The time is 10:03 and I know this because I wonder why the house is so quiet on a Sunday morning. The night before, the boys had chosen to sleep in "Grandma Lynnie's room" (aka: spare room) so I knew when the sun came up they'd be awake. Regardless, I get up, go to the toilet, as I hear feet approaching.

And there he stood. Griffin, the ghost. He was not dressed in the PJs he had so excitedly put on the night before (Mario Brothers). Instead he donned footie winter jammies. Before I had a chance to speak, the ghost spoke.

"I puked in Gramma Lynnie's bed cause I wasn't feeling very well. Also, I farted in my Mario jammies .... (starts to cry) but it was a poooooooop bommmmmb."

The next 18hrs was filled with puking, dry heaving, napping, more puke. Poor little pale-as-a-ghost Griffin. I'm happy to report he's much better and went back to school today.

The eye exam.

I remember once upon a time, I thought having a retainer was the coolest thing in the world. Of course now I feel blessed that I didn't need braces and even proudly say "No, these are my 'real' teeth" when asked about my smile. But you could not convince me of this when I was 10. So, instead my sister and I (who was also wickedly blessed with straight teeth) took metal paper clips, straightened them out as best we could, hooked the back and wore them around stating we had retainers. But what about the snazzy little case you put them in at night when you didn't wear them?

We had that angle covered too. We just put our metal friends in our ear plug case. That's right folks; where we 'lacked' in great teeth we made up for in crappy ears. Three sets of tubes in our ears made swimming a hot and sexy thing - bundles of wax protruding from our ear canals, many times with tangled up wads of hair mixed in. So, what we got out of the deal were nice clear cases - perfect for our beloved retainers.

I was sent back to this blast from the past when asking myself "Where did he get this!?" Lets rewind 14 days ago ....

This past summer I had noticed Maysen doing a weird squinting thing with his face. He never noticed it and I found myself starting to call him out when he did it. Driving by "Eyeland Optical", a small-town 1940s craftman-style house transformed into an optical shop, prompted me to think, "Maysen is starting 2nd grade, maybe I should have his eyes checked." An appointment was made for 3 weeks in the future and in the meantime, Maysen started hounding me about wanting glasses. Anticipating a long drive to pick up Griffin from grandma's in Myrtle Point, I caved in and let Maysen get a pair of blue reading glasses (with fancy old-lady fake diamonds on the side) from BiMart. They were the lowest magnification you could find, and he wore them with pride as he read during the long drive.

Then I started to notice he was wearing them around the house. Then he snuck them to school. In the trash those glasses went and in time for our eye appointment.

Dr Merritt was a bubbly, bright, tiny, curly-haired woman who was more than accommodating with Maysen's first-time curiosity. Initially I had explained to Dr Merritt about the weird squinting episodes and the recent fascination with having glasses; of course this came with concern of him fibbing on his exam, despite our talk of honesty beforehand.

"Maysen can you read the small line on the bottom of the chart?"

"No."

"Can you read the second to the last line?"

"No."

"What line can you read?"

"I can see the E. That is all." This, let me point out to all of you, is 20/200. Basically the bigger the second number, the worse your eyesight is. 20/200 is legally blind.

Skeptical with my arms folded I piped up "Maysen, remember you need to be very honest." She went on through the battery of "Is number 1 better, orrrrr number 2? Threee .... or ..... Four". This seemed to last forever. He was tested five different times in different eyes - front ways, backwards, sideways. She brought out the old school books and tested him for depth perception. She even built him a pair of glasses on a bulky, heavy, and awkward metal frame. She walked him around the office and to a picture window and had him look across the street. When she lifted the glasses, he squinted.

The outcome was this veteran of 25+yrs saying, "Your kiddo is 20/200 in one eye and 20/80 in the other. At this point I can't get him to perfect 20/20 even with glasses. We'll have to do exercises with his eyes and hopefully by next year we can."

*$(&$#&**(@ .... 'HUH?" I was still totally skeptical. I was reassured by her statements of "This isn't my first rodeo with kids who want glasses. I not only mapped his eyesight, but I was paying attention to what he was doing. There is no way he could have outsmarted this exam."

