Friday, December 13, 2013

I promise to update soon!

Hey everyone out there still reading. We have been crazy busy lately and I promise to come back and update tomorrow with what all has been going on. So....Stay Tuned!

Monday, August 12, 2013

removed countdown - will post more tomorrow

Monday, June 3, 2013

Grill and Sweetpea pictures

Hey everyone! I am back as promised with pictures of the new grill. Ian got it heated up to burn off the excess stuff on the grates before putting our turkey burgers on them. =)

There is also one with Sweetpea because she just had to get in it. =)



Hope everyone is doing well.

~hugs

Happy early birthday and christmas to us

As many of you know we had a horrible wind storm back in March or April. I can't remember when now. But our gas grill went flying. So needless to say we don't trust it anymore and don't want to take a chance with using it. So we needed a gas grill to replace it. We went out window shopping to get an idea on pricing as it's coming to summer time and we like to grill to keep the heat down in the house from the oven.

We found a really nice one we liked at WalMart. It's a charbroil infared one with three burners. It wasn't too badly priced but it would take us until July to have enough for it due to other bills needing to be paid, such as the roof repair.

Ian's parents offered to buy it for us for an early birthday/christmas present which was very nice of them. So we went back and got it. Ian spent quite a bit of time putting it together and we will be grilling our first turkey burgers on it tonight for dinner. I promise to take pictures and will post them later. =)

A big thank you to them for that!!!!

Sunday May 5th

So we woke up and the swelling had went down tremendously on the ankle. I stepped out of bed to see if I could put any weight on it and I could. I had to limp to do it and put more weight on the left side but I could walk. So we decided I could wait to get it xrayed once we got home so we didn't have to worry about cabs and the charge for urgent care vs normal dr copays.

We had a long time to go until our flight that night and when the magical express would be picking us up at 3:30. So we decided to visit a small park so we chose Animal Kingdom as I still wanted to ride Everest. I took my time and we walked very slow to help me out. We sat a lot and people watched too so that was nice. We visited a section of the park that we had never been to as well. So that was nice.

Around 1:30 we made our way to the front of the park and caught a bus back. Then had time to use our last snack credits and chill till it was time to go out for the bus back to the airport. We made it through security pretty quickly and before we knew it the time to board the plane had been called. We were in the very last row and had the row to ourselves so that was nice. The flight was fast and very uneventful although it was shuddering some. When we landed we noticed the pilot off and looking under the left wing of the plane. Then while waiting to deplane we noticed they had a mechanic out there and going under it as well. Very strange and I'm glad nothing happened on the flight and we made it home safely.

So that was out trip in a nutshell. Fast and fun with some sadness thrown in due to being a did not finish the race number. We will redeem ourselves next time and we have a 5k coming up on the cruise ship.

Saturday May 4th - Race Day

We woke up on race day around 8 AM as we wanted to grab a quick bite to eat and then we had a bus to catch for packet pick up. As we headed out of the room we noticed it was already raining. Uh oh. Would this spell trouble for race day. If there is lightning they will postpone the race for a certain length of time and after so long it will be cancelled. That is one thing I was dreading because we likely wouldn't be able to make it back for the reschedule of it. =(

Luckily that did not happen but back to the story at hand. Ian went back to the room and grabbed our ponchos because we were unsure how long we might be in the rain for at the Wide World of Sports on the return trip. We had a yummy breakfast at the quick service at the resort. Then headed out to the bus stop and a bus came rather quickly. We were excited to see the Wide World of Sports complex as it was our first time ever needing to go over there. The cheerleader competition was going on too so that was kind of cool to see how that worked. I had watched several over the years including dance ones.

They let us in early for packet pick up since it was starting to come down pretty hard so that was nice of them. We got our packets pretty quickly and the flow they had made it easy to go through everything. They had some cool items for sale too and had a much better selection than I was expecting. Most of the time for the Everest challenge there is not really an expo but they had a nice mini one for us. =)

After we had everything situated we made our way back to the bus pick up to head back to the resort. Today was supposed to be a pool day and since there was no lightning we were like might as well go swimming since we will be wet anyway. However when we got back they had closed the pools as there was some lightning reported in the area and they don't take chances which is good. So today ended up being a read and nap day. We woke up around 5 to head down and have a nice pasta dinner to fuel up on carbs.

