Garden City 2019

Garden City Beach
Way back when, my great grandmother began this trip to the beach each year with family.  At first everyone rented a house at Surfside Beach and as the years progressed and Surfside grew, Garden City began the beach of choice.  We rent a home way down from the pier so it is rather quiet.  My Aunt Kim and her husband, David, rent a home on the waterway for their crew - all in all, we have 23ish people at any given time together on the beach and for meals....it is fun, somewhat organized chaos!
On our drive down to the beach, we stopped for lunch at Rush's and decided to surprise Ryan's parents with a visit.  Ryan's mother was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma ten years ago and has been doing very well until recently.  Her markers have been elevated and she has been taking oral chemo as well as receiving radiation on her back....she is a fighter but she is tired.  She is 84 years old and, on a normal day, has more energy than I do but this round of meds is knocking her down a bit.  On this day, she asked for a chili dog in hopes that it would taste good vs like styrofoam - she says everything tastes awful now that she has endured chemo!
We arrived at Garden City Beach during the late afternoon.....surprisingly, we were the last to arrive - this is not typically the case.  Usually, it is Kellie who is last :) We made many, many, many trips up and down the stairs, began unpacking and making up beds....and then we realized that we had left not just one but TWO of our hampers at home....these two hampers contained sheets, towels, beach towels, and many other items we needed for the week.  But, instead of getting upset, I simply chose to use this as a reminder that things could be much worse - at least this was an issue that could be taken care of easily with a shopping experience at one of my favorite venues, Target :) So, off I went to buy all the things!
The week was spent eating way too much of all of the traditional beach foods, playing games well into the later evening hours, chatting, swimming, chasing the ice cream truck, going to the pier and arcade, family picture chaos, and everything in between.  It was a great week of family time and, for that, I am thankful!

Chapman Learns to Swim

All of our kiddos are swimmers and all of them have been early swimmers with Pryce being the earliest at the age of 2 (almost 3).  He would jump in the pool and then yell at the lifeguards not to save him because he could swim....and he would then swim to the side and do it all over again.
Colin took in-depth swimming lessons and hated every moment of them! These are the same lessons that scarred my mom and Ryan's mom for life - we lived in Florida where every home has a pool and every piece of land is connected to a canal or a pond.  MK taught herself to swim using a swim vest....and then she was swimming on our swim team at the age of 4 and hasn't looked back since.  She loves to swim on the team and just for fun.  Maddox could take it or leave it....she's a good competitor on the team yet she is just fine not having to be in the pool....I honestly can't remember if she did a formal lesson or if she just figured it out on her own but either way she is full-on beast mode in the pool now.  Maryn jumped in the pool while we were visiting Seabrook and she was able to swim....we had no idea!  And then our Cha....Chapman has been swimming with her puddle jumper, jumping in like a champ, not scared of water on her face....all of it, she was doing so well!  We put a pool in our backyard last summer and I have been a nervous wreck because I wanted Cha to be swimming before it was in....since she wasn't totally an independent swimmer, we put her in at our local swim school, Dolphin Academy.  She went every week for six months, made the cutest little friends, and had the best time.  She would tell me every time we were going in, "I'm going to SINK! I not know how to SWIM!" but she went in with a smile on her face.  She was doing it all....kicking was great, arm movement was great, holding her breath was great....but, she didn't want to put her face in for more than a second....and she continued this pattern for her entire stay at Dolphin.  Summer came and we went to swim lessons every day for one week and lo and behold the Cha came home swimming like a champ!  That was the first week of June!  Now, we are at the first week of August, and our little is swimming the length of our pool and she is a little fish!!! Amazing!  She loves the water, loves to be in the pool with her sisters and brothers, and she is just a fabulous swimmer!

