Back to the Island-Double Dip Delight!Western COMPLETE~Cruising with a baby w/PICS!

[ntheory]

Originally Posted by nenner1

Meee too. (sigh). I just can not believe that A. Its over and B. that's its almost Thanksgiving already...where does the time go!!!

Okay everyone....I promise there will be more good stuff to come. I have quite a bit of work to do before I get to the Grand Cayman segments (2 more). I really, really, really want to edit and post my video but it is going to take a lot of work for me to get that done. I had Nero (video ripping and editing software, paid $80 for it last year (on my old laptop) come to find out even though I paid for it, I paid for version 7.09.01.44.325.0.999 which, as you can imagine is impossible to find for download (nope can't just download the new (or older) version it has to be that specific one...so long story short I'm kindof hung up on it, finding another program (preferably free since I already wasted $80)....I have downloaded Wax and I am going to try it out. SO basically how successful I am at that determines the pacing of the next few episodes. I am working diligently so I promise it won't be too long, though!

I can't believe it, either. I've got to get my Christmas shopping done....

That's got to be frustrating. I had Nero for a while, but I wasn't nuts about it. I need to find a good program to compress so that I can upload on the web. Let me know what you think about WAX.

And ... we can wait. Just draws our vacation out just a little longer.

[Alice_on_WONDERland]

Can I just say that little baby of your is quite possibly one of the cutest babies I have EVER seen! (Trust me, I should know - my son was THE cutest child ever to walk/crawl the face of this planet, so that qualifies me as a good judge of baby-cuteness!)

[MAGICFOR2]

Nice update! What beautiful sunrise pics! We slept so soundly when we cruised that we never caught a sunrise, except back to Cape Canaveral

Sarah really is a beautiful baby! Looks like she's a really easy going baby, too!

Brunch at Palo looks delicious - I'm getting hungry. Your server ain't too shabby either!

[nenner1]

Originally Posted by anewmac

let me know how you like WAX... i have microsoft video whatever that comes with XP and its ok but a pain at times

Originally Posted by ntheory

That's got to be frustrating. I had Nero for a while, but I wasn't nuts about it. I need to find a good program to compress so that I can upload on the web. Let me know what you think about WAX.

And ... we can wait. Just draws our vacation out just a little longer.

Ok I'll let you guys know how it works out....I haven't had a chance to mess with it yet, hopefully I'll get into it before the end of the week....Depends on how easy of a week I have at work if I feel like doing anything or not...

Originally Posted by Alice_on_WONDERland

Can I just say that little baby of your is quite possibly one of the cutest babies I have EVER seen! (Trust me, I should know - my son was THE cutest child ever to walk/crawl the face of this planet, so that qualifies me as a good judge of baby-cuteness!)

Awwww! Thank you so much. I happen to think she is one of (if not THE) cutest baby ever too but I might be biased!

Originally Posted by MAGICFOR2

Nice update! What beautiful sunrise pics! We slept so soundly when we cruised that we never caught a sunrise, except back to Cape Canaveral

Sarah really is a beautiful baby! Looks like she's a really easy going baby, too!

Brunch at Palo looks delicious - I'm getting hungry. Your server ain't too shabby either!

Oh, you'll notice I missed the sunrise myself! Hmmm....I always do!
Sarah...She is actually a party animal. She did great on the cruise, all the pretty bright lights, loud sounds, and big headed characters....But if we are just spending a day at home she gets bored and restless if there is no stimulation for her. Gotta take that child out to Target or somewhere to shut her up...can't imagine where she got that .

Sebastain was great! I highly recommend requesting him as a server if you are going to be in Palo. Yeah those pictures are making me drool, too...I'll just go back to my oatmeal now....

[anewmac]

Originally Posted by nenner1

Gotta take that child out to Target or somewhere to shut her up...can't imagine where she got that .

Sebastain was great! I highly recommend requesting him as a server if you are going to be in Palo. Yeah those pictures are making me drool, too...I'll just go back to my oatmeal now....

I knew I loved Sarah.. kid after my own heart... lol E usually knows I shut up in Targe' also LOL

I Sebastion he was our server too and such a cutie...

[nenner1]

After gorging ourselves yet again at Palo, we headed back to the rooms to drop off the food for the kids. We found our FE exploding with goodies. All of our Dis friends had obviously been busy this morning.



After unloading everything we headed to the clubs to get the kiddos. Brendan was down in Animator’s Palate doing the “Goofin’ around with Animation” activity. Savannah was doing Flubber with the Club kids so we checked on Brendan first. Not surprisingly he wasn’t interested in leaving this activity, so instead we headed up to see if Savannah was ready. She was, and proudly showed off her flubber and the picture she made during free time:




Sarah still had a while to go in Flounders so we headed back down to see how the animation was progressing. They weren’t quite done so we headed out to the deck 4 promenade. We relaxed in the comfy blue lounge chairs and wasted time making good use of the photo ops.