So, he picked out glasses like a kid in a candy store. The only disappointment was the realization that they were going to take "FOREVER" to come in ... 4 days.

Three days go by and every night we had the same talk. "They'll be in on Wednesday." And yet during these days, my mind was reeling. How was it he could read and be on track at school? How was it that he went up and down our stairs 4 times a day without falling? Gosh, he's able to tumble making Pre-Team in gymnastics and doing flips on the trampoline all with no depth perception? Something was not adding up.

"You know, Mase. The reason I took those reading glasses away from you is because if you wear glasses when you aren't supposed to, your eyes will go crossed and you could go blind."

"............................................................. really?"

"Yep."

"Does that go for all glasses?"

"If you aren't supposed to wear them, then yes. Is there something we need to talk about? I'm not going to be upset if you're honest with me."

Then it happened. It was as if I was watching the scene from The Goonies when Chunk is spilling his guts to the Fratellis with his hand in the blender. Maysen came into the kitchen blubbering away.

"....and .... and .... *sniffle* .... I juuuuuuuust wannnnnnted glassssssessssss......"

*blink* "What!?"

"I lied on my eye test! I could really see all the stuff!"

"The whole thing!?"

"You said you wouldn't get mad!"

And there it was. The confession. He had cheated on his eye exam to get glasses. Talk about wind getting ripped from your sail. I was upset, sick, deflated, disappointed, defeated. How could my little boy be so selfish and inconsiderate?

"There's no way. I'm 100% confident that he didn't cheat on that test, he couldn't have!" was Dr Merritt's response when I stopped by the office the next day to pick up Maysen's glasses. I think the wind left her sail, too. She'd spent just about an hour and a half trying to adequately assess his eyes, and she was sure it wasn't so. A piece of me hoped it wasn't so. That piece was saying, "Maybe you scared him with the whole cross eyed/blind thing that he wants nothing to do with glasses at all, despite needing them." Oye.

I took the glasses with me from the office and went to the school. As the class exited the room toward the library, Mase and I stayed back. I handed the glasses to him. He put them on and immediately took them off.

"Why'd you take them off?"

"Because I don't want my eyes to go crossed."

"Well, can you see? I need you to be very honest with me. Can you see what's written on the marker board?"

".....sort of. Not really. Actually, not at all."

That confirmed it. There was now no mistake, he didn't need glasses. What lesson is in order here? Humiliation to a degree is key here, but how far do you go? We've told everyone about this poor boy's eyesight: Family, friends, teachers, his new gymnastics coaches.

The following day, Maysen had to meet with Mrs. Medina. She, after all, had gone through the trouble of moving him to the front of the class and had given him hand-outs to follow along in class. He had to confess his lies to her and apologize making a solemn promise never to lie to her.

Then I met with Dr Merritt for my own contact lens fitting. I had to break it to her that Maysen had in fact cheated on his exam and he could not see at all out of his glasses. Her confidence withered away and the realization that she had been duped started to set in. Still a bit skeptical, she decided to re-test him the following week.

Over the weekend Maysen worked hard on an apology letter to Dr Merritt and even bought her a bag of almonds (her favorite) as a peace offering. Dr Merritt was very stoic, forgiving Mase for his lie. She told me she would refund everything - from the co-pay to the glasses because he had her fooled, she felt responsibility for not catching on. The last person on earth that is responsible for this is her! The re-test showed ... shocker ... that Maysen had 20/20 vision in both eyes.

However ....

There was evidence that his eyes were strained. She had asked him if his eyes every felt tired after school and when he said "Yes" he looked over the mondo eye tester with his own eyes wide as silver-dollars and proclaimed "THEY DO SOMETIMES, MOM!"

She then held up two little lenses and had him put them over his eyes. "Do you see better with these? Do your eyes feel better?"

"YES! Things are bigger but very clear ..... I SWEAR MOM! I'M NOT LYING".

