Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Vacation
Our 2010 Marten Family Vacation was a combined trip to Disney World, a cruise to the Bahamas, and a visit with family in Florida. Everyone was so excited! It was Madison's first time on an airplane, and she insisted on sitting next to the window the entire way there. I was worried she would be afraid of the noise and turbulence of the airplane, but she loved it.
We arrived at the Hotel Plaza in Orlando on Friday night, December 10th. When Chase saw the hotel, he was, like, "Whoa!" I guess he was impressed! We spent all day Saturday at Disney's Magic Kingdom. We could see Cinderella's Castle from the Ferryboat that we took to get to the park. It was absolutely beautiful up close later that night! There was a Peter Pan show underway on the stage in front of the castle when we arrived. We went on almost every ride. I think Chase and Shanna enjoyed Space Mountain the most. We used the "Rider Swap" because Maddy was too little to ride, and so the kids got to ride twice in a row. We are still singing the tune from Tomorrowland's Carousel of Progress ride, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," which has been the music since the ride was originally introduced at the New York World's Fair in 1964.
McKenna was so excited to ride on the tea cups on the Mad Tea Party ride. We practically ran all the way to get there. Madison loved "It's A Small World”. I am going to have to download that song soon just for her. She even got to see Mickey Mouse right away, which was very important to her, and she was on the lookout for him the rest of the day. The kids really liked the Main Street USA Electrical Parade that night...Well, okay, I was the one who liked it the most. It was really cool! We ended the day with my favorite attraction, the Haunted Mansion. Madison kept her eyes closed through most of that one. We stayed at the park until it closed, at 1:00 am! All in all, a great day, I have to say!
Okay, so the thing the kids were super excited for was the cruise itself. They love the food...all you can eat ice cream cones around the clock. They have access to the Kids Club, where there are a million activities for them to do. Yeah, even Shanna was at "the club" until after midnight most nights. She came away from the trip with a few new Facebook friends. Matt and I loved the entertainment, like the shows in the evening following dinner. There wasn't a lot of opportunity to use the pool and waterslide, since it was chilly outside. Chase went once, and snuck into the steam room, which I was thinking is probably meant for the adults.
We were pretty disappointed to find out that we couldn't stop in Freeport, Bahamas on Monday, due to weather conditions. Just one more 'Fun Day At Sea,' right? Luckily, we were able to go to Nassau, Bahamas on Tuesday. We planned a fun excursion for the family. Interacting with Dolphins at Dolphin Cay at the famous Atlantis Resort. We got up close and personal with a Bottlenose Dolphin named Echo. It was awesome, if a little cold. I wish it had been warmer that day. According to the locals, there are about ten really cold days in Nassau, and it turns out we inadvertently chose to be there on one of them. Oh well! We made the most of it. Besides Dolphin Cay, the Atlantis Paradise Island also boasts a huge water park and Marine Habitat. We spent some time wandering through the 'Lost City's' collection of exhibits and snapping pictures of the exotic sea creatures that live there. Of course, we had to do a little shopping on our way back to the ship. We were tourists, after all!
Back on board Carnival's Sensation, we were able to get some nice photos to take home on the formal evening. The Holiday Show was a new experience for us, since we have never cruised during Christmas before. There was even a special visitor...Who could it be? Santa, of course! Maddy sat on his lap and posed for her photo op. So cute!
We got off the ship Thursday, and were lucky that the day was somewhat nice. We were able to take advantage of the water park at the hotel we stayed at in Kissimmee, Florida. I especially enjoyed the hot tub! Ah, I could have stayed all day! We made plans to get together with Matt's grandparents for dinner Thursday night. I do believe we spent approximately four hours at Outback Steakhouse. I really wish we could have spent more time with them than that. We are thinking of making the trip to see them and the rest of the family in Wisconsin in the summer. We would have stayed even longer, but we had to get the kids in bed early. We set our alarms for 4:30 am the next morning in order to catch our flight. It seriously took all day Friday, with two connecting flights, to finally arrive in Salt Lake City. We had fun, but there is nothing like home, sweet, home!!!