Then we got ready and went out for a bus around 8. The bus was filled with excitement as many were returning to a beloved race and some of us were newbies. The traffic was crazy to get into Animal Kingdom so we didnt actually get off the bus until about 9 PM. Once off we made our way over to our corral and got a nice place towards the front of it. This would prove to be a bad and good thing. We made friends with a mom and son doing it for their first time. They had just arrived the day before and were going to have park time after the race for the rest of the week. I would probably do that in the future myself. We should have arrived the day before the race and then had time at the parks after but you live and learn. LOL.

We were able to see special fireworks they had set up over at Hollywood Studios so that was cool. Then it was the magic hour of 10:00. They did the national anthem and a moment of silence for those lost in the Boston Marathon tragedy which we thought was cool. Then the first wave was off.

We had 40 more minutes to wait before our last wave would be off. We were finally at the starting line and were filled with so much excitement. We saw some of the first wave people finish the race so that was crazy fast for them. As we had our countdown we took off. We were ready to do a little bit of a jog at the start and then we were going to move our way over to the right side out of race courtesy to let those faster go by us on the left. So I turned to get a drink off our camelbak as I was thirsty and to go to a walk for our next interval. Right at that moment, my right foot stepped off the road and twisted. There was a good couple of inches that dropped off and wasn't expecting it.

When I fell my left leg slammed down to the road half on and half on the grass. Needless to say I was in extreme pain. Some nice people stopped to see if I was ok and to help me up. I stood up and could not put any pressure or weight on my right ankle so we called a medic over. They came over with a cart and wheeled me to the medical tent where we put ice on it and they assessed it. Needless to say it was swelling pretty quickly and just the DR touching it was putting me in tears. They told me I had a sprain for sure and would need to get it xrayed to make sure it wasn't so severe it would need surgery. So they pulled us from the race and told me to go back to the hotel and elevate it and alternate ice on and off for 20 mins for the night. So needless to say while I was waiting to be wheeled over for the handicap van they had for me, I was in tears. All our hard work down the drain because of a stupid accident.

Now the area on the course where I fell, the lighting was bad. The street light was out right there so I had no clue about the drop off. I told Ian next time we do it we will stay in the middle or at least not get too close to the side so we don't have this happen again. I was so upset as I was looking forward to the reward of training for something and completing it. It definitely gives me fuel to come back and finish it.

Ian was great through the whole thing as he was just as affected as I was by being pulled. He was a rockstar through it all.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Friday - May 3rd

So after our fun filled day at Epcot, we went back to the resort and crashed pretty hard and fast. We had been up since 4:30 AM and went to bed the night before at like 10 and hardly slept.

We woke up Friday morning and were off to the Poly for breakfast at Kona. We had our usual order of Tonga Toast and it did not disappoint again. So freaking good! After we left there it was on to the monorail and off to fun in the Magic Kingdom. It was already sprinkling and we were armed with our ponchos from the day before. So we decided to go right towards Futureland and hit up Monsters Inc Laugh Floor first. There was no wait so why not. We were secretly hoping Ian would get picked to be "That Guy" like papa faas did but no such luck. It was changed up from the time we saw it and it was pretty funny.

After that, I had a score to redeem so we went on Buzz's ride and I was hoping to take out the evil zerg and beat Ian's score but no such luck. Oh well there is always next time. After that we were going to take a ride through space on Space Mountain but the standby time was at 80 minutes and there was no way we were waiting that long to get whipped around. So we were off to ride through a haunted mansion. This was literally a walk on and once again quite enjoyable. When we got off this the rain had cleared and it was hotter than you know what and so humid. So refreshments were in order. We got some water and made our way to wait in line for Big Thunder Mtn. Ian had never been on it and I loved it as a kid. The wait was around 40 mins so we said what the heck we had to kill time anyway before our dinner reservation at "Be our Guest". It actually ended up being closer to 30 minutes by the time we boarded so not too terrible. As we were making our way down the exit ramp, due to it being slick I tweaked my ankle but was ok and could walk it off. However that is just a sign of things to come. So from here we decided to go check on the wait time for Splash Mountain as I was ready to get a little wet as I was hot. But it was up to an hour wait. I guess everyone had that idea. Fast pass times were going to be for when our dinner was so no such luck. =( There is always next time!

