It had been planned for over a year. And it had finally arrived.
I was terrified to take James on a 4.5 hour flight. Like it made me physically ill to think about it.
The whole family barely made it through security and on the plane in time. Like 1 minute to spare!
On the flight to Orlando I had tons of help around me. James even slept for almost an hour of it. He only screamed a few times and it didn't last very long. Phew!
I am not saying it was easy though. I looked like I had been mauled by a bear when we deplaned.
Jack had this super nice sitting next to him who offered him the window during take off and treats.
I walked the isle with James for a little bit and saw cute little short Katherine rocking ruby from her seat. Jealous.
DAY 1 Embarkation
This was not my best day. I was soo stressed out. I didn't get any sleep the night before because James wouldn't sleep in the hotel room and we had gotten some sad news from some friends and I was up all night thinking about them.
The day was stressful. Hurried. We had TONS of stuff to carry around and trying to keep track of it all was killing me. I just wanted to get in our room!
I was on the verge of tears all day.
Then we had to hurry and get the kids signed up for the kids clubs.
Which were fantastic!
The whole day was rushed and I don't handle that well. I couldn't find anything in the suitcases that I so carefully had packed and planned out and after dinner I literally went back to the room and cried my eyes out. Had a nice little breakdown in front of everyone. I had no idea how I was going to do this for a week.
Day 2-Sunday-At Sea
I didn't take a lot of pictures this day. I was trying to recover.
Formal Night was fun though. It put a smile on my face!
Ivy had a super hard time on the trip. She wanted to have fun, but there was so much walking. She cried a lot of the trip. When she gets tired she doesn't fall asleep, she just cries and cries.
Day 3- At Sea Monday
We went to bed Sunday night and slept so good. So good in fact we slept in and BARELY made it our character breakfast. I mean, 10 minutes before we were supposed to be 3 floors down eating I woke up and started screaming for everyone to wake up! The breakfast was at 10am. We slept so good!
If we look barely thrown together it's because we were!
We played on the boat all day. We did some swimming, kids clubs and Vince and I even went and saw Bridge Of Spies in the theater while all the kids were in the kids clubs. James was in the nursery and didn't love it.
Me picking up all the kids
Off to dinner
We had just walked past the nursery and he thought he was going there.
Day 4- Tortola
I signed us up to swim with the Dolphins months before.
Come on kids, lets go! It was just our family on this excursion.
Taxi please!
The little girls thought we were on a roller coaster, they were giggling so hard.
We had to wait over an hour for our turn, but it was worth it.
Here are just a few of the pics from the swim. They were $$$ but worth it to me!
That night was pirate night on the ship. And I made sure that we were ready to go and made it in line to meet Caption Jack Sparrow!
He did not like that James was wet, haha!
He kept saying that he didn't want any men in his pictures. And no children. Just the women!
He was hilarious and well worth the rush back from the dolphins to get ready.
Ivy was afraid during the Pirate Party on Deck so Brooke was holding her.
Ivy's face was exactly how I felt that night. Exhausted.
Day 5- St. Thomas
James was up bright and early.
The view from the boat was spectacular!
We put James in the daycare and heading out to the pool. We decided not to get of the boat that morning and enjoy the water slide and pool with a few less people. It was a good decision.
We rode the Aqua Duck at least 20 times!
Then we went and got James from the Nursery, and he was NOT happy. At this point I cancelled all his days in the nursery. He hated it so much and it was painful for everyone.
We decided to get off the boat and walk around.
This guy stopped us and asked us if we wanted a tour of the island in his van.
And we did it!
He took us to some great views!
James fell asleep on the ride home.
Before dinner we went down to Deck 4 for some pictures and it was soooo windy!!!!
Dinner was rough, as usual. James HATED being at dinner.
DAY 6 -At Sea
After breakfast we headed down to the pool.
And then it was time for James' big race!!!!
Jack Jack's Incredible Diaper Dash!
He won the first heat, no problemo. But in the second heat he got all distracted by all the people and cheering, and stopped to turn around to look at me, and then started clapping *faceplam
He didn't win, but it was so fun and so adorable. Highlight of my trip.
Tom and Angie and family met us before dinner to do some family pics.
Still winding on deck 4!!!
Day 7- Castaway Cay
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!!
He didn't sleep at all that night. It was a disaster. That's how I knew he was getting sick. He had been a pretty good boy at night until that night. So he woke up super angry. I tried to get some pictures of him but he would no smile.
The boat was late getting into Castaway Cay, so the 5k was cancelled, which was good I guess because I was exhausted from being up all night.
James had a lot of fun this day. He was sooo sick, but he was still so good. He loved the sand and picking up sticks!
Brooke LOVES sand. And she loves Seashells.
Ivy got lost. Yes lost. She was down by the water one second and then gone the next. She was missing for only a few minutes, but scared me to death!!!!
She was such a busy body. After lunch she went into the kids club and it was such a relief.
Jack and Vince went snorkeling but I didn't get any pictures of it because it was during the missing Ivy time. But I hear he loved it.
He spent most of the day trying to stay in a hammock that Vince kept tipping over.
Ivy super struggled every night. I think she was just so tired. She cried almost every night on the way to dinner.
Dinner was rough. But we made it to dessert so James could be sang to. It was the first time he smiled all day.
Day 8- Going Home
I was dreading the flight home. And I was right, it was horrible. He cried and screamed 90% of the flight. I wanted to die. Literally. When we landed I wanted to kiss the ground. Longest 5 hours of my life.
It was a hard trip, but the trip of a lifetime. My kids had the time of their lives. Once we were home the stress was gone, I realized just how much fun it was.
Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for the amazing week.
.JPG)
