Wow. What a fantastic vacation with our family. Mary & Allyn (Bud & Yiyia), Allyson, Chris, Cally, Collin, & Ella Cook, Tisha, Greg, Brooke, & Kate Harris, and our family of four boarded the Disney Magic last Saturday afternoon for a week of fabulousness. :) The ship had activities and adventures going on continuously, all day long... from character sightings and origami lessons to wine tastings and Broadway-style shows. There was Bingo, Family Karaoke, amazing activities going on in the childcare center, movies like Oz the Great and Powerful and Wreck-It Ralph and Finding Nemo 3D showing on the big screen ...it was really incredible. We didn't get to do even an eighth of the things that the ship offered. Next time, next time! :) AND it was so clean! The cruise line was very aware of and concerned with the passengers' health and cleanliness and had us each sanitize our hands before eating. Every single time. And the entire ship was just clean...always vacuumed, no evidence of snacks or food being eaten anywhere...crew members always willing to help and take care of you. Customer service at its best. :) Here's the trip broken down into Days 1-6. Thanks to Mary and Allyn for a truly unbelievable vacation; it was a memorable experience for ALL of us!
About to start the process of boarding the ship!
Walker loves Cally.
Walker's nickname for the trip: "Walker 'I No Like _____ ' Harris." You could pretty much fill in that blank with any word. Some regulars that we heard: pants, shoes, socks, shorts, shirt, pool, drink, bathing suit, bath, food, "that," "this," "my cousins," walking, sitting. I love that sweet boy but my gosh, he was an emotional roller coaster on this vacation. Up and down, up and down, up and down. We've said from the beginning that we definitely do not have a laid-back, go-with-the-flow type of kid. We really accepted it on this trip! :)
Lainey and Ella, watching the opening ceremony as we were sailing away from the dock.
Cally and Brooke :)
the girls doing the Cupid Shuffle
Ella, Brooke, Cally, Kate, and Collin managed to get down close to the stage!
Lainey did great on the cruise. I think she lived solely on Sprite, dessert, French fries, and the occasional Mickey waffle. She also developed a bit of an attitude on the trip; I think she wanted to be big and independent and do things like her cousins and with her cousins. But she's only 4-1/2. She can't be big yet! She would do great during the day but then, after she hit that wall of exhaustion, would become a puddle of tears. She would go from smiling to bawling in about a nanosecond. I like to think her nickname on the cruise was "Lainey 'I'm NOT tired!' Harris." :)
Walker's trains were pretty much in his hands at all times. I didn't get many pictures from dinner the first night. We all were pretty tired and feeling nauseous from the boat's rocking. I thought it'd be wise to take some motion sickness medicine but that just made me feel exhausted and woozy! For like an entire day! THAT was terrible. I even had given the kids some and I think they felt the effects, as well. Anyway, next time, I'll deal with the nausea. The waters were so rough getting out of (and then back in) Galveston.
Ahh...the Mickey Bar. Like a Dairy Queen dipped cone in the shape of a Mickey Mouse with little Mickey Mouse sprinkles. I have such a new appreciation and fondness for Mickey and the gang after this trip! :) I think we had Mickey Bars every single night. Delicious!