So from here we decided to go see wait times for Mickey's Philharmagic show. It's something we had never done and figured it would be fun. We loved it. The 3d effects were awesome and some great music from the films. Plus it was nice and cool in that theater. After that we saw Pooh's adventure was only like 20 mins and it's something we haven't done before so why not. We actually liked it. Little kids would love it. Peter Pan had like a 40 min wait and while I was tempted it would be close to our dinner time. So we made our way around Fantasyland to Ariel's new ride. The wait was only 30 mins and it was right by the beasts's castle so figured why not. I loved this ride. It had great scenes from the movie and the animatronics were awesome. We ended up getting through the line and ride in only 20 mins. So we went to wait by the check in area for our dinner time and watched the performers interact with the kids. That always puts a smile on my face.

Plus the storm clouds were moving in so we wanted to be close in case it started pouring as we could wait under the roof of the check in area. Ian got us checked in and we were taken in pretty much right away.

We can not say enough good things about this dining experience. The castle is beautiful and we ate in the main ballroom. They even replicated the floor that Belle and the beast dance on in the movie. The details were amazing. The food was freaking outstanding. It was better than Le Cellier in our opinion and only one table service credit where Le Cellier is 2. We will definitely eat here again.

Here are some pictures from that meal.

The rose napkin on our dinner plate:





The balcony looking down on the floor where we sat:



Beautiful chandeliers



Ian's yummy French Onion soup



Yummy lemonade with a wildberry foam



Ian's porkchop with gratin mac and cheese



My yummy steak



Ian's triple choc cupcake



My yummy lemon meringue cupcake



and then towards the end the Beast walks through the dining room to thank his guests for dining

Pictures from the trip

Sorry it's been a while since I have been back to update. Life has been crazy due to the issues that happened during the race. I guess I should back up and start with day one though.

Our flight was delayed thanks to a heavy rainstorm in Orlando itself. Our pilot arranged for a back up airport just in case we couldn't land in Orlando. So that required more fuel for us. We took off about an hour later. However that allowed the storms to get better so by the time we landed it wasn't horrible and we made it safe and sound.

We caught the magical express and managed to get a front seat which is very coveted for the picture when you go under the welcome sign. I have a few of these already so I didn't bother to take another one. Our resort, which was All Star Resorts was the first one to get dropped off at. I had completed the online check in so we walked right up to the counter and got our room. We managed to get one of the requests which was the "near transportation" and quiet. It was a quick 3 min walk to the front to catch a bus, or grab a bite to eat. While the all star sports was nice it was very overrun with cheerleaders. They were in town for a cheer competition that started on Sat and went through Sun.

Anyways, we get to our room and unpacked as we only did carry on luggage since it was a shorter trip. After unpacking we made our way to the main building to go catch a bus to Epcot. It was dreary out and we knew there was a good chance for rain. We were on a mission to find some poncho's just in case. However most of the front stores we didn't see any right away so decided instead of shopping we wanted to go on a ride so Spaceship earth it was. It's in the huge golf ball and it's so iconic and a must do for us everytime.

After our trip through time we made our way over to Ellen's Energy show/ride. We had never tried it and we wanted to try some new things this trip. Plus test track was down due to the rain and lightning. Soarin had like an hour wait and ellen's only had a 5 minute one. Hmm. Which would you choose.

So after coming out of that we were making our way to the world showcase and were just barely in Mexico and it poured down hard. I told Ian we needed to find poncho's because I didn't want to be soaked all day and we had dinner reservations for Le Cellier in Canada at 6:30. So we came upon a shop in Mexico and we heard angels singing and shine a light on the poncho's. Yay! So after putting those on we found a quick snack of pretzels and made our way around to Norway as we had to go on Maelstrom. I love the troll country. Plus it's indoor ride and wanted to get out of the downpour. We really had a good time and the rain cooled things down and it was little to no humidity which surprised me. We toured our way around looking at the beautiful flower topiary's they had out for the Flower and Garden Festival. You will see some pictures below from this.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Not the finish we were expecting!

Here is a snippet of video from the race day itself. I will be back with more of the story later.





Monday, April 22, 2013

Single Digit Dance

So we oficially hit the single digits until we are off on vacation. So excited! We drive to Kingwood a week from Wed. Get to spend the night in my parents new home. It will be interested to see how Sweetpea does. She at least remembers my parents pretty easily but with it being a new home, who knows how it will go.

