It's A WONDERful 2015 - Feb Cruise, May WDW grand tour, and France/DLP! NEW 10/25 Nice & End!

[Imagineer5]

Cruise day 3 - Cozumel Day!

After a GREAT night's sleep for all of us, we checked Aria's temp and it was normal and she was back to full energy! Woohoo! Hardly any coughing too! What a good way to start the day. I started the tradition of an early morning Mocha from the Cove café (adults only coffee bar) and got a 5-drink punch card started. Once they are all punched in you get 1 free (these were about $3-4 per coffee drink, but the coffee is SO much better than what you can get in the restaurants, plus it was so nice to be directly upstairs from us).

Then we sat out on the Verandah and admired the sunrise.



Our Port Adventure didn't start until 9:30 and it was about 6:30 (this is sleeping in for me, compared to weekdays!) so we definitely had some time to kill. Andrew doesn't enjoy the waking up at the crack of dawn thing so he slumbered in bed while Aria and I got ready for the day, then we finally got him up.

After our so-so breakfast at BBB the previous morning we decided to head to Parrot Cay for breakfast today. We were seated right away and we got Aria's plate of fruit, pancakes with whipped cream and bacon and sat down - a server came right over and offered to cut up her pancakes!



I love that! lol

My first plate. A pile of McDonald's style hash browns, cottage cheese probably just to gross out Andrew (he hates the stuff) and some cheese cubes. Guess my sweet tooth hadn't hit yet



No idea what Andrew had but we all enjoyed the breakfast. We still had about an hour to kill (see, this is why I originally was booked for the 7:45 tour! But apparently no one else shared in my love to be up early as the attendance was too low to host that one). So we headed up to Deck 10 and walked around.



I have no idea why Andrew took his shoes off.






It was bright out!



We were excited to check out the island so soon headed downstairs to find our port adventure group. I was surprised to see them selling lanyards of water bottles outside the door. Soon we were checked in and took seats.



Here is what we were doing today: Cozumel Highlights, Ruins and Discover Mexico Cultural Park. From the Disney Cruise line site:

On this tour you will:

• 
  
• Board an air-conditioned, motor coach and embark on a 30-minute drive inland to your first stop, the recently excavated ruins of San Gervasio.
• Once there, embark on an approximate 60-minute, guided tour of the pre-Columbian Mayan site, where exterior columns and stone walls mingle with short ceilings and mysterious red-colored hand prints. Snap a picture of the century-old structures — such as the Chi Chan Nah, El Arco, and Nohoch Nah — and learn about the early civilization that once called this awe-inspiring place home.
• Discover Ixchel, the goddess of fertility and good health, and find out why ancient Mayan women traveled hundreds of miles to San Gervasio to pay homage to her.
• Next, take the approximate 30-minute drive to the park, Discover Mexico. Celebrating the history of Mexico from the pre-Hispanic age to modern times, Discover Mexico is a cultural park brimming with eye-opening exhibits in sight and sound for the entire family.
• Upon arrival, you will be given access to the many facilities — and then enjoy your 90-minute visit as you so desire. Wander the beautiful landscaped grounds, and snap a picture of the many "miniature" archeological sites and colonial buildings.
• Stroll through the art museum and view age-old artifacts and award-winning handmade items from Mexico's finest artisans.
• Enjoy authentic Mexican cooking at the Mercadito Corona during a private fiesta complete with food, games, piñatas, and other surprises, and then shop for gifts at the souvenir boutique featuring arts and crafts both big and small.
• Take a short 15 minute drive to The Mayan Cacao Company, where you'll learn about the history of chocolate. See the manufacturing process, cacao plants in all stages, participate in a chocolate demonstration and enjoy a sample of this delicious beverage.
• Drive approximately 15 minutes back to the pier.

Now I put a little Disney Weenie out for you all at the beginning of the TR - I attributed this baby to today's adventures! Notice anything in the description above?!

- Discover Ixchel, the goddess of fertility and good health, and find out why ancient Mayan women traveled hundreds of miles to San Gervasio to pay homage to her.

Yep, we didn't realize it at the time but we were on our way to see Ixchel, the goddess of fertility and good health!

Pretty soon, after we were told about 10,000 times to be sure we have no fruit/produce in our bags for border control, we were leaving the ship! We trailed down to Deck 2 I think? and quickly were on Mexico land! So cool. Neither of us had been to Mexico so it was fun to do something totally new (this whole cruise was new to us, from Miami to cruising to the Keys!).



