July 7th - Cozumel, Mexico

This morning we woke up and there was Mexico!!

Then we went to our normal breakfast spot!  We found the Mickey waffles this morning, which everyone enjoyed!  Even Emmett, he ate a whole Mickey waffle, eggs, and Travis even let him try his bacon for the first time.

Right after breakfast it was time to head out to Cozumel, Mexico to go swimming with the dolphins.  We checked in at 9:05 AM and all got into different groups.  We were the Simba group because Trav, Nana, and I were swimming with dolphins.  Poor Joe actually ended up not coming along due to throwing up since midnight the night before!  He got pretty sick and ended up staying in the stateroom for the whole time in Cozumel.  Laura then was going with Brayden for the dolphin encounter, while Papa and Emmett were dolphin observers.

We had to meet at 9:05 AM in Lounge D to follow our Simba team to disembarking the ship. When we got off ship we walked down a long pier following our guide.



OH BOY was it a hot one today! Then we walked through a shopping area and made our way in a van to head to the dolphin swim.  It was only a short 10 minute ride to the facility.

Right when you walked in there was a big open area that over looked where all the people were swimming and encountering with the dolphins!

Emmett really LOVED seeing the dolphins - he kept pointing, saying "Ooooooo" and smiling!

After probably an hour or longer sitting in the heat, it was our turn to go meet the dolphins! All of us were in the same pool area, just at different spots in the pool.  Poor Brayden actually ended up falling down and scrapped his foot and he didn't want it to touch the salty water becuase it hurt.  So Laura ended up holding Brayden the hold time while petting and feeding the dolphins during his encounter.  Nana, Trav, and I Debi went together for the dolphin swim.

Our Dolphin's name was Pina and she was only 5 years old, born there at the facility.  She was small and so cute!  We got to first swim out and hold the dolphins flippers and she gave us a kiss on the cheek and then we got to give her a kiss on her mouth!  Trav did so good swimming by himself and following the instructions and Nana was great to see giving a dolphin a kiss!  Loved it!

Next was getting to feel her rubby body as she swam back and forth in front of us.  We had to form a line in the middle of the pool and we wore masks that were really hard to see out of and Pina just kept swimming back and forth.

Then came the belly swim.  One by one, we swam out to the far end of the pool and we had one arm out and Pina came with her one flipper up, we would grab that then she would give us her other flipper and we'd grabbed that then our belly's would be touching and she took off!  Nana went first and she did great!  Her hair was soaked and she said she didn't take a breath before the dolphine went so it was hard to catch her breath, but she liked it.  Then it was Travis's turn.  At first he had a little trouble getting his hands in the right position for the dolphin, but Pina did such a good job waiting and then he had it right, and she took off.  There went Travis riding belly to belly on a dolphin!  He LOVED it!  Next was my turn.  I got a hold of the dolphin right away and she took off so fast!  You barely could see anything and I got a lot of salt water up my nose, but it really was a lot of fun!  I have never swam with the dolphins before and that was just so coll to get to do!

Since Laura was suppose to swim with the dolphin, they allowed me and her to switch spots for just a bit so Laura would get a chance to do the belly ride with the dolphin.  I took Brayden and we played catch with the dolphin.  He bounced a ball off his mouth and Brayden and I caught it!  Then we got to pet the dolphin and feed him fish!  That was Brayden's favorite thing was throwing the fish into the dolphins mouth.  Laura then got to ride the dolphin and experience basically what we did!

Emmett and Papa were up watching all of us with the dolphins.  Emmett sat in his stroller, while Papa took pictures and videoed it.  He did a really good job trying to take pics, video and keep Emmett from crying and wanting to get out of his stroller!

When we were all done, we ordered the pictures we wanted. And then we had a good chicken fijita lunch!  Even Emmett loved the chicken fijita!  Then we were back on our big van and heading back to the cruise ship.  It was time for the kids to go down for their naps, so it was perfect timing!

Emmett and Mommy heading back to our cruise ship from Mexico

Emmett wanted to walk to whole pier!  He was having a blast in the heat ha

 During naps, I decided to get the drink of the day, yellow bird, not sure what is in it, but it was sure yummy! 

Enjoying my relaxing time with Mexico behind me!

 Then after a 2 hour nap (which seems to be Emmett's average sleep for naps on the cruise), we were off with Auntie Laura, Brayden and Travis to go meet some Disney Friends!!  Here is all that we met!

Waiting in line - they did so good!

Dinner tonight was in the Enchanted garden.  Emmett was so crazy tonight at dinner, I think he was just so excited from meeting all his Disney friends that that got him pumped up haha

Emmett enjoyed a salmon dinner, while mommy had an ahi tuna app and scallops for dinner with some nice white wine!  

My ahi tuna

Emmett's dinner plate - they are shaped like Mickey for the Kids

Dancing with his big cousin Trav

After dinner, it was dance party USA in the lobby for the boys.  Wowzers were they going crazy and having a blast!  They had live music playing and some many people, kids were just partying it up!  

