January 2024

 OBVIOUSLY our January centered around the Disney Fantasy Cruise...

and really there weren't that many more events.

Shane worked on Temples in... Bismark North Dakota, McAllen Texas and Columbia South Carolina.

I headed back to Orlando late on the 30th with Tayler, Mia and Max.

One thing I learned in January is that give me a hatchet... and I can throw it!

Kenna and Quincy took us to dinner and to Heber Hatchets as our Christmas Present.  It was so fun!

Now not EVERY round did I win.  Quincy was definitely a fantastic hatchet thrower as well.

But I did MUCH better than I thought I'd be able to.

There was lots of time with these cute babies!

There were Aggie Games...

Shane turned 52...

It looks like Max would LOVE just a nibble of that cake!

There was the "Annual Waffle Party"...  love you Grandma Floris!!

and... there was a whole bunch of randomness. haha

January flew by... which means we were having lots of fun.

Cuz January "flying by"... is not the norm. ;)

Disney Fantasy 2024

 We all wish we could replay this week again and again and again.

Truly the best!

Thanks mom and dad for providing this for us, it's an unrepayable gift to all of us!

Lydia and Jadyn both had countdowns on their phones... for LITERALLY a year.

About every two days I heard the update. ;)

January 12th we headed to the airport for our flight to Orlando.

We got in super late after a slightly delayed flight... about 2 am ET.

We were all happy to get up the next morning to head to the port though!

We boarded the ship and headed straight up to Cabanas.. my plate was heaped with crab, Shane's shrimp and Lydi, Jadyn had their favorite chicken strips and lots of other stuff.

We must have started out small... cuz this looks like an appetizer by the end of the week. haha

Our awesome room!

The girls ALL love visiting the kids club during the "open house". 

It's a must do for them!

Found C3PO there.

We spent more time exploring the ship...

Went to our first "Disney Trivia" of many...

Stopped by an Animation Class...

Had our first of many ice creams...

Attended the Sail Away Party on the deck...

Then had our first dinner at Animator's Palate...

These girls got their first "medal" by winning the Inside Out Game.

Pictures in the Lobby...

Lots more fun of course and then our first night sleeping in our room.

Day 2

Was a Sea Day... we all LOVE sea days on the Disney Cruise.  There's SO much to do and we can never fit it all in... but we try!

lots of food... 

Logan massages...

more Ice Cream...

a little mini golf...

Plenty of time in the sun and a visit with Merida...

Followed by Formal Night...

 

Awwww... how cute is this one??

There were several nights of late night foosball tournaments...

Day 3

We ported in Cozumel...

and took a "taxi" to.. 

We went here 2 years ago and had a great time.

The ocean

Water inflatables

Waterslides

and a pool

We had a fabulous day in the sun and left as it was getting cloudy.

Back on the ship we grabbed lunch... (I was happy to make it back on before they took the crab away!)

A few pics with some of our favorites...

We never found Mulan at Shanghai Disney... but we found her on the Disney Fantasy.

Dinner @ Royal Court

Every night was filled with a performance in the theater... Aladdin, Frozen and Disney's Believe.

+

Activities and shows in the "Tube". 

+

Trivia games

and ALWAYS more food for MOST of us @ Flo's.

Day 4

Today was a big day.

It started with the Princess Gathering in the lobby.

We sooooo missed Mia here... she would have LOVED it!

but these two were still "in awe" of the princesses. haha

After the Princess Party we headed to the Hey Howdy Breakfast with Woody and Friends.

Unfortunately not all of us got tickets to this.

They went really fast, but it was fun.

... then we were off to our second port destination Grand Cayman.

A taxi to Seven Mile Beach.

The beach might be 7 miles... but the part they dropped us off at had about 7,000 people in a "block".

hahaha

We had a great time in the water, it was pretty hot in Grand Cayman so the water felt fantastic.

But we didn't last long and headed back to the ship.

That night was PIRATE NIGHT!

The night when our whole family pretends like we love pirates for a couple hours. ;)

First dinner at Animator's and the creating our "own animations".

Pictures with Jack Sparrow...

Goofy...

Donald...

and more pirate backgrounds. ;)

Then the deck party with a show, fireworks and dancing.

Day 5

was our day in Jamaica.

We opted to take an excursions through the ship.

Years ago we went to Jamaica and didn't think people were honest and we sure got offered a lot of weed...  this time we felt safe and were only offered weed a couple times on our walk into the falls. haha

The Dunn River Falls are beautiful

And FAR too packed with people in my opinion.

But we had an amazing time anyway!

We had to hold hands the whole way up.