Aria was excited! No strollers were allowed on the tour, BTW, which made things later on a bit more difficult (nap time) but we managed just fine.



It was about a 5 minute walk up the pier (it was long!) to the customs area where they checked bags. It gave us a really nice view of the ship though!



There was a bit of a line to get through customs but it wasn't too bad.





It was amazing how many people had bananas, apples, etc in their bags which WERE confiscated (there were dogs sniffing bags) - even from our group. People it isn't that difficult to listen! But soon we were through and walked as a group towards the bus. On the way there we passed the very touristy shopping area with all the hawkers trying to sell their wares - it was a little intimidating and a bit skeevy but we were all walking together as a group and finally arrived at our bus.

Coming up - we meet our awesome tour guide and get out and see the island!

 

[Imagineer5]

So I know I have a few Star Wars fans reading this @Dugette @TheMaxRebo

In light of the recent news, while we knew it was coming I feel like it is finally time to watch the movies. I think I've seen the first one or two (the originals).

Watching with Andrew & Aria, how would you guys START watching? Are there what, 8 movies now? Or more? I know there were maybe 3 original then they made 3 that happened before that timeframe, so I just have no idea where to start but feel like it is my Disney duty to finally give them a chance. So any tips would be much appreciated!

 

[Dugette]

So I know I have a few Star Wars fans reading this @Dugette @TheMaxRebo

In light of the recent news, while we knew it was coming I feel like it is finally time to watch the movies. I think I've seen the first one or two (the originals).

Watching with Andrew & Aria, how would you guys START watching? Are there what, 8 movies now? Or more? I know there were maybe 3 original then they made 3 that happened before that timeframe, so I just have no idea where to start but feel like it is my Disney duty to finally give them a chance. So any tips would be much appreciated!

Dug just watched the first two with Izzy over the last week or so. She loved them! I will tell him to come on here and respond to this, since he's the one who knows the stuff. I believe they watched A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

So I know I have a few Star Wars fans reading this @Dugette @TheMaxRebo

In light of the recent news, while we knew it was coming I feel like it is finally time to watch the movies. I think I've seen the first one or two (the originals).

Watching with Andrew & Aria, how would you guys START watching? Are there what, 8 movies now? Or more? I know there were maybe 3 original then they made 3 that happened before that timeframe, so I just have no idea where to start but feel like it is my Disney duty to finally give them a chance. So any tips would be much appreciated!

Well, as Sheldon from the Big Bang would say, watch them in the order they were made as he "prefers to let George Lucas disappoint me in the order he intended."

There are 6 main movies (plus the Star Wars Holiday special which is basically lost to history it was so bad) plus all the cartoons (the old Ewok ones, but then the Clone Wars and now all the new Disney XD Star Wars Rebels - which are actually really cool).

If you are worried she might be scared I might actually start with an episode or two of Star Wars rebels, as it is more kid friendly, to introduce the world, setting, etc. As for the movies, I think I would start with Episode IV - VI and then 1-III. Episode IV is kinda the most self contained (can stand on its own the most) so is probably the easiest to digest

Granted my kids are scardy cats and want nothing to do with any of this

 

[TheMaxRebo]

So I know I have a few Star Wars fans reading this @Dugette @TheMaxRebo

In light of the recent news, while we knew it was coming I feel like it is finally time to watch the movies. I think I've seen the first one or two (the originals).

Watching with Andrew & Aria, how would you guys START watching? Are there what, 8 movies now? Or more? I know there were maybe 3 original then they made 3 that happened before that timeframe, so I just have no idea where to start but feel like it is my Disney duty to finally give them a chance. So any tips would be much appreciated!

Wait was there some news that came out

Oh wait, that is what we spent most of the weekend doing - pouring over the news as it came out over twitter and then watching together all the live DISunplugged broadcasts where they gave the highlights and also uploaded some videos of performances, etc. .... totally made me want to go to the next D23

BTW - small part of the announcement but the idea of a Hyperspace Mountain overlay seems really cool to me!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

So glad that Aria woke up feeling better and that you all got a great nights sleep ... maybe that was Ixchel being proactive as besides fertility is said she is the god of good health as well

Looks like a really lovely day out too ... perfect weather for getting fruit confiscated. Seriously, how hard is it to not bring fruit? Like if they found a granola bar that had fruit in it and had to take that or something, ok, I get wanting to have some sustenance to carry with you (not even sure if they would take that, but just the idea of something not as obvious) but for them to say it 10,000 and then still taking a banana or whatever

Sounds like a really cool tour - I love ones like that which give you a little bit of everything - some ruins, some museum and gift shop type area, and some food / spirits / local production tour ... and some food to boot!

