The big, BIG boat!

Our Disney Cruise trip was finally here and we were all pumped!

We loaded up early & made our way to Port Canaveral.  We made a detour at Auntie Katie & Uncle Eric's first.

Noah loved himself some Bobo.  It's neat to relive memories of Connor when he was about 3 with Bo while watching Noah play with Bo now.  He is seriously the best dog to have around my kids.

The Orlando Kid Science Center was minutes from Katie's house, so we ventured there for the afternoon while the men went golfing.

Katie secretly wanted to explore the Science Center, so she was grateful to have an excuse to go with my boys.  Some highlights were the critter displays (snakes, alligators, etc), digging for fossils (Noah actually wrote his letters in the gravel while Connor really digged for fossils, but whatever), and the Hurricane winds machine.  We tried a 3D African Animal movie with Noah, which lasted about 20 minutes until I had to take the chatty, wiggle worm out of the theater.

We concluded the evening with burgers on the grill, kickball practice in the yard, and Snapchat giggles.

We sandwiched Noah in bed to keep him from falling out of a big bed.  The boys slept soundly while I hung on the edge of the bed by a butt cheek.

The next morning we headed to the port!  Connor was pumped when he saw how big the boat really was.  Noah cried at random times that night since he wanted to be on the "big, BIG boat" and didn't believe us when we showed him that we were actually on it!

We heard they had an amazing kid care program on the ship where you could drop your kids off to play, but my children didn't like the idea of leaving us, so they never went.  They did, however, have an open house of the kid care program for kids & parents to explore it together, so we were able to check it out.

They had a big Andy's room from Toy Story, which Connor's 3 year old self would have LOVED.

While Noah played in Toy Story land, Connor and I ventured over to the Star Wars area.  They had a whole virtual area where you could fly ships...

The real R2-D2

And a Millenium Falcon you could fly yourself.  Connor's 5 year old self would have LOVED this (but his 7 year old self still enjoyed it).

I read up on Disney Cruises before we went & learned neat little tricks and tips.  One was that our stateroom doors are magnetic & many cruise goers decorate their doors with magnets.  I mainly loved this, because it was easy to spot where our room was instead of worrying about remembering our room number :).

After supper, the kids were pumped to see their beds were set up as a bunk bed.  Connor slept on the top bunk (which had a star ceiling set up with characters from Peter Pan on it, while Noah was barricaded on the bottom bunk with random furniture/pillows/etc to keep him from falling out of a big bed. 

We loved the random character artwork along the stairs.  The kids insisted we take the stairs every time, which was great for our over-eating, but man it was exhausting hiking up 8+ floors...especially when holding 35 lb Noah.

On the morning of Day 2, the boys suited up & headed to the fountains.  I didn't get a picture of the "AquaDuck" slide, but it was amazing.  Noah wasn't big enough to go on it, but we took turns taking Connor.  It was a 'roller coaster water slide' where you rode on a 2-person tube & it launched you on a conveyor belt down this clear tube along the top deck.

The big water slide that Noah could go on didn't open until 11:30am, so we had to keep him busy without it (which was hard when he had his heart set on it).  We had our swim-with-dolphins-excursion at 11:30am, so we just tried to kill time until we reported to that.

We spotted the soft serve ice cream machines & Connor was so excited to have the Strawberry/Banana ice cream.  Well, wouldn't you know, all the ice cream machines were working fine EXCEPT the Strawberry/Banana flavors.  Why, God, why?!?!

While Connor sat disappointed as Noah scarfed his chocolate ice cream & declared how life was so unfair with his pouty eyebrows, I prayed as time was ticking and I really wanted Connor to snap out of his funk before we went on our excursion.

The Disney Gods repaired the machine around 11:20am & Connor got his beloved ice cream just in time!

We then reported to our excursion pick up area.  This is Noah's normal nap time & he didn't get a nap the last 2 days before, so we knew he would be exhausted/unpredictable.  Praise God that he decided to cat nap on our bus ride over to Atlantis.  The super fun and magical experience of swimming with dolphins was starting to feel a little less magical as we were feeling a lot of hurry up and wait moments.  We waited for the bus to shuttle us over.  We waited for our excursion time of 1:20pm that was assigned to us once we got there.  Connor was bored, so therefore decided he needed food.  Noah was coasting along without a water diaper on, since we were in the midst of potty training, so I was nervous he was surely going to potty while snoozing on Matt.  I was trying to remain upbeat to keep the excitement going, but was slowly running out of 'umph.'

The set up was beautiful at Atlantis.  While we waited to get into our wet suits, we caught a cool view of what we were in for soon.

