Well our Halloween was a little wild and crazy this year! As we were getting ready to walk out the door to go trick or treating a tornado warning came across the phones. We had to stop and assess the weather and decided to go to the houses right around us. Once the lightening kicked up we hustled back inside just before it started pouring rain! Fortunately the kids were pretty happy with their haul. But then the storm moved through pretty quick and so we headed back out to do a little more trick or treating!
This year Emmie was Harry Potter in Quidditch robes, Ellie was Mary Poppins, Ruthie was Elsa, JP was a knight and Emma was a cat. Even though the weather was crazy and our plans were up in the air most of the day, I think the kids had a lot of fun and they definitely loaded up on candy!
"flying" to the next house!
JP also had his Halloween party at school today which I went and helped with. The kids were so cute and had lots of fun trick or treating at the preschool.
Ghost cupcakes (they were more ghost like on pinterest!), ghost chocolate covered banana, pumpkin ornange, and Halloween pretzels!
**Most of my cruise blogs will be by topic and not in chronological order but I wanted to start out with the first day. **
We recently got back from an amazing trip on the Disney Fantasy. We went with my parents for 7 nights with stops in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Disney's island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay. We also had 2 days at sea. We had a deluxe verandah stateroom and I think we were all a little bit ruined by the verandah...it was so nice! The stateroom had the shower in one room and the toilet in another and there was a sink in each of those rooms. Having the 2 separate areas was really nice since there were four of us in each room. This was the first time the kids had been on a cruise and it was the first Disney cruise for all of us. We booked through Kari at A Touch of Magic Travel. She's who I use for all things Disney and she always does a great job! Kari was so sweet and had sent the Birthday décor kit to my parents room (it was my dad's birthday the day the cruise started) which had decorations, a beach towel, magnet, storage bin, and a big oversize tie and the Halloween décor kit to our room which had a Halloween on the High Seas blanket, a Halloween treat bag, and decorations for our room.
We picked the kids up from school at lunch time on a Friday. They had no clue we were going anywhere (let alone on a cruise) so they were a little confused about why I was picking up. Ellie asked me if we were going to the dentist. No friend, so much better! Once we got in the car Mickey and Minnie called them to tell them they were going on a Disney Cruise. They were so excited!
We drove to Port Canaveral on Friday and spent the night at a hotel near the port. Saturday morning we got up, ate breakfast, and then the kids (and Grandaddy) were able to play in the hotel pool for a bit before we had to leave to go to the port.
We had a port arrival time of 12 and once we were checked in we were able to walk right onto the ship. Once we got on the ship we headed straight to Cabanas to eat lunch. It was packed but we managed to snag a table and grab food.
By the time we finished lunch we were able to get in our rooms so we headed there and changed into our bathing suits and then hit the pool! The Fantasy pool area has 2 small pools, 2 splash areas (one for kids under 8 and one for anyone), a water slide for kids and the so fun Aquaduck which is a water slide that goes around the edge of the ship. JP wasn't tall enough to ride the Aquaduck and Emmie and Ruthie were a little nervous but Ellie and I went and rode it right away. By the end of the first day Emmie and Ruthie had also ridden in and we all loved it!
After the pool we headed inside to change for the Muster Drill (or Mustard Drill as the kids kept calling it). We managed to catch the end of the USC-Georgia game before we had to go to the drill. (Go Gamecocks!) After the drill we went to the Sailing Away party and then headed back to the stateroom.
As soon as we walked back in to our room Ellie said her stomach felt funny and I looked out on the verandah and we had started moving. I was worried because she was feeling sick before she ever knew we were moving! We put the seabands on her and gave her something for the nausea and she was good to go thankfully. We went by and checked out the kids club and did a little bit of the Midship Detective Agency before we headed to dinner and the evening show.
We had a wonderful first day on the ship and I can't wait to share the rest of our trip!
This is soooooo late but better late than never right?
He loves his Paw Patrol backpack.
In September JP started 2 day a week 3 year old preschool. His teachers are Mrs. Terri and Mrs. Jodi. Mrs. Jodi has kids that are in Ellie's grade at school and Mrs. Terri has taught all of our kids so she's pretty much family! We are so excited about all the fun he's going to have this year and are so thankful for his amazing teachers!
Mrs. Jodi
Mrs. Terri
JP was pretty nervous for his first day but every day when I pick him up he has a big smile on his face!
