Baby update and vacation day #5

  I had a regular doctor's appointment on Monday, nothing much happened but I did get to hear the baby's heartbeat.  The little bugger was moving every where and my doctor had a hard time getting he/she to stay still long enough to get a reading.  But we did and the heart rate was 145 (which leads her to believe another boy).  We did discuss a few things and I scheduled an ultrasound for the 19th.  I thought I was going to have to wait until the end of the month/beginning of Novemeber before I could find out if we are having a boy or girl.  Well, because of the compliations I had with Ryan, my doctor wants to monitor my cervical length every two weeks, so yay for an early ultrasound!!  Hoping the baby cooperates and let's us get a peek, I'd really like to know if it's a boy or girl!!  If nothing else it'll be easier with Ryan, who currently thinks I have a girl baby in my tummy and he has a boy baby in his tummy. 

And here is another vacation day post. :) 

Day Five: Our first full day at sea! We planned on having a nice relaxing day and that’s exactly what I was going to do, relax! Ryan never really sleeps in late so he and I were up before 7:30. I showered and got ready for breakfast while he watched cartoons and Jonathan slept. After I was ready I made Jonathan get up and get ready so we could all go get breakfast, this pregnant lady doesn’t like to wait to eat in the morning, I am always hungry early. We went up to Cabanas and found plenty to eat. Omelets, hash browns, pancakes, Mickey waffles, cereal, pastries and donuts, fruit, etc. So much food! Everything I had on my plate was very good. I made Ryan a plate and what do you think he ate, cereal. He didn’t really want any of the other stuff for breakfast all week besides maybe a bite or two of a donut, maybe some fruit but would eat cereal every morning.


After breakfast, Ryan and I went to “Wake up With Disney Junior”. It was a little dance party for the kids. There was a cast member there and he was very interactive with the kids. They played music from Disney Junior shows and did different dances. Goofy came in for a little bit and danced with the kids too. It was fun and cute! Great way to start the morning.

After this, Ryan was begging to go to the kids’ club. I hadn’t been sure about taking him before the cruise (I don’t like him spending so much time away from us, we both work all day and he is in daycare, I feel we miss so much) but he was begging to go. I made sure he understood that I couldn’t go and that he would be going by himself, he was fine with that and excited to run around and play. So, reluctantly I took him to the kids’ club. Since I had some free time on my hands with no plans (this never happens!!!) I decided to relax. I grabbed my Kindle from the room and went to the adults’ only area up on the pool deck, grabbed a chair and read a book. Jonathan isn’t the type to just sit and has a hard time with it. He decided he wanted to go swimming so he changed and got in the adult only pool for a little bit with an occasional run over to me just to make sure I hadn’t forgotten about him and to interrupt my reading. It was drizzling rain at this point but he was in the pool and didn’t care. They made an announcement that the Aquaduck was still open despite the rain so he went over to take another ride; however, before he got to the top of the stairs they had closed it due to lightening. With nothing for him to do I thought he was going to sit down and drive me crazy, thankfully he couldn’t sit there long so he went back to the room to change and explorer the ship. I loved having my time to read. It was so nice to be able to sit down, read a good book and look out at the ocean everywhere around us, aw this is the life!

After about an hour and a half I went back to the kids’ club to pick up Ryan. He was playing on one of the computers when I went in there and the look on his face when he saw me was priceless. And not in the way to make a mommy’s heart melt. I do believe if looks could make people disappear, I would have, lol. He was not happy I was there and he was not ready to leave! It was getting close to lunch time though so I told him he could come back another time and he was happy with that. We went back to the room for a few minutes to meet back up with Jonathan and to hear about Ryan’s time in the kids’ club. He said he got to play in Andy’s room, in the Monsters Inc room, on the light up dance floor and on the computers. He was particularly happy he got to play on a computer just for him. I was glad he enjoyed his time but I missed him while he was gone (and checked the Wave phone every few minutes, lol).