Disney Cruise 2019

Our Disney cruise experience was one we had all been anticipating for over a year.  With our favorite Mickey gear in tow, we were all super excited to set out on our journey to Florida to board the boat.  Cha had been talking non-stop about the boat....in the weeks leading up to our big day, she walked around with the Disney cruise book, took in all of the pictures, and even slept with it at night!  Jacksonville was our first stop....with a bit of Cheesecake Factory for dinner and an afternoon stroll on the beach, we settled in for the night in anticipation of an early wake-up call the next morning!

Monday morning we awoke, packed up our overnight bag, had breakfast and happily drove to Port Canaveral to meet up with my sister, Kellie, and her family.  My nephew, Jay, planned our adventure from day one....he was more than thrilled to have us joining them for the trip and had been texting us all morning with the plans to meet up once we were on the ship and telling us how to navigate the traffic, etc....he is a top-notch 11 year old!  

We were all ahead of schedule!  It was a miracle really as we are never ones to be on time for many events.  We walked into the terminal, meandered our way through security, and approached the desk. The attendant asked for our confirmations and our documents to board - we were all steps away from leaving on the trip of a lifetime and then it happened.....the lady said that we did not have the correct documentation for our girls to board the ship.  Her words were, "I can't let you board the ship."

Backing up a bit.....in April, I received an email from our travel agent stating that we needed passports to board the ship....I then called Disney to specifically ask what was needed in order for us to board as I was most concerned about our oldest son who is 19.  Being that he is legally an adult, I was trying to figure out if we needed to expedite a passport renewal for him or if we could use another form of documentation.  The agent told me TWICE that we could use COPIES of birth certificates....and then I asked specifically about our girls and what documentation was needed for them to board - again, TWICE she stated that COPIES of their naturalization papers would suffice.  

And then here we were, sitting in the terminal with our six children and my sister's family already on the ship, being told we weren't going to be allowed to board the ship.

And for two hours, this is how the conversation went....I cried big tears - I don't cry much but on this day, I was devastated.  The lady said we wouldn't  lose anything, we could cruise later on another date....and all the while, six pair of eyes looked up at us in sadness.  It was awful.  She would ask a question or two and then leave for several long minutes only to return with no hope.

I was praying, texting family to ask for prayers, telling the children to pray....and Ryan was frantically trying to make sense of the situation and get us on that boat.

In the end, we did get to board.  Our dear neighbor, who thankfully was home when we called in a panic, was able to get into our home, open our safe, get the certificates of naturalization, FedEx them to Disney, and off we went! Phew.  Crisis averted.

Once onboard, we got acquainted with the boat - most importantly, we found some lunch AND the ice cream machines that would prove to provide us endless amounts of ice cream cones throughout the week.  Maryn was in heaven!  (on a side note, we arrived home and Maryn immediately asked for ice cream, ate ice cream and then asked for more....when I said no, she said, "What??? I had two on the boat every time!")

Our first night on the boat included a bit of time meeting Rapunzel and Mickey Mouse, dinner including our first Mickey bar for dessert, and a bit of coloring on the table cloth.  Our server, Frankie, proved to be one of the best!  Each night, he would impress the children, both young and old, with a bit of magic and riddles to solve.  So fun for the parents to watch as the children all sought to outsmart him! One night we all got a good laugh when Frankie proclaimed he turned a yellow crayon into a blue one.....Maryn spotted the yellow crayon he through on the floor and called him out! 

Day 2 we awoke to a beautiful, cloudless sky in Nassau with breakfast on deck....fabulous!  The littles went off to spend the morning in the Oceaneer Club while the bigs took off with us on an offshore snorkeling excursion.  So fun!  We boarded a little boat and off we went, hair flying in the air....we saw several nice homes along shore, the original Gilligan's Island, and, of course, swam in the clear, blue water.  My goal was to see a sea turtle and we saw several accompanied by colorful fish, and a few sting rays.  The children will likely tell you this excursion was the highlight of their trip - so fun and so relaxing!  

