Just back!! 9/14 Wonder

[Marshmelo]

Thanks! For the wedding date, we're thinking about next October. That gives me just over a year to plan it. I definitely want it outside, so I'm trying to find some pretty places here in Indianapolis. I also know that I want to go to Hawaii for the honeymoon.

 

[justmestace]

Congratulations Melody!!!!
We were at Palo on te last night, too....sorry I missed the proposal, I bet it was sooo romantic! How "wonder"ful for you!
My friends and I agreed that the rocking was worse when we sat down. Not that I've done much of it so far, until today when I had to go back to the office.
I've been slowly copying and printing pictures. I took some to Eckerd's and had them do them...getting lazy!
Susan, thank you so much for being there, it meant a lot to me, and to Megan...she thought that was so nice of you. I had such fun, seemed like every time I turned around, one or another of your group was there. It's so much fun to actually know people around the ship! (Except when you're wet and yukky from swimming).
Gail, Megan and Pete got back last night (I actually hated sending my grand-puppy back to them!)...they stayed at the AKL and had a savannah view (thank you, Mom) and said it was fantastic.
Megan didn't get sick on the parasailing....she loved it!! Peter got sick after it, tho...we thought that was funny since we would have bet money that it would be Megan. She did fall off the banana boat, tho. We had the last ride of the day, so we were out there at least 3 times longer than usual, and I think the drivers were trying to dump us on purpose...they kept going around in circles, making big waves! We had a blast!!
Gotta run, heading for the gym. I didn't gain any weight on the cruise, but haven't lost any either!
Talk to you later,
Stacey

 

[fireplug]

Okay gang send me a PM or an email and I will start the ball rolling on a keep in touch thread

Steve

 

[jillte]

Wow...what a week!

We had a great time on the cruise - it was nice seeing you all at sailaway! Sorry didn't get to hook up the rest of the trip - was trying to get my daughter to like the Oceaneers Club, but she wanted to stay with us. So, spent most of our time at the Mickey pool with her. I thought the counselors were great, but Kalea didn't understand the first night that she could tell them when she wanted to leave, so we picked her up at night and she was crying quietly on a mat with all the kids watching movies. She felt abandoned and I felt guilty. We tried a couple more times with mixed results. I think she would have liked it if I just left her there during activities and she acclimated on her own, but didn't want to have such stress while on vacation. Oh, well...maybe when she's older.

DH was impressed with food & service...I enjoyed Golden Mickeys. We had Palo on Tues night. In-laws also enjoyed it. They said a 4-nighter was perfect for them (couldn't convince them to do a 7-nighter).

Castaway Cay was great - I think we saw Stacey's daughter after they got married - was she in a golf cart?

We went to WDW after and stayed until 9/23 - my first time there and enjoyed it, though the heat & humidity were tough. Loved MGM Studios...can see why Walt bought all that land. It was weird to go to the Magic Kingdom and just see trees all around - Disneyland has the 5 Freeway in back and motels surrounding it. We loved Blizzard Beach and would go there for 2 days - I think that revitalized us on the trip.

All in all, it was great. It was fun, though maybe not as relaxing as I hoped. But that may be part of the challenge of vacationing with a 4-yr old.

Glad to see and hear that you all had a great time! Thanks again for all the tips and info - it helped tremendously!

jill

 

[justmestace]

Jill, yes, that was Megan and Pete. We had been told that there was to be another wedding that day, but there wasn't. Just hers. They did the parks afterward also, and said it was hot.
Disney of any kind is NEVER a relaxing vacation. Might as well get used to that idea right now. After 21 years of doing it with kids (and still have the 13 & 10 yr olds) we know now that we have to always plan a grown-up relaxing trip after Disney. It does get somewhat better as they get older....you can ditch them for some "quiet" time occasionally.

 

[jillte]

Stacey,

Thanks for the advice! Yes, this cruise was quite a bit different from the first one I took 10 years ago. Was single then and had the freedom to choose what I wanted to do (which was pretty much nothing - just veg). But this trip was still fun. I'm sure the day will come (sooner than I probably want) when the kids will ditch me.

You're right - Disney is NOT relaxing. I always thought Disneyland wasn't too rough, since I lived 10 minutes away and the weather was pretty good. Just wasn't used to the FL humidity which seems to sap my energy. And, I have to say that leaving the Magic Kingdom is difficult. That monorail/ferryboat set-up seems to be a bottleneck. But even with the challenges, I think I'm hooked on WDW, too.

I'm glad we got to see your daughter. We were standing by the shops in Castaway Cay when we say the golf cart roll right by us with the bride & groom. We all cheered for them! Congrats again on the wedding - it looks like everything turned out perfect!

Back to reality now...sigh...

jill