The McSparklesons Sail the Magic... AGAIN! $500 Potato Chips! 3/13

[karajeboo]

AND she had grilled cheese for lunch????



This does not bode well for future generations at ALL.....

Are we sure they're not somehow already related????

Doesn't matter.... I'm from South Carolina, we love to marry our own kin!

 

[karajeboo]

That looks awesome! I love the pic where the starfish are "accessorizing" your swimsuit!

Did you find any 6 pointed ones? DH and I did the jetski excursion at CC and when we were over by the little tiny island off CC we found a giant 6 pointed one. It was one of the most special parts of our trip!

The only thing missing from Margaritaville is a giant plate of volcano nachos! Those are the best!

Have a great trip out west! Will you do a mini TR when you get back? (please say yes!)

I will do a mini TR.... Jeff and I have an over/under bet on number of photos I'll take in 5 days..... It's at 1200, and I'm saying over....

I believe it skips a generation.. cuz my parents are real wimps.. and so are my kids.. but me.. ill do anything once.. twice if he's cute LMAO

Have fun on the West Coast.. wish we had time to meet up if it were closer darn it!

One day I'll accompany Jeff on a trip to LA or San Diego, are those closer to you????

Loving your TR...we'll be on our first Disney Cruise on the Fantasy exactly 6 months from today! Can't wait! Keep it coming...

So jealous!!!! My next cruise is March and my next DCL is May and my next 7 night DCL is December of 2013!!!!

OMG- Timmy did the EXACT same thing!!! FREAKED out and Pods carried him back to the boat- feet wrapped around Pods' waist in a death grip!!

Crap- does this mean the Grandkids are gonna be wimpy too?????

I was so afraid my bathing suit top was going to fall off and scare off Captain Cutie!!!!

Girl, I think you have enough planned to use up your entire time there! Make sure you make plenty of time for eating - there is a lot of good food in SF!

Oh, I plan to eat.... a LOT!

Just caught up on your trip report and it is incredible. Your excursion seemed awesome and captain jordan was dreamy!

Thank you! And yes, yes he was......

That does look like the perfect day! I think it would be hard to leave - you would just want to sit on that starfish beach forever. It does kind of remind me of a pirate scene.

It was awesome!!! Starfish Beach I wouldn't do again, now that I've done it. But it was cool to see so many of them in one place in the wild.

I'd stay on that beach forever too but only if the captain was there too.

Drea can't wait to hang out with you in May

I think I'd stay there with or without him!!!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I have to say I would be sitting in the boat wih Timmy & Ally! No touching sea creatures for me!

 

[anewmac]

I will do a mini TR.... Jeff and I have an over/under bet on number of photos I'll take in 5 days..... It's at 1200, and I'm saying over....
I would bet on it you will . Oh if you have time for breakfast try The Buena Vista Cafe, best Irish Coffee's in the WORLD.. Ill be honest theres lots of Irish Whiskey with a splash of coffee.. either way PERKS ya right up LOL

One day I'll accompany Jeff on a trip to LA or San Diego, are those closer to you????
Yes, La is my hometown (dont hold it against me LOL) and SD E and I moved to when we got hitched so I really consider that where i grew up LMAO both are just under 2hours from me (thats counting at traffic hour)

So jealous!!!! My next cruise is March and my next DCL is May and my next 7 night DCL is December of 2013!!!!

there you go rubbing it in lol (its ok I would too)

 

[saintstickets]

Coming out of lurkdomville here to comment...

I'm with MAGICFOR2 here....I thought you were modeling for a new swimsuit idea!

As much as I joked about how cute he was, he was a FANTASTIC captain!!!! I always felt safe with him, I totally relaxed, he was laid back, fun, easy to talk to, and that is why we booked him again next year. I cannot recommend this operation enough!!!!

Hmmmmmm...I'm going to go back into lurkdomville without comment on this one!
(Oops, I guess that was a comment, wasn't it?!)

