Ordinarily Wonderful

I really don't write a lot anymore. However today I feel compelled to do so. It wasn't because it was a grand day, party, or life milestone. It was actually, well, kinda ordinary.

I picked up a pizza on my way home from work. Then, our foursome gathered in the living room to watch the "Smurfs" which was free on demand. Not five minutes into the movie, we heard Mister Softee outside, so Aubs and I ran to get some. All the kids in the neighborhood were excited since we hadn't seen him all winter long.

Aubreigh couldn't wait to get a twist with sprinkles and we bought her brother the same. It was rather chilly so we ran back in the house to eat it. Of course Michael had a ball eating it. It was his first official Mr. Softee all to himself.

Of course I took a few pictures and then I could see that Michael was getting tired. I put a blanket and pillow and laid on the floor with him. It is this that I hope to never forget.

He was sticky and smelled of a combination of chocolate ice cream and papa johns pineapple pizza. He also had a random strawberry stuck in his clothes from the fruit he had after dinner.

Of course I took a wet paper towel to him a few times, but he was the sticky hands, dried hard streak of ice cream in his hair , a smidge of pizza sauce on the chin boy that I loved. I loved it even more when he would give me the big belly laughs as I tickled him, or as he pointed to different parts of the movie when Gargamel came on. And we snuggled.....for over a half hour. He was growing into a big boy now. But he was still my baby. And this baby boy was usually non stop all over the place!

Whenever I am away at work or out and about and I think of him, the first thing that comes to mind is scooping him up, tickling his belly, squeezing him to "reeces pieces" and smelling whatever meal had made its way into his hair, hands and face that day.

As he was getting tired, I asked if he wanted to go "night night" which he did and he started up the steps just as I suggested. I kissed him good night and tucked him in with his blankie.

Darren tucked Aubreigh into bed, but I had to go and give her a little snuggle as well. She was in a pleasant mood, despite the fact that she wasn't thrilled that it was her bedtime already.

She found some toy catalog that had come in the mail and was reading it while I tiredly lay beside her drifting off. I gave her a big squeeze and said "I love you"....and then in a squeaky, low whisper she said "I love you too mommy". My heart melted. I didn't realize I would get a response.

We laid there cuddling for a while. I was rather tired, and figured that I would just shut my eyes a bit. And that was when the compulsion began. This day was so very ordinary.....yet so very wonderful. I just had to write about it.

I hope to never forget cuddling that sticky sweet boy or hearing that wonderful mousey whisper from my little angel. And these are the very reasons why I will never take being a mother for granted.

DIsney Cruise Day 4: Sea Day

I chose the 4 day over the 3 day cruise to have a sea day. When I used to book cruises, I used to think that a sea day would be boring. However, it is just the opposite. There is usually so much to do, and if you don't want to do it, you can just relax!

The first thing I did that morning was go check out the nursery and kids club. They have a few limited times where they are open to the public (and not in session) for adults to check them out. The nursery was nice, had a bunch of toys for the tots to play with, but the Oceaneers club was AMAZING. They had all these areas for the kids to hang out in. My favorite was the life size "Andy's room" from toy story. It was so cool and there was so much to play with. They also had a tinkerbelle station with princess costumes and computer, a light up dance floor, a Monsters Inc lab, and something with Nemo as well. I remember thinking to myself that Aubreigh had missed out by not being left there at some point.

That morning after breakfast, I finished buying up a few souveniers in the gift shop. I got a cute Candyland Disney game, a watch for my mother in law, a stuffed Minnie and Mickey (how could you not?), and a nice Disney Cruise photo album to keep all of our memories in--because I am the obsessive compulsive camera picture taker.

Then we got in line early for the Incredibles Jack Jack Diaper Dash. It is a crawling baby contest and I knew that Michael would excel in it since he was 16 months and still NOT WALKING.

The diaper dash was a lot of fun. There were 10 babies, who were no match for Michael. He won his first heat without a problem. In the other heat, there was a twin by the name of Tobias who looked like he could give Michael a challenge. However, when all was said and done, Michael blew him out of the water and took home the medal (in the shape of Mickey Mouse of course). Definitely something for his memory box.

Then we headed up to ride the Aqua Duck. It is a water coaster on the newer ships. The line is usually pretty long and I expected it would be ridiculous on the sea day, but heck, I had to ride the Aqua Duck. I did probably wait a bit over 30 min. but the line wasn't that bad. I can usually amuse myself by people watching. I also had a good view of the ship and noticed a cute goofy mini golf course. We never got to play because there was not enough time.

The Aqua duck was a lot of fun. Not scary at all. I much preferred it to the salt water rush up my nose from the Pelican Plunge at Castaway Cay. Darren preferred Pelican Plunge, so I guess he likes a fast thrill that surely clears out the sinuses. I would have rode it again if I had another sea day or the line wasn't so long. I think you have to be 42 inches to ride with an adult. If you don't weigh enough you can apparently get stuck in the slide. My sisters had to wait forever in line because a person a head of them got stuck.