That's cool that you got to do so many new things as part of this cruise! We've only done the west side of Mexico (nuevo vallarta area) so interested to seeing more of the Cozumel area!

 

[Imagineer5]

Dug just watched the first two with Izzy over the last week or so. She loved them! I will tell him to come on here and respond to this, since he's the one who knows the stuff. I believe they watched A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.

Ok, thank you!! While I do get sucked into these sorts of things, SW just NEVER did it for me, but I feel like I really need to give it all a try. I'm more excited about Avatarland at AK and that was only 1 movie

Well, as Sheldon from the Big Bang would say, watch them in the order they were made as he "prefers to let George Lucas disappoint me in the order he intended."

There are 6 main movies (plus the Star Wars Holiday special which is basically lost to history it was so bad) plus all the cartoons (the old Ewok ones, but then the Clone Wars and now all the new Disney XD Star Wars Rebels - which are actually really cool).

If you are worried she might be scared I might actually start with an episode or two of Star Wars rebels, as it is more kid friendly, to introduce the world, setting, etc. As for the movies, I think I would start with Episode IV - VI and then 1-III. Episode IV is kinda the most self contained (can stand on its own the most) so is probably the easiest to digest

Granted my kids are scardy cats and want nothing to do with any of this

So I guess I shouldn't follow Sheldon's advice?? TY for the input! Now I need to figure out how to get my hands on 6 movies plus these cartoons. I've only seen the cartoons in passing and they seemed dark to ME, so we'll see how Aria does with them. But then she'll watch HP like it's nothing (we "accidentally* watched Deathly Hallows part 1 & 2 not long ago and she loved it, we also watched Jurassic World and the original Jurassic Park and she loved them, though did wake up the next morning complaining of dinosaurs eating her...).

Wait was there some news that came out

Oh wait, that is what we spent most of the weekend doing - pouring over the news as it came out over twitter and then watching together all the live DISunplugged broadcasts where they gave the highlights and also uploaded some videos of performances, etc. .... totally made me want to go to the next D23

BTW - small part of the announcement but the idea of a Hyperspace Mountain overlay seems really cool to me!

hahaha I was also very excited to find out that most likely the JC restaurant is opening in November, or at least by our trip (I already found lunch/dinner slots and will decide which one to do once we see menus). Plus Toy Story land and some more info on the new happenings at AK - though surprised to read about only 1 ride in the Avatarland area?

D23 would be AMAZING to attend, seriously. I'd love to do it someday. I'm not a member though it's been on my "wish list" for ages. Maybe next year I'll become a member and try to attend some things...or the year after once the baby is over 1...

So glad that Aria woke up feeling better and that you all got a great nights sleep ... maybe that was Ixchel being proactive as besides fertility is said she is the god of good health as well

Looks like a really lovely day out too ... perfect weather for getting fruit confiscated. Seriously, how hard is it to not bring fruit? Like if they found a granola bar that had fruit in it and had to take that or something, ok, I get wanting to have some sustenance to carry with you (not even sure if they would take that, but just the idea of something not as obvious) but for them to say it 10,000 and then still taking a banana or whatever

Sounds like a really cool tour - I love ones like that which give you a little bit of everything - some ruins, some museum and gift shop type area, and some food / spirits / local production tour ... and some food to boot!

That's cool that you got to do so many new things as part of this cruise! We've only done the west side of Mexico (nuevo vallarta area) so interested to seeing more of the Cozumel area!

Ixchel must really be amazing! She did wonders for us! haha

LOL I know! It was def slowing down the line, too. Granted I did see a few bananas consumed in the ship when they said not to bring fruit, but I couldn't believe how many people were being stopped for the offense.

I love that sort of tour too - they seem to have a number of options now to visit these ruins and then see some other things (one includes time at the beach, too, which Andrew would have enjoyed) but I really loved how much we were able to see. I'm glad we did it through Disney, too, as it was just so easy.

Yes the whole trip was just new and fun - in fact this whole year is like that with France too! I have SO many places I'd love to re-visit but then so many I want to check out, it is hard to make a balance.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

So I guess I shouldn't follow Sheldon's advice??

