Vacation- part 3

part 3

Disney Cruise

It's time for the main event.  We drove from Orlando to Port Canaveral on the Atlantic coast of Florida. Our cruise went to the Bahamas stopping in Nassau and Castaway Cay (Disney's own Island).  I gave the kids matching shirts the night before so we all wore them onto the ship. 
(Yeah, we were THAT family)
 A few of our friends had been on Disney cruises before and told us how awesome they were.  You know how sometimes you build something up in your head and then get disappointed because it doesn't live up to the dream.  Well not a Disney cruise.  We had the best time! The food was amazing, the entertainment plenty. It was great sharing this time together.  The only thing that was wrong was that it was too short, we all wanted to stay longer.
 Be prepared for major picture overload!

Arriving on the boat

Outside the stateroom

Beautiful Sunrise

In Nassau

 

Parasailing

 

Castaway Cay Island

 

Love Millie's reaction

 

 

Look at the cutest baby ever!

Saying goodbye before we had to separate to catch our flights home

Vacation- part 2

part 2

Orlando

After my dad's house we went to Clearwater Beach at the Gulf of Mexico.  It.was. beautiful.  I was seriously in heaven.  After a day at the beach we traveled to Orlando and stayed at the Wyndham Hotel.  It is right next to Downtown Disney where we went for dinner that night.  Lauren, Travis and Millie came that night.  Now the whole family is complete!  Millie is a doll.  I'm a lucky grandma.  

The next day we separated in our activities.  Heather, Tyler, Randy and I went to Magical Kingdom at Disney World.  I have to say I liked it a little better than Disneyland, CA.  The next day we all went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, aka Harry Potter land.  All the kids loved it.  It was a good long day.

Clearwater Beach.  So many fishes and birds.  The water was so clear you could see the fish swimming.   We saw dolphins just beyond the buoy.

 

 Our hotel in Orlando.  Took this picture from our room overlooking the pools.

 Heather and Tyler at Snow White's castle

 Tyler in Dr. Seuss land at Universal Studios

 

  Lauren, Travis and Millie at Downtown Disney. 

Tyler after a long day at Disney World.  He's still holding onto his goofy hat and his sparkly spinning souvenir.

 

 

Hogwarts, Butterbeer and fun rides.  

 

Vacation- part 1

Our vacation trip was a celebration of our 25th wedding Anniversary.  When husband and I were thinking of where to go and how to celebrate we decided to go on a cruise and bring all the kids.  They are what bring us our greatest joy so it just seemed right.  We decided on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas. Since the cruise ship left out of Florida and the plane tickets cost so much to travel across the country we decided to spend some extra time in Florida playing.  Everybody flew in on different flights since we were coming from 3 different states.  We had to rent 2 cars. (5 kids, 2 spouses, 1 grand daughter, 1 newly engaged daughter in law and Randy and I.)
We had the greatest time!!  I'll be splitting up the posts into 3 parts.

Part 1

Tampa

Our first stop was my dad's house, Grandpa Fritz.  He has lived just outside of Tampa for some time now but this is the first time I've been to his house.  He lives 15 minutes from the Gulf.  

 Here is Dad and Bonnie in front of their house.  Tyler loved swimming in their pool.

 Tyler licking his plate clean. 

 Nicole's birthday was just a day before we left.   Bonnie spoiled us with delicious meals. 

 Finally after years and years of wishing to go to a Florida beach.  Being from NJ many of my friends vacationed in Florida but we never did.  It's been a life long dream to get here.
  Florida did not disappoint.  I loved it there.

Michael and Nicole at the Gulf of Mexico.  The water was so warm and the sand so white.  It was humid but not too bad.  There was a light ocean breeze.  Perfect I'd say.

 

An observation tower close to my dad's house overlooking the Gulf.

Andrew and Brennan came the next day.  As we were welcoming them I noticed her sparkly ring.  Andrew proposed the night before back in Arizona.  I knew he had the ring but wasn't sure when he was going to propose.  A picnic and fortune cookie were involved.  So happy for them.  They are a good match for each other.  She's a lovely girl who I love already.

Vacation

Just got back from our 25th Anniversary celebration vacation.  It was AWESOME!

Will post about it soon.  Here's a picture.