Once we were all back together we went up to Cabanas to grab lunch. Again, I don’t remember what we had but it was all good (nothing spectacular but all yummy and we found plenty to our liking). I believe we walked around the ship a little more after lunch. We headed back to our room so Ryan could get a nap and I’m pretty sure I took one as well, after all, relaxing was the only thing on today’s agenda. After nap time, we changed into swim wear and went to go play. Ryan played some more in Nemo’s Reef area and loved it. We also went up to the Aqua Lab spray area for a little bit. This was fun but he preferred Nemo’s Reef (and I did too since it is covered). I also took my first ride on the Aqua Duck. I wasn’t sure what the ride was going to be like but the first half is faster and you get kind of a water slide feel, then the second half is more relaxed and you are able to look around to take in the great view. Jonathan took another ride down it as well. Ryan wanted to go on the Mickey kids’ slide so my husband walked him up the steps and gave him a little push. Well, that “little” push wasn’t enough and Ryan didn’t even make it around the first corner completely. He sat there looking at Jonathan and couldn’t figure out what to do. While Jonathan was trying to explain to him how to push himself down another kid went down knocking Ryan down the rest of the way. Ryan was not happy about this and did not want to go again! Then despite being told not to (he later said he never heard him say that), Jonathan went down the slide. He got yelled at by the cast member once at the bottom. Not a great start to the slide for Ryan and he quickly went back to Nemo’s Reef to go down Mr. Ray’s slide (which was short but fast and he loved it).

  After a few hours of playing around in the water we went back to the room to change and get ready for dinner. Tonight was formal night and we were in Royal Court. Before going down to the Royal Court we waited in line to see Mickey. We were all dressed up and wanted a good picture with Mickey (and this is the one we ended up buying).

Family picture with Captain Mickey (the one we bought turned out better than this but I haven't scanned it in). 



  My first glimpse of the Royal Court and I was impressed. It is a beautiful restaurant! The mosaics on the walls were stunning, the chairs and light fixtures all added to the great ambiance of the room. With my love for Disney Princesses, this was easily my favorite of the 3 rotational restaurants. I had the double baked cheese and spinach soufflé to start with; Jonathan had the iced lobster and jumbo shrimp. We both enjoyed our starters. Then I had the Royal Market Green salad that came with goat cheese. I wasn’t as fond of this, turns out I don’t like goat cheese unless it’s melted on something. I can’t remember what Jonathan had, probably more shrimp though. For our main course, we both had the aged angus grilled beef tenderloin topped with garlic shrimp (I quickly gave my shrimp to Jonathan) and marquis potatoes. Steak was tender and juicy and the cognac reduction sauce served with it was nice. For dessert I had the grand mariner soufflé, which was very good. Jonathan had the strawberry shortcake sundae and he enjoyed it. Ryan had spaghetti and meatballs and he ate a lot of it. Our assistant server was nice and cut it all up for Ryan (Ryan got a kick out of them cutting his food for him instead of mommy).

A few pictures from Royal Court



This is a picture of the center table, it was different than the others.  Also, you can see the waiter's uniforms in the background.  They had different ones each night.  

Bread Basket

And here are a couple pictures of the plates they had on the wall near our table.



After dinner we went back to the room for a little bit before the show. We went to see Aladdin tonight. Ryan loved this show and now watches Aladdin at home all the time. Jonathan and I enjoyed the show but thought a few things could have been done a bit better. They did have some very life like horses (or at least they looked that way from our seats in the balcony, lol) and we had to do a double take before realizing there was no way a horse could live on a cruise ship, lol. And it was much better than entertainment shows we’ve seen on other cruise lines. Once the show was over we went back to the room and it was bath and bed time for Ryan. Jonathan and I did not stay up much longer either. Tomorrow was our first port stop, Grand Cayman, and we were going to the beach.

2012 WDW & Disney Cruise Vacation - Day 4

Day Four:  It’s cruise day!  Yay!  We were sad to be leaving Disney World but not all that sad since we were getting ready to board the Disney Fantasy.  We had scheduled for a shuttle to pick us up at 9 to go get our rental car so we were in no big hurry this morning.  We woke up and got ready, packed what was still out and said bye to our room.  We had one last danish at our resort before heading out front to wait for the shuttle.  Our driver called and said he was running a little behind, not a good start; however, this did not continue (it got better).  We used Budget rental this time around.  Jonathan was very nervous about renting a car because last time it was a huge hassle renting from Avis (had to take a bus to Downtown Disney to go to the hotel across from there to pick up the car, waited quiet some time to get the car and then when we returned it in Port Canaveral we had to wait to be shuttled over because Avis’s bus had broke down).  Our driver showed up about 15 minutes late but was polite and apologetic about it, said his last passenger was late.  We were quickly taken to the hotel where the Budget desk was.  The desk was just right inside the door and we were the only ones there.  The lady had us checked in and a car ready before I had even gotten back out of the bathroom with Ryan, I was shocked.  We walked out to the car, got the car seat hooked up and were on our way.  Driving to Port Canaveral is a little annoying because of all the tolls but I guess that’s just because we come from a state that doesn’t have tolls.  But in less than an hour and after stopping for gas right next to the Budget center, we returned the car.  And to our delight there was a shuttle waiting!  We were able to hop on and were at the port by 11.  It was so much easier this time around and so pleasant.  We will defiantly use Budget again in the future.