... well, Sheldon was specifically referring to the first 3 movies that most geeks/star war fans don't really like. So if you watch 4-6 and then 1-3 that is kinda the order George Lucas wanted. I actually like part III and feel like if you took the 3 movies you could make 2 really good movies out of it. Just too much time gets taken up with the debates in the senate and the love story (though, part of that is the acting is pretty poor)

hahaha I was also very excited to find out that most likely the JC restaurant is opening in November, or at least by our trip (I already found lunch/dinner slots and will decide which one to do once we see menus). Plus Toy Story land and some more info on the new happenings at AK - though surprised to read about only 1 ride in the Avatarland area?

That restaurant looks awesome! Love that at least part of it seems like it will have nods to the Adventurers' Club (at least the "hidden" meeting room).

From what I saw there will be 2 rides in Pandora: World of Avatar (seems like they are really stressing that Avatar is the subtitle and the experience is visiting that world, not experiencing the movie in ride form). The big ride is the Banshee ride which is supposed to be like a next-gen Soarin and then there is a boat ride, which not a lot of details are out but from what I gather will be slow moving way to experience the area via boat (so kinda along the lines of Living with the Land). Plus, I think just exploring the land itself will be an "attraction" - especially as it changes over to night. Not sure if you follow Missyrose here but she was at D23 and said she had a chance to chat with Joe Rohde and he indicated that people who enjoy strolling and taking in the "Disney Details" will love this land)

D23 would be AMAZING to attend, seriously. I'd love to do it someday. I'm not a member though it's been on my "wish list" for ages. Maybe next year I'll become a member and try to attend some things...or the year after once the baby is over 1...

I think the full D23s are only every 2 years and I think the basic level membership is free or rather cheap. Definitely would love to go to one some year - just watching the videos and seeing all the performances ... I mean, even just the part with a full orchestra doing the silly simphonies, etc. would be amazing to see live

 

[Imagineer5]

Random but I mentioned to Andrew that I wanted to watch the Star Wars movies and maybe he could watch Amazon for a boxed set. He looked at me like I had three heads and proceeded to tell me I bought all the movies a few years ago! I didn't believe him so he went to the basement and found them - all new in their packages! Hahaha.

 

[Dug]

I was super pleased with how Izzy responded to the movies. I think it helped that she was familiar with the characters from toys, story books and Star Wars Weekends. So for her it was fun seeing the characters she already knew on screen. She particularly liked Princess Leia and Darth Vader, who she thinks is funny.

The fights didn't bother her, maybe because she doesn't fully process that yet. She didn't even react much when Luke comes back to his home after meeting Ben, which is pretty grisly. She and I have been doing light saber fights for a long time so she thought those were cool. And now she wants to fly a spaceship! (Which she will be able to do once Star Wars Land is built!)

We have some Darth Vader and his son, Darth Vader and his princess story books about what it would be like if Luke and Leia grew up with dad. So Empire Strikes Back's big reveal was not a surprise to her.

One suggested watching order is the "Machete Order": New Hope, Empire, then "flashing back" to the prequels before watching Return of the Jedi. Some particularly snooty fans drop the Phantom Menace and just watch Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. I showed Izzy a trailer for Phantom Menace and she thought it looked cool: I'll bet she will like it.

So we might watch all the prequels next and then finish with Jedi. I have mixed feelings as that could be confusing and she likes Ewoks. But only have one chance at first viewings so I thought Machete might be fun.

I talked with Izzy during the movies about what was happening, cuddled with her and we took some breaks. I first watched Return of the Jedi at 5 when it came out. One of the first movies I saw in the theater. But I saw ET when I was 3. So it's possible I might take Izzy to Force Awakens after I vet it first. We'll see. Have fun!

 

[Dugette]

Speaking of which, my 1-hour glucose test is Thursday. I BETTER PASS otherwise I will seriously cry. My eating habits have really gone downhill (hello chocolate muffin) but I still feel fine and didn't have GD with Aria so hopefully it'll be ok. (Plus I had this insane sweet tooth with her too).

Good luck with the test! I was at higher risk (mom has Type 2 diabetes and two grandparents did as well), so they had me do the 1-hour test at two different points in my pregnancy with Izzy. I passed both (with a good margin) and never had to do the 3-hour, despite the fact that they told me very few people pass the one-hour test, especially late in the afternoon, which is when I took the second one. I did follow some advice I'd read about eating low-carb/high protein the day of the test, though. I think I was snacking on nuts and cheese all day or something. But I guess it worked.

it was about 6:30 (this is sleeping in for me, compared to weekdays!)