 

[karajeboo]

I have to say I would be sitting in the boat wih Timmy & Ally! No touching sea creatures for me!

there you go rubbing it in lol (its ok I would too)

Oh Mother of Wicket, ya wimp!

Coming out of lurkdomville here to comment...

I'm with MAGICFOR2 here....I thought you were modeling for a new swimsuit idea!

Hmmmmmm...I'm going to go back into lurkdomville without comment on this one!
(Oops, I guess that was a comment, wasn't it?!)

Well, if you must know, Jordan said he makes ALL women pose with starfish like this..... That silly Jordan!

As for my NorCal tour, I came in at just under 900 photos.... So disappointed in myself! But really, we packed so much into 5 days that I was too tired to take any more shots. I'll post some later.

And Drea, I fell in LOVE with Cali, not so much SF, but the whole state that I saw - the diversity from SF to Yosemite then to Pebble Beach, and just driving from one area to another. I want to to go Southern Cal next.....

 

[stinksmom]

Looks like a great day of snorkeling and relaxing. And you ended it the perfect way - Margaritaville! Our goal is to visit as many of those as possible - we've been to a handful now and looking forward to the new one in Chicago over Labor Day weeked

And yes - we are booked for the 2013 NYE cruise on the Fantasy!! As long as our school calendar doesn't ruin it for us (DH is a teacher and it would be just typical of our district to make the teachers return on Friday Jan. 3). Keeping our fingers crossed they will get the full week off.

Can't wait to hear more about your cruise!

 

[Nikki'sMommy]

That Jordan sure is a fine specimen...

Love your TRs!

 

[karajeboo]

Looks like a great day of snorkeling and relaxing. And you ended it the perfect way - Margaritaville! Our goal is to visit as many of those as possible - we've been to a handful now and looking forward to the new one in Chicago over Labor Day weeked

And yes - we are booked for the 2013 NYE cruise on the Fantasy!! As long as our school calendar doesn't ruin it for us (DH is a teacher and it would be just typical of our district to make the teachers return on Friday Jan. 3). Keeping our fingers crossed they will get the full week off.

Can't wait to hear more about your cruise!

Did you join the thread for the NYE cruise and the Facebook page???? I can't believe how much activity there is already and it's over 500 days away!!!

That Jordan sure is a fine specimen...

Love your TRs!

Why yes, yes he is!!!!

 

[karajeboo]

We interrupt this trip report for a mini-TR.......

I was lucky enough to be included in a business trip of Jeff's to "entertain" a big customer.... This customer has become a good friend to Jeff so after they went and played Pebble Beach a couple of years ago, this year the customer said, "hey, I think we should bring our wives!" So there were 3 couples this year and not only did I get to tee off from #7 on Pebble Beach (and if you golf, you know this is THE hole of holes!!!!), but I got to see San Francisco and Yosemite as well, two places that were brand new to me! Well, Pebble was brand new, too.... So stick with me, The Magic will be back soon....

Guess where we are!!!

The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite....

And even BETTER view of our view from the Ahwahnee....

Our room

OUr view out of the dining room in the Ahwahnee, courtesy of two gals from the front desk who we chatted up the night before. They sent a bottle of wine to our table, had appys ready for us, and secured us "the most requested" table in the room!

Yosemite was so much more than I ever imagined - really put the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park to shame......

Miss California hopped on our tram tour!!!

The only falls that were not dried up - Bridal Veil fall. Sadly even Yosemite was dry this summer....

Then, the piece de resistance..... or however you spell that in French....

PEBBLE BEACH!!! I was so jealous when Jeff played 2 years ago, and so thrilled when I knew I was going this year. I didn't play, but I was able to ride the whole course and took a bazillion photos. The sun even came out on about hole #12. Absolutely amazing!

We stayed at the Inn at Spanish Bay....

Uh, yeah, it really is that nice of a room......

The best part of the trip was the day we drove from Yosemite to Pebble Beach cause it was my birthday, so that night, we sat outside at Spanish Bay listening to the bagpiper.

