Disney Recovery.

 Waiting to board the ship early Saturday morning. 

 Julia and Nate play in Nemo's reef. 

 We loved our cabin! We had a great balcony/veranda on the other side on that curtain. A curtain separated the kids room from our room where we had a queen bed. There were separate shower/sink and toilet/sink rooms, and I was shocked to find the shower amazing ~ full on waterfall shower and tub with a seating area so we could just rotate the kids through there like an assembly line. I had envisioned it feeling super cramped and uncomfortable, but instead it was cozy, but had plenty of room for all of us.The kids took turn with the top bunk so rotated beds each night. Lloyd took great care of us and our room and the kids were delighted to come in and see what animal shape he had folded towels into each night on our beds.  Remember that suitcase that I was so super proud of? Well, wouldn't you know that even with it being checked priority due to Nate's status.....out of all of the bags in our party of 14 THAT one got lost? We haven't had a bag get lost in years....and we got to Orlando....and no bag. I was near tears. Luckily it was only 10:30 am (And I will forever remember landing and turning on my cell to the happy news that sweet Madelyn Hunter Free had been born while we were in the air!!!) and they were able to track the missing bag to Jacksonville. They told us that they could get it to us that day. We had a car service take us all to our hotel in Port Canaveral, sans bag. A little snafu occurred where they sent our bag to Orlando, then BACK to Jacksonville (love US Air!)...but we did eventually get it in time for bed. It was such a great thing that we had allowed this extra time/day and did not try to get to FL and onto the ship on the same day as our bag would have been catching up to us in Grand Cayman and we would have been without all of our kids clothing ~ it would have been a nightmare. 

 One of the very first nights the kids went to the Bippity Boppity Boutique. The boys were made into Knights and the girls Princesses (I know,  I know). They, however, loved the crap out of it.

 Julia met snow white! We were super lucky in that our kids weren't super into meeting characters and we didn't in any way hype that angle up ~ so we didn't spend any time on the trip standing in lines or collecting signatures (I had NO IDEA people did this?!?!?!). Win. 

 This was our day on the beach in Grand Cayman. This was a fantastic day. The boys went on a wave runner, Jake took a 3 hour nap on the beach, and Luke learned to snorkel. I got a ton of reading in, and we all enjoyed the amazing water and took advantage of the snorkeling.

 At dinner one night. We all had dinner together each night at 5:45. One night Nate and I dined at Palo, the adults only restaurant, which blew us away. Even then, we went to the family dinner first as we had a late reservation and we enjoyed being with everyone so much. We had the same waiters every night, which was great as they really got to know you and anticipate your needs/wants. The food shocked me. Not only was it delicious, it was HEALTHY! Even in the buffets (which was where we generally ate breakfast and lunch) there were a TON of healthy options, and even when they had less than healthy options, they generally had them offered in small, reasonable portion sizes. I was totally impressed with every aspect of the food. 

 The DiLullo girls. Its funny how girl heavy the DiLullo side is considering how boy heavy the Mangan side is. 

 I found these dresses on Pinterest/etsy and couldn't resist them for the cousins. 

 Pirate night.

 Mom and Dad with their Grandchildren. This was in the main staircase. The ship itself was amazing. We were on the Disney Fantasy, which I believe is the newest of their cruise ships. Now, I have nothing to compare it to ~ but I was blown away by the scope of everything. Really impressive.

 We let the kids take long naps this day and after dinner changed into suits. The pool was wonderfully uncrowded at night and we enjoyed riding the water slide with no lines. Enchanted was playing on the big screen above the pool, so we had some ice cream, swam, and watched the movie. It was such a fun way to spend a late night!

 This was far and away the most amazing day of the trip. Castaway Cay is a private island in the Bahamas that Disney owns. We rented two private cabanas on the island. We got off of the boat really bright and early (you could walk right off), and took our transport directly to our cabanas. Fully loaded with cold towels, fruit and snacks, drinks, etc, they were a haven. They had full shade, partial shade, hammocks etc etc and all of the floats and snorkeling gear etc one could wish for. We spent the entire day lazing in the pool like water, playing beach volleyball, snorkeling, reading, and all in all just being awed at the beauty and complete serenity of our surroundings. The privacy and quiet that the cabanas offered were simply off the charts. I will never forget everyone starting to pack up to leave and walking up towards the cabana and Jules being in the water just shaking her head "no". Not obstinately, not meanly ~ she just know she was in true paradise and she didn't want to leave. I don't blame her. It sounds SO corny but I almost could get tears in my eyes just thinking of that one day. I've never shared a more beautiful and less encumbered day with either my immediate or my extended family.

All in all it far exceeded my expectations. 

I loved it. LOVED it. I don't LOVE cruising, as I suspected. I simply don't love crowds of people enough. I won't go on another one anytime even close to soon, if ever.......but man did we do the *right* one. This was a lifetime memory for me, and I hope, for my kids. If anyone is contemplating doing one I can't recommend it highly enough. 

We got docked Saturday morning and flew straight home. I immediately unpacked and by Sunday night everything was back to normal around the house. We were going to head to Cape May on Tuesday night to celebrate the Fourth.....and literally pulled the plug on that on Tuesday morning. I simply wasn't ready to pack/unpack, and there were a lot of fun things going on at home.....so we decided to enjoy some time at home. On Saturday as we were driving to yet another party I turned to Nate and said "I can't WAIT for Monday ~ I feel like it's been Saturday for TWO WEEKS"....and its true. It was a wonderful two weeks, but an exhausting, truly exhausting two weeks. 

Nate did an up and back to Boston today and I was so grateful just for the little tiny return to normalcy! I feel like I got so much done! At the end of the day, while vacation is great, I am a creature who thrives on routine and miss it terribly~ so this next two weeks is going to be cherished.