Winter Wonderland

And now back to the reality of December in New England... We returned home to a snowy RI. And we had to wait a day to get our Christmas tree but it was worth it for this wintry wonderland:

Christmas Tree Farm snowball fight!

the tree

Merry Christmas!

A Day at Sea

Day 4 - a relaxing  day at sea. Well, parts of it were relaxing... All of it was fun! Julia and Andrew were on the second tube down the Aquaduck and we made a total of 5 rides before the line got long. Ben enjoyed his home away from home, aka the hot tub. I had a very relaxing massage. The kids were trained as Jedi Knights. Ben solved the on-board mysteries with the Disney Detective Agency. Julia listened to Mrs. Claus read stories. And we all greeted lots of characters and danced at the Going Away party.

ending the trip how it started - all aboard the Aquaduck!

and soaking in the hot tub.

Goofy out for a morning stroll

what's so funny?!

A dancing crew!

Ben's fancy dance moves!

hey Pluto!

no eating the Gingerbread house, Chip!

awwwwww

he sure is silly!

Daisy love

a Daisy hug!

towel creation of the day - sting ray!

Castaway Cay

Day 3 was a dream of a day spent on Disney's private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay. It started out a little dicey with a big rainstorm but soon afterwards the clouds cleared away, the sun shone bright, and the day sparkled.

a few clouds isn't going to ruin our day!

Ben ready to snorkel (this is about as far as he made it!)

deep sea explorers!

at home in the sand

beach lover

we found Goofy! and had a little dance party!

the Dream.

sun and blue sky!

sun and blue sky... and ice cream!

sun and blue sky and ice cream... and silly kids!

sun and blue sky and ice cream and silly kids... and Mickey!

a perfect day!

Castaway Cay as seen from the ship

towel creation of the day: ???? an octopus ????

our stateroom door!

Nassau, Bahamas

Day 2 found us docking in Nassau. We had a little time on the ship before we could get off so we hit Goofy's sports deck and goofed around a bit. Then we created our own port adventure and explored a bit of Nassau (we may have seen a bit more than we intended due to a couple of wrong turns but it all worked out just fine and we earned our ice cream!).

when playing Goofy golf....

you are always required to play at least one hole....

standing on one foot!

The ship's horn... 🎼When you wish upon a star...

Prince Benjamin on his golden throne

and Princess Julia

The view from Fort Fincastle, Nassau with the ship in the background

defenders of the fort

The Queen's Staircase - 66 steps carved out of sheer rock by slaves for Queen Victoria

their prize for walking long distances in the Bahamian sun - Coke....

and a beautiful, turquoise sea to dip their toes in

ahhhh...

We had to try some fresh coconut water... the verdicts: Julia - "it's not good."

B - thumbs down

Andrew - "yuck!"

me (the coconut hater) - "it's pretty good!"

Pluto was impressed with Ben's light-up Christmas Crocs

Ben's favorite!

Minnie Mouse love

Origami done by our server at dinner... Ben was more impressed than he looked! 

This night was a fish, she also made them birds and frogs (that really hopped)!

towel creation of the day: a crab