I have started to gather our stuff and put it into one corner. I will probably pack us up on Tuesday before we go to work. Then the last minute stuff like toiletries will get packed on Wed morning before we drive in. I will get us checked in for our flight on Wed before we leave for Kingwood so I can have us on a first class standby list since we are one pass members. I doubt we will be upgraded but oh what a fun story that would be. Especially since we got an update the other day from united that our flight leaves 15 mins earlier so now instead of it leaving at 7:20, we are departing at 7:05. So freaking early. I am betting Ian will want to set the alarm for 4:30 and we will be out the door by 5 am. We have our parking figured out finally after pricing and comparing. So that is another thing I have been able to cross off our list.

So now is just the final walks/runs this week, and our final week on our current team. Then next weekend comes, and we start our new team on Tuesday and leave on Wed. Eeeeeek. So freaking excited.

We did get our first choice on teams by the way. We are on the same shift we are now under new supervisors. We have a previous manager for the team manager, and I have two new seniors to me but Ian has been under one in the past as well. So only one new one to him.

Most of our team that we are on now, got the same shift too so that is kind of fun.

Not much else to report on right now. If I remember I am going to send out our bib numbers along with where you can check on us during the event this week via email. Hopefully they get the link to us before we leave. Otherwise I will get ya'll our bib numbers and a link to the rundisney site as they will likely have a link to it from their site directly.

Hope everyone is doing well. Take care!

~Hugs

Saturday, April 13, 2013

TGIF!

It's been a while since I have posted an update. I have a little bit of time before we have to leave for work so figured what time would be better. Today is our Friday and I'm so glad we made it through another work week. This last one was a crazy one. We have a fun meeting set for today that will be our last one on this team. We move the Sunday before we go to Disney for our 5k race. So I'm sad to see the time come to close on this team but at the same time, it's always fun to meet new people, management and maybe even change up our hours.
javascript:;
We find out our new shifts on Monday so we will find out on Tuesday when we return to work. We are both ancy but there are really no bad shifts in the department we are in so we are excited to find out what we get.

We have a pretty fun filled weekend coming up. We are going to take Sweetpea to Canyon of the Eagles state park tomorrow. That will allow us to get our walk in and get to see some new scenery. Then on Monday Ian has to get his labs done, and then we will go grab some breakfast and then some shopping for the upcoming trip. I am looking to get a new pair of running shorts, compression socks for my runs. Then Ian wants to get some shoes depending on what they have.

Then we will return to work on Tuesday and start our next work week. Weekends go by so fast which is a bummer but work goes by pretty fast too. We have gotten our Mickey mail in and got the waivers finally for signing for the race itself. So it's just a matter of doing our every other day training walks/runs and before we know it May 1st will be here and we will be heading to my parents new house.

I'm so excited for them. They close and then move on Friday. It will be their first home they have purchased and it's an exciting time for them. =)

If I remember I will take the camera with us on Sunday and come back and post some pictures. =)

Have a great day everyone!

~hugs

Monday, March 11, 2013

Where oh where did that weekend go????

This weekend went by way too fast!! It didn't help that we lost the hour on Saturday night. When we did get up we went for our walk/run for 2.4 miles. Then had a quick bite to eat and got my hair cut.

Then we went for dinner and came home to watch a few movies and our typical Sunday night line up. Then this morning we got up late again and had to run some errands. Tonight I'm going to make baked ziti for dinner and trying to get in plenty of water. Tomorrow is a run/walk day for us. We have upped our workouts to every other day now instead of just mon/wed/fridays. Hoping by doing this it will increase stamina and reduce time frame for the 3.1 5k distance.

We are waiting to hear back from roofing company for the repair job our back roof needs.

In other news this coming week is going to be crazy at work. We have a release coming so it will always generate craziness for us. It definitely helps the time fly by. Then towards the end of the month we have a team outing so we get a 3 day weekend. Our team voted for a movie day at this new theater. We get a double feature and food so not a bad way to spend a day off the queue.

We move to new teams at the end of April too. Matter of fact the week that leads into us leaving on that Friday for our Disney trip. So we have tons of things keeping us busy between now and our trip. Hopefully it will continue to pass by just as fast.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

So freaking emotional

I don't know if it's because of it being that time of the month, but I'm very emotional today. First my BIL has shipped out for another tour of duty. So everyone that reads this please keep him and our troops in your prayers please. We need them to return safely to their families!!