Noah was whiney from a short nap.  Connor complained his wet suit was too tight & fit awkward over his water shirt.  Matt irritated me for something.  Yet, I, remained super chipper mom in hopes everyone would still feel how magical this was.  Once we were in the water with 'Missy,' the tension slowly melted away.  It was really, really cool to experience.  I kinda wished my boys realized just how lucky they were to experience it all, but they didn't really understand the magical expense of it all. Ha!

Since my boys were crabby before we got in the water, I didn't get any pictures of them in their wet suits.  I knew I needed at least one photo from our dolphin adventure, so waited in a Disney-long-line to purchase a professional photo.  The boys were hungry.  The boys were tired.  AND it was a race against time before he had to be back to the ship.  Our excursion included a trip through the Atlantis Aquarium, so once I purchased our photo, it was a mad dash to see the aquarium.

Connor was determined to see the piranhas, but ended up being more excited to see the giant eels. 

We made it back to the ship after our 5 hour excursion experience, cleaned up & headed to supper.  We had our supper that night at the Animator's Palate, which was our favorite!  The walls were all covered with sketched Disney characters and there were animated, interactive videos that played throughout supper.  We sat in a Nemo section & we had just watched "Finding Dory" a week before, so it was pretty perfect.

Noah did pretty amazing at the table each night & loved himself an abundance of french fries and ice cream Mickey bars each night.

Connor did great trying new foods & found he loved potato soup.  He mainly stuck with pasta or pizza each night and a strawberry something for dessert.  If you ask Connor how his Disney Cruise was, he will immediately tell you, 

"It was awesome.  They have the best chicken fingers in the world."

The price you pay for good chicken fingers!

A crazy face opportunity taken.

Noah wanted in on the action too.

Noah devoured his Mickey ice cream bar and all the Mickey sprinkles one-by-one every single night.

I have to mention too how neat it was at dinner on this cruise.  When we got to the table every night, the boys' names were written on their cups, and they had water and milk (their two faves) ready for them.  I always had an ice tea waiting for me too.  The little touches were great.

Day 3 was on Disney's private island, which was beautiful!  I was looking forward to not being so scheduled like the day before and just doing things as we wished.  We made our way to beach number 2, which was close to the snorkeling lagoon and water slides.

We practiced with Connor on using his mask last month while we were at the beach & he was excited to see some neat fish.  Well, without reliving the awesomeness, his mask was "too tight" or "uncomfortable," but after many trials and chipper mom voice attempts, I sent him over to the beach chair to chill while I snorkeled alone.

The trouble with vacation is this...

I know the expense of it all.  The high hopes of my kids having an amazing time.  The fact that my happiness completely rides on the fact that my kids are having fun.  So when my kids bicker, whine, complain, or appear ungrateful, it is SO hard to handle it.  Its that fine line between disciplining their behavior yet trying to make sure they walk away from this trip with those childhood memories that they'll remember forever.  

We had many-a-few moments where Noah was whiney, Connor was the instigator pushing Noah's buttons, and their cases of the 'grumpies.'  Our cabin was considered large, but after 5 days together in one room, it was feeling rather cramped.

Sorry to get off topic a bit...

Back to the beautiful island...

Noah exclaimed, "Olaf!" when he saw him from our beach chairs.  Funny thing is, he's never seen "Frozen" or should even know who Olaf is.  However he knew him, he was very excited to see him!  Noah does characters from a distance.  He's not at a comfortable point to not be held if you approach a character.  Trying to get anything other than a blank stare from Noah next to his beloved character friend is not going to happen!

But they loved it!  Even my big boy, Connor, who is not a "Frozen" fan and borders on too cool for characters, still loved being up there with Noah to see them.

Noah was too little for the water slides on the island as well, so we took turns taking Connor.  They were our first salt water water slides, out off the shore.  Minus the fact you had to keep your eyes closed when you hit the salt water, they were our favorite slides & Connor thought they were awesome!

We waited here while the boys went sliding!

I tried for a brother photo, but Noah was not in the mood...so I snuck in for a mom/son photo.

Matt wanted a turn snorkeling, so we vegged on the chairs while he ventured out.

Man, I have cute kids.

Connor was anxious to hear what Matt saw when he was done snorkeling.  Can you find our yellow vested Waldo?!

After lunch on the island AKA 3 chocolate chip cookies for Noah, we made it back to the ship for some water slide time.  The big yellow slide that Noah was tall enough for (he was really an inch too short, but I sweetly begged the lifeguard to let him go on it).  Matt manned the top of the slide, while I fetched Noah at the bottom.  The boys did this a good 30x.

Connor opted for a pizza break on a lounge chair while watching "Wreck It Ralph" on the big screen above the pool, while Matt took Noah over to the Nemo fountain area.  It was about 5 minutes later when I saw Matt holding Noah over by medical staff.

Oh, super, I thought.

I made my way over to Noah to see his chin was split open.  Turns out Noah slipped on the steps up the toddler water slide in the Nemo area and popped his chin.

