Disney Cruise -- Day 1

We decided to surprise the kids with a Disney cruise.  I have wanted to do one for a long time now but the cost is just so high.  We found a good last minute deal on an older ship out of miami and decided to give it a try.

The kids didn't know.  The day we left we told them we were going to a hotel.  They were happy with that.  Ha ha.

We flew to Fort Lauderdale with no major issues (just 2 annoying guys who were high behind us).  it was almost 80 degrees when we landed. 

We stayed over night at a Hyatt with Mike's free points.  We got there in the evening and the kids went swimming.  They also went in the morning too.



The next morning they got a call from Mickey.  They thought we were going to Disney World.  Ha ha.  When we told them it was a cruise they were happy.

we got to the port early and got checked in.




While we waited we got to meet Mickey and Minnie.



Then it was time to board.  they announce your family and everyone claps.  

After we boarded we went to have lunch.  The buffet was good.



The weather was awesome and after lunch we went straight to the pool.   The kids loved the pool.

Hayden really enjoyed the water slide.



Amelia enjoyed the kid pool.




We checked out the splash area


We spent some time in the big pool
 
and the hot tubs.

 

We also got ice cream.  The kids love getting ice cream whenever they want on board.


We went to the sail away party.  The kids really enjoyed it.

They even went up on stage and danced a little.

I have a video of some of it.

Goodbye Miami!


We decorated our door and hung our fish extender.  Its a gift exchange.  I can explain it later.

We went to our first dinner and met our table mates.  They were a couple from Philly with their 7 year old boy.  Hayden got along well with him.

Dinner was good.

After dinner we saw the tree lighting show.

And the kids played in the kids club.

We got our towel animals too.

Overall a good first day.

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!!!

Santa

We were 5th in line and  40 minutes later we finally met Santa.  He spends a lot of time with each kid.  :)

Santa told the kids to be good, help with chores, give mom lots of hugs, brush your teeth.  Amelia got upset and got down  and said she forgot to brush her teeth.

Hayden asked for LEGOs and walkie talkies.  Amelia asked for monster high dolls and big dora stuff.

Grandkid Christmas Pictures

 I made a Christmas present for Grandma Barb and Grandma Erfort.  So we took some pictures of all of the grand kids.  Here is the finished product:

It looks so cute and now I want one.

 

Hayen is 6

Hayden turns 6 day.

Some info about Hayden at age 6:

he is a creature of habit.  he loves his routines.  TV, lunch, etc is all at the same time for him.  He eats the same things most days:  whole wheat bread with butter or peanut butter for breakfast.  Lunch is whole wheat pita with hummus, cheese stick, yogurt and some crackers and treat.

Likes to play with legos.  he will build the actual set once but then likes to build "freestyle"

Seems to be enjoying school and likes to talk about things he is learning.

his teacher gave him a great report.  She even said he is a good leader at school and always well behaved.

He is signed up for indoor soccer.

hates pants.  He gets upset every morning and insists they will fall down.

Loves popcorn.

Still likes reese cups and kit kats for treats.

wants a shot gun for christmas

Enjoys being read to

Likes watching Ben 10, Slugterra on Netflix.

Very good at saving money and very generous with his money too.

Enjoys back scratches and cuddle time with mom.

favorite part of school is gym

Happy Halloween

 We did a few fun things this Halloween.  We "carved our pumpkin".  Grandma Barb buys the push in characters so it is no work at all.  I bought pumpkins super cheap at Aldis so we had a bunch.

We also made some fun craft houses and gingerbread type house
We did actually carve one into the bat signal.


I took Amelia and friend Ella trick or treating at the Robinson Town Centre.

 Hayden was in trouble and didn't get to come :(  The girls had a great time.  They even got to meet a very tan Elsa???

We went to a Halloween party at church.  Leading up to Halloween if you asked Amelia what she wanted to be she would say Ursula the Sea Witch (from the little mermaid).  I looked on the internet and the costume never existed for kids.  So I decided to make her one.  I got some black fleece fabric and cut two identical pieces for each tentacle.  I sewed them by hand and stuffed them.  Then had them sewn to a purple tutu we already had.  She wore a black dance leotard with it.  We made her necklace from playdoh that we let dry out in the sun.  We bought some grey make up, wore blue eyeshadow and red lipstick.  And sprayed her hair white.  She looked cute to me.

Hayden got a top gun outfit at the consignment store awhile back.  To him it was an army like outfit so he wore that.  He looked cute too.

For the day of Halloween it was a little cold and rainy.  We met up with the Darbous family because their daughter was in town with their grand kids who were close in age with our kids.

 We trick or treated around Rennerdale.  The kids got tons of good candy (not cheap gross candy).  This made hayden happy because he only likes reese cups, kit kats, and hershey bars.  Amelia is funny.  She has all of these great costumes and she picked to wear her spider girl dress.  I guess Ursula was a one time deal.  Maybe again next year?  Hayden wore his vampire costume from last year.

Hayden lost his first tooth

Hayden lost his first tooth at a Halloween party.  Let's just say it wasn't really a loose tooth.  So it wasn't very fun for him.

At a Halloween party he was playing with his plastic pocket knife and had it in his mouth.  He somehow chipped his front tooth with it (these teeth have been dead for 2 years due to an accident in the bath tub).  He didn't like the way the tooth looked and pulled it out.  He is crazy.

It bled for a long time and he was not a happy camper.  He was excited that the tooth fairy was going to bring him $10 though!  That did not happen.  $2 it is!