Then I have been watching videos of peoples experience with the race and get so emotional as they are coming across that finish line. I think it's because I know how hard we have been working to get there and I really want to finish it. I know we can do it but it's so scary to think about training and to get swept because of not keeping pace would be horrible to me.

I know I'm probably going to be laughing and crying as I come across that finish line like I did for the Cupids Chase one. We are thinking of signing up for another one in April before we go to get another race under our belts. I just don't know if we should risk possible injury to ourselves. I would hate to get a major injury before we go for the main event.

I mentioned the other day we added jogging sprints to our walk now. The other day we went back to our main park and we did it both to the 1.6 marker and back. Which is a lot longer than we normal do. We already got our time down to around 54 mins by doing that. So by the time we go in May we should have that to hopefully 45-47ish. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I was sore yesterday after it and today I'm ok. Just a little sore in my core muscles. I didn't realize by adding jogging sprints it would work my core out. We are getting jump ropes to do cross training with on our off days to strengthen our calves and build up endurance. I will also do my dance video as well.

I am so ready for the weekend this week. If it's nice out tomorrow like it was today we are going to canyon of the eagles state park with sweet pea. I need to check and make sure they allow dogs first I guess. LOL. If we get to go I will take the camera so I can get some pics and post them.

Hope everyone is doing well. Love you all.

~hugs

Monday, February 11, 2013

Re-posting EE challenge countdown clock

Time off Approved!

So we noticed the other day that the time between now and the challenge was under 90 days. We attempted to put in for it off but it was telling us that the furthest we could do was April 27th. Ian hit up our boss about it and said to email him so he could check on it for us. Then we were hit up and told to just submit for it using our old tool and it would be retroactively added to the other tool. Then he approved it for us. So another step is down and we are closer to being on our way!

We are so stinking excited about it. We should get our refund in tomorrow where I will be booking our airfare and package with Disney. So it will be officially booked and paid for.

Our plane will leave on Thursday morning at 7:45 am and we will get into Houston at 10:30ish. We are only going until Sunday so will likely just do a carry on for each. After getting to our hotel, will unpack pretty quick and make our way to Epcot. We have a dinner reservation for Le Cellier which is the Canadian steakhouse in world showcase.

On Friday morning we will be grabbing a bite to eat breakfast and then catching a bus over to the packet pick up for the race. Then drop it off in our room and grab a bus over to Magic Kingdom. We have dinner reservations at the all new Be Our Guest restaurant. I am really excited about this one. The pictures of the ballroom that is open for dinner service is gorgeous. We plan on staying until the park closes tonight as we get to sleep in on Sat.

On Saturday morning, we have breakfast reservations at Kona Cafe at 10 AM. I plan on picking up more of the Kona coffee before we leave here today. It's expensive but oh so freaking good! Then we are going to have some pool time and grab something for dinner around 5pm. Then rest until around 9pm when we need to go catch a bus over to the starting line. We plan on staying at the after party as long as we can. It will depend on how exhausted we are. We have a couple of choices for our flight home and haven't made up our mind yet. There is one that leaves at 1pm and another at 6pm. If we do the 6pm we can do the morning at Hollywood Studios for a few hours before needing to go back to the resort to catch the magical express back to the airport. Hmm..need to make up our minds before we book it tomorrow.

In preparation news: we have started to add jogging spurts on our walks to try and up the stamina for the race. We are following the couch to 5k program for the most part. Although it was rough this morning as it was cold, cloudy and sweetpea was a pill. We might leave her at home on Wed when we go just to see how much better the run goes.

I can't make up my mind if I want to take the camera or flip camera on the run to get video/pictures. I guess only time will tell.

That is all for now. Hope everyone is doing well out there.

~Hugs

Saturday, February 2, 2013

WE DID IT!!!!

So today was our first 5K. We did it in a time of about a 20 minute per mile. So not terrible but not our goal of 15 mins per mile. I was so proud of us when they called our names and numbers when we crossed the finish line. I had actual tears in my eyes because it's something we had been working up to and to complete it and not be dead last. Heck yeah...we will take it.

They took a bunch of pics on the course so once they are posted tomorrow I will link the pictures in here. If it's not terrible I will probably buy one.

