The Boss is Back on Board, Sept 19th!! Castaway Cay updated Jan 12!

[pierresgirl]

I LOVE Cocoa beach!!! We stayed at the LaQuinta on the beach the night before our cruise in 2009. It was newly renovated and was very nice and clean. Our balcony overlooked the beach and we were right next to the pier. The afternoon before the cruise we got to watch the Magic sailing out to sea from our balcony. Talk about get you so excited you can't even sleep!!

Anyhoo...I hate when arguments come up with the DH on a vacation. Really bugs!! Can't we all just get along???

Sounds beautiful! Yes, I totally hate the arguments it's been a rough year... BUT getting better!

Present!

Oh Hey Jenny! The problem is me staying present!!!

 

[pierresgirl]

WARNING ~ allota complaints and arguing in this section.....

We hung out at the pool for a bit so Cooper could have some fun but, MAN, were those waves rolling! AND we were still within a few feet of the dock, how bad was it going to get?!?! Hoooo doggies! About an hour or so later we went back to the room to get changed for dinner and found Pierre in the room. Seemingly intent on making me feel like I did something wrong. I just ignored and told him this wasn't going to work we could split up when we got back home if that would make him happy. I could clearly do no right and wasn't going to live my life like this.

Shortly after I heard someone barfing in the hallway and waited it out a little before heading up to the dining room with the kids. Pierre stayed in the room and said he'd meet us up there. I was already mentally exhausted and we'd been sailing only an hour! We ate in Parrot Cay the first night and it was a bit awkward that Pierre didn't come in with us but whatevs! He showed up a little later still in a sour mood but I was overly nice. I didn't want Jen and Chris to feel stuck in the middle of anything. Hey~ they paid a lot for their trip and don't deserve to have it ruined! Me neither for that matter! Anyways when I got my salad there was dressing all over it which I hate so I asked for it to be swapped. Pierre decided to say “ That's right, gotta keep your figure good so you can get yourself a boyfriend”



Crickets couldn't do that moment justice I'm afraid.

I bit my tongue and got chatty about everything and was overly nice to Pierre. The kids had seen there was an icecream party in the kids club later so we decided to drop them off and Jen and Chris did their own thing as did we. We walked around the decks and couldn't get over the pools. OMG you shoulda seen the water splashing everywhere! My pictures don't do it justice, the stupid camera missed the highest splash everytime!!!

The pool was cordoned off but we had stopped in the room earlier to get our bathing suits to hit up the hot tub. The water was super hot and bubbly and we kept getting splashed by the pool waves! SO WILD!!! Think I nearly dropped the camera here! At least a 1/3 of the pool water was gone and some of the waves went as high as the bridge, believe it or not!

We dried off after a bit and stumbled over to the kids club to see how they were doing. Cooper and Kylie were having a dance party playing Simon Says and seemed to be havong a grand time! Now, Cooper is well documented in acting like a nutter when he eats a lot of sugar so rest assured I was going to let him dance his heart out.

After a little longer we gathered up both kids, scored ourselves an icecream and left for the night. We took them up to the deck so they could see the waves in the pool which were the coolest thing ever!

Back in the room we all got our jammies on and I looked in my baggies where I put my prescription meds (me needs me some Ambien or EVERYONE will suffer) Um, not in there. Odd. They were there before. As in I packed them in the hotel. They were in a gallon baggie with first aid stuff and the whole gallon baggie was missing. Great! I stayed awake most of the night which would have been fine had I had a spectacular day BUUUUUT I didn't. Poo. Oh well, at least I noticed the boat stopped rocking around 2 am.

I got up early and decided to hit the gym. TIP!!!!!!! They have a filtered freezing water spout in here so I had an enormous water bottle and filled it up several times a day. It tasted like normal bottled water and it was free! I always use the elliptical and read while doing so but I will say it was rather tricky with the slight waves that were still going on. Hoo boy! I'll also add that reading Sylvia Plath's “The Bell Jar” wasn't the most intelligent choice for vacay material especially when you are feeling bummed out.... When I was done I went back to the room and they were all ready to eat some brekkies. Now. Bella sweats herself some cinnamon buns from BBB. It was the highlight of her morning. She loaded up her plate, obnoxiously high I might add! She took one bite and declared they must have fired the cinnamon bun chef. It would be fair to say she was disappointed, poor thing! So she took about 8 boxes of frosted flakes. I think that helped!