Actually, I do know what you mean, though. I usually get up around 6:30am these days, but it was much earlier back when I still had to leave the house by 5:45-6am. Cool that you got to see the sunrise from your verandah!

Yep, we didn't realize it at the time but we were on our way to see Ixchel, the goddess of fertility and good health!

That is awesome! I love it.

Can't wait to hear more about your excursion and tours. This sounds really fun!

 

[Imagineer5]

... well, Sheldon was specifically referring to the first 3 movies that most geeks/star war fans don't really like. So if you watch 4-6 and then 1-3 that is kinda the order George Lucas wanted. I actually like part III and feel like if you took the 3 movies you could make 2 really good movies out of it. Just too much time gets taken up with the debates in the senate and the love story (though, part of that is the acting is pretty poor)



That restaurant looks awesome! Love that at least part of it seems like it will have nods to the Adventurers' Club (at least the "hidden" meeting room).

From what I saw there will be 2 rides in Pandora: World of Avatar (seems like they are really stressing that Avatar is the subtitle and the experience is visiting that world, not experiencing the movie in ride form). The big ride is the Banshee ride which is supposed to be like a next-gen Soarin and then there is a boat ride, which not a lot of details are out but from what I gather will be slow moving way to experience the area via boat (so kinda along the lines of Living with the Land). Plus, I think just exploring the land itself will be an "attraction" - especially as it changes over to night. Not sure if you follow Missyrose here but she was at D23 and said she had a chance to chat with Joe Rohde and he indicated that people who enjoy strolling and taking in the "Disney Details" will love this land)



I think the full D23s are only every 2 years and I think the basic level membership is free or rather cheap. Definitely would love to go to one some year - just watching the videos and seeing all the performances ... I mean, even just the part with a full orchestra doing the silly simphonies, etc. would be amazing to see live

I guess I was doing a poor job of skimming the news while we were out on the boat, I thought it was just 1 ride, and totally missed the boat ride! ha! I love the idea of walking through the area, but AK itself is a very walking park and could use more attractions to make it a full-day park so that is why I was disappointed. It sounds like I might change up my usual 9am-12pm AK visit and instead do something after lunch (at Sanaa, of course!) and stay through park closing instead, once the Rivers of Light starts up.

I was super pleased with how Izzy responded to the movies. I think it helped that she was familiar with the characters from toys, story books and Star Wars Weekends. So for her it was fun seeing the characters she already knew on screen. She particularly liked Princess Leia and Darth Vader, who she thinks is funny.

The fights didn't bother her, maybe because she doesn't fully process that yet. She didn't even react much when Luke comes back to his home after meeting Ben, which is pretty grisly. She and I have been doing light saber fights for a long time so she thought those were cool. And now she wants to fly a spaceship! (Which she will be able to do once Star Wars Land is built!)

We have some Darth Vader and his son, Darth Vader and his princess story books about what it would be like if Luke and Leia grew up with dad. So Empire Strikes Back's big reveal was not a surprise to her.

One suggested watching order is the "Machete Order": New Hope, Empire, then "flashing back" to the prequels before watching Return of the Jedi. Some particularly snooty fans drop the Phantom Menace and just watch Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. I showed Izzy a trailer for Phantom Menace and she thought it looked cool: I'll bet she will like it.

So we might watch all the prequels next and then finish with Jedi. I have mixed feelings as that could be confusing and she likes Ewoks. But only have one chance at first viewings so I thought Machete might be fun.

I talked with Izzy during the movies about what was happening, cuddled with her and we took some breaks. I first watched Return of the Jedi at 5 when it came out. One of the first movies I saw in the theater. But I saw ET when I was 3. So it's possible I might take Izzy to Force Awakens after I vet it first. We'll see. Have fun!

Thank you for the info! Glad izzy did well, she is definitely well versed in the characters (much like how I am teaching Aria all about harry potter, ha) - Aria doesn't know any of the star wars characters, nor do we, so it should be interesting learning about a whole new world. I'll look into some kids books too, that is a good idea!