A bagpiper plays 365 days a year at Spanish Bay and it was so neat! They hand out blankets, and if you're lucky you can grab a spot by one of the firepits (or you can reserve a section for a mere $1000!!!!!) - we got lucky and got seats......

And Jeff arranging with the caddy to let me tee off on #7 - he just grabbed someone's 9 iron and I was off!

We are getting a storm and I don't want to lose this post so I'll be back in a second to show you what else happened at Spanish Bay on my birthday!!!!

 

[karajeboo]

Deleted and reposted youtube video below.....

 

[jenseib]

Looks like a fabulous trip.....the video isn't working for me...but it might be my computer.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

The video didn't work for me either!
Looks like you had a wonderful trip. I loved the Grand Canyon & you say Yosemite was better? Wow!

Score on teeing off at #7!

 

[karajeboo]

Hmmm, all of a sudden my video is gone from photobucket.... Let me see if I can get it back up.

 

[karajeboo]

Well I can't figure out photobucket - I've never liked it for videos but uploading clips to youtube from a Mac is a pain.... Let me see what I can do here.....

 

[JKSWonder]

Yosemite looks amazing! We've been to Grand Canyon, but this one is still on the must do list.

 

[karajeboo]

I'm uploading the video to youtube right now, so hopefully I'll have it ready in a few minutes....

And here it is!!! This was my favorite part of the entire trip!!!

Happy Birthday to KARA! - VIDEO - click to play

Yosemite was so much more than I ever imagined. I was really not looking forward to it at all. I'm a city girl, so I was more excited to see San Fran and the nice Hilton downtown where we upgraded to city views, waaaaaaaay up high in the tower rooms. I was SOOOO excited for San Fran....

As it ended up, I was most impressed with Pebble Beach, truly awed by the golf course, the waves crashing on the rocks, the sea lions, and the Inn at Spanish Bay. Very impressed.

Part of my problem was that I had a terrible anxiety attack in Yosemite. Driving in from SF, we took Hwy 120 and when we told people in Yosemite, they were like, "YOU DROVE THE 120????" It was VERY high, with VERY steep clips, sheer face cliffs, straight drop offs, and NO GUARDRAILS!!!! It was the scariest thing I think I've ever done. Jeff was driving a big ole Suburban, speed limit was only 25 and because it was so steep, it felt like he had to gun the engine to get it moving, so it was just very scary. He admitted to white knuckling it the whole drive.

So once we got into Yosemite, the drive was better, and once we got to the Ahwahnee, we checked in, then took a valley tour. The next morning we drove over an hour to Mariposa Grove in Wawona. We got there and they said we needed to take a bus into the grove as the parking was full there. It was at this time that I freaked. I mean, crying, saying no way could I do it, full on anxiety attack. I just couldn't take the drive next to the high drop offs anymore, especially in a bus. So I sat out that tour.......

Literally, sat on the porch of the Wawona Hotel and relaxed. We found a great park ranger who gave us a good route of "escape" for me as we were heading out of Yosemite after that. I am pleased to say there were no more cliffs for me.

Jeff loved it so much he jokes about becoming a park ranger. At least I hope he's joking!!!! He wants to go back before Ally gets out of school so she can experience it, too. So we are hoping she continues with golf, and I said if she can secure a golf scholarship (no pressure kid!!!!) then we can all go and play Pebble Beach as a family, and go to Yosemite..... maybe.

 

[karajeboo]

Once we finished our drinks in Margaritaville, it was time to say goodbye to Grand Cayman and love me tender back to the ship....

I must say, I'm glad we were one of only 3 ships in port this day because tender service was a piece of cake!!!

Behind the Magic was a Costa ship, and I don't know about you but I don't think I'll ever look at Costa ships the same way again....

BIG Disney ship.....

Little Disney ship....

We had lots of time to get ready for dinner once we got back, tonight was French Dinner in Lumiere's.....

Ally posing in front of our door....

Watching the Fantasy blow by us!!! Showoff..... I mean, we are both going to Cozumel the next day, and we left first, so why the rush????

We stopped on the way for a little rodent lovin.....

