The time has come for the Justice family to once again embark on another Disney Cruise adventure. To say this group was excited is an understatement. There's really nothing like traveling with family - what a blessing for all these cousins especially! So many good memories are made when we can all simutaneously unplug from life and enjoy a real vacation together. It's so much fun!
We were definitley feeling the excitement at the airport. Thank goodness these kids each have a buddy to entertain them while waiting in line. ha ha
Once we got into Orlando, our gathering place was at Jeff and Julie's house to stay for the night before heading to the ship in the morning. This is the perfect house for the crew to gather. Thanks Petersons! Also, this year Aunt Julie surprised all the girls with matching dressed that she had sewn. We were all blown away by Julie's talent. These dresses are adorable!
The next morning it was time to board the ship! Getting about 30 people up, moving, fed, and packed is quite the feat, a chaotic one really. The matching shirts were such a fun addition to the trip - thanks Matt!
We woke up to terrential rain and had to make some "rain gear" to protect ourselves.
The squeals of delight from the croud were so fun as the cruise ship came into sight and the "idea" of the cruise became a reality. Thank you grandma and grandpa Justice!!
Once we were checked in, the waiting game to get onboard began. This is usually the hardest part, but at least there were a few characters to meet which helped pass the time a little bit.
Once on board we explored a bit, found our rooms to leave some belongings and then headed over to check out the kid's club. Day one is the only time parents are allowed in, so we had to go check it out while we had the chance! While there, we even got to met Thor and learn how to wield his special hammer!
We also met BB8 while in the kids club.
Dinner on night one was at the Animator's Palate. This restaurant is the kids favorite with all the fun animation entertainment. But first, plenty of dance parties on deck as the ship set sail!
Upon returning to our room that night, we found some fun Halloween surprises!
Brad and grandma coordinated to get some cute magnets for everyone's doors.
Day 2 - Sunday, a day at sea!
We had a good night and morning to lounge a bit before getting into our swimming gear and heading out for the day. The plan was to get breakfast, meet up with family poolside, and eat a whole lot of ice cream! It was going to be a great day.
Whenever there's down time, Bentley always likes to sneak in a quick round of Detective Agency!
After a day at sea, it was fun to get a little dressed up for dinner that night. It was formal night on the ship after all!
Day 3 - Monday, another day at sea!
Today we went to a really fun character breakfast and had several visits while eating our meal. These were a lot of the Disney Jr. characters so Karly and Olive were most into it this time.
Tonight was dinner at the "Enchanted Garden" and then our first live show in the theater. Tonight for dinner, the girls all wore their matching dresses from aunt Julie and we were able to get some great photos. They looked darling.
Waiting to get in the doors of the theather is always so claustrobic! The crowds are draining for this introvert, though you will notice I am genuinely smiling in the picture. Somehow I survive.
Day 4 - Tuesday at St. Kitts!
We woke up to the beautiful view of St. Kitts. Our excursion wasn't until a little later in the day so we enjoyed a nice breakfast and then an even better almost-empty swimming pool before heading off the boat. The relief from the constant crowds was very welcome.
Later that morning the whole family ventured out on a beach excursion together.
We also got to do a little shopping on the island, and the kids even got to pose with some monkeys!
Once back on the ship, we had to get ready in our pirate gear for the always entertaining pirate night!
Day 5 - Wednesday in Antigua!
Today we had a nice relaxed breakfast and crowd free pool as we waited for our fun adventure for the day - swimming with the stingrays! We also did a little exploring through the shops before catching our ride to Stingray bay.
This was an excursion that was one to remember! Technically, by Disney's standards, Karly was too young for this excursion, so the family booked through Disney, and our little crew booked our own tour through the company directly for the same time and it all worked out perfectly. We were able to join together as the whole group for this VERY interesting experience. I say interesting because I know there are several people in the family who will never do this again. ha ha
There was a big group of people, not just our family, so when we first got to the stingray area, everyone was excited and high energy and jumped from the boat to go out and wade into stingray land. The tour guides knew this was the perfect time to pull out a bunch of food and get the stingrays all frantic and high energy as well. It was quite chaotic and some people were laughing and squealing, while others you could hear screaming through their snorkles as the stingrays were swimming frantically around and through everyone's legs. Kids were frantically trying to crawl up their parents bodies, as parents were trying to make sure we were in an area to touch and gain footing. It was crazy to say the least!! Within just the first five minutes we probably lost almost half the total group as people swam back to safety in the boat. After things calmed down though, it was actually a really interesting and cool experience, but that first ten minutes was pure chaos!
