Birthday's, Baptism, Fam Reunion and the Disney Cruise

We hit the ground running since summer vacation ended and I haven't quite had the chance to sit down and write an email about all of our fun!

First off Kaylee's birthday party was great fun :0)  She had lots of her friends and of course enjoyed every second she had with them and with the pool.  She is one tan fish!!  Love that fish.

She also was able to be baptized August 8th, 2015.  She is such a gem, with such a mature, wise spirit.  Just yesterday she woke up and began telling me about a dream she had.  I still am not quite sure what it means, but it was so interesting to hear what she could remember!

"There was a guy from the scriptures that came to our house but he had to leave bc he had to go to teach people

You were there and had to find people to believe and you took me to this house to help people believe.  You left me at that house to be with those people, but I didn't want to stay.  But I had to go back but I ran to another place and "he" was there, the guy from the scriptures. I just don't know his name...but he had brown hair, I feel like it was John.

You know that picture with Jesus knocking on the door- I felt like I was in there."

Second, the family reunion was a great success!  We had a blast while everyone was here.  Between fixing food, crafting, devotionals and watermelon football I think we would say it was one of our best ones yet!  Loved having everyone around, and miss that we can't all be closer.  Good times had by all!

(Random, but we had a microwave malfunction that required a replacement.  Andy spent hours and hours trying to fix it and later that evening Shane was able to help as well!  The new one was finally installed after lots of trial and error.  Thanks babe!)

Everyone loved snuggles with that HollyMae.  She is one fun little bundle.

Watermelon football was a highlight.  Everyone had a blast learning how to pass a watermelon underwater!  Great fun.

Lots of pool time.  Lots of fun.

Cruise was a blast.  We drove all day Thursday (over 15 hours!) and made it to Orlando with plenty of time to relax and eat dinner.  Sam started a fever that evening...of course.  You have to fill out a form when you go on a cruise asking if anyone in your party has been sick with various symptoms within the last 72 hours.  So I lied.  We just kept her up on Tylenol and Ibuprofen the entire time.

When we go to the terminal we parked, they took our bags and headed up to the main area where we checked in.  There were A TON of people.  Very crowded.  But we didn't have to wait long before we were able to board.  My research suggested we should bring our own carry on type backpacks in order to have our swimwear and other needed items as we got on the boat, so each kid had their backpack with swim suits, sunscreen, etc.  It worked out great because you can't go to your rooms until later that afternoon in addition to your luggage being delivered even later.  So we went strait to the pool and slide deck :)  We all were able to go down the Aqua Duck several times before the crowds got bad, (many people didn't do their research and were just standing around because they didn't have their luggage nor were able to go to their rooms)!  It was great.  We later checked out our rooms, enjoyed the many buffets and started our journey to the Bahamas.  The ocean was gorgeous and our first stop was Nassau.  We decided not to get off at that port due to my pregnant belly and 4 kids to tote as (per my research) there are a lot of aggressive sales people and crime there....I just didn't want to deal with it.  If it was just Andy and I maybe we would have risked it, but we didn't.  We simply played on the boat, including a spy game that took you around the entire ship (we raced the kids to see who could solve it first!), going to one of their movie theaters, met many Disney princesses and got their autographs, among other things.

The rooms were pretty cool, but small, although having adjoining rooms really made a difference.  We didn't feel cramped at all.  Plus each of our rooms had this awesome port window you could sit in and watch the ocean go by.  The girls particularly love that part.  The service was great too.  They even left stuffed animals on the kids pillows one night.  They would change the sheets into fun Disney themed sheets as well.  Chocolates were left on beds, and fun characters would be found made out of towels throughout each of our cabins.

The second day was at the port Castaway Cay.  It is a Disney owned island.  We rented snorkels and floats, bought a few sand buckets and shovels and played in the gorgeous waters for a while.  I found a live star fish, which was a highlight for me and when I swam back into the beach to tell everyone a storm began brewing.  Soon an extremely loud (and close) clap of thunder echoed and the entire body of people fled for their lives.  It's was actually kind of funny because as soon as I saw the storm I made the kids get out, and when that thunder struck we had the perfect view of the fleeing people. (Why do I get evil pleasure out of that??)

We tried to find shelter after they closed the beaches, but there were so many people CRAMMED under pavilions we simply walked around getting completely drenched for a good hour.  Finally we decided to eat the buffet lunch they provided and squeezed ourselves into one of the pavilions.  The little's were pretty miserable.  Everyone at the point seemed to be going back to the boat thinking the storm wasn't going to let up.  We held out because Andy and the kids had booked a sting ray excursion that was supposed to take place that afternoon.  Fortunately it all worked out and they were able to swim with 60 sting rays, feed them, etc.  They had a blast!!!  Sam and I had the ENTIRE beach to ourselves because they opened it up after everyone left.  It was great!

That evening Andy and I had a reservation at one of the "fine" restaurants on board and checked the kids into their various activities so we could go on our own.  It was DELISH!  We had a great time together and it was a welcomed break from all the kiddos (love them!). 

Each evening of the cruise they put on a show.  We would go to dinner as a family at our assigned restaurant which rotated each evening, although our server would stay with us.  Each dining room had a theme, one being "The Enchanted Garden," another the "Animation Studio" and the other was more formal, and I can't remember the name right now.  Anyway they were VERY cool.  The animation one was the most entertaining due to the live animation that took place on the screens throughout the dining room.  It was based on 'Finding Nemo' and the sea turtle would go from screen to screen on the walls actually interacting with tables nearest to him, LIVE.  It was cool.  Then we would go to our assigned show.  The shows were absolutely the BEST part of the cruise in my opinion.  They were fun, family appropriate and were all MUSICALS!  They were top notch, Broadway worthy. 

After the cruise we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Hart's home.  We weren't able to stay very long due to vital back to school functions that the older kids needed to attend, but it was really great to see all of them (including G'ma Shockey!).  We also did a pretty lame job of celebrating Andy's birthday (the day we disembarked and arrived at the Hart's home), but we did celebrate!  Sorry hon!

Currently I am feeling very large, and am dealing with a cold.  I am stuffed up beyond belief and was coughing all night.  Hopefully it will pass soon and no one else will get it.  And just for kicks and giggles here is a picture taken by Sam from last week.  Currently 27 weeks.

The End.  Whoa.  That was long.