 

It truly is a site to see the ship when you first go over the hill when driving to Port Canaveral.  Seeing your cruise ship in the distance and knowing that will be home for the next week is so exciting!

 

We dropped our checked bags off to the porters and headed thru security.  Everything was very easy and such a breeze!  We didn’t have to wait in line at all to check in.  It only took a few minutes for them to issue us our Key to the World cards and we were given boarding #6.  I did not stand in line to check Ryan into the kids club here because I had read that it was much easier and quicker to do onboard (and I’m glad I waited, the line was long here and no one in line onboard at the open house) nor did we stand in line to see Mickey or Minnie, lines were long for them as well.

 

Model of the ship in the cruise terminal.  

You go thru Mickey Ears to get on the ship thru the cruise terminal.  Love the details Disney does.

 

After just a short wait we were called to board.  We had our picture taken and were boarding.  It was a neat thing to hear our name called and having them clap and wave at us as we came on board.  Ryan liked that they were wearing Mickey hands.  The first view takes your breath away, the atrium is beautiful!  We walked thru quickly because we didn’t want to add to the congestion or be a cause for it so we headed toward the elevators (which were very easy to find).  We saw the mosaic of the Cinderella coach and the big chair and I was in love.

Ryan and me in the royal chair.

We headed straight for Cabanas for lunch because surprise, surprise I was hungry, lol.  Cabanas is really nicely decorated in my opinion, again the tile work is amazing!  We picked up plates and quickly found enough we wanted and were sitting down to eat by 12.  I do not remember what we ate specifically, just that it was good and filling.

Mural in Cabanas.

    

We walked around for a little bit after lunch just taking it all in.  We went up to Palo to make a brunch reservation (which we had no problem getting the day or time we wanted).  Our room was ready by 1:30 so we switched into swimsuits and went back up on deck.  Jonathan really wanted to ride the Aquaduck (water coaster) and Ryan was just itching to get into Nemo’s Reef splash area.  Ryan loved Nemo’s Reef (and we would be back many times before the end of the week) and Jonathan really enjoyed his ride.  We went back to the room, changed and headed back out to check out the ship some more.  We went to the open house at the kids club.  I had already pre-registered online so checking Ryan in was very quick and easy.  They gave us the Mickey band and we went into explore.  Ryan loved the Monsters Inc room and Andy’s Room.

Ryan playing in Andy’s room on Rex. 

And a few more pics of the Kids Club.  The Monsters Inc Room.  Ryan loved this room. 

 Andy's Room - Slinky Dog, this was very long and the kids crawled thru it. 

The computer lab was inside the submarine. 

  This place is so neatly decorated and fun!  There are tons of computers for the kids to play on as well; Ryan thought this was so neat!  He loved being able to actually play on the computer!  They have smaller scaled bathrooms just for kids and automatic hand washing machines (they were pretty interesting!).  Ryan loved it and was so excited to go back!  We walked thru all the night clubs/adult only areas. 

Ryan and Jonathan playing in a phone booth in one of the night clubs. 

We saw both theaters and more art work.  We played a game of shuffle board, Ryan found this amusing.  By now it was time for our muster drill.  This was super easy, we were in the Walt Disney Theater balcony area and it was over in just a short time.  We headed up to the pool deck to the Sail Away Party next.  This was so fun!  It’s a great way to start a Disney cruise to be out on deck dancing with the characters.

 

After we went back to the room for a little bit before dinner to relax.  We had already gotten one of our bags so I unpacked it.  I believe during this time Ryan played on my Kindle and Jonathan watched tv while I unpacked, not sure how I always get to be in charge of the fun stuff.  When we boarded I did notice that we got the dinning rotation that we had requested, so tonight we were in Enchanted Garden.  Our other bag was waiting outside our door when we left for dinner.  Ryan had chicken tenders, fries and mac and cheese.  This one was a favorite for him and he had it a few nights.  They did serve it with veggies and made a cute Mickey head out of ketchup as well.  I started out with heirloom tomato soup and a romaine wedge.  Both were pretty good.  Jonathan had lobster ravioli.  We both had the prime rib that was served with double baked potato and we thought it was good.  Potatoes were a little dry in my opinion but when you are cooking for the masses I guess that happens.  For dessert, Ryan had an ice cream Mickey bar.  He loved these and had one almost every night.  

I had a chocolate torte and it was ok.  Jonathan had the banana foster sundae and enjoyed it.  We did not do much else this night, we were all tired.  So we headed back to our room to relax and get Ryan to bed.  I finished unpacking and read for a little bit while Jonathan watched tv (he watched 6 movies on tv while on the cruise, lol).     