As a kid, I suffered terrible headaches. I can remember coming home from 3rd grade and instead of going for that after school snack, I always went for aspirin. They sent me to an opthalmologist to see if there was any sort of tumor in my eye causing the headaches. It was then that they realized my eyes were severely strained causing the headaches (along with massively thick, long hair). As Maysen's reading, homework, etc get more intense, it's likely he could follow in the same direction as I did as a kid.

The end result was that he got a pair of glasses with a very slight prescription that will ease eye strain. They're perfect in the sense that his vision is perfect 20/20 whether he wears the glasses or not. But, if he wears them, his eyes will be more rested.

"You mean I can wear them all day and not go blind?"

The smile on his face was priceless; like a kid who was just told that cookies are now considered a breakfast food.

I have one happy kid who had to learn a hard and humiliating lesson. I hope it sticks and wards off any other wild ideas when he's 16 .... or I'm in trouble.

We’re just going to ignore the fact that I’ve been MIA for the last 8 months (or so…) and pick up where we left off, Mkay? Good.

Mr White Willy Jangles

As if one little teeny dog wasn’t enough, Nate decided to fall in love with Mr Bo Jangles and hound me for another little one. For his 35^th birthday in March we decided to get little Bo a brother. Meet White “Willy” Jangles.

He is now almost 6 months old, Bo is almost 9 months old and they are polar opposites. Bo is very smart and patient. When Bo walks it’s like he’s prancing like a pony, so delicate and small. He’s only about 3lbs total and very petite. He will wait to be picked up and when he takes bites from you he’s very gentle.

Willy is a clumsy oaf, bounding around every turn like a very miniature white lab. He’s very soft like cotton and his tummy always seems to be fat and warm. He likes to find sticks from just about anywhere, and he’s very much a Momma’s Boy. He’s rowdy and rough, but he’s sweet. We’re very happy with our two new boys.

We took them on the boat for the first time (will have to read 2012 First Boat Experience … soon to come). At first you could see they were like “What the Hell!?” and as if on que, Willy took a dump right under the captains chair. Luckily their terds are like tootsie rolls and they were pitched over the side like pieces of bread for the ducks. Ok, bad analogy but you get the jist …

Soon they were basking in the sun on the co-captains chair and sitting “Chinese-Eyed” in the sun. When they got a bit warm, signaled by their tongues hanging out and looks of panic, we threw them in the lake tied to a rope and it’s a sight to watch them swim! Nate looks like he’s Chihuahua-fishing with his line in the water tied to a dog, but after a minute we pull them in and they’re cooled off. They do, however, get a bit nervous when we’re going “bat outta hell” fast … they get a bit panicked when that kicks in, but overall they tolerate it well.

Bay is getting along with them very well. They gravitate toward her. You can tell her face is like “Oh for the love of God….” And they’re all, “YIIIPPPPEEEEEE!!”. She is, after all, almost 13, so who can blame her? I know that if I’m all jacked up in a nursing home at 85yrs old the thought of two 3yr olds looking to climb all over my like a jungle gym is enough to make me wanna hang myself in my closet with my wet Depend. 

Nate's Second Broken Elbow in a Decade

I know. Really? His first broken elbow is a nice story about how he saved poor baby Maysen's life by not falling on him when Bailey came and tripped Nate. He braced his arm for the full impact and broke his elbow. Nice story.

So whats his good story this time? Skating Party. He was giving me flack for not going out and skating around. The guy with the apple/nut falling from the tree -- remember him? Well, he taught me that the bigger you are, the harder you fall and at my dainty size, I was NOT going to fall gracelfully "when" (notice, not "if") I fell. It was a mere few minutes later that he came whipping off the rink and down like a ton of bricks. Immediately I knew we had a repeat. 

"No, really, I just need ice, I'm not going to the doctor." 

"Thank you for making me go to the doctor, these drugs are great!"

"I think it's looking pretty good, don't you?", this after 2 weeks of recovery. Yuck.

Luckily he's fine now and didn't lose much range of motion like he did before. 

Don't Worry Mom, They're Clean

You wonder "How does she know they're clean?" Because when I saw that their Ninja game and been paused because the latest Bakugan cartoon had come on the following occured:

Me: Mase? What is on your head?

