her braids. I loved them. It was so nice to see her pretty face.This picture was taken on our way back to the ship. There it is our beautiful DREAM.Ryan and Derek had to check out the cannon balls.

We got cleaned up and dressed for dinner. It was dress up night. There were some people in fancy clothes but with five kids this was as fancy as I wanted to get.We ate in the Enchanted Garden. Don't they look nice all dressed up.We didn't look to bad either.

The older girls all told me this was their favorite dining area on the ship.

I leaned into Ryan during the meal and told him I would like to get some pictures of all of us dressed up after dinner. Our sweet as could be server took us to these stairs and took the pictures for us.

She told the kids in her sweet accent to kiss their parents for bringing them on a cruise.

Then she told them to kiss your Grandparents.

We asked her if we could get a picture with her in it. There is a better picture of her in a previous post. all of the kids liked her. It usually takes Danica a while but she warmed up to her in no time.

Jenna got an extra souvenir on her face.

Our room was ready early that night.We went to our last theater show. The kids still had a little bit of candy left. Can you tell what kind Jenna had?"I'm just so happy to be here.""What do you mean we are getting off tomorrow?"