Pierre was pouting a bit so I tried to make him feel better. He was spending the day with Chris doing whatever while me, Jen and the kids were going to the Blue Lagoon Dolphin Swim. Chris had gotten this for Jen and Kylie as a surprise and we were just going as observers. We met up in Wavebands and the 2 staff members had quite a crowd to organize. I guess there were about 4 tours that needed sorting and once they got started it went quickly.

When they were ready we put on our Pongo stickers and followed the lady outside, hopefully she was the right one.... we weren't positive. OMG it was roasty toasty outside! We finally got to the boat and climed on for the ride

It was really cool going through the harbour and seeing all the boats (and noticing none are as beautiful as our Disney Wonder!)

Um seriously, I wish someone had told us how long the boat ride was, geeesh!!! We finally got there and Blue Lagoon is gorgeous! But the complaining coming outta Cooper's mouth were NOT! grrrrrr

We got off the boat and they saw the blowup obstacle course in the water, yeahhhh, you know watching Jen and Kylie with the dolphins promptly took a back seat.

We walked along the boardwalk and saw all the dolphins swimming around, SO COOL!!!

Bella was thrilled, she loves dolphins! I wish I could have paid for her to do the swim but it really is SO much money! We checked out the shop while Kylie and Jen had their tutorial. Cooper had a moment and parked himself into the corner. It was the last thing I needed, ya know?! I felt like my whole family was there to moan and complain to me and I could do nothing right to make them happy so I walked off and got upset They both came over to me and I told them how lucky they were and everyone just wanted to be miserable and ruin the vacation blah blah blah...... I went over to take pictures of Jen and Kylie with the dolphins, at least they were enjoying themselves.

We decided to go over to the beach and I told the kids if they wanted to use the obstacle course they needed to pay half so they coughed up the cash. I wish I realized I could have chosen the beach day on Blue Lagoon and just walked over to watch the dolphins, it might have been cheaper. It was really nice and quiet over there, the only drawback being the long ride over, I think it was about 45 mins.

Jen and Kylie met us on the beach and we snuck Kylie into Coopers lifevest so she could go in the water. Make sure you don't get our bodies in the pic Bella!

Chins up works for me!

Gots to sign off now but may try and do another update later today! Sorry for being a little bit of a bummer but like I said before it was a significant part of the trip. BUT it gets better!

 

[Blueyed Girl]

Aww Leyla, that really stinks! I absolutely hate arguing on vacation. But usually once it's over, it's over so that's good. Hope your cruise gets better. The beach look fab!!!!

 

[pierresgirl]

We wanted to catch the 2 pm boat back to the boat so started walking over, Jen and Kylie were dragging behind. Kylie was doing the crossed legged walk and was gonna have to hold it in or they'd miss the ride! I could hear her howling from the end of the dock as they were trying to run.

Luckily there was a bathroom on board cause there was NO way she could have held that in! The kids seemed to be in a better mood on the way back so we got some great pictures!

Here's our ride!

When we finally pulled in the port and got off the boat Pierre and Chris were waiting for us. Like manly men. With no shirts. And shell necklaces. ??????? Oh, and they both looked like lobsters.

See what happens when we leave you guys alone?

Anyways, we let them think we thought they were sexy beasts orsomethinglikethat. I think they had taken a taxi to the beach near Atlantis and hung out drinking all day. They tried to get into Atlantis but that didn't fly so they hung out with the natives and had a good time! We headed back to the cruise ship, bypassing the vendors. I didn't realize they were building a new Straw Market area?! I planned on hitting that up a little later so I could get myself a new bag Luckily the boat was staying in port till 2am. I don't remember it being that late last time we did DCL.

We got onboard and chilled out by the pool with some bevvies, always a good thing! We were eating dinner at Palo's tonight and I was excited since we didn't go there last time. Our ressies were about 6:30 so we didn't hang out for too long before going back to the room to get ready. I can't recall if the kids had something fun going on in da clubs but regardless, they had a blast each time they went!

We met Chris and Jen at the club and then wlked up to Palo's together. I love this pic!

Actually I love my dress in this pic

OMG ~ I have like only 5 sentances written down for the REST of the trip so this is going to be from memory (good luck y'all!) BUT I can tell you we had the most spectacular waitress I have ever had in my life this night! Above and beyond people, above and beyond! I think her name was Erica but I could be wrong. She made some fabulous suggestions and I tried things I hadn't had before. But don't ask me sinc eI can't remember! I might have helped if I actually wrote this 3 months ago when we got back! Such a fun night!