2012 WDW & Disney Cruise Vacation - Day 3

Day Three: Today we did not need to wake up as early as we did the day before; however, we still wanted to get to Hollywood Studios in time for opening. Toy Story Mania can get very busy and have a very long line so we wanted to ride it first thing and grab fast passes. We left the room after eating a quick snack and headed to the bus stop at about a quarter after 8. Once again, we got lucky and a bus came very quickly. We were soon at Hollywood Studios waiting for opening. We have a Disney Visa and wanted to redeem our reward dollars while on vacation but did not get a reward card before we left for vacation. While we were standing in line I went to the customer service window and within a few minutes was handed a reward card, all I had to do was call to get it activated. Jonathan held our place in line while I did this so I met back up with him and Ryan and shortly we were let into the park. We made a quick dash to Toy Story Mania, as most people were doing, and grabbed our fast passes. Then we got in line to ride. We only waited for a few minutes (5 to 10 minutes) and were on the ride. We enjoy this ride but probably prefer Buzz Lightyear. Ryan sat with me for this go around and Jonathan easily beat us.

Jonathan and Ryan in front of Mickey's hat.



After riding we walked down to Starring Rolls to grab some breakfast (I was starving!). I got a cheese danish and Jonathan got a cherry danish, we just love the danishes at Disney World, they are soooo good!!! We sat down to eat and split our food with Ryan. After our yummy breakfast we tried to decide what to do next, we did not have any real plan for the day except for lunch reservations at Le Cellier at EPCOT. Ryan really wanted to go to Disney Junior Live on Stage; however, the first show wasn’t for awhile still. We walked around and decided to go to Muppet Vision 3D. Jonathan and Ryan enjoy this show. When the show was complete we talked about going to Disney Junior but I think we were cutting it close on time so we decided to go use our fast passes at Toy Story Mania then head to EPCOT (with a promise to Ryan that we would be back and we would see Disney Junior!). Ryan rode with Jonathan this time around and I beat them on Toy Story Mania (see a pattern, lol). Ryan loves to try to shot the gun but pulling the string gets to be a bit much for his arm.

We then headed out of Hollywood Studios to the boat dock to go to EPCOT. And just missed a boat pulling away by a few minutes (we could still see the boat) so we decided to try to walk it. We hadn’t gone 10 yards from the boat dock when it started to rain and immediately turned around. I would wait for the boat rather than walk in the rain.  Thankfully we didn’t wait long for a boat and we were on a nice leisurely ride to EPCOT. We’ve never gone thru International Gateway so this was a new one for us and it put us in World Showcase, right where we needed to be for our lunch. It had stopped raining by the time we go to EPCOT, thankfully, so we were able to stay dry! We walked to Le Cellier, checked-in for our lunch reservations and I took Ryan to the bathroom. By the time we got back they had already called our name and were waiting for us. Jonathan and I really enjoy eating here, the food is really good, steaks melt in your mouth and the cheese soup and pretzel bread is so yummy! We enjoyed our lunch and were surprised to see a new cheesecake on the dessert menu. We have felt their dessert menu to be lacking in the past (nothing special) but found the cheesecake was very good and a nice way to end a great meal! And we got Ryan to eat something besides chicken nuggets and fries, he had steak and liked it as well. After lunch we were all very full!

Since we were at EPCOT we walked to Innovations to get our picture taken with the characters then to the camera spot to get our free picture for being Disney Visa card holders. We were a little sad that it was Minnie and Goofy again in the meet and greet since they were the same ones we had back in January but a free picture is a free picture.

We walked around World Showcase a bit trying to find a glass figurine that I had seen back in January. It was of Cinderella and Prince Charming and I knew I should have bought it then but didn’t and regretted it. Thankfully we did find the stand and they were still selling it. They sent me to their store in Germany so that I could fill out paperwork to have the figurine sent home (for free) that way we wouldn’t break it (it was waiting for me when we got home and in one piece).

While walking around World Showcase Ryan got to play the drums.  He loves playing the "bum bum bums" as he calls them. 

 

We made our way back over to the International Gateway and just missed the boat again, grr! We were too tired to walk back to Hollywood Studios so we waited for the boat. I wanted to make it back to Hollywood Studios in time to watch the parade but since we missed the boat, that didn’t happen. So once we got back to Hollywood Studios we headed to Disney Junior, Ryan was so excited! He really enjoyed watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. He loves those shows! We hopped in line to meet Jake after a quick bathroom break and Ryan was so shy. Little stinker was so excited about meeting Jake but wouldn’t really go very close to him (oh the differences 7 months can make, lol).