We arrived at the Hotel Plaza in Orlando on Friday night, December 10th. When Chase saw the hotel, he was, like, "Whoa!" I guess he was impressed! We spent all day Saturday at Disney's Magic Kingdom. We could see Cinderella's Castle from the Ferryboat that we took to get to the park. It was absolutely beautiful up close later that night! There was a Peter Pan show underway on the stage in front of the castle when we arrived. We went on almost every ride. I think Chase and Shanna enjoyed Space Mountain the most. We used the "Rider Swap" because Maddy was too little to ride, and so the kids got to ride twice in a row. We are still singing the tune from Tomorrowland's Carousel of Progress ride, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," which has been the music since the ride was originally introduced at the New York World's Fair in 1964.
McKenna was so excited to ride on the tea cups on the Mad Tea Party ride. We practically ran all the way to get there. Madison loved "It's A Small World”. I am going to have to download that song soon just for her. She even got to see Mickey Mouse right away, which was very important to her, and she was on the lookout for him the rest of the day. The kids really liked the Main Street USA Electrical Parade that night...Well, okay, I was the one who liked it the most. It was really cool! We ended the day with my favorite attraction, the Haunted Mansion. Madison kept her eyes closed through most of that one. We stayed at the park until it closed, at 1:00 am! All in all, a great day, I have to say!
Okay, so the thing the kids were super excited for was the cruise itself. They love the food...all you can eat ice cream cones around the clock. They have access to the Kids Club, where there are a million activities for them to do. Yeah, even Shanna was at "the club" until after midnight most nights. She came away from the trip with a few new Facebook friends. Matt and I loved the entertainment, like the shows in the evening following dinner. There wasn't a lot of opportunity to use the pool and waterslide, since it was chilly outside. Chase went once, and snuck into the steam room, which I was thinking is probably meant for the adults.
We were pretty disappointed to find out that we couldn't stop in Freeport, Bahamas on Monday, due to weather conditions. Just one more 'Fun Day At Sea,' right? Luckily, we were able to go to Nassau, Bahamas on Tuesday. We planned a fun excursion for the family. Interacting with Dolphins at Dolphin Cay at the famous Atlantis Resort. We got up close and personal with a Bottlenose Dolphin named Echo. It was awesome, if a little cold. I wish it had been warmer that day. According to the locals, there are about ten really cold days in Nassau, and it turns out we inadvertently chose to be there on one of them. Oh well! We made the most of it. Besides Dolphin Cay, the Atlantis Paradise Island also boasts a huge water park and Marine Habitat. We spent some time wandering through the 'Lost City's' collection of exhibits and snapping pictures of the exotic sea creatures that live there. Of course, we had to do a little shopping on our way back to the ship. We were tourists, after all!
Back on board Carnival's Sensation, we were able to get some nice photos to take home on the formal evening. The Holiday Show was a new experience for us, since we have never cruised during Christmas before. There was even a special visitor...Who could it be? Santa, of course! Maddy sat on his lap and posed for her photo op. So cute!
We got off the ship Thursday, and were lucky that the day was somewhat nice. We were able to take advantage of the water park at the hotel we stayed at in Kissimmee, Florida. I especially enjoyed the hot tub! Ah, I could have stayed all day! We made plans to get together with Matt's grandparents for dinner Thursday night. I do believe we spent approximately four hours at Outback Steakhouse. I really wish we could have spent more time with them than that. We are thinking of making the trip to see them and the rest of the family in Wisconsin in the summer. We would have stayed even longer, but we had to get the kids in bed early. We set our alarms for 4:30 am the next morning in order to catch our flight. It seriously took all day Friday, with two connecting flights, to finally arrive in Salt Lake City. We had fun, but there is nothing like home, sweet, home!!!
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