Cruise Installment Seven

October 2 - Day 7: Our second sea day.

We slept in a bit on our 2nd sea day because we had nothing we planned to do that was early. We wandered around the ship a bit and found some characters.


We also happened to show in the lobby just in time for the DISboards thread picture (For the Double Dip Delight group!). I took a picture of the group as we dispersed after taking the big group shot. Hey FatCat .... can you find yourself in this one? :)



Later, I dropped Jaydin off at the kids' club - but she sure wasn't happy about it. I wanted her to go, though, because she was going to be bored sitting in our room or wandering around the ship with us. They would also be getting the kids ready for their little graduation event that would happen a little later.

When I took her to the club, she had a "you-can't-make-me-stay" attitude, but eventually, she warmed up to the idea and stayed willingly. I think that Jo Jo (from Jo Jo's Circus) helped with that a little.








There's Jo Jo!









After lunch, I picked Jaydin up so that she could nap before her 'graduation.' I changed her clothes when she got up because everything that I read said that the theater was usually kind of chilly. I put her on a pair of jeans with a T-shirt and a hoodie. I had NO idea that she would *refuse* to remove the hoodie for the graduation. (Can you see me rolling my eyes?!) Goodness. Anyway, I dropped her off in the kids' club for the 'graduation preparation' time, and Mark, Mom, and I went to the theater to wait on the ceremony to begin. We were a little too early when we got there, so we just did a little shopping and browsing.


Finally, it was time for "Celebrate the Journey" to begin. All of the kids (from age 3 to age 9, I believe) wore cute DSU (Disney Sea University) shirts and graduation hats with Mickey ears on them...... well, ALMOST all of the kids wore that. (Rolling my eyes again...) Jaydin kept her hoodie on - with the hood on her head! I swear, she looked like a 3-year-old, pink Unibomber! She was even up on the screen in that. Oh my gosh. What a kid. We *do* have her shirt and ears, though. She just wouldn't wear them when the kids' club counselors tried to get them to put them on. Oh well. It's all about memories, right? Well, we definitely made some there.


Yeah .... my little Unibomber ..... she's dead center of the picture - *right* between Mickey and Minnie .....









Rolling my eyes yet again .....







The ceremony was cute, and I'm glad she was able to go. I do wish she had decided to wear her shirt and hat, but I've always taught my kids that they shouldn't need to feel pressured to conform. LOL! She's just really started that philosophy early, I guess.

I ran after the ceremony to get Jaydin so that we could go back to the theater to see Disney Dreams, the show for the evening. It was amazing, and I'm so glad that we were able to work it into our schedule that evening. The show was about a girl that didn't think she could fly because she had forgotten about magic. Peter Pan takes the evening to remind her of all of the magic that happened in Disney shows - Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Lion King, Cinderella ... and several others. Here are a few of shots from it.


The beginning where the Blue Fairy comes.








Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother.









Ariel!!








Under the sea.











Circle of Life from the Lion King.









Pixie dust is spread all over the ship!!! :)










The very end with all of the characters.








When the show was over, we went back to the room to get ready for the evening. It was semi-formal night (oh goody ... another night to dress up). Jaydin picked out her orange and pink polka dotted dress to wear, and I must admit, it *is* one of my favorites on her.


We went down for dinner at Lumiere's, but we were a little early. While we were waiting, Mom found yet ANOTHER cute guy to get her picture made with .... and to kiss!!!! :)







She loves this picture. Hey .... who can blame her?!












Becky and Jaydin decided to get some dancing in while we waited to be seated for dinner.








Strangely enough, all 3 of my children were with us for dinner. It was a very pleasant surprise. The ship's photographer was able to get a wonderful shot of the 3 of the, too.

Another special picture that a ship's photographer got ....





Our critters for the night -


A sea turtle.










A squid.











And for all of you that wondered if I dressed up *at all* for Formal Night .... here ya go. Yep. Me in a skirt. Now, don't you wish you hadn't asked?! This is Mark, Mom, and me (much dressier than I care to be).










I appreciate all of the comments that I've gotten about my blog as I've updated it with cruise installments. It's such a joy for me to relive everything by writing it out. Bear with me ... I have 2 more installments coming!

Make it worthwhile ... Live the life, and live it well.