Time for Ally to show off how little butts fit in the portholes....

But we were all starving so no more stopping for photos.....

Jeff and I both started off with "Gaston's" Escargots Gratinés
Herb-marinated Snails with Finely Chopped Mushrooms, topped with Garlic Butter

Oh yummmmm!

Ally, who had been ordering off the adult menu most of the trip, was VERY excited for her Three-Cheese Lobster Macaroni
Lobster Meat, Gruyère, and Cheddar Cheese Sauce tossed with Tubular Pasta and topped with a Parmesan Wafer

And that's when it happened. We right then and there discovered.... Ally is not our child. She didn't like lobster!!!! I mean, surely she was switched at birth?????

I had the Lumiere's Seared Sea Bass
With a Mushroom Herb Risotto, Sweet Onion Marmalade, and garnished with a Potato Crisp

It was just "okay." Nothing to write home about, mainly because I would have gotten home before the letter, and what with email nowadays, why would I write home anyway? That's just silly!

Besides, I think my palate was crushed after learning that Ally belongs to some other poor saps.....

I'm pretty sure that Jeff ordered the Slowly Braised Lamb Shank
With a Creamy Polenta and Portobello Mushroom in a Red Wine Sauce, but I can't remember. What with trying to figure out whether I should email or text home, since I'm sure as heck not WRITING a letter, I lost track of photos for a minute....

He ordered a lot of lamb and steak on this cruise and seemed to enjoy them all.

My favorite dessert on the cruise..... Yes, I love it more than the Palo chocolate souffle....

Grand Marnier Soufflé
With Vanilla Sauce

I guess because I've got the recipe for the chocolate souffle and I've made it a handful of times, that's why I like the Grand Marnier... it's special!

Tori ordered nothing for dessert.....

And did I mention we were celebrating another birthday at our table???

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

We didn't have time to stop at see the squirrels.....

But they saw us!!!

We were on our way to officer pin trading!!!

And look who walked in right in the middle of it! I saw him coming and said to Ally, "Oh no, who's driving the ship? Is it Goofy????"

To which Captain Oblivious said, "Oh, yahhhhh." I really don't think he was there for officer pin trading. He just wanted to check out the McSparklesons... yeah, that's it!

AFter hanging with the officers, it was time for me to see ALL of Villains Tonight! If you remember last year, there was a bit of a wardrobe malfunction caused by a certain child that I thought was mine but just discovered this night that she belongs to the wolves.... So we made our way into the WD Theater and were ready to go! Except Ally bailed on us again. She was out with her new friends, and having the time of her life.....

After Villains, it was time for bed - the sea and sun (and cute captains!) about did us in for the day!

Up next: Cozumel, home of the ALL INCLUSIVE excursion!!!! Put the Plow in the Ground, Ladies!!!

 

[JKSWonder]

Part of my problem was that I had a terrible anxiety attack in Yosemite. Driving in from SF, we took Hwy 120 and when we told people in Yosemite, they were like, "YOU DROVE THE 120????" It was VERY high, with VERY steep clips, sheer face cliffs, straight drop offs, and NO GUARDRAILS!!!! It was the scariest thing I think I've ever done. Jeff was driving a big ole Suburban, speed limit was only 25 and because it was so steep, it felt like he had to gun the engine to get it moving, so it was just very scary. He admitted to white knuckling it the whole drive.

This is exactly the same way I felt driving up Mt. Lemon in Tucson, AZ. My sister was driving and I was hanging onto the car door for dear life. It's a twisty drive up a mountain on a two lane road and although there are guardrails, I had no faith that those things would save us one bit should our rented economy car go hurtling towards one of them.

I also hate driving on the Taconic Parkway in New York, which we have to do when we go camping. It's small, it's twisty, it's super dark, there are rock faces on each side and deer that run across the road. I age every time we go on it.

 

[KristiMc]

I have to stick up for Ally here. I love lobster - but the Mac and Cheese with the lobster was not a good dish. I'm not sure how you can screw up Mac and Cheese but they did.