Family Vacation

Dear Ones ~

The days (weeks) flew by since my last post.  The bonspiel at Alpine Curling Club with Jerry and Chris was a lot of fun.  We played our best and had some really great games, but in the end we came home without any trophies.  Sorry about that Skip, maybe next time.  One of the best features of bonspieling is the socializing with the friends that we have made through the years.  Chatting with my friend Darcie, who I only see once a year at this event, was a highlight.  The week after our curling weekend was spent in a frenzy of  last minute details in preparation for our family vacation.

Several years ago, Ron and I decided that instead of a party to celebrate our 40th Anniversary, we would like to make a family memory by taking a vacation together.  At the time we first made this pledge, we did not have any grandchildren and were thinking of a European vacation with our adult children and their spouses.  As the years went by, our little ones arrived to fill out the family tree and changed our travel plans.  Now we were considering traveling with a 5, 3, and 2 year old and a 7 month old!  What could we possibly do that would accommodate everyone?  After a month of research, we decided on a Western Caribbean Cruise aboard the Disney Magic!  We made the grand announcement of this plan at Christmas.  That gave everyone several weeks of happy anticipation.

 

Even though our anniversary is actually in August, the winter snows of Wisconsin made the thought of sunshine and beaches even more appealing in the month of February.  So it was decided that we set sail on Feb. 6th from Port Canaveral.  We then visited Key West, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Castaway Cay with a couple of days at Sea thrown in for relaxation.  

The kids were enthralled with the Disney characters, the stage shows, and especially the Mickey Mouse Pool.  We agreed prior to leaving home that we wouldn't try to stay together every minute.  Each family could do their own thing,  but we were to meet at dinner to share our events of the day.  As it turned out, we usually found each other around the pool deck and spent a good deal of time together taking turns watching the children and running for snacks.  We shared a lot of laughs and made some memories for which we will have stories to last my lifetime.  It was GRAND!  The whole week exceeded my wildest expectations.

The children were very well behaved.  We are proud  not only of them, but of their parents as well.  The youngest, Gavin, was especially easy going and adapted to sleeping in his stroller in the middle of all the noise.  Precious!                                                   

One night, in the dining room, we were surprised with a cake to celebrate our special occasion.  Served shortly after we had finished our dessert, we took it back to our stateroom and ate it for breakfast the next day.  Mmmmm - - - yunmmy!

 We did incur a bit of an adventure on our return home.  I'll save those details for another post after I have an opportunity to upload more of my photos.  (Sometimes one look is worth a thousand words.)  Let me just say that DREAMS really DO come true if your heart is in your dream!  And for that fact, I am eternally grateful~

Until next time,

Love & Light ~

Kasia