              My Ninja cap.

Me: No. They're your under wear and that's gross. 

              No it's not. They're clean.

How do you know? 

*pulls the crotch part to his nose from where he'd pushed it off to the side and .... whiffs* 

              They're clean. 

Yeah. That's pretty much what I do every laundry day ... come over some time. Keep reading. More to come. 

New Addition to our Family...

I have to admit when I held Griffin in the hospital just hours after he was born, I remember thinking, "This cannot be the last time I hold a newborn. I'm not done with babies."

And then the fighting came. The reminder of sleepless nights. The potty training. The poop seemingly EVERYWHERE.

With time ... and lots of it .... most of that went away. I felt somewhat human again. And although my bathrooms always have a 'boy urine' smell to them, I realize that it will likely always remain that way unless I have my own child-free special room and bathroom built for me like Clair Huxtable did in The Cosby show.

Life has it's own routine now. We have the two boys who have a schedule which includes their own beds, alarm clocks, private quarters upstairs, and for the most part can feed themselves scraps for survival if need be.

Then there are the pets. We have 2 independent cats who somewhat come and go as they please. Bailey, the 11yr old Basset Hound stricken with Addison's Disease, finally is stable and runs on her own clock as well. Between the daily prednisone pills and $90/mo steroid injects ions, she sleeps mainly all day in her basket in the closet hidden away from the children. I spend most of the day envious of her.

So, with life so seemingly stable, why would I sabotage that? Would there really be anything out there that would be that worth to me? Definitely:

Mr. "Bo" Jangles

Pure Bred Chihuahua

8 weeks old

Will only get to ~5lbs full-grown

A year ago, you would have never been able to convince me that I'd own a Chihuahua, for 3 pre-conceived reasons, mainly; They're yappy, I don't want to buy dog clothes, and I will not carry a purse to accommodate carrying a dog inside. 

The more I told myself that I shouldn't prejudge, I started to soften. First of all, look at those ears! Then I learned that he was litter box trained. True, I didn't want a newborn baby, but I could have a different sort of baby that would want to snuggle all the time without all the other crap you put up with for 9mo of pregnancy. 

So. I got Mr "Bo" Jangles for my Christmas present last weekend. He's not yappy; in one week I haven't heard one peep from him. Ok, so I bought him a jacket to wear outside BUT - he doesn't like it so I don't pressure him. Therefore, I still consider this to be a clotheless dog. I don't have a doggy-compartment purse and still do not plan on buying one. I just carry him in his blankie ...

So far he's been a great fit for our family. Bailey has new life and spunk again, I get my baby fix, the boys are learning how to be soft and gentle, and I even see head-kisses coming from Nate as he tells Bo what a pretty baby boy he is. The cats don't get why we have a rat in the house, but they don't seem to mind.

Now all I have to do is convince Nate that the ball-swelling related to getting the Mr Vas D's snipped is no biggie. Peas to the groin, baby! 

Magic Happens on Ships

We had waited for a long time to tell the boys we were taking them on a Disney Cruise. The time finally came and it was really exciting. It took Maysen awhile for it to really sink in, but once it did it he was bouncing off the walls. I started to write the following post in a journal form, but realizing it would literally be about 200 pages long, decided I'd shorten it up and mainly include photos. At the end of the post will be a link to view all of the photos from the trip. Enjoy (I know we did!)

Having packed the night before, once we told the boys about our secret trip, we only had to load up the Tahoe and do the final packing. Amazingly the boys went to sleep up in the play room and at 4:00am we were on the road. Maysen stayed awake the entire 14hr drive to LA where our ship was docked. Amazingly, the trip went really well. Thank goodness for in-car DVD players! We also had endless supply of snacks, crayons, and coloring books.

We rolled to a stop at the DoubleTree by Hilton in San Pedro, CA around 7:00pm. We toured the hotel while we waited for our entirely-too-expensive room-service (but who cares, we're on vacation and too tired to get back into the dreaded Tahoe and go anywhere else) and we were all in bed by 9:00pm ready for the big day ahead.