Honestly... I think it was less safe to hold hands... but we heard again and again, "get back in your line, hold hands" from our guide. ;)

I had these old water shoes that I had Jadyn wear... unfortunately they fell completely apart on the hike up. haha  One less thing to pack home!

Overall we thought Jamaica was pretty great!

That night was our Semi-Formal Dinner @ Royal Garden's... followed by pictures.

This pictures cracks us up!

My personal favorite pictures.

Day 6

Pixar Day at Sea!

Lots of Pixar Disney Trivia today.

Jadyn won this one!

Movies on the Funnel Vision on deck.

LOTS of Character Sightings.

Awwww... Rex!

Shane is NOT in to costumes.

He never wants to wear a costume for Halloween.

And although he does love those pirate pants every cruise... he's never said he wanted to wear anything else.

So imagine my surprise and confusion when he REALLY wanted to wear the Cannell's Incredibles Costumes.  I protested, cuz where would we wear them, would we look stupid on a sea day... it's a lot to pack etc. etc.

But he never gave up.

So we wore them for an hour or two...

It was pretty funny actually.

And even funnier that people thought we were actually them... we got in SEVERAL people's photos.

This one lady said... "I know it's you cuz I recognize your eyes"... ummmmm ok.

;)

Sully was the best!

Our new friend Damien from South Africa was at this post all week.

Jadyn and I talked to him multiple times and once he told us about his love for surfing.

Of course, I told him he needed to meet my dad... they hit it off and talked surfing for a bit.

Not much can beat cruise sunsets!

Dinner at Enchanted Gardens tonight

Happy 2nd Anniversary to these two!

(1 week late)

I can't believe that we only found one night for playing games together.

Cuz honestly it's one of my favorite parts of cruising!!

Towel animals make the cruise experience just that much better!

Day 7

Castaway Cay

Our FAVORITE day of the cruise.

Two years ago we had our hearts crushed when we didn't get to dock due to weather... so we were all holding our breath that we would get to this year.

WE MADE IT!!

It was about this time that Shane had a small freak out about having to stop for so many pictures.

So we sent Shane and Lydia ahead and Jadyn and I stayed and took a few more pictures with super short lines.

It made us all happier. ;)

Could there be a better setting than this for pictures with Mickey and Minnie?????

I think not.

We've taken this picture each time we've been to Castaway...

Look how times have changed our family!

It couldn't have been a more perfect day on Castaway.

This is what I hope heaven looks like!!

That night we had our last dinner.

I'd say "meal" but I know we had some pizza later that night... just because we could.

We then said our goodbyes to our new friends.

Ate our last ice cream cones.

Then went to the "See ya Later" party in the Atrium.

That night was a short night.

Our family (minus Kenna and Quincy) were heading to Hollywood Studios for the day.

Because flight prices was super high on Saturday, my mom decided it was best to stay over one night in Orlando and fly home Sunday.

That gave us a free day in Orlando... and you can guess what my girls wanted to do.

So we woke up early and grabbed a quick breakfast at Cabanas... then did the "walk off" debarkation.  

Did you know you can get hot chocolate with tons of different characters in the cream??

Tayler wanted a reel of it and I hurried up to get it at Vista Cafe for $4 before we got off the ship.

Everything went smooth with debarkation and we were on the UBER I had booked (two weeks before) at 7:50 am

After an UBER stop at our hotel to drop off our luggage... we arrived at Hollywood Studios just after 9 (opening time)... no rope drop... but it wouldn't have mattered anyway with "early entry".

It was an EXPENSIVE day...

with our one day ticket and genie+ we were about $200/person + the $160 UBER, food and UBER back.

And... it was EXCEPTIONALLY crowded.

Saturday is NOT the day to go to Disney World.

We had a great time though... and MOST of us had a good attitude. ;)

I thought it was a blast... and was grateful we had opted for Genie +.

Oh... and did I mention it was COLD???

These 4 were the only ones in the park wearing shorts... or at least 1/1000 peope wearing shorts. hahaha

I think the high for the day was 51... and I had to beg Jadyn to wear a sweatshirt.

She was EXTREMELY glad I made her!

Jadyn and I were dying inside that Saige, Keaton and Shane wanted to leave the park @ 7:30... since it didn't close til 9 or 10 (I can't remember).  But since we were UBERing together we went along with it... and I still wish we had just stayed cuz it seemed like a sin to leave before close!! haha

Alas... we did... and headed to Disney Springs for dinner @ D-Luxe burgers.

Then back to the hotel for an early night.

The next morning we were off to the airport for our flight home.

What a fabulously, amazing week it was.

Filled with so many memories that we will cherish forever.

We are SO blessed to have this opportunity all thanks to these two!

Love you so much!!!

Let's do it again sometime. ;)