The Best Place on Earth
As Im sure youve figured out in my routine, I woke up early and ambled on over to the gym. On my way up I grabbed a coffee on deck and quickly took in the view before going down, it was still a bit on the dark side so I had some time before I could take pictures. When I got to the fitness center I jumped on an elliptical in the second row and one of the trainers asked if the view wasnt good enough for me. Um, not when the blinds are drawn, nutjob. He told me to get on a closer machine so I could have a front row seat and pressed a button. The blinds lifted and WOW! Just beautiful, I tell ya

nothing beats sweating your butt off staring out at the big, blue sea, tunes crankin on the Ipod

Jealous yet? You will be!
When I was done I wiped off the machine (you should always do this. I noticed a lot of people dont) and headed up to the deck. I wanted to be where the action was

and get some great pictures.There were a handful of other revelers up there staring off into the sea. How bout these shots?!
That second one is just so stunning. Stunning, Stunning (as Scot Haney would say. Our weatherman. Hes hysterical)
Castaway Cay is the land you see in the distance. I could feel myself getting choked up as I could see it coming in closer. Id been dreaming of this place for 18 months and I put off my cruise last year because of free dining. Its a good thing I did though, since I heard the day they went to CC the previous year was a total washout. We had some bright blue skies and a beautiful day ahead!

YAY!!!!
I thought this was a really pretty shot of the Mickey Head flag waving in the warm Caribbean breeze.
I had the biggest smile on my face as I headed down the stairs to jump on Pierre and the kids and get them going. I be a hungry girl and we had busy plans all day. Like relaxing. We gathered up the things we needed and headed over to BBB, they had the bomb breakfast the day before so I was looking forward to it again.. Let me tell ya, it did NOT disappoint. But then again, whipcream does that to me
. JO- did I ever tell you how much I love a proper cream tea??? HEAVEN!!! We were among some of the first people off, woohoo! Pierre and Bella were parasailing at 9 am. I was SO nervous for her but she was ecstatic. I mean, my knees were knocking against each other, thats how bad I was!!!! Then of course Pierre had to sign their lives away, not making me feel better
. I gave them both a hug and kiss and told them a thousand times to take pics with the disposable waterproof camera I had gotten for their experience. Cooper and I headed down to the beach after promising to keep an eye out for them.
Filet of Cooper anyone? Hes a delicious catch!
Of course THIS is a very famous boat, no intro needed! It was very cool to see it in real life.
Heaven, Im in Heaven
theres my little man under the Castaway Cay sign
We walked down to the beach area, stopping at the store first, of course. I decided on buying the sand set with the Castaway Cay logo on it rather than the other ones. If I was going to spend $17 or whatever outrageous price on it, it better be original and not something anyone can buy at the
Disney Store darnit. I also passed by the same Peep dressed in another equally embarrassing Speedo. Oh my goodness,

some people!
We found some fabu loungers on the Family Beach

and parked it. I just took it all in and my face nearly split in two from smiling. Of course Cooper was already in the water and begging my to go in with him so I did. It was slightly chilly but the sun was warm so it felt good, plus it was early so I knew it would heat up a bit more. There were a lot of tiny fish in the water so Cooper had a lot of fun chasing them and trying to catch them. Doesnt the water look gorgeous!
We played for a while then I wanted to have a walk over to the rental area where I told Pierre to meet me (I actually thought THAT was the Family Beach) I didnt know what time it was nor did I know how long they would be parasailing so we asked the staff but they had no idea. We wandered a bit but Cooper was desperate to get back in the water so we went back to the FB after I got these shots. Someone is parasailing in this pic but Ill never know if it was Bella and Pierre. Ill just assume it is!
Cooper had a blast playing with his new sand set.
I had a blast drinking my drink! Geez, that looks SO good!!!!!
We just relaxed but after nearly 2 hours I wanted to have another look for them. We hit the pavement and I spotted some wagons. Mr. Youknowwho made a beeline and jumped his bootie right in so I pulled him along. Whatever keeps him happy and quiet I guess! I decided to walk over to the pavillion and we saw Minnie Mouse

on the way! I didnt have my camera but we still stopped for a picture with her. Cooper just looks at the characters in total awe, so cute! After a hug we bid her farewell and went over to where I left Pierre and Bella and I finally saw them coming towards me. THEY ABSOLUTLEY ADORED IT

Both of them were on cloud 9 so I was thrilled for them, I swear I nearly felt like I took the ride, I was so excited to hear all about it! They were walking with a mom and her daughter who was a bit older than Bella. They were doing a mother/daughter trip and were from California. The woman was super friendly and chatty and even though we only spoke on the walk back I liked her!
I led the way back to the family beach and we plopped down. Both kids jumped right into the water and had a blast paddling and splashing around. What a paradise!
Of course when they got out they had to fight over the sand toys. Grrrrrrr. We decided to go for a walk along the beach towards the wooden structure in the water that you can jump off of. Someone saw a large crab in the water and picked it up to discover it was dead so the kids actually got close. They thought it was AWESOME! Pierre stayed in the shallow area with the Coopman while Bella and I swam out to the dock. We had a lot of fun jumping off and some other kids were trying to go across holding onto the ropes. That is WAY too hard for me! I have never been able to get a hang monkey bars. We swam back and Bella was getting tired, she had to hang onto me so that definetly wasnt easy! When we got to Pierre and Cooper we wanted to try out the paddleboats so we chatted about that for a few. Cooper was NOT into that, no ways,

uh uh, notachance! He wanted into the kids club PRONTO. Um, okay, dont have to twist my arm! We found out his age group was eating lunch so we dropped him off and he was very happy. Kisses goodbye and we were off to rent a boat!
My scanner isn't working right now but will post again soon, enjoy!!!!!!