Then we went and watched the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Ryan was pretty sleepy so this gave him some quiet time in the dark. We had picked up fast passes for Toy Story Mania after our last ride on it but they had expired. Jonathan wanted to ride it again so he went and asked if we could still use them. They said yes we could because they had some issues with the fast passes today and were going to continue to accept them (lesson here, never hurts to ask!). We rode again and Ryan wouldn’t sit with me so he sat on Jonathan’s lap. I did beat them again but their accuracy was much better than mine. We struggled with what to do next. We really thought about leaving; however, we really wanted to see the Fantasmic show. We did not get to see it back in January (it was closed for refurbishing) and Jonathan loves this show. We walked around the park trying to find a Jake costume but with no luck.  I talked Jonathan into going to watch Beauty and the Beast and I’m very happy I did. Ryan has never seen this movie but I’ve read him the story a few times. I was shocked at how much he enjoyed the show. My boy really loves his shows!!

This ate up some time but we still had awhile before Fantasmic so we went to the Great Movie Ride. Somehow we were let thru the holding area and were getting ready to get on a car but there were no seats for us so we had to wait in the loading area. The cast member working the ride pointed out the only hidden Minnie in the park to us. Jonathan really got a kick out of this, he loves the hidden Mickeys. After we were done with this ride we decided to go grab some food and then get seats for Fantasmic. I got chicken nuggets for both myself and Ryan. Jonathan was not feeling well and didn’t want anything (at that moment). It seemed to take forever to get our food (I think everyone else had the same idea) but once we did we carried our food into the amphitheater. Ryan and I ate our dinner and what do you know, Jonathan started getting hungry (I was nice and shared a little). Fantasmic was very good as always. We all enjoyed the fireworks and theatrics of the show. And Jonathan got to yell at some kids fighting in front of him, bonus for him (no idea where their parents were but one boy hit the other really hard in the head, that was Jonathan’s breaking point).

After the show, we made our way out of the park with the huge crowd and then to the buses. We waited for a little bit for a bus but it wasn’t a terrible wait. Once back at the resort I gave Ryan a bath and put him to bed and Jonathan decided to go get something to eat. He brought me back a Mickey rice krispy treat so I was happy! If we did this day again, I would change a few things. We should have spent a little more time at EPCOT and rode a few of the rides there (like Nemo and Spaceship Earth) and then gone back to Hollywood Studios. We did not stay up long because we were tired and excited for tomorrow. Tomorrow was cruise day!



Final thoughts on our Disney Portion of Vacation: just a few final comments I wanted to make. We absolutely LOVE Disney World! Nothing compares to it. I don’t understand how someone couldn’t like Disney World and if they don’t they are going about it in all the wrong ways, lol (you know who you are!). I wish I could plan a magical vacation for everyone but what works for some might not work for others. Anyway, Port Orleans Riverside Resort was beautiful and I’m sure we will stay there again. The room was very adequate for our needs. We did enjoy being just a short walk away from the main area rather than a long walk like it is at the Caribbean Beach Resort. I’m sure we will stay here on a future trip again. Ryan absolutely loved the parks! He talks about Disney World every single day (multiple times a day). He loved the rides, the characters, the parades and just all around being there in the atmosphere. To us, this is what it’s all about, making wonderful family memories and spending time together. Personally, our family does much better with a set plan. I will make sure we always have one in advance now. The day we spent at Hollywood Studios and EPCOT could have been done much better and I feel we wasted a lot of time (which drives me crazy since there are so many fun things we could have done). Hollywood Studios is not an all day park for us so we will have to plan better next time (see even a Disney veteran can make mistakes, well at least when pushed by your spouse to not have a plan for the day, lol). We can’t wait to go back to Disney World to see the new Fantasyland expansion at the Magic Kingdom. But with baby #2 on the way I’m not sure when we will get back down there (hopefully we will be able to go sometime after everything opens up in 2014).

2012 WDW & Disney Cruise Vacation - Day Two

Day Two: Yay! It’s Magic Kingdom day!!! We woke up fairly early (still later than the day before) because I wanted to get to Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours. We left the room at 7:15am and were able to walk to the bus stop within a few minutes. And as soon as we got there a bus was pulling up for MK! Honestly, we had great luck with the buses the two days we went to the parks, we felt lucky! We arrived at MK in what seemed like no time at all and were walking thru the ticket gate. We waited a few minutes and were able to watch the opening ceremony.

I had already told Jonathan I wanted to take Ryan on the newly remodeled Dumbo ride first so once in the park we made a beeline to the ride. We were practically the only ones back in that area.  Ryan and I really enjoyed our quiet ride; he just didn’t want to go high. I wish we had taken some time to walk thru the circus tent area but in my excitement to ride rides I declined to go in.