Good luck with the test! I was at higher risk (mom has Type 2 diabetes and two grandparents did as well), so they had me do the 1-hour test at two different points in my pregnancy with Izzy. I passed both (with a good margin) and never had to do the 3-hour, despite the fact that they told me very few people pass the one-hour test, especially late in the afternoon, which is when I took the second one. I did follow some advice I'd read about eating low-carb/high protein the day of the test, though. I think I was snacking on nuts and cheese all day or something. But I guess it worked.


Actually, I do know what you mean, though. I usually get up around 6:30am these days, but it was much earlier back when I still had to leave the house by 5:45-6am. Cool that you got to see the sunrise from your verandah!


That is awesome! I love it.

Can't wait to hear more about your excursion and tours. This sounds really fun!

Hmm low carb/ high protein is def not in my vocab (as I'm eating strawberry oatmeal, already had a choc. muffin which has become a daily staple). I'm really not too worried about it though, thankfully no diabetes that I know of in my family. Sorry you had to do it twice, ew!

 

[Imagineer5]

I left off when we just got on the bus to start our Port Adventure! I meant to comment on the many, many options available to do in Cozumel though. For the most part, people I talked with before the cruise were mainly planning beach days all over the island, or dolphin encounters (our tablemates were doing this with Riley). There was also the Tulum ruins, much larger Mayan ruins on the mainland which requires 2 hours travel time each way, including a ferry that apparently is known for inciting sea-sickness. I like cultural sights, and since we were already doing a beach day at Castaway Key felt that another beach day was redundant, so was excited to do something cultural. This tour seemed to be the best option for us!

Anyway back to the tour. I am awful with names, so I don't remember our tour guide's name, but he was born & raised in Cozumel and was really great.



On our short drive to the center of Cozumel to the ruins, we saw a few areas of the towns. He told us there were no homeless on the island and everyone works, everyone is basically given a home based on their job/family income, and it is overall a very happy living environment. Some sights from the bus:



On the bus we were given our tickets for the Mayan site visit



This looks like an accidental pic, but actually it shows the original pipes to bring water from the higher "elevation" in the center of the island to the outlining towns.



Soon we arrived at the site. It wasn't very busy and we made quick bathroom stops before heading inside - just outside the gates there were a number of small shops with the usual hawking and yelling to get people to shop there - I hate that! I know it's just the culture but man I just can't stand it.

Happy girl!



I'm going to be a terrible guide, because I don't honestly remember most of what we saw, except for the big take away: This was the ONE Mayan site that did not do sacrifices, and it was a place that Mayans tried to visit once in their lifetimes, before getting married or having children. They brought gifts to Ixchel in hopes she will bestow them a happy, long, fertile life.

Our tour guide was really great at explaining everything and the group size was very good as well.







This arch was the main entrance to the temple, and straddles the religious route.



And I took lots of photos of Aria, of course












At this point we started seeing snakes and lizards around, so reigned Aria in a bit!



This was the home of the mayan Cozumel ruler (around 1000-1200 ad)



A nice family photo!





Kids stopped paying attention, thought this pic was funny.





After the tour we had some time to continue walking through the ruins or to do a little shopping. I saw a margarita stand but they were cash only and somehow we had zero cash, so we passed on that. Instead we found a small sundial Mayan ornament that was pretty. I was pulled into a shop full of girl's dresses but again, hate that hawker attitude so quickly left. We ended up at another shop with a nice older lady just minding her own business behind the desk, and ended up buying an aqua dress for Aria and some Mayan vanilla too, then headed back to the bus.

Coming up - Mexican lunch / Aria's first piñata! / and a chocolate tour!

 

[cindianne320]

My favorite Star Wars movie is the Ewok movie with Cindle... Battle for Endor and Caravan of Courage...
I also just ordered the new Little Golden Books based on Star Wars.

Awesome that you got to see the Fertility statue! Good luck with the GD test. I had GD with DD (#2), had to do the three hour with DS1, and passed the 1 hour with DS (#3).

My DD (Acacia) was watching as I was viewing your update and declared Aria was "her Aria". I know she, Izzy and Aria would have a blast together!

 

[schmass]

Getting caught up here! I thought I commented on your posts from a few days ago, but apparently it didn't go through...

The Disney Jr. dance party looks like so much fun for little kids. Can't wait to have Rory check it out next time!

It looks like you had a great sea day - fun and relaxing!

Your France plans continue to look great - what a cool little house you are staying in.

I LOVE Aria's red outfit on your Cozumel day - so cute!