The kids played around the splash pad and in the Mickey Pool. I was a bit worried that I would be cold up on deck since it was only in the mid 70s, but I was fine--NOT CHILLED AT ALL. The pools are heated, and I believe the splash pad area was as well.

We came back to relax afterwards, pack, and get ready for our last dinner. Aubreigh and I also snuck in one last character meet and greet before dinner. They have a farewell party where Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisey, Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto stand around to take pics. They are only there for a brief period of time (Maybe 20-30 min), but we were lucky enough to hit all of them. We were doing mad dashes for the characters. We did miss out on Tinker Belle though. She had special time slots in a special section of the atrium with a back drop. We tried to get in line earlier that morning (were a little late because of the Diaper Dash), but they are very blunt and have a cast member who says who is the last family in line. I understand that this is needed, or the characters would be there forever! However, I think they could have longer appearances and more appearances. There is a section in the daily cruise report (the Navigator) which tells all the character times and appearances. I didn't realize Tink was so limited.

After Dinner we went to the show "Believe". It started off slow at first, but then got really good. Aubs loved it because there were princesses in the end.

Then we headed back to the room. Our signed pillowcases were waiting for us. I had taken them to guest services the first day to get signed by all the characters. Some other things people take are photo mats and t-shirts. You slip the fabric markers and pillow cases in a ziploc, along with some candy for the castmembers and they sign them for you. You can get all the characters, or just ones that you want (some boys don't like princesses, but I had Michael's pillowcase signed by them all).

One of the neat features of the Disney TV is that there are a TON of disney programs to watch. So that night I put on "The Parent Trap"--the original with Hailey Mills, not that Lindsay Lohan junk! Unfortunately I fell asleep quickly, so I never did get to finish it.

Tomorrow we were going home. My father had been released from the hospital and was going to meet us at the Airport. I was so glad that we ended up going. It really was a great trip despite all that happened. I am still super sad that my father wasn't there to experience our once in a lifetime trip, but at the same time I know that it happening at this particular time (being in Orlando at the biggest Cardiac Clinic in the nation) was not bad luck. It was fate. He needed to be there for his life to be saved.

Disney Dream Day 3 Part II Pirate Night

During the Disney Cruise, they designate one night as Pirate Night. I think it usually ends up being the day that you go to Castaway Cay (at least on the 4 night Dream).

When we got back to our staterooms after Castaway Cay, we were greeted with Mickey Mouse Pirate bandanas in our stateroom for everyone. I had made Aubreigh a special litte pirate outfit to wear for the party as well, and brought some pirate patches, but I totally forgot about them. When you are on the cruise there is just so much to do, and you don't want to miss ANYTHING!!! So sometimes you are in a rush and forget what you packed and where you packed it. Or it could also be that i planned and packed for all of us and my mind just couldn't hold it all in:)

We went to dinner that night, and as in Disney Fashion, the waiters were all decked out in their pirate fashions! That is one thing that I loved about the Disney Cruise. I loved that each night whether they were pirates or members of the royal palace, our waiters came to life. Our wait staff was just outstanding and exceptional to begin with, but this added a whimsical note. This is what the magic of Disney is all about. And if you really don't care about what the waiters wear, or how they entertain your children while you eat (they would actually do "air planes" with Michaels spoon to feed him, and even one time pushed his high chair around the restaurant for a ride), then maybe you won't get anything out of a disney cruise. However, to go out to a nice meal, and not really worry about your kids behaving(because there are kids everywhere) is just wonderful. And all the little touches, like Miguel our waiter making a Mickey Face with the ketchup he poured each time for Aubreigh, were priceless, and really added something special to the trip.

After dinner we went to the first Pirate Party. We had early dining, which for our family is key. The first Pirate Party is the character Dance Party. By the time we got there it was getting a little crowded, so we headed to the top deck. We didn't have the best view of the stage, however, we were right where a few characters came in, so it was still fun. At one point Smee (who is Captain Hooks assistant) started hugging my sister.

After that, we all went back to the rooms to rest for a bit. The big Pirate Dance Party with the Buccaneer Blast fireworks show was at 10:30pm. That was a bit late for us, but when on a disney cruise, you feel compelled to do everything! So we all went. The fireworks were ok. They weren't anything magical like the Castle at Disney, but still nice. The only thing I would recommend is to sit on the left side of the ship when facing the stage. The fireworks tend to go to the right side, so if you are directly beneath them, you won't have a great view.

After the fireworks, there was a dance party (hip hop type of stuff). Honestly, I preferred the character dance party more. I guess i am just a kid at heart as opposed to a club hopping twenty something. ANd if I did it again, and missed the fireworks, I would be ok with that too.

We headed to the fast food places and got some burgers and fries and snacks for a late night treat, because you always starve on a cruise....lol. Then we headed to our rooms for some must needed rest.

Tomorrow was a sea day. I had purposely scheduled a 4 day cruise for this reason. I wanted one day with no agenda....well sort of anyway:) And I needed to finally ride the Aqua Duck!