After Dumbo we took a quick potty brake and then rode Goofy’s Barnstormer. Ryan did not like this ride. He hid his head in my lap and asked to get off almost as soon as it started. He didn’t scream or cry, thankfully but he made sure we understood he wanted off. This ride is very quick so he didn’t suffer long. And thankfully, this did not scare him off any other rides (but definitely told us to wait a few more years before trying Big Thunder Mountain).

When we got off, Ryan asked to go on the Pooh ride (we had passed it on our way to Dumbo). Again, we practically walked on to this ride as well. We all enjoyed a nice ride thru the Pooh story, Ryan didn’t like the Huffalump, he told him to go away. Since the teacups were right there, Ryan and I rode those. I enjoy the teacup ride and was so glad Ryan did too! To Jonathan’s delight Alice and the White Rabbit were standing next to the ride for pictures. Let me give just a line or two background, back in January when we came Ryan loved the characters! He would run up to them and give them great big hugs and kisses! Well, this time he was so much shyer! He usually wanted to be held when he met them and would like to lay his head on your shoulder too. When we met Alice and the White Rabbit it thru me by surprise, Alice tried to play with him and tickle him (the characters are so great with all types of kids!!!) so he did warm up a little to give her a high five.

After our character interaction we walked down to the Indy Speedway. This was probably the longest wait we had the entire day, around 15 minutes, since they only had one side open. Ryan loves to drive the cars though so we waited. Jonathan went with Ryan on this and I sat on the sidelines to get pictures. Jonathan said Ryan cackled the whole time saying he was driving “so silly!”.

Once they were done we walked over to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. It was just now a few minutes after 9, park opening for regular guests, so we were able to get on this ride pretty quickly as well. We all love this ride; it’s one of our favorites!! I held Ryan in my lap and we competed against Jonathan to see who could win. Like normal, I stomped Jonathan (even with Ryan in my lap ). I got a personal high score, over 950,000, almost perfect but just a few points shy as Jonathan made sure to point out (I usually beat him on this game but he has gotten a 999,999 and I have not).

I was pretty hungry when we got off Buzz so we walked down to Main Street Bakery. There was quite a long line for the bakery but we love it so we waited. I ordered a cinnamon roll and Jonathan got a cherry danish and of course we shared with Ryan. Both were super yummy as always! Ryan really wanted to go ride Peter Pan so we made our way back over to Fantasyland. The line wasn’t long so we didn’t bother with Fast Pass, we just waited about 5 minutes or so and we were on our way to Neverland. We all enjoyed our ride. We rode another favorite, It’s A Small World next. Ryan sang the song for most of the day (and occasionally will sing it now). We do not find this ride irritating like other people, we really like it and it’s a classic! Prince Charming Carrousel was up next and Jonathan sat out again (if it goes in circles, he won’t ride it). That’s ok because Ryan and I both enjoyed it enough for all. When Ryan and I got off the carrousel Jonathan was over trying to get the sword in the stone up, he loves trying this and what do you know, he was successful! I think this was a happy moment for him, lol. Ryan tried right after and he got it up too!

We decided we wanted to try to ride Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean before lunch. We made our way over to Adventureland and grabbed Fast Passes for Jungle Cruise as there was a 25 minute wait for it. We walked down further to check on Pirates and we were in luck, the wait was only 5 minutes. Ryan wasn’t so sure about this ride and hid his head in my lap again for part of the ride. Once we got to the pirate ships shooting the cannon balls he started looking around a little more. And now he will sing “yo ho, yo ho a pirates life for me”, it’s too funny! We still had time before our fast pass was available so we walked further down to see how the line was at Haunted Mansion, not bad so we hoped on in line and only waited a few minutes. This is Jonathan’s favorite ride at all of Disney World. I kind of feel bad he only got to ride it once while we were there. But it was an enjoyable ride. I was finally able to see the grim reaper Mickey! And Ryan wasn’t too scared. Again, he just hid a little bit and would look around. He did find the ghosts at the end that hitch hike in your buggy very funny. The one we had played the drums on our heads and Ryan still talks about the “ghost that went bum bum bum on our heads” then laughs.

Our fast pass window had now opened so we rode Jungle Cruise. We usually enjoy this one more but our guide wasn’t the greatest this time. Oh well. It was noon by now and I was very hungry! However, Ryan was begging to go see Monsters Inc before we ate lunch. This mommy couldn’t turn him down. We had to wait about 10 minutes or so for the other show to let out and then we were seated. We actually made it on screen during the beginning; we got a kick out of that. Ryan enjoyed seeing the monsters despite not really getting most of the jokes. We got lunch at Cosmic Rays, Jonathan’s favorite counter service at MK because of the fixings bar for your burger. By the time we were seated with our food it was 1 and I was starving! We all ate pretty well and then decided it was time to head back to the room to get a nap in. We got pretty lucky and got a bus quickly. I thought Ryan would put up a huge fight about napping but it didn’t take him long and he was out.