A shout out to the nice lady who took this picture for us:



We went back inside and browsed through our pictures in Shutters. We made a nice stack of our shots, which was easy since we didn’t have too many yet. We scoured the shelves intently looking for the beach shots from Castaway Cay. We quickly found Brendan’s and Savannah’s but none of the shots of Sarah. When we were sure we had canvassed every single shot on the walls and knew we did not just overlook them, we asked at the desk if any CC shots had not yet been printed. They said they had all been done, and handed over a proof sheet to look over. When we finally found where the pics of Sarah should have been (which was easy since they would have been in the middle of the pics of the rest of us), there was nothing there. We determined the photographer must have deleted the shots of Sarah. That was a big disappointment.

Finally it was time for the animation activity to be done. It was already early afternoon, and the pools were calling us. While the kids finished the activity, we took some pics of me in my black & white outfit in the Animator’s Palate foyer...but since I look bloated as a whale from my brunch and have a silly champagne-enhanced grin on my face in all of them I will decline to post them.

Brendan had an absolute blast goofin’ around with animation. Here you can see the big picture of goofy they were instructed in drawing, and Brendan’s finished creation:





It was now time to go get Sarah. We had hoped to get in some adult pool time before having to pick her up but it just didn’t work out. Back to the rooms to change into our bathing suits, and when we opened the door…….a surprise! There were five lime green wrapped boxes on our bed!

Secret Mickey was here!!!!

The kids went straight for the gifts and it was pretty much impossible to corral them and stop the carnage. This is why we don’t have a picture of the boxes still wrapped. (Sorry!) They tore into them and produced red Lenox boxes. Quick as lightning those were opened too and out came absolutely gorgeous Mickey and Minnie Mouse Ears ornaments, personalized in gold with each of the kids’ names!

Ron and I were not left out; we each had Mickey Mouse birthstone ornaments. They were absolutely stunning and we were so delighted! As soon as I saw them I previously remembered the Secret Mickey anonymously asking if we celebrated Christmas, and I have to say this was just the best idea ever. You see, on our Christmas tree there are no plain glass balls. Every single ornament on our tree is personal and special and the must-have souvenir anytime we go someplace is a Christmas ornament for our tree. They date all the way back to 1982, when I bought my first ornament out of the Avon catalog at 8 years old. There could have been no better gift for all of us, and for me especially.

As soon as I stopped to think about it for a second though, I was hit with a fleeting wave of horror….there was no way these ornaments were under the Secret Mickey “Limit” of $25. Ron turned to me and said, “So it is $25/per person allotment!” And I said No! Well…I didn’t think so….well….maybe….hmmm. I would have to find Drea or Kimberly quick to verify that I had not misunderstood!

Sorry I could not get a better close-up of them…







Now, at the time we noted our Secret Mickey had not revealed themselves. I wondered if they were going to, or had planned on keeping their generosity a mystery. Of course we wanted to be sure and give them a proper thank you, so now we wondered anxiously if we should wait for the big reveal or use our amateur sleuthing skills to figure it out on our own.

Actually, I have to admit we were pretty sure we had already figured it out. Remember, our Secret Mickey had placed magnets on our door, and they were unique magnets. They had a nice scalloped edge on them. The day before Ron and Brendan had been cruising round Deck 6 admiring all the magnets and door decorations and FE’s. Ron thought he found magnets that were similar to those placed on our door back on 6 aft. He took me past the door, and I looked at those and wasn’t quite sure they really matched up to what we had on ours. And wouldn’t you know, as we walked back forward to our rooms and we passed 6048, I gasped “LOOK!” and pointed at the magnets on the door. It was a match. And we looked up and saw the names….it was Denise and her family (RJandMKsmommy). Now, we couldn’t be positive without confirmation from the horse’s mouth but we were pretty certain. Now the dilemma, do we wait or do we proactively thank them….hmmmm…

We love them….THANK YOU, SECRET MICKEY!!




After the delight of our Christmas in September, we changed clothes in to pool wear. The kids paused in the room long enough to chow down the Palo leftovers. Didn’t they just eat in the clubs???





Up on deck 9, the kids made a beeline for the Mickey pool…and slide.
It had gotten a bit overcast and we were surprised to find two chairs right by the pool.



It was pretty dead for a sea day:






Sarah chills out:



The Goofy pool wasn’t too bad either:


This much open space in the Goofy bathtub-er, pool is hard to come by:






The kids ran back and forth between the pools and had a blast. Sarah finally woke up and decided to join the party.





Not long afterwards it started to sprinkle. Most people stayed put, but I knew what was coming and grabbed a table under the deck overhang. Sure enough, as soon as I did, downpour! There was a mass exodus from the pool area, and everyone was scrambling for a table.

Luckily I had the foresight to get one when I did!




After our lovely gifts we were all in a great mood no rainstorm was going to dampen!

Up next: Quietly Making Noise

[TheDisneyGirl02]

I just want to give Sarah a HUGE hug through the computer!!!!! So glad to see an update!!!!