Not much else to report on. Time for my shower!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Dreaming about the next one

So on the last sea day while we were waiting on some event to start, Ian mentions how much he loved this cruise and we should look at what the pricing would be on a different sailing for next year.

On the way back to the room we stop by the future cruise sales desk and pick up a brochure and see they will be back at their desk in about 15 minutes and there was line already forming.

We look through the brochure and see they have a 4 night sailing that leaves out of Port Canaveral on our wedding anniversary of Jan 5th, 2014. We decide that we would just get the pricing on an interior room as we were out of our room and hardly used the balcony on this one. We didn't want to pay the extra for it if we weren't going to use it.

When they told us it was only 1200 including the taxes, etc we were like yes please. So this trip will head out of Port Canaveral on that Sunday, we will be at Nassau the next day, have a full day at their private island of Castaway Cay and then a sea day and back at Port Canaveral.

We will likely fly in the day before the cruise and stay on property to get the free transportation. We might fly in two days ahead so we can have a day at the parks and see the Christmas stuff still.

Then once the cruise gets back we will go back to the resorts and stay for at least 4-5 days for the parks. That is the tentative plan at least. We will concentrate on paying off the cruise and wait until the discounts come out in August/Sept for Jan trips and then plan our time at the parks then.

I will keep everyone updated for those that might be interested in joining. Otherwise we will probably go by ourselves and still have a blast. =)

Hope everyone else is doing ok.

~Hugs

Our last sea day contd

Our final dinner was sad as we had truly enjoyed meeting our dining companions. I was a little nervous about this because you just never know who or what you will be sat with but we had three really nice couples.

We had two amazing servers. Dharma was the asst server and Mario was our server. Then we had Luis for the Head Server. They all went above and beyond our expectations.

Here is a picture of us with Dharma and Mario.


The final menu art which I loved.


Our last adult activity was POP trivia and then some dancing.

Teesa was amazing and she hosted most of the fun activities for the cruise.





our last sea day

Today was going to be our last day at sea. We had our character breakfast set for today. We only had one of the 3 other couples join us for it so it was nice to get time with them to learn more about them.

The breakfast was a ton of fun and we got pictures with all the characters pretty quickly.

First up is Minnie Mouse. Ian told her she needed to make sure that Mickey gave her a ring.


Pluto


Chip


our waitstaff had fun with us and gave us silly hats. I got a minnie bow.


Ian got dumbo ears


Mickey!!!


Goofy


Thursday - Cozumel

When I last left you we got off the ship to go explore Cozumel at night. The next day we were in Cozumel still until 3:45 PM. So you literally did not have to be on the ship from 8 PM Wed until 3:45 on Thursday. You could literally spend that time off the ship. That was crazy to us.

That morning we got up and went to breakfast. Then went back to the room to change into our swim suits and went to the quiet cove pool area for adults. We found two chaise loungers and went into the pool. Then we got into the hot tub and then laid out until we were just about dry. I read while Ian napped. Then we got back into the pool again as we were quite warm.

There was one family that thought they were above the rules and had their kid in the adult only area. I went into the coffee shop to report them and see if there were any good magazines to look through. Ian got us two blue margaritas as they were the drink of the days. They asked the family to leave the adult only area so thank god for that because their little girl was quite vocal and was interrupting my quiet time. LOL...

Around 1PM we decided to head back to the room and get our showers. Then we took a nap as we had dinner set for Palo tonight. This is the adult only dining that you have to pay an extra charge for. But man was it worth it. We had Alvin for our server and he was outstanding. The food was amazing.

After dinner tonight we went back to the room and just relaxed. We sat on the balcony and just chatted about the cruise so far. I also decided to get us packed up except for the items we would need for tomorrow and the day of debarkation. That allowed us to truly enjoy the last day at sea on the ship.

Costa Maya.....or would we make it....

So we were supposed to be arriving to Costa Maya on Wed at around noonish. So they had some fun activities going on. We planned on today being just a ship/pool day as we have been to this port several times and there is not much to the port area itself.

One of the fun items was going to be Monsters Inc in 3d in the main theatre so Ian and I went to go see it. It would be over around the time we would be docking and then would go to the room to change for some pool time. While we were waiting for them to open the theatre, the winds were blowing pretty strong and the seas were rocking. Ian and I knew from a previous time that if it's too bad they will shut this port down and not allow boats to dock at their pier. So I had a feeling we might not make it to port today. While in the theater watching the movie I could tell they were making an announcement but they didn't interrupt our movie.