Family picture in front of the castle we had taken before leaving for a break.

We rested for about an hour and a half and then headed back out to MK. This is when the day kind of turned a little sour. Jonathan started feeling crummy but didn’t want to ruin our day so he tried to tough it out. We grabbed fast passes for Buzz and then went to Mickey’s Philarmagic. We all enjoyed the show. And then we walked back over to Buzz to ride it again. I beat Jonathan again even though he held Ryan this time. We had dinner reservations at 5:45 at Liberty Tree Tavern (or so I thought) so we made our way there. During check in I found out our reservation was at 5:25, not 5:45, oops! Thankfully they were still able to accommodate us. We always enjoy the food here and it was no different tonight. Ryan loves their mac-n-cheese and Jonathan loves the Thanksgiving feast. However, Jonathan was feeling worse and didn’t eat much, hated that he couldn’t enjoy one of his favorite meals.

Ryan had asked to ride Peter Pan again so we made our way over to Fantasyland; however, the line for Peter Pan was 45 minutes and we didn’t want to wait. We rode It’s A Small World again and that seemed to please him (I still feel bad he didn’t get to ride Peter Pan again though). Jonathan wanted to sit down so we went on the People Mover next. After this he was still feeling crummy and we were trying to decide what to do, thought about going on the train; however, we decided to just grab a spot for Spectro Magic parade instead to take a break. We did get our spot about an hour before the parade and had a great view. I had bought Ryan some glow in the dark bracelets that we took to play with and pass out. He thought this was so great and loved sharing them with the other kids around. Thankfully this helped pass the time quickly. We enjoyed the parade but the last time we saw it, back in (gasp) 2008, it was better.

After the parade the crowd was huge and we didn’t really have much of a choice but to find a spot for the fireworks. We didn’t have the best spot and that stunk but we still got to see the fireworks and they were great, they are always my favorite thing at Disney. Once the fireworks were over we trudged our way with the mobs of people thru Main Street and to the bus area. I think we had to wait for a bus or two to fill before we made it on but that’s to be expected and the wait wasn’t all that long. When we got back to our room it was bath and then straight to bed for Ryan. We had a great day at Magic Kingdom full of magical memories!!

2012 WDW & Disney Cruise Vacation - Day 1

  We woke up early to get to the Lexington airport for our flight. Delta had switched our 8:30am flight to 7:10am so we had to get up earlier than we wanted to but we are on vacation so that’s a plus. We were running a few minutes behind schedule but the Lexington airport is not usually busy and small so we were able to get to our gate with no problem at all. We checked our bags in and got a nice surprise, the man working for Delta didn’t charge us for our bags! He did warn us that we’d be charged on the way back but he didn’t “have” to so he was being nice. Wohoo! Great way to start vacation, saving $50 bucks!

  We got to our gate and had just enough time to run Ryan to the bathroom before the started bordering our plane. In short time we were on our way to Atlanta. Once in Atlanta we checked our next gate, switched terminals and then got something to eat. We were all hungry! It was still early but I had been up for hours so I wanted some lunch. We found a place serving something other than breakfast (pizza) and sat down to eat. After, we walked to our next gate to find out it had been switched to two gates down from where we had gotten off the plane! For those of you that have flown into Atlanta you know how big that airport is. We had to go from terminal B to terminal A and then back to B. This was all to Ryan’s delight since he got to ride the escalators and the train again. We got to a very packed gate and had to stand to wait to start boarding. Thankfully they let us board early since we had to gate check our stroller (they said they were testing a new system of letting those with young kids board after first class, apparently that didn’t go well because this was the only time we got to board early).

  Both flights were uneventful all things considered. Ryan was good (thank you portable DVD player!), there was very little turbulence and no delays or other issues. I don’t usually fly well and this was no exception this time around either. I get pretty sick to my stomach and have been known to use the provided bag that everyone laughs about. I have been wearing seasick bands the last few times while flying and that seems to help; however, I guess being pregnant was a bit much because I felt awful this day and on our return trip (thankfully the bag wasn’t necessary, I just felt crummy). It only took an hour or so and a little drink to start feeling better so I’m thankful it wasn’t worse.