Good luck with your glucose test. When I took it with Rory I had been eating so many sweets and still passed with flying colors. I bet since you passed it the first time you will be fine!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I hear you about the hawkers ... I get they are trying to make a living, but sometimes they go to far. As long as they take the first "no, not interested" and leave us along, ok, no big deal. But when they get aggressive and start touching you that I think it goes too far.

I remember when we were in Nueva Vallarta that they would be on canoes and rafts out in the ocean and come up to you while you were swimming trying to sell you stuff.

Ruins look pretty cool - and obviously for an effective god!

good luck with the Glucose Test!

 

[Imagineer5]

My favorite Star Wars movie is the Ewok movie with Cindle... Battle for Endor and Caravan of Courage...
I also just ordered the new Little Golden Books based on Star Wars.

Awesome that you got to see the Fertility statue! Good luck with the GD test. I had GD with DD (#2), had to do the three hour with DS1, and passed the 1 hour with DS (#3).

My DD (Acacia) was watching as I was viewing your update and declared Aria was "her Aria". I know she, Izzy and Aria would have a blast together!

Interesting you had such different experiences with all three of your pregnancies!

That is sweet! Acacia is a beautiful name! Yes they sure would, Aria really loves having friends at Disney.

Getting caught up here! I thought I commented on your posts from a few days ago, but apparently it didn't go through...

The Disney Jr. dance party looks like so much fun for little kids. Can't wait to have Rory check it out next time!

It looks like you had a great sea day - fun and relaxing!

Your France plans continue to look great - what a cool little house you are staying in.

I LOVE Aria's red outfit on your Cozumel day - so cute!

Good luck with your glucose test. When I took it with Rory I had been eating so many sweets and still passed with flying colors. I bet since you passed it the first time you will be fine!

It was really cute! I love all the dance parties they have on board.

I love that outfit too, it is one I actually haven't sold yet although it does still fit well.

Glad to hear you passed your test even after all the sweets! I'm really not too worried, but who knows what could happen!

I hear you about the hawkers ... I get they are trying to make a living, but sometimes they go to far. As long as they take the first "no, not interested" and leave us along, ok, no big deal. But when they get aggressive and start touching you that I think it goes too far.

I remember when we were in Nueva Vallarta that they would be on canoes and rafts out in the ocean and come up to you while you were swimming trying to sell you stuff.

Ruins look pretty cool - and obviously for an effective god!

good luck with the Glucose Test!

Yeah, I think it's just in the culture down there too. It's really annoying - and if you show a spark of interest they catch on that and swarm! Andrew is the worst - he gets roped into everything. That is absolutely CRAZY about the people trying to sell you stuff in the water!! That sounds horrible. I did read that on the Cozumel beaches they also have them coming up to you in your chairs, haven't heard that they actually go in the water haha.

I'm not really a believer in that sort of thing, but man it was quite the coincidence to visit the Mayan goddess of fertility and get pregnant the next month after nearly 2 years of trying!

 

[Dugette]

My DD (Acacia) was watching as I was viewing your update and declared Aria was "her Aria". I know she, Izzy and Aria would have a blast together!

Izzy just said, "I have a friend!" the other day and I figured out that she was talking about Aria. (And I'm sure she'd get along with Acacia too - they could bond over talk of Disney Junior or something).

I'm not really a believer in that sort of thing, but man it was quite the coincidence to visit the Mayan goddess of fertility and get pregnant the next month after nearly 2 years of trying!

Um, maybe you should name her Maya?

 

[Imagineer5]

Changing gears again! 2 weeks and a day and we are flying out to France, can't get over how time is flying!! The next few France updates will be a bit shorter as the majority of our trip has already gone by (we are 11 nights in on an 18 night trip, 12/19 if you count the flight night but I don't really count that!). But we still have three more stops ahead so now I'll talk about the next two nights in Beaune!

Tuesday 9/15 we are driving to Beaune. This is a 4 hour drive but we are again splitting it up just about halfway - this time our mid point destination is the Chateau of Guedelon. Unlike the other Chateau's we've seen, this one is actually a reproduction in the making. It is more like a visit to learn HOW they built these Chateau 800 years ago. Basically it is a group of quarrymen, stonemasons, carpenters, woodcutters, blacksmiths, etc and they are building a 13th century castle from scratch.

We'll get to visit the castle being built, the village with homes, stables and animals like they would have had, and a forest and mill. It is set up as a working construction site.

