Trip of a Lifetime

Many years, we have been awaiting this trip.

The Backstory:
So we have an inside joke in my Matkin side of the family. Whenever there is a lull in conversation, one of us is likely to say "Let's talk about Disney" and we all laugh... and here's why...
I have distinct memories of laying on my parents bedroom floor with my siblings and pouring over a travel brochure for Disneyland and Disney's "Big Red Boat" (which later became Disney Cruise Line). My parents toyed with the idea of taking such an adventure but we ultimately just went for trip to Disneyland. As a family, we spent Sunday afternoons sitting around filled with anticipation talking about our trip. We talked about it so much that it became a saying in our house "Let's talk about Disney"

Well two years ago, my parents booked us all on the cruise. We were all suprised, thrilled and excited and thus began our wait and our resurrection of the phrase "Let's talk about Disney."

So my dad says we have been waiting for this trip for over 25 years and I think he is about right (I'm not quite old enough for that to be exactly true) . And well it was definitely worth the wait. Over the years we have all been moved apart and rare is the day when we all are together - making this vacation monumentally more significant.

So here's the itinerary...

It was 2 days gathering at a hotel in Orlando, 7 days basking in the glory of the Carribean aboard the Disney Magic, and then 7 more Days back in Orlando doing the Disney Park thang. I took over 500 pictures but fear not for I have widdled them down to just a brief photo summary for your viewing pleasure and my journaling purposes. (But with this many pictures I might even need to bring back that trend that was Scrapbooking... we shall see) Anyways, here we go...

First there was the reuniting of cousins, siblings, in laws- many of which happened over our fabulous breakfast buffet- a definite highlight of the Regency Suites.

Both my girls adored their newest cousin Sadie. I was surprised especially by Makenna who wanted to be by and even sometimes smothering Sadie at all times (I didn't know she even liked babies).
Swimming on Christmas eve.
Grandpa was the gracious dolphin the kids loved riding on.And despite our circumstance we maintained some Christmas tradition with the Christmas stories and the new pj's on Christmas eve.The boys were in heaven with their DS'sSome cute hotel cuddling...
And then we were off...Our first view of the boat.Posing in the terminal. Getting our first of many many many character pictures.Grandma and Kenna- Feeling so excited and so happy to be together.The Safety DrillChecking out the bunk bed situation. Initially I thought they would be too fun to actually sleep on but every night the kids were SO TIRED they fell asleep in less than two seconds and even slept in until 8am (Brielle included) every morning- pretty amazing, if you know my kids at all.Sweet sweet boys.Up on deck for the Sail Away Party. So much fun!And then off were off and sailing away to warmer weather and endless fun and entertainment...
Brayden loved to shoot hoops. This shot even went in.


I booked Makenna a hair braiding appointment with her cousin Chloe- not realizing that everything Makenna does Brielle wants too- so luckily, this very talented lady was able to put together a few of Brielles fine strands of hair into braids so she could be like the big girls. She even sat perfectly still while it was being done. It was really cute.The Braids.

