Day off

With school starting up soon and a brand new job that I started this week, I'm playing hooky today. I'll be back Monday with new stuff (I hope). :)

Pond update

I have added 4 small koi to my little pond. We don't get to see them much, they stay under the floating plants for the most part. They do seem to be doing ok, though. I also added a plug-in type pond pump to help circulate the water and filter it. My little solar powered one isn't getting enough sun currently to do what I want it to do. We still have some tree thinning to do on that front.

I have finally seen my resident frog too. I haven't been able to clearly identify it. It's a long bodied, brown/black frog with a relatively long snout. It surpised me by being camped out on a small water plant and then jumping into the water as soon as it realized I'd seen it. I could see some of it under the water, but not clearly enough for a true identification. I suspect it's either a Southern Cricket frog or a Greenhouse frog. I'll see if I can't capture a picture of it some time to do a better id.

Cruising Disney style

I have to say, the family truly loved cruising with Disney. The kids were able to get away from each other and do their own thing. I only needed to make sure my younger one was registered for the Oceaneer stuff. I had a choice of letting her check herself out or not. I chose to let her do it, knowing that most likely her brother would be with her. He alternated between going to the Edge (tween hangout for 11-13 year olds) and going to the Oceaneer Lab. The Lab is aimed at 6-10 year olds, but it has enough to keep an older kid interested too. They had cooking classes (kids made cookies and more from scratch), art classes, games, etc. My daughter loved the Fairies area, my son played with the Pirates video game.

For me, I have to say I enjoyed the spa (who wouldn't?). I've had massages before, but the hot rock massage was da bomb. I also played bingo 4 different times. Twice I actually won.

The kids, my dad, and I also enjoyed the movie theater. My daughter and I went to see "Mars needs Moms". We missed it at our local theater, so we enjoyed it on board. The 4 of us went to see Cars 2. Definitely a cute movie, one we'll have to get on DVD at some point. They were also showing Pirates 4 and Prom in the theater. Then there was "Funnel Vision". A big screen over the pools on one of the funnels. It ran a lot of the animated favorites (Cinderella, Monsters Inc., etc) constantly from breakfast until after dinner. The kids and I also watched "Toy Story 3" from the room. Lots of access to Disney movies on board.

I think my husband enjoyed the ability to roam and take photos. I haven't seen any of them yet, but I'm sure they're good.

There was a lot for us to do (both organized and not). We came home tired but happy. My kids want us to start saving up to do it again. I think they may be on to something.

Disney Dream - towel pets

It's Disney and they like to have fun. So, I thought I'd share some of the towel pets that we came back to our room to. They actually had a class at one point on how to fold these things, we didn't make it to it though.

Sea Turtle (wearing my sunglasses)

Frog (wearing my dad's sunglasses)

Dog (wearing my dad's sunglasses) and snake (wearing mine)

Dinosaur.. I forgot to leave my sunglasses out for the host to put on his creation, so they're missing here.

Day 4 - Castaway Cay

Yes, I skipped Day 3. We were out at sea all day on Day 3 and I didn't get any photos (though hubby probably did). I did get to the Spa and have my first hot rock massage (OOOHH). My kids were turned loose on ship. They each had a wave phone (phone provided to each stateroom for just that purpose). My daughter spent the day in the Oceaneer lab, my son in the Edge (tween hangout). The rest of us kind of floated around doing whatever until it was time to eat.

Day 4 we were back in Castaway Cay. We decided before going ashore that we weren't staying too long (just until lunch).

For all that my kids said they were tired and didn't want to swim, they seemed to have no problem with it once they were in the water.

A view of the ship from the beach.

Yes, there were more crab races..

Day 2 - Nassau

On the second day of our trip, we were in port at Nassau, Bahamas. My daughter and I wanted to geocache, so we found an easy one near the port. I won't give clues or even a true location (though I'm sure you could figure it out if you wanted), but here's a picture of us in front of where the cache is.

Apparently, the Bahamas has been celebrating their independence day. The big "party" stuff was the day before we were in port, but the streamers and signs were still everywhere.

For my husband's sake, I took a picture of this place. This particular store front was actually closed, but I did find an open one later.

My family gave up on my mom and I as we went shopping. They headed back to the ship while we wandered around. If you go to the sessions on jewelry shopping on board, you get coupons for free stuff. I highly recommend taking advantage of the deals they show you. My daughter was quite thrilled to get a free amethyst necklace and matching earrings. We also got a couple of free bamboo necklaces and more. Just make sure you take along your ability to say 'no'. They're very good at attracting your attention and keeping it. You just have to say 'no' to what they're selling, or you'll end up in major debt fast.