She asked how long each of us had been married and we said we had our 11 year anniversary the month prior so she came out with this

Man, Disney....!

Desserts! Geez I have such a sweet tooth! Chris kept saying “You're really going to take a picture of the food?” Um, Yes. Problem?

Now that's what I'M talking bout!

I was yapping on about how I was glad the boat was in port till 2 am so I could go out and get my bag but Chris said the market closed at 6 pm. WHAT?!?!?! Seriously disappointed by that info.

I was stuffed to the max so we paid and thanked Erica tremendously for her faboosh service and took off to walk around the deck. Me and Jen saw the big screen TV so we tried to act like Bob Barker girls. Yeah, didn't look as good LOL!

Love any pic with the Disney smokestack!

Ha, didn't realize we were in it!

Ahhhh, I wanna go back! There's too much snow outside right now! At least I have the day off, Pierre just left for work. The Men (and women. Represent!) in Brown don't get the day off! We picked up the kids and went back to the room to crash. Tomorrow was Castaway Cay and I could not wait!!! I was really excited for Jen and Chris to see CC since it's one of my fav places in the world! I had booked the CC Getaway package that includes the stingray feeding, snorkling, biking and float rental. Cooper had seen it on the boat tv channel and seemed excited for the stingrays but he does that a lot then will pitch the hugest fit. That in turn makes me all ghetto and such.

I may do another installment later so check back and see if we survived Castaway Ca. And each other.

 

[pierresgirl]

Aww Leyla, that really stinks! I absolutely hate arguing on vacation. But usually once it's over, it's over so that's good. Hope your cruise gets better. The beach look fab!!!!

I know.... his moods are usually blamed on his juv diabetes but he's been horrible this year Although, he just got some bloodwork back and his testosterone levels were practically nonexsistant. The doc was surprised he could get out of bed. It's being treated and OMG I have my old Pierre back now! I can't believe it! Thanks for reading, I know I've been terrible about writing it but now that I feel better about eveything I'm going to fly through this!

 

[Blueyed Girl]

I know.... his moods are usually blamed on his juv diabetes but he's been horrible this year Although, he just got some bloodwork back and his testosterone levels were practically nonexsistant. The doc was surprised he could get out of bed. It's being treated and OMG I have my old Pierre back now! I can't believe it! Thanks for reading, I know I've been terrible about writing it but now that I feel better about eveything I'm going to fly through this!

Well at least there is a reason and a solution to the problem! So what is my DH's issue sometimes? Seriously, glad things are getting back to norm.

Loved seeing all of your pics. I can't wait until June!!! Yesterday was our 6 month mark. GEEZ!! Seems like forever. Can't wait to read about CC day!

 

[pierresgirl]

Take me away to Castaway Cay!!!!!! Can I get a round of applause for how FANTABULOUS this little Bahamian Island is?!?!? I am very lucky that the two times I have been here the weather has been at 100% because I have seen pictures when it hasn't been and BOY, I'm glad it held up for me!

As usual I went to the gym nice and early to work off the Triple D I had going on from the night before. You know.... dinner, drinks and dessert. Every bite at Palo was worth it though! Pierre took the kids to BBB since Bella needed to double check on the cinnamon bun situation. Meh, still the same she reported. So funny what kids will remember isn't it? Now I could make a few meals out of just the lox on wheat toast (or just the lox) and the strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream (or just the whipped cream) (but not together) Pierre smuggled out a bite for me and we met back in the room to gather our things for our day off the boat. We had booked the Castaway Cay Extreme Package and knew we'd be busy all day. Jen, Chris and Kylie were doing the same thing as us but a bit later so I figured we'd see them somewhere along the way.

Man, it can be a bit confusing trying to get off the boat! Down to level 2, walk to different stairs, down another level.... blady blady bleh blah orsomethinglikethat. I got confuseded a couple of times! We trekked over to the beach area where the Stingray Swim was being done and got our snorkle gear. The camera was totally eating through the batteries so I had to get some new ones plus my brain was eating through my skull. Not gud. I left them there to watch the presentation on stingrays, got the batteries and looked for Advil. They don't sell them in the little store and was told to go to First Aid. I did NOT want to sit in the sun all day with pounding temples, ya know?! The nurse gave me some (for free, yay!) and I told her about my First Aid pack that I made with bandaids, Advil/Tylenol, icepacks and my Ambien and how it was missing. We tore up the room, looked in all the bags, under the beds but no luck so she told me I needed to report it to security. I really hated thinking anything bad but I know for certain everything was in a gallon plastic bag in my duffle bag. Grrrr.

