By now it was mid-morning and Bambi and I had waited for the kids to be distracted by Grandma & Grandpa and turn their backs to us. As soon as they did, we turned and sprinted toward the snorkeling lagoon. Being cheapskates that we are, we brought along one set of 10 year old snorkeling gear from home and only had to rent one set from Disney's rental counter.
We walked down the sandy beach to the water's edge, put on our masks, flippers and mandatory (and free) inflatable life vests. I then had a Cast Member take our picture. However, being in flippers, a mask and a neon-snot colored vest was not a flattering picture to myself or Bambi. That picture will never see the light of day if I know what's good for me. And I know what's good for me.
So instead, enjoy these pictures taken with the camera facing away from us...
Disney has built a snorkeling lagoon for visitors to Castaway Cay and sunk some pretty cool stuff down there for you to find. The problem is that it is a very, very long swim out there. But thankfully once you are out there, you don't have to just swim aimlessly looking for cool stuff. Each item has an orange bouy floating above it. You may not know what you're heading at when you pick a bouy to swim to, but you'll find something there.
The first bouy we got to was this:
The "wreckage" of one of the Nautilus submarines from the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride that used to live in Magic Kingdom in the area that was once behind Ariel's Grotto and is currently under construction as the Fantasyland expansion.
On our way to the next bouy, we found a school of fish trying to form shapes and have us guess what it is. Just like the show at Animator's Palate! I'll give Disney credit - they really know how to tie things together, don't they?
(By the way, I believe what they were trying to form above is "transcendentalism". Or maybe it's a spoon. I'm not quite sure.
We got lucky at our next orange bouy. None other than the head cheese himself, Mickey Mouse.
Which was good, because we had been fighting the choppy water for quite a while and we were starting to tire. There were plenty of other bouys to explore, but we decided it was better to head back to shore rather than leave the orphan children in the care of their grandparents.
On the way, we came across another artifact, but I don't know if it has any significant Disney tie-in or if it just looked cool.
See those tiny beach umbrellas over there? Yeah, that's how far out we were.
And back there is our ride home.
We swam for shore, eventually washing up on the sand like Tom Hanks in Castaway. Except where his view was nothing but open sea and FedEx boxes, we got to see this:
Also, instead of digging a pit to do our business, Disney planned ahead and installed some facilities with indoor plumbing and running water. That's just another example of Disney's level of customer service. Then, they decorated the outsides with puns.
...und genius!
That "Bearings" on is much more subtle. When you get your bearings, you know where you are and where you're headed. But the box is on it's side. It hasn't gotten it's bearings yet! This is amazing stuff here, people!
And far be it from Disney to use the standard "Bouys" and "Gulls" on it's bathroom doors. They went above and beyond here.
Well, after a morning of swimming, snorkeling and belly laughing at all of plumbing puns, I was getting a wee bit famished. We wandered over to Cookies Too for a BBQ lunch - hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, grilled chicken & fish and all the traditional sides and desserts that you would expect. We gathered up a few platefuls and made out way over to covered eating area.
Lunch on shore - just like all of the meals on the boat - was delicious. After lunch we headed back to our beach chairs to reapply sunscreen and mug for the camera.
I'm not sure if there's a class less than flyweight, but Evan, you're in it.
After beating a gaggle of young ladies away with a stick, I made Evan put on a shirt. We then left grandma & grandpa to do their own snorkeling while we walked over to rent some bicycles for an island tour.
Disney has set out a path for runners/bikers that takes you down the runway of their airport. There is a little spur trail that takes you back into the wilderness (complete with Disney-esque props and displays) and finally back to a lookout tower. The view was pretty spectacular from up there, especially with the Dream in the background.
Well, most of the view was spectacular. Disney picked the right side of the island to build out the amenities. (Well, I guess it could be the left side if you hold your map upside down) Because on that side is lush green forest, white sand and tropical breezes. The other side of the island is...
So, we jumped back on our rental bikes and continued all the way down the runway to the adult section of the island. The path turned right, along the back sides of the private cabanas and continued on out to a deserted section of beach where you could see nothing for miles and miles. And it was the most wonderful nothing I'd ever seen.
Disney also had a nice cold cooler of water available here, which was very thoughtful of them since it was a very long bike ride on a warm day. It was made even longer since Madison, against my best parental advice, picked a bike that was just a wee bit too small for her. And on top of that, the seat kept slipping down, making it even shorter. Every few hundred yards I have to stop, lift her seat back up, tighten the little lever as much as I could, and ride some more. I sure wasn't comfortable for her, but she made it though.
We arrived back at the village, returned the bikes, stowed the cameras and just concentrated on having a boat load of fun before we had to get back on the...boat. We played in the water, had a little ice cream and played in the water some more.
But it was getting closer and closer to dinner time so we packed up and headed for the stores. We found some Castaway Cay pins and t-shirts, charged them to room, and made our way back to the Dream.
We boarded the ship and headed to our stateroom to shower up and change clothes. I think the kids went to the Oceaneer's club for a little while allowing Bambi and I some more quiet time on the deck, watching the last of the castaways pack up and leave paradise.
Coming Up What's a Pirates favorite restaurant?
Arrrrrrby's.
Nope.
Long John Silvers?
Nope.
Find out next...
It's very easy to take a lot of pictures on that ship. 
Maddie could play with Reid in the kids club!
That's my CAN DO spirit!
<-dripping sweat