  We arrived in Orlando and it felt like home. We went straight to the bathroom (that was a frequent place for us with a 3 year old) and then down to board a bus to Disney. We didn’t have to wait long at all (maybe 10 minutes, if that) and we were on our way to Disney’s Port Orleans – Riverside! This is a new resort to us; we’ve never stayed here before. I was really looking forward to it because the pictures were beautiful and it’s hard to talk Jonathan into trying new things.

View of Magnolia Terrace building (our building) from across the river.

Walk Way to our room.

Inside of our room.

  Check in took longer than usual, they were super busy for a Wednesday afternoon. But once we did check they said our room was ready so that was a plus! We walked our bags to our room, dropped them off and went to get something to eat. It wasn’t yet 2 but it had been several hours since we ate and we were all hungry. Jonathan and I split a burger and fry combo and we got Ryan chicken nuggets and fries (sadly, this will be his main diet for the next week and a half; I’m ashamed to admit it). We also picked up our resort mugs and each got dessert. Food was pretty good for resort food. The cheesecake Jonathan and I got was yummy.

  After our late lunch we walked around the resort a little and decided we wanted to go swimming. Ryan couldn’t wait to get in the water! We had bought him a puddle jumper (float/life jacket type thing) and he was super excited to try it out. The pool at the resort was nice and they had pool games going on while we were there. Ryan got to practice “swimming” and loved it!! The puddle jumper allowed him to have some freedom from us holding him and actually move on his own (I highly recommend these, it is awesome!). He really gained some confidence in the water over this vacation! We spent almost 2 hours playing in the pool.

  Once finished swimming and changed, we walked around the resort some more. They had the horse out for carriage rides (really thought about doing this but since this part of our trip was a pre-trip I didn’t want to spend the extra money, it wasn’t too expensive though so it will go on the “to-do” list for another time). We played in the arcade for a little bit (it’s great that Ryan is still young enough to play the games on when they are just in demo mode, lol). We played skeeball (one of my favorite arcade games) and Jonathan tried to teach Ryan how to play a basketball game. Ryan also played on the playground letting off some more energy. It’s a little playground but there were only two other kids there so it was great for him. Plus, the ground is made out of that rubber stuff so he couldn’t hurt himself.

Jonathan and Ryan playing a game in the arcade.

We got dinner from the resort food court again. Jonathan and I both got make-your-own pasta dishes. I had penne with alfredo sauce, chicken, broccoli and sundried tomatoes. It was very good! The portion was huge so I split it with Ryan. It came with garlic bread and of course a dessert and drink since we were on the dinning plan. We both got sundaes as our dessert. Dinner was very yummy! We all enjoyed it. After dinner, it was bath and bed time for Ryan. We had a long day, he didn’t get a nap and we were getting up early for Magic Kingdom the next day. I read a little to unwind and went to bed shortly after as well. Flying wears me out! But Jonathan beat me to bed by a long shot (he might have been asleep even before Ryan), I think he got like 10 hours of sleep that night.

Restarting blog!!

So I've decided to start blogging again. Its been a really long time since I've posted but with baby #2 on the way I thought I should keep a record for this baby as well. Baby #2 is due March 19th, putting me at 15 weeks 4 days along as of today. First trimester was as expected, lots of queasiness and exhaustion. I ate carbs like my life depended on it. Now that I'm in the second trimester the queasiness has gone away but I am still tired all the time. I've only gained 4lbs but my stomach looks much bigger earlier this time around, I guess what they say is true, you do show much faster with your second. I have also felt the baby move much earlier this time. Somewhere around 10 or 11 weeks I started feeling slight movements when I was scrunched up on the couch. Now, that's still usually when I feel movement but its much stronger than before and I do occasionally feel movement at other times. We are very excited about expanding our family. And Ryan is so happy to be getting a little brother or sister. He is so certain the baby is a girl! Just the other day he started patting my stomach saying "my sister likes it when I do this!". He's so sweet to the baby already and always talks so lovingly about the baby. I'm hoping that doesn't change! Ryan turned 3 on August 2nd. He is 38" tall and weighs 35lbs. He is very very talkative! Loves going to daycare (most days) to play with his friends, he knows his ABCs, can recognize lots of letters and is working on counting (he can count to 20, some days higher but I think he still is learning this area). He loves playing using his imagination. Right now he has definitely hit age 3, 3 is worse than 2, lol. We recently got back from a 10 day vacation and I am going to be posting our trip review here soon. My next doctor's appointment isn't until October 8th and nothing exciting will be going on at that appointment. I probably won't have many baby updates so I'm hoping the vacation updates will get me back into updating regularly. First ultrasound, 8/3/12. I was only 7 weeks 4 days so it's not the best picture.

And this is a pic of me at 15 weeks.