The kids attempted to feed squid to the stingrays, but unfortunately it was during the initial chaos and Bentley ended up getting "bit" on the knee. He had decided this wasn't for him, and Olive wanted to head back to the boat with him. We took a little break on the boat for a bit while things calmed down, and then some of us went back out and at that point the experience was much more enjoyable.
Back on the ship that night was the Halloween trick or treating. It was crazy and crowded, but the kids had fun dressing up and enjoying all the Halloween parties.
Day 6 - Thursday in San Juan, Puerto Rico!
This was a port we were really looking forward to because of all the fun things to do and see in the city. The kids were champs a walked A LOT today, but we had some really fun adventures! We started the morning looking through fun shops as we headed towards the house where the Pina Colada was created. Those were a delicious treat.
We walked to the fort EL MORRO which was built in the 16th century to guard the entrance to the San Juan bay area. It was gorgeous and so full of history. Our kids had never seen anything like this before and they were really into imagining the history here as we walked from room to room inside the fort.
We could see a storm was rolling in so fortunately we had lots of "rooms" to take cover in while we waited out the rain. It was all so beautiful.
Back on the ship that afternoon, we enjoyed more swimming and ice cream before dinner. Brad and Greg had to play the game "San Juan" a few times to commemorate the location. Then we had dinner and went to a very entertaining hypnotist show.
Day 7 - Friday, a day at sea!
After a busy few days, another day at sea felt like a good time to relax, sleep in, get some more Detective Agency games, and swimming. We also went to the movie theater to watch Maleficient 2 which was just released!
The girls also had a surprise date planned at the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique, while Bentley at Dad had their "Bro-Date" planned. It was another magical day. The girls were so excited to get makeovers and it made it even more fun to have this experience together as cousins. The before and after photos show quite the transformation!
Olive is never too dolled up to fight the dark side though:
Brad and Bentley's date:
Always time for a few more pictures while we are waiting to get into dinner!
Day 8 - Saturday at Castaway Cay
It was a beautiful view as we woke up to Castaway Cay this morning. The whole family was out together on our joined balcony which was a lot of fun.
The morning in Castaway Cay is also the Disney 5K race on the island which means those running in the race get off the ship earlier. This time Eden was interested in trying the 5k so I jumped on the chance to do this with her. We know that cardio is hard on her because it's so much harder to breath, but I was proud of her for wanting to try and I was there with her to experience her first 5k which was really fun and special!
Brad did a great job wrangling the rest of the crowd and finding us a good beach spot while Eden and I were finishing the race.
Doing the 5K with Eden was such a fun experience. We jogged a little, and walked a little, but I was so proud of her desire to finish even though it was hard and HOT!
After the race, we were all excited to enjoy our beach day together - our last day on the cruise!
Our final night on the cruise was dinner back at Animator's Palate which we learned is the night that our drawings come to life! This is always such a fun dinner. Eden was proud and excited to wear her new 5K t-shirt, and Karly was super excited to dress in her Moana costume.
While on this cruise we got to meet A LOT of charcters!
So many good memories were made on the Disney Fantasy! Thanks Justice family!
Olive was Mal from Decendants. She had the attitude to fit the character down perfectly.
Bentley was a super serious and intense Army dude. I'd trust him to protect me.
And Karly wanted to be a witch with blue hair - the cutest witch I've ever seen.
The highlight of the ward party was the donut catch...
As each year passes, the kids get more and more independent with their pumpkin carving. It's fun to watch this all transpire and we were grateful to have grandma and grandpa join us in the festivites. We had the Halloween playlist turned up high and away we went!
Trick or treating this year consisted of hitting just the close neighbor houses, then we got in the car and drove to the closest track home neighborhood where we could hit a lot of houses with minimal walking ha ha. It was a very fun night!
Trick or Treat Grandma! Happy Halloween to all, and to all a goodnight!
Oh and one final cute picture of Bentley's school class.
Until we get the cabinets all finished, I've been functioning out of these center boxes in the garage which hold most my kitchen items. All the boxes in the back are full of books that are waiting for the bookshelves to be completed. Good times!
The landscaping in the backyard is beginning. First up - the large planter boxes so we can get some trees planted!
The landscaping in the front yard is in full progress too! It's going to look so beautiful!
We've had deliveries of most of the new furniture by now too - the living room couch and the kids bedrooms. It's all looking so good!
The window coverings are all in, and my dining room set is complete. So beautiful!
This front room seems to be our "storage room" for extra cabinet pieces they are still working with, and boxes I have yet to unpack. We are also starting to measure for the new piano that will go up the steps. I can't wait to get this room all decorated, it's one of the prettiest!
And the negative news - we have new creatures here that we didn't ever get at our old house - yuck....