So once the movie finished they came into the theater to let us know that the port was closed down as they were getting 7ft swells over the pier so it was unsafe for us to walk on. So they were busy making quick adjustments to our daily activity schedule and we were making our way to the next port of Cozumel which we were expected to arrive around 7:30 pm. Yes you heard that right. We got an overnight stay which hardly ever happens. We were so stoked as we lucked out on this. Cozumel is one of our favorite ports too.

So when we exited the theater they had a new schedule for us and we noticed they added a mixology seminar which we went and signed up for promptly. They also had a ton of various characters out. One of which was Pinocchio. We also saw Dopey today, tink, peter pan, alice, the white rabbit, capt hook, etc.

Looking down at Pinocchio.


Some of the contents of the mixology class...items to make a mojito. mmmm..


Blue Margarita


They added another bingo round and everyone got a free disney calendar as well.


We did get off the ship to go explore Cozumel at night. We went to Carlos and Charlies at the pier area shops in Downtown Cozumel. We had some yummy mexican and it makes us want to visit the one in Austin now on the lake. No pictures though because we weren't sure how safe it would be in Cozumel at night. We were both a little nervous but it was a lot of fun.

Grand Cayman

We actually didn't take the camera off the ship today because we had no plans like we usually do for Grand Cayman. We literally got off the ship later in the morning around 11 am. We took the tender to town and just walked around. We did shop some and grabbed a bite to eat at Margaritaville as we had never been and had always wanted to try it out.

Ian got me a pair of tanzanite earrings for our anniversary at the Tanzanite international store. We also picked up some rum from the tortuga rum shop as it's some of the best coconut rum I have ever had. So cheap too. We got two bottles for 24 bucks. Man do I love Grand Cayman. We will likely learn how to dive before we make it back so we can scuba next time we take a cruise here.

This is the night of the Pirates in the Caribbean party as well. We didn't take the camera as we weren't sure how they would come out at night. They had various characters appear and the big finale was fireworks. They are the only cruise line with the permission to shoot them and it was spectacular.

They showed Pirates of the Caribbean movie as well on the big funnel movie screen.

Next up will be Costa Maya or would it.....

Day at Sea on our way to Grand Cayman

Today was another sea day. We were on our way to Grand Cayman and we got to do several fun things today. We did another of the animation classes and a tequila and margarita tasting.

First up: animation class where we learned how to draw Daisy Duck.

Here is the pro picture up on the screen.


Here is Tammy's completed picture. This is actually really good for me as I'm normally a stick figure artist and a bad one at that. They make it really easy with step by step instructions.


Next up is the tequila and margarita tasting. We got to try three different tequilas and two margarita's. The tequilas were a patron silver, patron repesado and a patron coffee tequila. The two margaritas were the typical lime and a mango one.


The nearly empty table now...lol.


We went from the tasting to the 5k jackpot bingo session. We didn't win anything but we had a lot of fun. Here is a picture of the rockin bar d lounge where it took place. This is also where a lot of the adult nightly entertainment events we went to took place.


Our nightly towel animal was a cool rabbit tonight. Tomorrow would be Grand Cayman day.






Key West Cont'd

After finishing off the key lime pie we made our way back on the ship. The nice thing is when waiting in line to get back on the ship they had several stations set up that had ice water/lemonaide and cold towels to cool yourself down. This has never been provided on previous ships and makes us realize why Disney is a step ahead of the others in some areas.

Here is a picture of Mickey in the lobby.


Ian snapped this shot of the bird on the lines tying us to the pier.


He also got this great evening shot as we were heading out of port to our next destination.


This was the night we decided to go catch a movie on the pool deck as they were showing "Enchanted".


Ian enjoying the evening breeze and the movie.


Key West cont'd

They had a lot of neat buildings all around town that we got to see. Here was one of the oldest churches.


The world famous lighthouse.


One of the trolley stops, had this store that was selling the "southern most point" souvenirs and this lovely iguana posing on the roof.


The end of Highway 1.


At the pier they had some great shops and seating. We had to get a piece of the world famous Kermit's frozen and chocolate dipped key lime pie. So while eating and drinking some water we got some pictures of the ship docked.


Aft of the ship.