Oh My G-d, you guys. If you do one thing, before you die, take a Disney cruise. In fact, it should be in that book. Isn't there a book about things you should do before you die? It should be in there.
Best vacation ever. Really. And Disney did not pay me to go on this vacation or even know I was on it and a blogger. My parents payed for it. And speaking of my parents, wave a big hi to them since I told them I have a blog. Apparently, when you take me on an 11 day vacation I will come clean about my online activities. So give my mom, dad, sister, and brother in law a big jodifur welcome. They say they will be reading and commenting. I am now terrified.
Back to the vacation. To say it was the best vacation ever is an understatement. My parents take amazing vacations. My dad never wants to take another vacation that is not the Disney cruise. He wants to go on the Disney Cruise just the two of them, without us and the grand-kids. My mom cried when it was over. Michael woke up every morning asking to go to kids club. We never had to see him, he always wanted to be in the kids club. When the plane landed back in DC he asked to go to kids club.
We started in Disney World, with a room that overlooked the animals at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. One night we couldn't tell what an animal was and I grabbed my iphone and tried to use it as a flashlight and tried to shine it on them to distinguish a wildebeest from an antelope. Ok, maybe you had to be there, but it was funny.
There was Michael waking up humming Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me, my brother in law trying to sub tuna for turkey on the ships lunch menu, (Scott, if a tuna melt is not on the menu, you can not order it), and watching Michael meet every character under the sun on the ship, including his idol Peter Pan. When he met Mickey I thought he might tell him that he pooped in the potty just so he could meet him.
Watching the nightly shows through Michael's eyes was amazing, and believing just for a moment that Faith and Trust and Pixie Dust really can make you fly. I used to think it was cheesy when people said watching the world through your child's eyes was the best thing about being a parent. Now I get it. The night of the on-board Pirate Party Mickey Mouse repelled down the ship to save it from the being taken over from Pirates and fireworks over took the night sky and in that moment we were all just kids again. Dancing away to old 80s music and cheering because we were safe from the evil pirates who were trying to capture the Disney Magic.
And there is nothing like a three year old in fancy clothes.
And look how pretty are Doug and I?
And playing on the beach, oh, I'm sorry, not just the beach, Disney's special beach, Castaway Cay. It's like a magic beach. The beach Mickey owns.
One of Michael's favorite games every night was to play guess the towel animal our cabin steward had made for us. As he ran through the halls with one of us yelling, "Michael stop running" he would say, "I bet it's a turtle, or a snake, or a wildebeest." Wildebeests were a very big deal on this vacation.
And then there is the small matter of a little bauble that is now on my right hand. My husband surprised me by purchasing a 3 stone diamond ring I have been lusting after while we were shopping in one of the islands, with the line "you deserve it." But why do I deserve it? Because I show up every day? Because I am doing what I promised to do 8 years ago? Loving him and loving our child? He said it was because of the really bad year I have had and he wanted to do something nice for me and I should let him. So I did.
While the American economy is falling apart and people are losing their jobs, I got a beautiful piece of jewelry, a fabulous vacation, a couple of treatments at the spa, and ate like a king. Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me.
My only regret is that Michael is too young to remember it. And I want him to remember it. But that's okay because my parents say we will go again in 3 years! I am seriously the luckiest girl alive.
There are more pictures, I promise. They are all on my camera and I hate downloading and uploading pictures from my camera. Can someone invent a camera where the pictures automatically go to your computer? Doug said they did and it's called an iphone. This is why I am a terrible mommyblogger. It just takes hours of my life that I don't have to give right now. But I'll do it, I promise. These were the few I had on my iphone and some professional ones the ship took I scanned in.
Thanks for sticking with me while I was gone, and I'll announce the contest winner tomorrow.