While the Disney staff radioed to other medical staff, I tried to calm Noah.  When it comes to emergencies, I am to calmer parent.  Whether its from working at the hospital and having to remain calm for patients or its just another one of my mom talents, I rock at it.  While it rips my heart out the entire time and my stomach doesn't like open wounds or blood, I rock at it.  Matt, on the other hand, tends to be more of the panicked type.  

I kindly scooped Noah up and became the primary caregiver as we ventured on the elevator down to the "Medical Floor."  I explained to Connor that Noah was going to be okay and not to worry (he always has the softest little heart in moments like this and hurts for his brother).  I took Noah back to the examine room, as Matt & Connor waited in the waiting room area.  Noah cried to whole time--probably not in pain as much as it was his fear of the strangers all around him.  The Doctor was "not in" (granted this is 3:30pm on a Wednesday afternoon), so we had the option to wait until "Doctor hours at 5pm" and pay $150 to see the Doctor, or have the Doctor come in now and pay $300.  While my child cried with an open gash in his face, I opted for seeing the Doctor now.

There was a lot of answering questions and developing a plan while trying to talk over my screaming child (this is where I continued my calmness skill all while I wanted to strangle all these people who didn't appear to be organized for an event like this).  

"We need him to lay still."

Sorry, not going to happen.

"We need him to follow instructions and remain very still."

Sorry, again, not going to happen.

They opted to use a sedative that was a liquid injected up his nose.  That was fun to hold him still for that.  Shooting liquid up his nose made him happier (sarcasm).  I held him and waited for the sedative to kick in.  I waited and waited.  Darn crap didn't work.

I now had an angry child with liquid up his nose still bleeding all over as I tried to hold him still and relax.

Medical staff decided on a new plan.  Two people held his legs while me and another guy held his head and the Dr. gave him a local shot in his chin followed by two stitches.  It felt like forever as the Dr. moved slowly and I just bit my tongue as I held down my flailing, screaming boy.  It sucked.  There is no other way to describe it other than it sucked.

When it was all over, they let Matt & Noah come in.  They heard the whole fiasco from the waiting room, so Connor was worried about Noah and started to tear up.  Bless his little heart.  We stayed for 10 minutes while Noah was under observation before letting us go.  The boys scored two popsicles and a signed character post card while we waited.  Poor Noah's sedative worked just enough to make him a tiny drunk man that couldn't stand up without falling over.  He wasn't thrilled about being forced to be held.

An $800 medical bill later, it was over.  Noah couldn't get his stitches wet for 48 hours, so no bath, pool, or water slides the rest of the trip.  Thank goodness this didn't happen on day 1 or Noah would have been peeved.

It was pirate night, so we got cleaned up for supper.  The boys looked pretty cute in their attire.  Both boys had me up and down during the meal--one super tired, irritated, and in pain, while the other needing to use the bathroom.  I tried to stay upbeat since it was fun pirate night and we were making memories!!

If you look closely, you can see Noah's chin band-aid.

He also scored a ship pin from the head waiter when they heard about Noah's rough day.

I wanted to go scream into a pillow at this point after the afternoon we had, but remember my calm skill.  Yeah, it was in full effect in this photo.

We managed to stay up until 10:30pm for the fireworks off the top deck (while Noah passed out asleep on his shoulder).  They were really cool & Connor loved it.  

Before I forget, since I don't have any photos of them, the live shows after dinner each night were among me & Connor's favorites!  These are typical cruise shows.  They were top notch Broadway type shows, with amazing special effects, scenery, singers, dancers, fun story lines, and incorporate Disney characters from so many movies!  Some of our faves were the characters from the Jungle Book, Toy Story gang, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, and the Little Mermaid.  Even Noah sat still through each show and loved them!

We met up with some characters on the ship too.

They had a really neat, up close and personal character dance party too.  Neither of my boys are big dancers (in front of strangers), but still enjoyed seeing each character right next to us.  MY 7 year old self would have loved this!

Our last day on the ship was full of don't-take-Noah-by-the-water-slide-area activities.  Since he had to stay dry, we kept busy with mini golf, basketball, eating (ha!), a short trip to the movie theater (until Noah was over it), and solving Detective Cases (sorry no photos of that either...it consisted of following directions to random spots on the ship where paintings would turn into virtual clips that were clues to help solve your case).  

By our last night at supper, Noah was in better spirits than the night before.

And note-to-self, when taking Noah to a restaurant, bring a mirror.  He sat still through the meal making weird faces and talking to himself in the mirror. Haha!

Despite our struggles with grumpies/random goob behavior and injury, when I asked my boys how they'd rank our trip, Connor exclaimed, "Definitely a 10!"

I think my mission of creating awesome memories for my kids was successful.  

Phew!