Livin' a dream on the Disney Wonder

Warning: Very long post... 550 total pictures taken on our family vacation.  It was hard to narrow it down to just a few.  Too many memories that we don't want to forget!  

For Christmas this last year, Zeke and I gave our kids a trip on the Disney Wonder Cruise Ship.  We don't usually give large gifts like this for Christmas, but this was a trip that we had wanted to go on for sometime, We thought it would be perfect to surprise the kids with it as a gift for Christmas.  

We had an amazing week traveling down to the warm sunny skies of Mexico!  

We loved every minute of it and wish we could go back again soon! 

Our home for 7 days, January 29th-February 5th

We didn't want to risk any chance of missing the boat, so we flew down one day early and enjoyed a sunny day exploring San Pedro, CA. 

80 degrees in January was simply WONDERFUL!!!

 

 San Pedro, is mainly know for the cruise terminal.  But it had this very cute trolley that took you up and down the water.  We rode it, and stopped and enjoyed a water show fountain show, and then went for a walk in this LA marina.

On Sunday, we walked to the closest church and attended a Spanish Branch.  

Grandpa and Grandma McKinny joined us.  It was fun to have them with us. 

Then it was off to the ship.  We were soooooo  excited.  With this being a Disney Cruise, we knew it would be magical.   Upon boarding all we could do was smile, because we were going on a
CRUISE TO MEXICO! 

They sent us off in style with a Bon Voyage Party.

The ship was beautiful and we were excited that we would be calling this home for a week.

This vacation was packed full, from morning to late at night we were doing, eating, going, playing, exploring.  

Here are some of the highlights: 

Eating with The Characters

 We enjoyed a character breakfast the first morning we were on the boat.  Our waiters made silly hats out of napkins for all of us.  The kids loved it and we were able to see many characters.

 Being out in the middle of the Pacific! 


There is something very cool about being out in the middle of the ocean.  The sun felt warm and the water blue.  Days at sea were great!

Mason feeling on top of the world!  

Eating, Eating, Eating and More Eating......

 Cruises are known for lots of food, and we certainly took advantage of all the eating opportunities.  We certainly never felt hungry, just fought the full feeling all week long.  It's really kind of embarrassing how much we did eat, but it was oh....so good!!! 

A four course meal every night with the option of steak for two 13 year old boys was a dream come true! 

 And Mickey Mouse Ice Cream bars or Mickey chocolate pudding every night was magical for Lydia!

Zeke also took advantage of all the yummy treats.  There was a self serve soft ice cream bar that was open all day long.  Zeke was often caught with ice cream in hand, and it really became ridiculous how much dessert we all consumed each day.  But eating meals out in the sun in late January was a treat in it self. 

A normal site, Zeke with ice cream in hand on deck 10

 For dinner each night we went to a different dining room.  Our favorite was the Animator's Plate.  It was like being in a cartoon that would come alive.  Made for a fun dinner hour!  

Another restaurant was Tritons.  It was the formal dining room.  We aren't so formal in this picture, because it was taken at breakfast right before we were leaving the boat on our last day.
Pretty much our last meal before back to reality.  

We had fun waiters each night.   Ozsar from Turkey and Ipu tuu from Indonesia spoiled us with magic tricks, cutting Lydia and Jacob's food, and pretty much helped us stuff ourselves each day.
They were great! 

Hanging around on the ship

We had 3 1/2 days at sea.  These days went fast as there was lots to do on the boat!
Lydia and Jacob loved Mickey's Pool and slide. 

The sport's deck was a great place to burn off calories.
There was soccer, basketball, ping pong, and fuss ball.

A family favorite was shuffleboard.

Kids Clubs! 

Being a Disney Cruise there were many things planned for the kids.  Every day Lydia and Jacob would spend some time in the Kids Club.  They always had fun activities planned for the kids.  One day they made flubber with a mad scientist.  Another time Lydia learned dancing skills with Snow White.  There was face painting, crafts, games, character visits, and  much much more.

 Tween Club "The Edge":   Landon and Mason only spent a little bit of time here as it was mostly video games and movies, and pretty much a middle school hang out.  They were both content just hanging out with either Grandma and Grandpa or their parents.

Boat Activities: 

There were several family activities on the boat to do together.

Landon, Mason, Grandma and Grandpa played Family Feud.

 And board games in "Diversions"

 There were current movies being shown daily in the Buena Vista Theatre.
Some of the movies we enjoyed on the boat were: War Horse, The Muppet's, Cars 2 , Beauty and the Beast 3D,  and African Cats

Cooking classes for adults

Lydia, Jacob, Mom and Dad participated in the Mickey 100
(vegetable pinewood derby)

Unfortunately we didn't place, but our  'Pinocchio" car did make a good show.  