Following our offshore excursion, the bigs went about the boat exploring and doing their thing while the littles and I visited the Bippidi Boppiddi Boutique.  With our princess costumes on, off we went.  Maryn was first.  Her Fairy Godmother appeared and whisked her away to her throne for her makeover.  Maryn was excited and chose the pink extension style for her hair.  All was going well, smiles were nonstop, she laughed and was SO excited.....until she wasn't.  My sweet sensitive little Maryn did not like it one bit when her Fairy Godmother put her hair up straight on top of her sweet little head and she then looked like Cindy Lou Who.  I was laughing as was the mother next to me....it was all in good fun but this little one wasn't impressed and she totally shut down for the rest of her stay in the makeover throne - I felt so sad for her AND the Fairy Godmother...THANKFULLY, she was all smiles by dinner and thoroughly enjoyed her up-do with pink hair extensions all evening long!

Next up, Chapman.  This girl was SO excited for her BBB experience.  She sat just like a little princess for the entire time and carefully selected her hair style and her nail color  as well as her make-up...she LOVED it all and I am pretty sure, two weeks later, there is still glitter in her hair!  The BBB is no joke with the glitter - ha!

Maddox Ren was next.  So beautiful!  She came in with a smile on her face and never stopped smiling.  She enjoyed hearing how each princess contributed to the boutique experience.  She is a joy to everyone she encounters!

The sisters all dolled up and ready for a night out on the boat!

 This girl.  She is so creative and she is one that definitely thinks outside of the box.  Each night at dinner she eagerly awaited her food and then the food creations began....she used everything in sight - food, crayons, napkins, utensils....now, we are not ones to encourage playing with food BUT we were on vacation, not a continuation, AND it kept her occupied while the rest of us dined on our meal selections. Plus, it is always fun to see how her mind works!

Following our dinner, we took our two little princesses to meet a few of their favorite characters and have their 50th ice cream cone of the day - endless ice cream cones = full bellies = happy children. 

 Castaway Cay tho it is pronounced Castaway Key - a bit strange.  We left our ship early after eating a bit of breakfast on deck.  We wanted to be sure we had the best seats on the beach - what we didn't realize is that you really don't have to be the first off of the boat to get the good seats on shore.  We found a few chairs, got situated and the children all began exploring while we adults sat down to enjoy the day.  Snorkeling offshore was the highlight for the children....they all took turns using our snorkeling masks to venture out to explore the shipwreck, spy a few stingrays and watch the fish in full wonder.  The boys, James, and Jay took off to the sky for a bit of parasailing over the clear, blue waters of the Bahamas.  James had a bit of a story to tell and likely had his first and last parasailing adventure, lol.  

The day was full of relaxing, a few naps, exploring, hanging out together, ice cream, and good island eats.  We opened it up and closed it down....first ones on, last ones off....and that was that!  We boarded the boat, showered well, and it was then time for Pirate Night and a ship party complete with fireworks!

 Following dinner, we came back to our rooms to fine these pretty interesting creatures awaiting our arrival!

Our last and final day on the ship was a Day At Sea.  Chapman began with a climb onto the bunkbeds to check out the view from above.  There was breakfast on deck, something we totally enjoyed each morning, and then there was a day of adventure.....we met Anna and Elsa, the big kids played golf, Ryan and I had a bit of alone time while the two littles went to Oceaneer Club, we were all awed by a magician show, the bigs did a scavenger hunt on the boat to find the treasure, we watched the Diaper Dash - hilarious, Maryn and I enjoyed some mother/daughter time with a poolside movie combined with a Coke and two ice cream cones!  It was a fabulous day of sailing, and at the end of the day, the little two had too much and needed a nap at dinner.  Bless.  We even attempted a photo of the children all dressed up - Chapman was done, d-u-n, done.  

The final day, breakfast of champions, one last hurrah with our servers and a picture for the books!  Following this pic, it was a race to get back to our rooms, grab our bags and say See You Later, Mickey! Customs brought us back to our Day One experience for a brief moment as we detoured to the Help desk to acquire the overnighted originals of the COCs, and we had the opportunity to thank our dear helper, the one who ultimately made the call to let us on the ship....it was good to see her on the flip side while we were all smiles!  

Until next time...