Disney Cruise Days 1 & 2

You guys.  We took a cruise and it has forever changed my thoughts on cruising the waters.  We had this trip planned for two years.  Our original trip was supposed to be in June, however, we had to change it and decided right before Christmas would be perfect.  And it was!

We flew out the day before our cruise and we're so glad we did.  There were so many cancellations because of weather, we might have missed our cruise.  Luckily we left just in time and arrived in Orlando to enjoy dinner and get a good nights rest before boarding our shuttle to the cruise the next morning.

When we arrived at the port, check-in was so easy.  We were actually boarding group 2, so we were able to walk right on the boat.

There was so much fun at the sailing away party.  Poor Sterling's little toes were stepped on by an overly excited teenager.  It was crowded and loud, but oh so fun!

We had late dining, which was at 8, but it worked for us.  We went to the shows or swam before dinner when it was less crowded.

On the morning of day 2, we stepped out on our balcony and enjoyed the sunrise in Nassau.  I loved having the balcony.  I read a book and just sat and relaxed while the kids played in the kids club.  They loved kids club!

We decided to not get off the ship on this day.  We wanted to enjoy the water rides and meet more characters.

The kids were invited to a dance party with some of the Disney Junior characters.  They had so much fun.

We found Santa and lots of characters to take pictures with.

Before dinner, Xander went to kids club (he didn't want to go with us) and the rest of us went to see Beauty and the Beast.  I thought it was going to be the newest movie that just came out.  No, it was a play.  And it was amazing!  We loved it!

The pool was so crowded.  We enjoyed the aqua duck and Mickey's Hand slide the most.  The kids went on the Mickey's Hand slide over and over for hours!  Nick wouldn't go on the aqua duck, so I had to take turns taking the kids because they weren't tall enough to go solo.  It was still fun, just a lot of line waiting for me ;)

Day 3 next...

Thanksgiving

We had the most memorable Thanksgiving.  We went to New York City!  Since forever ago, I've always wanted to go to the Macy's Day Parade.  We decided last minute that we were going to make it happen and I'm so glad we did!

We explored the city and walked around 10 miles every day.  It was worth all the complaining of little legs hurting ;)  They loved it too.  

There is just so much to do and not enough time.  But, we concurred everything we set out to do.

Central park

The Today Show viewing

Lego store

Horse buggy ride

The parade

Time Square

The Rockettes

A visit with Santa at Macy's

Target (it was so tiny in the city!)

Seeing all the lovely brownstones

It was a special weekend and I loved every minute of it.  Sterling ended up being sick one of the days, and then the next day Nick was sick.  Why are men so dramatic when they are sick?!  UGH.

The day after we returned home, my mom came to watch the kids while Nick and I headed out of town for the week.

Up next is something possibly even more fun.  How is that possible?!

Summer Fun & Back to School

We had such a fun and busy summer.  We traveled.  We visited with family and friends.  And we swam.  A lot.  

Experiencing the solar eclipse was pretty amazing for the kids.

We've had many tooth fairy visits.

It was fun meeting their new teachers and getting ready for their first day.  The first day can be nerve wrecking.  After finding out Sterling didn't get Xander's Kindergarten teacher, she was pretty nervous to go to school.  After meeting her teacher, she was ready.  I'm so glad they both received awesome teachers.

Play dates with friends are always fun.  Especially if you meet at a park.  

Field day was in the fall this year and it was especially fun.

Xander found a turtle in our backyard and loved it for a day.

Field trips are always fun when you go to a pumpkin farm with all your friends.

On Halloween Sterling was sick.  We only went to a couple houses and called it a win.

The Christmas tree went up really early this year.

to be continued...

14 months later

I'm coming back to blogging here and I'm excited!  I'll start by recapping the past 14 months over a couple posts.  We have some exciting, yet scary, things happening with our family.  I'll save those details for a later post ;)

Let's do this...

We had an unseasonably warm winter/spring last year so we spent a lot of time outside.  The kids started swim school and did awesomely.

Sterling turned 5!  On her birthday, I took her to American Girl and she had a dreamy day.  We ate lunch with her dolls and had fun shopping for new accessories for them.  We also had a friends party for her at Michael's Craft stores.  She had the best time and it was the easiest party ever.  

For career day, she wanted to be a gymnastics Olympic gold medalist.  

Xander turned 6!  He's such a snuggle bear that we took him to build-a-bear with his friends for a party.  It was the best idea ever!  

We registered Sterling for Kindergarten and she was so excited!

Attending the White House Easter Egg Roll was such a fun event.  It ended up being really hot, so we were a bit miserable at the end, but we still had a great time!  There were so many characters and games for the kids.  I'd highly recommend it.

Sterling graduated preschool and Xander finished Kindergarten.  We celebrated with Sweet Frog.

Sterling had her dance recital and she was the star of the show.  Front and center with a big smile.

We celebrated father's day and then headed to GA.

We picked up my niece and she stayed with us for the summer.  We had a great time with her staying with us.  She's such a sweet girl.

We hosted a fun Independence Day celebration.

We had sick days, rainy days jumping in muddy puddles, some fun trips, and lots of snuggles.

to be continued...