I headed back to the beach since everyone was in the water. Except for Bella. I must admit I got a bit nervous once I saw all the stingrays in the water. Man, there are a whole heck of a lot of them in there!!

But when I saw Cooper put out his hand to feed them repeatedly I knew it couldn't be too bad. Could it? I watched the stingray head up the ramp, snatch the shrimp outta his knuckles and float off. They looked like vaccum cleaners, LOL! I did it and it felt kinda cool but Bella was kicking sand on the edge of the beach “This is stoopid” She got a little closer but changed her mind

Cooper is determined to outrun this guy!

After the feeding we were allowed to swim amongst the rays and Bella was down with that, surprisingly! I really enjoyed the whole experience and definetly recommend it to anyone, it's worth the cost. The 'rays are safe' people, go for it! The only thing I kept forgetting was the fact the it's salt water. Blechhhh. After our time was up we headed over to the family beach to stake out a spot and since it was still fairly early we got a descent one. I did not realize we got to keep the snorkle gear all day, major bonus! Neither of my kids had done it before but I have to say I was quite impressed at how well they did and how much they loved it. I didn't try snorkling till my early 20's when I moved to Hawaii and managed to choke down half of Haunama Bay. Now the fish at CC aren't anything like that awesome Bay if you've ever been there but THEY don't have a hidden Minnie and Mickey. So “pffffffftttt nya nya nanya na!”

We decided it was time for a little lunchadoodle and headed over to Cookie's, passing by the crab races.The food was ok, nothing spectac

to me that it. The kids are down with anything like that. Look at Bella giving Cooper's plate the side eye.... Anyways, we chowed and decided to go do the bike thing. How fun to ride bikes with just bathing suits and flip flops on!

I hadn't ridden a bike in a long time and don't think the kids had ever seen me so they kept saying “oh my gaawd mom, I can't believe you can ride a bike!!” Proof I can...

Pierre does as well

It was totally fun! It all looked so fabulously unabandoned and of course all the Dis details were a scream!

How amazing is the view at the end of the ride?!?! I felt like I could disappear in the Caribbean beauty when I gazed out over the water. I felt like we were so lucky to have had gorgeous days the 2 times I have ever been on Castaway Cay! You really take a gamble when you vacay during hurricane season, ya know?!

On the ride back Bella and I were way ahead of the guys. Annnnd had no plans of slowing down or stopping to wait. So there!

We decided to stop at the lookout tower figuring they may catch up. Wow oh wow whadda view! We walked up and took it all in. My batteries died in the cam so I didn't get any pics unfortunately, I'll have to see if Jen got any. We hadn't run into them yet this day but I'm sure they were loving it as much as we were. After about 15 minutes we ditched the idea of Pierre and Coops showing up so climbed down and headed back to the main road figuring we'd pass them somewhere along the line. The new bungalows along Serenity Bay look mega cool! Wouldn't mind shackin' up there one day I tell ya!

We got back to the rental spot and saw Pierre standing on the edge of the beach. First words outta his mouth?

“Did you see Cooper anywhere?”

Stomach drop, heart in throat, adrenaline abuzz? Check.

Back on bike, 100 miles per second, panic set in? Check.

Plotting husbands demise, noting to look through life insurance policy? Check.

 

[Cheryl726]

Nice pics of Castaway Cay, especially with a foot of snow outside my door!! I'm thinking of booking Castaway Rays for our July cruise, glad to hear you think it's worth it, and I didn't realize you swim with them too! It looks like it is far from the ship.

 

[edlarom]

i wish had more time on castaway cay

 

[pierresgirl]

BAM!!!!! Look at my counter! I just changed my dummy cruise baybees and managed to snag a 10A that is 30 sq. ft. larger than the other 10 A's Some other friends are coming with us this time, all our kids go to school together so we'll have a blast!

Nice pics of Castaway Cay, especially with a foot of snow outside my door!! I'm thinking of booking Castaway Rays for our July cruise, glad to hear you think it's worth it, and I didn't realize you swim with them too! It looks like it is far from the ship.

OMG we have a ton of snow too, New England.....howboutthemPats
The Ray swim was SOOOOO worth it, go for it!

i wish had more time on castaway cay

Me too! The next cruise is a Double Dip for me!

 

[DundasDad]

Subbing ... nice TR!