One of the nights was themed as "Pirate Night" with a special menu and pirate paraphernalia and then a big Pirate Deck party on deck late at night (which unfortunately none of us had the energy left to stay up for.)Pirate Brayden with Pirate cousin Lucas.
Pirate kids at the kids table. The kids sat at their own table every night. It was so much fun for them and quite relaxing for us. We had great waiters (Xenia and Lewellen) who took good care of them- even cutting their meat and entertaining them with puzzles and pictures and napkin hats. Pirate Kevin (or daddy to some)
Pirate Grandma and Grandpa- what good sports they are!
This goofy picture was taken at our character breakfast. We got to get pictures with the whole Mickey gang and Brielle was in heaven as she watched and got to interact with them all. She really loved the characters.One of the days they had a princess gathering in the Lobby with 4 of the big name princesses. So I got my little princesses dressed up for some pictures. The girls were in absolute awe.A Goofy moment with my three favorite kids.
One of my favorite cruise moments was when we were in the Grand Cayman and after Kevin spent a full morning scuba diving, I was itching to get off the boat, so we went on a "Brandvold excursion" to find a beach. We had to take a boat from the ship to the dock and then find a taxi who drove on the wrong side of the road (its a British island) and a bit like a maniac. Well we got to a beautiful beach and after a few short precious moments in the ocean where we realized this was all of our kids very first time in the ocean, the heavens opened and it started to pour rain. We swam in the rain for a while because it wasn't cold at all and we had the beach to ourselves. The only problem was every towel and bag we had was now soaked and we had to hurry to find a cab back to the boat. It was quite an adventure!
At our stop in Cozumel, I went with Brayden and Makenna to swim with the dolphins. It was a really neat experience. We got to touch, hug, kiss and even go for a ride belly to belly on the dolphin. Makenna surprised me by being a bit scared but she still did her best and even went for a belly ride. Even Brayden was a bit nervous at first but after his ride he kept trying to sneak back into the line to go again. You aren't allowed your own camera in the facility and they charge a ridiculous $30 per picture for their professional pics. I am way to cheap to go for that so I took a couple of pictures of the screens where they show you your pictures but I only got two of those before a worker came and stood uncomfortably close to me (giving me a hint, I think).
This one is in front of the little baby splash area.Poolside lunches. For Brielle the cruise food experience was all about ice cream, hot dogs and chocolate milk- all of which were available all the time.
I had heard that cruises are all about the food but my expectations were greatly surpassed in this area. Dinners were very delicious and fancy shmancy. We had lobster tail, rack of Lamb, steak in all its many forms and seafood galore. I decided to go way out of my comfort zone and try some caviar with smoked salmon one night as an appetizer. My verdict- yuk!Whenever you ask for ketchup at dinner, they usually bring you a plate and pour some ketchup in the shape of a Mickey head- which of course the kids just love. One night Brielle requested goofy and I was pretty impressed that Xenia (our Russian waitress) was able to pull it off.

Okay, now on to Castaway Cay. Totally the best part of the cruise. It is Disney's private island and it is amazing. You walk right off the boat onto the island. The family beach where we spent our time was all nicely reefed in so we only had small gentle waves to play in. The water was clear blue. We went snorkeling to see fabulous fish and hidden statues of mickey and minnie. The food vendors on the island where all free and they had some delicious barbeque going on. They had the kids clubs on the beach as well so Makenna played their for a bit with all her new friends. That place is heaven on earth!
Oh yeah and how could I forget to mention the cookie dough ice cream they had--- sooooo good!Ben and Brielle in their hole. Aren't cousins the best.
Brielle loved this beach and it wasn't even stressful to watch her play in the water because it stayed shallow for quite a while and their was no worry about big waves.
Daniel, Brayden, Benjamin
This is the flying Dutchman from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Disney keeps it anchored just off shore a bit. Pretty neat.

And then before we knew it, the cruise was over and we were back on land, and boy was the temperature a shock. We were not at all prepared for highs in the 50s but that's what we had pretty much the whole time we were there. It was a bit rough the first day when we didn't layer quite as much as we should have, but after that we adapted and didn't let it take away from our fun.
Makenna incognito.The cousins.
This picture makes so sad that I didnt go back to the Magic Kingdom that night. I thought the girls needed to go to bed so I stayed behind and never got to see that castle lit up in person. Oh well- at least Kevin took a great picture.
All the cousins (except baby Sadie) eating marshmallows covered in chocolate on a stick sitting on a wall at Disney Studios.I just love the dresses and matching sweaters.
Grandpa, Braydena and Lucacs riding Big Thunder Mountain.
This was our girl party- Having Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table inside the castle. It was a great experience. The girls got to meet and take pictures with all the princesses, and I thought it was just neat to be in the castle. And then to wrap it up we went for souvenirs. The boys wanted swords and puffles (a Club Penguin thing) and the girls got magic wands and dolls. Boys will be boys and girls will be girls. Brielle is still really treasuring her Cinderella doll. Ever since we have been home she walks around in full princess gown, shoes and crown, with doll in hand... and she's only two.
A born princess, I guess.
We had a great trip. The best part was being with family. Brayden was in tears as we drove to the airport and later when he prayed for his cousins safety that night, again he broke into tears. It is hard to be away from family and to have my kids missing their cousins but we are just so grateful to have these opportunities to be together when we can and make such great memories we will always have.