Auntie Laura dancing with Emmett

Emmett showing off his moves - toddler dance battle

Emmett was starting to get a little more sensitive, so I decided to put him in the Ergo baby and dance with him for just a bit.  But then by 8:00, it was time for him to go to sleep.  

One last dance!

Brayden and Trav up by the singer

Such a fun filled dolphin, Disney friends, and dancing day!  Next stop Grand Cayman! 

July 6th - Day at Sea

We woke up at 6:30 AM ready to explore the ship and have some fun!

The boys looking down at the ocean through the floor window.  We were on our way to breakfast

Laura, Joe, Travis, Brayden, Emmett and I went up to deck 11 for our breakfast.  We got a very sunny spot right at the corner window of the ship where we had lots of yummy food!  I had a chocolate croissant, and made myself an egg and sausage sandwich.  Emmett ate a veggie omelette and kept asking for more croissant.

THANKS MOM - I love this!

Laura & Brayden enjoying their breakfast by the window!

Mommy & Emmett at breakfast!

Emmett LOVES the Nemo wall that is in the cafe where we always eat breakfast, so we had to get picture!

After breakfast, Emmett and I went to the open play toddler time!  WOW did they have a nice place for infants and toddlers to hang out!  We met a friend name Cooper there who had just turned 1, we only hung out there for like 45 minutes and then headed out.  

Then we made our way to the pool area and got great seats!  Travis and Brayden had fun in the Mickey pool and then Travis and Joe went down the big water slide.  Emmett isn't allowed to be in the pool because he's not potty trained, but we made our way to Nemo's Reef and actually Brayden really enjoyed it as well!

Emmett was a little timid at first, not really running through the water or just paying with it.  But then he got more and more adventurous and started really having fun! He was running through the rain water that was coming down in the splash park and loved finding Nemo all over the place.

Papa then watched Emmett in the splash park while my mom and I decided to go down the big water slide. We really thought that it would be slow, however, the moment we got on, my mom and I were off!  Racing around corners, sliding up the hills and through dark tunnels, then finally it was more relaxing.  But there was my mom yelling and squeezing her legs tightly against my waist.  It was pretty fun!  Travis even got to try it at night time and it lit up with all different color lights.

Emmett just wanted to sit & eat his cheddar bunnies

When we got back, I got Emmett from Nemo's reef and Laura and Brayden were by the our chairs so we decided to have a snack break!  Emmett had his crackers, Brayden had some yogurt melts and Joe, Laura and myself had a nice refreshing drink!  Mango mojito for ME, it was delicious, I could have used like 5 more haha

Relaxing & having snacks with Nana

Cheers to a fun vacation!

Then we just sat and relaxed; Aladdin was playing on the big screen that over looked the pool.  After our short relaxation, Brayden went down the little water slide a few times, Travis swam in the Mickey pool, so I decided to join Joe and Travis in the Mickey pool with Emmett.  He's not really allowed because he's in a swim diaper, but we thought why not try, there was a step that he could stand on and not be fully in the water.  Uncle Joe and Emmett had a blast hanging out in the pool:


Mom and Dad were off playing BINGO, which they won 2 of the 4 games and they made $275!  But we all met back up and had a nice lunch out side on the very back of the boat, minus almost getting hit by a golf ball that came shooting out from the mini golf above.  They had sushi at lunch today, so I had 2 servings of it, YUMMMMMM!

Then it was off for Emmett & Brayden's nap.  Both boys went down good and slept for 2 hours.  Travis, Nana, Joe, and Laura all left at 2:45 pm to go see the Aladdin theater show, while my dad, Emmett, Brayden and myself were in the rooms.  But then at 2:55 Emmett woke up from his nap and Emmett and I were able to make it to the show.  We couldn't find the rest of the crew, so Emmett and I sat near the back in case he needed to leave.  But he did so good, he loved watching the singing and entertainment.  It was a really good show!  We did have to leave just 10 minutes earlier, but Emmett was waving and clapping at the stage, it was really cute!


Then it was time to get ready for our 1st formal dinner.  We all got dressed up and went and met Mickey before dinner!

Emmett out on the balcony waiting for everyone to get ready - just enjoying the view!

It was so cute to see how much they all loved seeing Mickey.  Emmett is just too cute with all the characters!  He just walks right up to them, checks them out, then warms up and gives hugs, kisses, high fives, and cried when I have to tell him to say bye-bye.

We were in the Animators Palate dinning hall.  It was super cute.  They had big TV screens all around but set-up so characters from Nemo could talk to the tables.  The kids were so excited to see the shark and Crush, Squirt, and Nemo.  It was very entertaining for them.  Emmett pointed and said "Ooooo" when the characters came on the screen.  But other than that, he was busy taking crayons in and out of a cup.  We got a bottle of white and relaxed for a moment, until I thought Emmett was choking on the goat cheese, tomato, red onion, tarte.  I pulled him out of his highchair and then he started crying so I knew he was ok.  I probably scared him, but he scared me too.  Thankfully, he was fine though!