After our tour of the site, we'll continue on, Aria will nap (she is getting lots of car naps haha, good use of time plus we don't need lots of car toys )

By 3:30 we should arrive in Beaune. I'm getting a bit frustrated as the home owner of the apartment we are renting hasn't gotten back to me with specific check in instructions - I know it's almost a month away but I did tell her after Sep 3rd I will have very limited / zero internet for the most part. Anyway, the apartment was the most central we could find so we will be able to park the car for the next couple of days and walk.









There are two bedrooms so that will be nice for some extra space. Once we get all settled (assuming we actually get in, ha) we'll go explore the town. We have reservations at Maison du Colombier, which is a French tapas-style place and has a cool vibe it seems so I'm excited for that.

Now, Beaune is in Burgundy, France. My original intention of coming here was to do many wine tastings, which there are a ton of wineries in the countryside along with many tasting rooms in the town. Now of course we may visit one, if that, we'll see. The main "attraction" in Beaune though is actually an old hospital - Hotel Dieu - which was founded in 1443 as a hospital for the poor.

My goal for day 1 in Beaune is to visit this and have our nice dinner - but if we miss Hotel Dieu tonight we'll visit tomorrow!


Wednesday September 16th -

As I mentioned earlier, we were originally coming to the area for wine. I found an all-day bike tour which takes you to a number of wineries and you have a nice lunch with wine pairings. I don't feel comfortable riding a bike through the countryside being a bit off-center these days plus the reward at the end would be grape juice which doesn't sound nearly as appealing as a wine tasting, so I started looking for some alternatives for today. In my search, I found Claire de Truffles.



Claire will be coming to our apartment at 10:30AM and we are going to have a lesson in French Truffles, then have a cooking class and prepare a 5 course lunch with truffles in each dish! She is also planning on bringing some truffle infused cheeses (safe for pregnancy, she will check on) and each course has a wine pairing but she said she'd leave a spare bottle for us to bring home with us.

Here is her description from our emails:

All my workshops include :
• a video presentation for an initiation to the truffle and truffle growing realm, and to the truffle species marketed in France.
• the discovery of the different marketed Truffle-based products (fresh, frozen, in alcohol, canned, flavored oil, natural flavors, synthetic flavors), with products in demonstration
• the keys for you to be able to buy the best Truffles and to conserve them until their processing allowing les clés permettant de bien acheter les Truffes et les conserver jusqu'à la préparation
• tasting of the different fresh truffle species (varying according to season)
• tasting of the different truffle butters (varying according to season, but at least 3 different truffle butters)
• an illustrated flyer with all the necessary explanations regarding Truffles and the recipes of the dishes you have tasted or prepared.
Then cooking and lunch ……….

This workshop include the preparation by your own of 5 different dishes, the lunch will then be completed by a Truffled Cheese and a Truffled Dessert (prepared by myself beforehand), and will be concluded by the special alcohol RataTruffe from Burgundy.



Since this is a private event, Aria will be able to participate OR go and watch the ipad or whatever, and at nap time she can just go in the bedroom, so it should be pretty relaxing. She has been very into helping cook, so I think she will love that part!

After lunch, our late afternoon and evening are free - we will most likely not be hungry but plan to walk around the town and possibly visit Hotel Dieu if we skipped it the night before.

And that concludes our time in Beaune! On our way into and out of the town we may stop at some nearby small hill towns, but it will be nice just to be in the car and see the beautiful sights as we drive.

Coming up, we head to Provence!
And of course the workshop will be combined with a tasting session of local wines specially selected for highlighting this Truffled event.

 

[Imagineer5]

Izzy just said, "I have a friend!" the other day and I figured out that she was talking about Aria. (And I'm sure she'd get along with Acacia too - they could bond over talk of Disney Junior or something).


Um, maybe you should name her Maya?

Aria talks about Izzy too, I think it is so cute that they remember each other. LMK your thoughts on any 2016 trips (are you planning to renew your AP?). Right now I am tentatively planning the April/May trip (actually I just booked a ressie at Shades of Green yesterday, as I saw the rooms were already filling up!). My AP expires May 8th so the goal was to go before then - but Aria will have an AP starting Jan 30th so I'm sure I'd be up for going again, too.

I actually really like the name Maya - Andrew has a HS friend named that though that we still see on occasion, so that sort of ruins it IMO. Cute idea though, it is a different spelling (hers is Maja but sounds the same).