[rkandmjsmommy]

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad that all of you liked your secret Mickey gifts and I SWEAR to you they were within the $25 limit, we live about 10 minutes from the Lexon outlet and each ornament was $5, I PROMISE, I dont like to give out how much I spent but I would have been feeling nervous had I received them!
I have to tell everyone else that Jen had tears in her eyes when I finally admitted it was us, Man they are good detectives. I was so excited that they liked them! Those gifts never left my side from the minute we left home (phila) until the minute we placed them in the room. i was glad Jen and her family drove I hoped the would have room and less chance of breaking!
P.S. Sarah is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO stinking adorable!

[anewmac]

I love hearing how people revealed their gifts and what they did. Also how do you remember all this.. thank god I had a laptop with us to type some of it up cuz by now.. the old noggen is getting kind of fuzzy LOL add the alcohol and my memory is SHOT lol

btw I Sarah is adorable.... the other kids too of course. P says he thinks he remember seeing Savannah in the clubs one time... maybe he said LOL

[nenner1]

Originally Posted by TheDisneyGirl02

I just want to give Sarah a HUGE hug through the computer!!!!! So glad to see an update!!!!

Right back atcha! She bites now, though. Gotta watch out for that tooth!

Originally Posted by rkandmjsmommy

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad that all of you liked your secret Mickey gifts and I SWEAR to you they were within the $25 limit, we live about 10 minutes from the Lexon outlet and each ornament was $5, I PROMISE, I dont like to give out how much I spent but I would have been feeling nervous had I received them!
I have to tell everyone else that Jen had tears in her eyes when I finally admitted it was us, Man they are good detectives. I was so excited that they liked them! Those gifts never left my side from the minute we left home (phila) until the minute we placed them in the room. i was glad Jen and her family drove I hoped the would have room and less chance of breaking!
P.S. Sarah is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO stinking adorable!

I would like to say there is no WAY I believe you about the cost of the ornments, but I know you wouldn't lie so..! I was so sure that it was $25/pp and that I had messed up (of course we hadn't actually bought our SM's stuff yet since we knew what we were getting them could only be purchased onboard, so we could have spent the extra $75 or so still! I didn't find Drea until several days later but I had pulled Kimberly aside at dinner that night to make sure. I think I also bugged Amy and Val about it too! What a great idea that was though. When I saw them I was surprised they made it all the way down in perfect condition like that...you did good! And you did a great job getting them in the room like that, we didn't notice you hanging around the area conspicuously or anything. That was one of the things that conerned me most when we went to deliver ours. Although it turned out to not be an issue, I was still suprised to get the crazy "What are you doing dropping off suprise gifts in these people's rooms when they are not there" look from the SR Host, though.

I'll post some pics when we get the tree up. Hopefully this weekend!

And thanks so much again!

Originally Posted by anewmac

I love hearing how people revealed their gifts and what they did. Also how do you remember all this.. thank god I had a laptop with us to type some of it up cuz by now.. the old noggen is getting kind of fuzzy LOL add the alcohol and my memory is SHOT lol

btw I Sarah is adorable.... the other kids too of course. P says he thinks he remember seeing Savannah in the clubs one time... maybe he said LOL

Yeah, as time is going by I am having a harder and harder time remembering all the little details. Having so many pictures helps me keep the general timeline straight but I didn't take any notes...so if by day 6 the installments are like a paragraph long you'll know why! Just last night Ron & I were discussing which days we saw what movies and I had it all wrong. Whoopsie. Not that anyone would have cared when we saw Wall-E and when we saw Beverly Hills Chihuaua.

Yeah when I read your segment about P & J doing flubber I realized they were probably there the same time as Savannah. It just won't be the same next time cruising without my peeps!

[Freddyfishstix]

Great report! Are sure your youngest isn't named Delaney . We are taking our first cruise in April. Spring break 7 day Magic Eastern. Hopefully the first of many!

[nenner1]

Originally Posted by Freddyfishstix

Great report! Are sure your youngest isn't named Delaney . We are taking our first cruise in April. Spring break 7 day Magic Eastern. Hopefully the first of many!

Well....Alllright Freddy! You know I love your screen name. My husband is "Livingis2me" when he posts...lol....I should have been Marvin Gardens!

And I will admit we considered "Delaney" as a middle name but that might have been too stalkerish. (Lol, Savannah's middle name isn't Jane either). Back in the mid 90's we did go "hang out" outside Bubba's West Palm Beach house. Walked on his private beach and took pictures.

Anyhoo, thanks for reading and yes..you will really enjoy your first cruise! They are addicting!

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

I have loved reading your trip report!!! we were Intially supposed to be on this cruise and then went in Feb 2008 instead. I can see I am wishing I was on with all of you...you seem a blast. I love those lenox ornaments...I will have to hunt for them. Thank you for sharing. Keep it coming

[nenner1]

Originally Posted by ForTheLoveOfDCL

I have loved reading your trip report!!! we were Intially supposed to be on this cruise and then went in Feb 2008 instead. I can see I am wishing I was on with all of you...you seem a blast. I love those lenox ornaments...I will have to hunt for them. Thank you for sharing. Keep it coming

Hi Michelle!

Its too bad you did not end up sailing with us. This sure was a great group. I totally understand your taking the opportunity to cruise sooner, though!

Thanks for reading!

[livingis2me]

Please update!!!!