I had a very delicious red snapper, while Emmett had a roasted chicken, but he ate a lot of my fish!  We all ended the meal with the most amazing dessert!  It was a cookies and cream sundae with a chocolate chip cookie at the bottom!  OMG SOOOOOO GOOD!!!  I ate the whole thing.

Emmett & Mommy at formal dinner

The Dudycha's at Formal Dinner

Nana & Papa at our formal dinner

Then we went back to the room, and Emmett went to bed.  Travis and Brayden went back by the pool, that's when Trav went down the water slide at night.  Brayden was done with the pool, so Nana and him came back and Brayden went to bed.  Trav and Joe didn't get back till almost 10pm - they were having too much fun!

The kids then were asleep, and the adults were all hanging out but we were all exhausted and we ended up going to bed around 11pm.

OVERALL, great day at sea.  We can't wait to swim with the dolphins tomorrow!

We are just having the best time!

July 5th - Setting Sail on Disney Fantasy Cruise from Port Canaveral

Our journey began leaving my parents house at 4:00 AM on July 5th.  Since Tony is meeting us after the cruise, he drove me, Emmett, my mom and my dad to the airport, where we met up with Laura, Joe, Travis and Brayden.  Our flight left at 6 am so the kids had fun looking out the window at the airplanes.

Emmett and I shared a seat and sat next to Laura and Brayden at the front of the plan where no one sat in front of you.  It was really nice because Emmett sat on the floor and played with toys for some of the flight.  At take off Brayden and Emmett shared the seat by the window to see all the other airplanes and trams that were busy around the airport.

Other times, we were walking up and down the airplane and into first class where Nana and Papa (my parents) got upgraded for free!  Papa did switch for a few minutes with Emmett and he loved having his own huge seat in first class while playing with seat belt buckles.

When we landed in Orlando, we just walked over to board our bus that would take us to our cruise.  Emmett had been up since 3:45 AM and I knew how tired he was, so I gave him a little milk, told him it was night night time, and strapped in the Ergo baby, he fell asleep for the 50 minute bus ride to our cruise ship.


When we arrived, Brayden and Travis were super excited, Emmett woke up and was excited too!  We got off our bus, walked through security, checked in, and boarded in like 30 minutes.  It was super efficient.

When you boarded a Disney person asked what mine and Emmett's last night was.  I told them and then they announce you to the whole ship with probably 15-20 other Disney people clapping to welcome you.  We felt like stars!!!

It was around noon, FL time and we were all pretty hungry.  So we made our way for some lunch.  WOW was there a lot to choose from, but Emmett had salmon with some rice and corn.  While I had a little swordfish, prosciutto, mozzarella & tomato sandwich, and chocolate chip mint ice cream! All very yummy!

Then we went exploring the ship!  We found a few of the restaurants where we'll have dinner, and some cool port hole windows to sit and look out at the water, as well as some familiar friends!

I thought Emmett was going to be super shy, but he was so excited to see the Pluto and Goofy.  He gave them kisses, hugs, and high fives.  When I had to peel him away, he cried and signed for more.




Then Emmett had his 4th poopy diaper of the day and I went and changed him.  As we were leaving, his hands were by the door and his ring, middle and pointer finger got caught in the hinge of the door!  He screamed, I ran him to the bar for some ice, and then I of course, started tearing up because I felt so bad! I found my mom and she helped me calm him down.  Our rooms were ready so we walked up to the room where I laid him down on the bed.  We iced for a while, put a band-aid on his pointer because it was also cut and then I softly squeezed each of them to see if it hurt him.  He didn't seem to make a fuss when I did that so I'm thinking they aren't broken.
Here's Emmett laying down and icing his fingers!  Poor guy, but such a trooper:

He was so tired, especially after all that, so we put him down for a nap.  He actually fell asleep at 2:25 pm and slept for 2 hours.

After nap, we attended the sail away party!  Travis made his way to the front, Joe was holding Brayden and I had Emmett on my shoulders for a bit but then moved to my arms and then to Papa's shoulders.  Emmett got the most excited I have ever seen him before when Mickey & Minnie came out on the balcony over looking everyone and dancing!  He was waving to them, reaching out so far to wave and point and laughing and smiling like crazy! It was seriously an unbelievable moment to see the excitement come over Emmett!  SO FUN!!
Here you can see Emmett's little hand reaching out to wave!

Then we went outside and watch as the boat set sail!  We actually saw 1 solo dolphin swimming by our boat!
  
Finally, it was time to head back to the room and great ready for dinner.  You get to rotate dinning halls on this cruise but your waiters stay with you throughout the trip!  Our first dinning room was more of a french style restaurant.  All the adults got the chateaubriand bourses filet!  It was outstanding!



Emmett ate the pork tenderloin with some rice and veggies.  He was  getting fussy and asking for more and pointing and I couldn't figure out what he was asking for, but then Papa saw a big piece of the pork on the table and that's exactly what he wanted!  Totally Tony's son! ha

After and fun and long day, we went back to our rooms and got the kids to bed and we unpacked!  We were all very happy to be here and can't wait for a fun day at sea tomorrow!