New Year...New Start!

So it's a new year and once again I find myself saying that I want to get better with my blogging...even if just for me!  I want to document special occasions that happen in my family life.  Also, maybe just even talk about some of the "boring things" in our life.  But I guess more importantly, I want to have something for my family to reflect on and remember the little and big events in our life one day should I get older and forget; however, since I'm not getting older, the forgetting part really shouldn't be a problem! *wink, wink* Ok...ok...enough of that!
Since my last blog, Zane turned 11 years old!  Happy Birthday, Zane!

He has grown so much and is almost as tall as me!!  He is so much fun for our family and we laugh all the time at the crazy things that he says!  We are truly blessed that he is a part of our family!!
As for my last blog, I ended telling you that our family was going on a cruise!  Well, it ended up that we left on September 3rd, 2013 (Zane's birthday) and headed to Florida!  We got there around noon time the next day.  We stayed at a hotel for 2 nights in Lake Buena Vista.  On Thursday, we spent the day at Epcot and just took our time enjoying ourselves!  Friday, we spent about half of the day at Magic Kingdom and visited about half of the park.  We finished early so we could rest up for the big day on Saturday!  We got up bright and early Saturday, September 7, 2013, and left for Port Canaveral to get aboard our Disney Fantasy Cruise ship!  We were ready for our 8 day and 7 night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean!  And the first thing we did when we got on the ship....EAT!!!

And as you can see from Zane's plate, he found the shrimp!! And so did Nana!! They both love shrimp and they were eating like it was going out of style!!  But not one of us went away from that lunch buffet hungry!  It was just an awesome beginning to an awesome week ahead!  So we left the port around 5 p.m. and headed off to the deep blue yonder!!  Sunday and Monday we were out at sea and took that time to explore the boat and go to the nightly shows. On Tuesday, we pulled into the port at St. Maarten, U.S. Virgin Island!  It was a day to explore the town and play on the beach!  And we enjoyed both!

As you can see, the water was an amazingly beautiful color!  We also decided to rent a jet ski, especially since the boys were begging to ride one!  Zane and I rode for about 10 minutes and decided it was time for us to let Zach play.  Besides, with two people on it, it felt like we were about to fall off at every little turn!  So Zach took over and rode it for about 30 or 40 minutes and he had a blast!! He even managed to flip himself off and had to swim back to the jet ski to get back on!  Imagine doing that in the ocean with the waves...needless to say, he said it wasn't an easy task!!

 And since we were in the Caribbean, we had to celebrate it true Pirate of the Caribbean fashion!! It was also pirate day!  All the crew members were dressed like pirates at dinner and even the menu was a 'seafaring' menu!  That night there was a live pirate show on the top deck with even real fireworks shot out over the boat!!  IT WAS AMAZING!!  Also, there was a late night buffet that had smoked turkey legs! It was a really awesome day!

 The next day, Wednesday, we arrived in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Island!  We decided to take a tour of the town and see the area.  We had an really great tour guide that showed us all the awesome spots on the island.

The island of St. Thomas was a much busier island than St. Maarten.  It also had the famous Magens Bay and we were wanting to go to the bay to swim but it was looking overcast after our tour and we we decided by the time we got back to our ship and then took the ferry over to the bay, we wouldn't have had time to swim.  But at least we did get to see it and it was absolutely beautiful!!   

And of course, it wouldn't be a Disney cruise without Disney characters...

Phineas and Ferb, along with Woody are definitely some of Zane and Zach's favorite Disney characters!

Thursday was spent at sea and we took the day to relax and enjoy the cruise ship! And it was also "dress-up" night! 

 And nothing doing, Zane just HAD to HAVE the Mickey gloves!  So, he got them! :)

But Friday, we docked bright and early at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island!  We rented a paddle boat and took it around the cove for a few minutes....or at least until Zach and Ron tired out from paddling!! We enjoyed the water and also went down the slides that were out in the ocean a little ways - you had to swim out to it!  And they served lunch on the island as well, and it was a barbecue and hamburger kind of day!  Zane got kissed by a jellyfish...at least that is what he calls it!  And we had to visit the nurses' station, but they just put a warm cloth on it for about 10 minutes and he was all good again!  Then the day ended with us leaving the island around 6 p.m.  It was a sad departure because we knew that when we awoke the next morning that we would be back at Port Canaveral and it would be time to get off the boat!  But overall, it was an amazing cruise and I'm so thankful that we got to go on it and enjoy lots of family time together!  

And Saturday morning came all too soon, we had breakfast on the cruise ship around 6 a.m., too early for us, and we were off the ship by around 8 a.m.  We got back to Lake Buena Vista and had lunch and decided to head to Magic Kingdom to finish up the park...and that's exactly what we did!  We watched the fireworks that night and we were exhausted by the time we got back to our room around 11 p.m.  Sunday, we went to Disney MGM Studios and had a really amazing day!  Zane and Zachary really enjoyed all the Star Wars rides and exhibits!  Zane even participated in a Jedi Training Program and he LOVED it!! 

Fighting Dart Vader is every young padawan's dream...and he became a Jedi!! (At least that was what the certificate said!)  Monday, September 16, 2013, we went to Animal Kingdom and rode/saw the attractions we wanted to see by 5 p.m. and we headed back to the hotel.  We then went to Downtown Disney and walked around for a while but we managed to get back to the room before it was really late because we knew we would need to rest for our trip home the next day!  Tuesday morning we headed out for Texas!! We stopped for dinner in Foley, Alabama to visit Lambert's, the home of the thrown rolls! And it was a great meal!  We had a few delays with bad weather and freeway's shut down, but we managed to make it home around 4 a.m.!  We were exhausted but had an amazing vacation, with much thanks to Momma & Roy (Nana & Poppa Roy)!!  

Then Thursday, September 19, 2013, Zachary turned 18!!  Yikes! I can't believe it myself! My baby is officially an Adult!  (Well, by the law, at least!) Happy Birthday, Zach!

It's been a wild ride getting to 18 but I'm very proud of the young man he's becoming!  He is very smart and a very hard worker!  I can't wait to see what the next 18 years hold for him!  

Well, that's just an update on the amazing vacation we were so very blessed with from my parents!  We had a great time seeing Momma, Roy and Zane enjoy their first cruise!  We even celebrated the boy's birthdays while on the ship!  We just can't say enough about how much we enjoyed it...but, if it tells you anything, everyone is ready to go again!  

Hope you enjoyed our trip with us!  I will catch up on more later!!