July Fourth

As soon as we got home from the cruise, it was time to celebrate our country's birth.  Wendy had us all over for dinner and games:

And then we celebrated with the traditional lighting of paper-wrapped gunpowder.

Newest addition to Utah's allowed firework list:

My awesome wife... 

-michael

Wonderful World of Disney

After our amazing Disney cruise experience, we decided to do a day at DIsney World. That's right, just one day. We wanted to make the most of it, so we decided to buy a park hopper ticket--which we did on ebay before leaving for the cruise. Sadly, we arrived in Florida, only to remember that we had forgotten our tickets at home. LUckily, our friend Chris was able to break into our house (okay, we gave him the garage code.) and then overnight them to us.

This was my first trip to Disney World, and I wanted to experience it all. At first, Michael was a little wary, but after looking at maps, we decided we could do all four parks in one day. His siblings were initially really surprised and skeptical of our plan, but one by one, they all joined in and we ended up doing all four parks together. It was awesome.

No, we didn't get to do the shows and some of the rides we normally would have done had we had a few days, but it was incredible, and I'm glad we did it the way we wanted to. It definitely made for a busy day though.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom a little before it opened at 9AM and headed straight to Expedition Everest. Amazing. Fun. Scary. Exciting. Amazing. We ended up riding it twice because the line was so short, then we booked it over to the Safari--which was like jungle cruise, but with real animals and not as many corny jokes. We then went back to Expedition Everest, where we used our fast passes to ride it a deserved third time, and ended our Animal Kingdom adventure riding the Kawali River Rapids, on which we all got soaking wet.

11:20 AM. Hollywood Studios (formally known as MGM). We went straight to Star Tours, which they recently renovated to include about 54 new adventures and destinations. We rode it twice in a row (worth it), then Michael, the Herds and I went on the Disney backlot tour while the rest of the family went to the Muppets 3D movie. We then met up again and went to the Lights, Cameras, Action! A really cool car stunt show. We ate lunch while watching the show and I really enjoyed the cool stunts and amazing driving.
We then went and got in a short line for Tower of Terror, before going over and using fast passes for Rockin' Roller Coaster--which can only be described as amazing. It was like a mix between California Screamin', Space Mountain and any other amazing roller coaster you can think of.

Tower of Terror

At this point, some of the family went to Epcot, while Michael and I went over to ride Star Tours again with Gavin, quickly meeting up with the Herds again to ride Tower of Terror one last time before heading over ourselves.

5:30PM Epcot. We immediately went to get fast passes for Mission Space and then went to Innoventions for a while. We rode segways, went to a sort of lame weather simulator and played video games. We then met the family for dinner and then Michael, Kacy and I went to Mexico (¡Olé!) and Norway (Sejt), before heading over to Mission Space. Very, very cool. The last thing we snuck in before the park closed (seriously, we got in line at 8:55 and the park closed at 9) was test track. We went in the single rider line so we wouldn't have to wait so long, and I ended up sitting next to the cutest little girl who got so scared she kept grabbing my leg.

Epcot

 Segways

Splash Moutnain

After Splash Moutain

9:40PM Magic Kingdom. It was like coming home. The entrance was exactly like Disneyland, and even though it changed around after that, I still loved it. We were together with all Michael's siblings (minus Madeline) and rushed over to Splash Mountain, where there was practically no line, so we were able to stay on and ride it twice. We then went over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, again finding almost no line. (Of all the rides that are at both Disneyland and Disney World, this was the only one that I think might have a leg up.) We then went and rode Pirates of the Caribbean (definitely better at DL) and then Jungle Cruise (twice). We then went over to try and do Space Mountain, but it was closed, so we went to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. We were just about out of time at this point, but rushed over to fantasy land and ended the night on Peter Pan.

Truly a magical (and exhausting) day.

A Disney Dream

Thanks to the enormous generosity of Michael's grandma Murray (Mums), we had the amazing experience of taking a Bahamian cruise with the Disney Cruise line this past week. Our ship was very aptly named, The Disney Dream.

We left on Saturday evening for Florida, meeting up with Michael's Utah siblings, and began the adventure. The flight (3:52) seemed to take forever, but we finally arrived and were immediately assaulted by the humidity. This was my first trip to Florida, and I was not disappointed in my expectations of heat and humidity. We arrived around 11:30PM local time and it had to still have been 85 degrees and about the same percentage of humidity.

Anyway, we made our way to the hotel and proceeded to not fall asleep due to the time change. We woke up Sunday morning, had a great devotional and then waited for our shuttle to take us to Port Canaveral. And that's where we got our first view of the Disney Dream. It was enormous! We were all so excited, snapping pictures and extremely antsy to get out of the shuttle and board.

After going through the typical lines and paperwork, we were finally able to board and I was reminded (in a good way) of the first interior shots from the movie Titanic, where Rose first boards the ship. It was so luxurious and beautiful. We eventually made it to our room, dropped off our carry-ons and headed to the first of several large lunch buffets. When we finally left port, we stood on our veranda and waved to the Disney cruise employees that saw us off. It was already so magical.

Disney is unique in it's cruises for three important reasons: 1. The Disney quality shows 2. The servers follow you the duration of the cruise, and 3. Castaway Cay.

The entertainment on the cruise was amazing. The theatrical shows all had disney characters and movie songs, and made me feel like I was sitting in a theater in Disneyland. My favorite shows were the Golden Mickey's (an awards show for the Disney characters) and Believe (a cute show that was basically an excuse to showcase some of the most beloved Disney songs and characters). We also were able to see Cars 2 and Pirates 4 in the on board movie theater. Amazing!

Our servers, Mircea from Romania and Emmanuel from Mexico, followed us around to the different restaurants we were able to visit while aboard. (Side note, all the amazing stories of food you hear about on a cruise ship is true. I was never so consistently full in my entire life.) And they were so fun! They showed us tricks with napkins and crayons, taught us their languages, joked, laughed and made the cruise experience even more amazing.

Castaway Cay. I don't even really know what to say about this magical little island. Seriously, I don't. We went snorkeling (amazing), played volleyball (and won), ate island fruit (yum), got sunburnt (ouch--I even reapplied sunscreen!) and relaxed. The first trip there, Michael, Kacy and I even ran a 5K--which actually turned out to be pretty horrible. I ran a half marathon two weeks previously, so expected this to be cake: not so. 90 degree weather paired with 92 percent humidity does not make for an easy run. I thought I was going to die. My overall experience on Castaway Cay was definitely positive though.

We also stop at Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. We didn't go to any beaches, we simply took a tour around the city. The Grahams, Herds and Michael and I went to the old fort and castle that was probably about a half mile walk from the port. My favorit spot by far was the Queen's Staircase. It was cool and shady, as well as apparently being the best place for street vendors to set up shop. I bought a cute neckless and then made a quick/hurried trip back later to buy a wooden bowl and a hat for Michael. It was fun haggling and feeling like a tourist.

And that, basically and very briefly (although it may not seem like it) was our cruise. I'm already planning a 10th anniversary Alaskan cruise--it was that amazing.
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

Orlando airport

Snorkeling, Castaway Cay

Michael, holding a shell

Underwater wreckage

White fish

Real Live Stingray! (Castaway Cay)

 Nassau, Bahamas

Queen's Staircase, Nasaau 

Pirate Night 

Basketball, Deck 14

Karaoke, D Lounge

Semi-formal Night