Around lunch time, my mom and I wrapped up shopping and headed back to the ship. I stopped and snapped this picture of the Atlantis resort from the pier to the ships.

Day 1 - Castaway Cay

Our first day out at sea, we put in to port at Castaway Cay around 7:30am. The whole process was fascinating (we watched from our balcony).

This is the lagoon area where the main family beaches and activities are held.

After disembarking, we walked past where Daisy was holding court. I had to stop and get my picture taken.

After a little bit of a walk, we found Captain Jack Sparrow. This was a must for me and the kids.

We swam until lunch time and when we headed to get food we encountered a group having crab races. It was quite funny to watch the people cheering the crabs on the hot brick. I'd want off of it quickly too.

After lunch, we had a swim with the sting rays in the lagoon. Approximately 57 rays were in a large enclosed section. We were able to feed them (imagine putting your hand up to the end of the hose part of a vacuum) before swimming with them. The kids had a blast following the rays around. We also spotted a rather large barracuda swimming in the area. (The pen is a rope netting, the gaps just small enough to keep the rays from leaving, not from keeping other animals out.) No pictures from the swim, though. My kids took off with their dad after to snorkel around the lagoon. They said they saw quite a bit, though the only problem was the grass that was everywhere (and quite thick in spots).

For those of you not familiar with Castaway Cay, this is called Mount Rustmore.

Some time around 3:00p we headed back to the ship. Max is/was one of my son's favorite Disney characters. You don't get to see much of him (unless you watch "A Goofy Movie"), so visiting him on the way back onto the ship was a must as well.

Disney Dream

This was the main reason for us to be at Cape Canaveral. We were headed out on the Disney Dream (their newest ship to launch) for a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas. You know how big these ships are, but it really doesn't click until you see them up close. This thing was huge.

There were a lot of people around the pier doing various tasks (including loading luggage). It was interesting to watch.

This is a view of the Disney terminal from deck 11 on the ship.

We could see the Freedom of the Seas from our terminal (even bigger than the Dream)

This is one of the Carnival ships. The Freedom and the Carnival ships both left port earlier than we did. We caught up to the Carnival ship later in the day.

Fishlips

The evening of the shuttle launch, we went to dinner at a restaurant called Fishlips. I wasn't hugely impressed with their rainbow trout, or their quality of service, but it had some interesting views. The gentleman playing guitar and singing was good as well.

These are some tug boats that were across the channel from where we were. Behind them is a salt processing facility. There were a couple of barges there as well.

An "alligator" perched on the edge of their water wall.

Part of the family sitting and waiting on service (and toddlers dancing to the music)

Skipping ahead a bit, this is the view of Fishlips from the cruise ship. Makes for an interesting perspective.

Shuttle Launch

We went down to Florida to visit my folks last week. We happened to get into Cape Canaveral just in time to watch the shuttle launch. We parked at a local hotel and hiked back to a bridge on A1A and watched with hundreds of others. We were about 15 miles from the pad at that point. It didn't last long, but we can say we were there.

Small bright dot below the power lines

Somewhat larger bright dot

You can see the trail from the shuttle behind my kids

I also captured it on video with my mino. Sorry for the shaky hand I was trying to capture pictures at the same time.

Military Humor

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Random Picture

This guy has taken up residence in one of my mom's flower pots.

A daily squee

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Music for the day - Off Kilter

Fun with Puns

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Music for the day - Aerosmith

Oh Cabana Boy!

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Scouts on Parade

We watched the local parade on the 4th. There were some very cute entries. The local Boy Scout troop along with their Cub Pack had entries as well. I was impressed with their creativity (so was my son).

There were scouts in the tent and Cubs around the 'camp fire'. They "bribed" the judges by giving them marshmallows that had been heated over the fire. Very cute.

These were being pulled behind the Scout trailer. The canoes were mounted (or tied on to) furniture dollies.

They started a water war while "bailing" their canoes.

The rest of the troop. It looked like a very large troop/pack combination.

Time for a Break

I only do this a couple of times a year and this is one of them. Posting will be sporadic for the next couple of weeks. I'll do my best to keep you entertained, but I won't be around a computer over much.

Happy July 4th!

World's Best Cat Litter Sweepstakes

Target stores will now not only be carrying their Clumping formula, but soon the Multiple Cat Clumping formula as well. I have to admit that I like their cat litter. I've tried the multi cat clumping, which works great. I have also tried their scented which I liked, my cats, though, not so much.

They're holding a sweepstakes for a $200 Target gift card & a year supply of cat litter on their web page. You can check it out by going to their blog at: http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com/clearing-the-air/ or directly to the sweepstakes site.