There were several character sightings every day.  Our kids didn't have a need to take pictures with them, so we only got pictures of Jacob's favorites.  (No princess this time;( 

Evening Entertainment! 
Every evening we enjoyed a live show.  It was like going to a Boardway show every night.  Done Disney style no detail was left out.  

One night the entertainment was Micheal Harrison a Comedian /Vaentriloquist
He had all of us belly aching laughing he was so fun!  We went to 2 other classes of his the next day we enjoyed him that much.


One night Lydia and Jacob got to dance with Mickey and Minney on the big stage. 






Celebrating Birthdays
While on our cruise our family celebrated 3 birthdays.  It was a great way to enjoy a birthday.  No worries about everyday life (chores, school, responsibilities).  Instead it was enjoyed by being in the sun, being with our family all day, as much food as we could eat, and plenty of entertainment.

Celebrating my 37th birthday at  the Tuesday night dinner. 

Landon and Mason turned 13 on Thursday.  

For each birthday we were privileged to hear the Happy Birthday song sung to us by our waiters all their very tick, loud accents.  We loved it an got a kick out of it every time.

The boys birthday happened to fall on the pirate theme night.  We found it fitting that as part of Landon's costume he had a mustache. It was a little disturbing especially since he was now entering his teenage years.  Hopefully (for his mom's sake)  we don't see real facial hair for many more years.

Unforuntantly, Mason was not feeling well on his birthday.  He was very tired and  had no appetite and didn't even make it to dinner on his real birthday.  He was a trooper and still wore a smile and never complained about not feeling his best on his birthday.  The next night we pretended it was Mason's birthday and he got sung to.  It was the first time in the boys life that they haven't shared an actual birthday.

It's hard to believe they are both 13!  I kept looking at Mason at his birthday dinner, he looked so much older all of the sudden.  I think his childhood theory of growing overnight on your birthday really did happen to him this year.  Hard to believe this tall son of mine is 13 year old.  Wasn't he just a 5 pound newborn 2 years ago?   

Pirate Night


Thursday night was pirate night.
We had heard ahead of time that Disney has a pirate theme night, so we came prepared with some costumes.  All of us (minus Mason- this was the night he was sick) got dressed up.

Later that night we enjoyed a pirate party on the top deck.  Captain Hook and Jack Sparro were there and of coarse Mickey Mouse saved the day by flying through the air.  Followed by an amazing fireworks show at sea and a full pirate buffet (a second dinner for the night:).

 

Dancing in the Promenade!  
Jacob is a funny boy, he loves to dance.  In fact he considers himself a pretty good dancer and we think he's a pretty good dancer too.  On the boat every night after dinner he just had to dance.  We became friends with a singing couple called "Midtown" and every evening they were performing in the Promenade Lounge.  We were their biggest fans, because we danced with them every night.

Sunsets!

Puerto Vallarta

We loved being on the boat, but we did enjoy getting off and exploring Mexico.  I was a little nervous about traveling to Mexico with my kids due to recent news, but once we were down there and off the boat, all those fears seemed to go away and I felt pretty safe for the most part.  Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta.  Together with Grandma and Grandpa we rented a Taxi van for the day.
The kids were a little out of there comfort zone as they loaded a van with no seat  belts and traveled foreign streets.  It was neat for them to see  how people live in Mexico and how it is different.  It was also fun for them to imagine what it was like for their dad when he served his mission in Mexico several years ago.

We had to fit a lot into the 9 hours we had in Puerto Vallarta
We firsts drove 30 minutes into the jungle.  It was very pretty.

While in the Jungle the little kids rode horses.

Second we stopped at the beach!  

The boys and Grandma kicked back in the sun! 

We couldn't believe it was the first day of February and we were hanging out at the beach!

We swam!

We shopped! 

We relaxed! 

Last stop was the town!  

Cabo San Lucas
We spent two days in Cabo San Lucas, and fell in love with it!
We really only spent those days hanging out at Pelican and Lovers beach, but that is what we enjoyed the most!  The water was clear, the sand white and the sun warm.  We want to go back!

The snorkeling was amazing!  Since there was so much salt in the water you practically didn't have to swim.
Below, Zeke out of the water after snorkeling around this Pelican Rock.

In Cabo with live Golden Pirate!

Our Fish!! She lived in the water! 

Each day we would take a glass bottom taxi out to the beach.  The sand rock formations were amazing and we would even see seals on occasion!

Lydia with seal in background

Window to the pacific in the back ground.