We'd enjoyed our morning with breakfast buffet and a stroll along the marina looking a million dollar sail boats and yachts. Finally the time had come and  the hotel shuttle took us directly to the ship around noon. It was a whirlwind! Our bags were unloaded and we were hustled into the terminal where our check-in process literally only took about 20min. There were Disney characters there to greet the guests and already the spirit of Disney filled the air.

Family names were announced as each family entered the ship. The boys had seen pictures of the Disney Wonder but seeing in "real life" was something surreal to them. They looked like orphan Annie at Daddy Warbucks' house the first time.

The staterooms were not going to be ready until 2:00pm so with a few hours to kill we walked around the ship, hit up Beach Blanket Buffet restaurant, and got ready to swim! That's one of the great tips I had gotten online was to wear swimming suits on board so that while you wait for your room, you can swim!

This was one of the 3 pools on board and the most kid-friendly, the Mickey Pool. It's only 2.5ft deep at the deepest part so we were able to really let the kids run free without worry of incidences. It was also the perfect temperature and even the hot tubs on deck were kid-friendly - not too hot. All of the kids loved the freedom.

Just around the corner from the Mickey Pool is a 24hr self-serve ice cream station. Nate and I agreed early on that this would be the boys' vacation as well and that meant that the kids got to eat whatever, whenever, and stayed up however long they wanted. It was a blast! I think this was Griffin's 3rd ice cream cone (most of them melted before the "cone" part).

Oceaneer's Lab/Club = Parental Heaven. Club was open from 9:00am - midnight daily. Child to Counselor ratio was about 1 counselor per 4 kids. Each child registered with Oceaneer's Club/Lab wore a bracelet attached to arm/ankle. They were scanned upon check in and parents carried a "wave phone" (ship-issued cell phone) around with them so that they could be notified at any second if the children wanted to leave, had an issue, whatever.

The lab part of the Oceaneer's Club contained kid-friendly computers, video games (monitored), science projects, bean bags for making forts, craft station, and much more I can't think of.

Craft Station. Nate and I utilized Oceaneer's Club daily for at least an hour or two so that he and I could have our adult time. At our dinner service, the boys were always served first usually within about 15 minutes and then taken to Oceaneer's Club so that Nate and I could eat dinner kid-free if we chose. There were a few nights the kids stayed with us through the whole dinner service, but mostly they wanted to be at Club.

The "club" part of the Oceaneer's Club consisted of barrel slides, dress-up closet, stage for dancing/acting/plays, more computers, games, etc etc etc.

The first full day/night was at Sea and also, of course, HALLOWEEN! Having had 2 very stimulated full days, the boys were a bit strung out by the afternoon and the thought of wearing these moustaches were about too much for them. Maysen bawled his eyes out before leaving the room and the tears had wet the moustache and smeared black all over. WE WILL HAVE FUN PEOPLE!!!

We shortened the trick or treating line (hallways of hundreds of people didn't thrill me) and once they'd had a full bag of candy we hit the quiet deck outside and relaxed in the 85F breeze while they stuffed candy down themselves.

The Halloween Deck party was a great hit though! We had a ton of fun watching everyone in their costumes dance away, play games, and party away enjoying Halloween at Sea!

Emma was our Assistant Server. She made sure that we had full drinks, the kids had ketchup shaped in the form of Mickey Mouse and other creatures. She entertained us throughout dinner service with making paper animals (she made frogs and even a Transformer!). On the last night she did a magic show for the boys that included making marshmellows disappear. Griffin had that figured out - he just kept snagging them out of her bowl!

Leo was our Head Server and he was amazing as well. He would get on the kids level and he was so gentle, sweet, and thoughtful. He would cut the boys' food for them when it arrived and would send extra dessert to our stateroom for the boys to eat later.

This is an example of the dinner we got every single night. We had 5-course meals and this example was beef tenderloin, Williams potato (that's the pear shaped thing, it's potato!), and steamed veggies. We always got an appetizer, soup, salad, entree, and dessert. The food was amazing. There was a separate kid-friendly menu that was just as yummy! Even the broccoli was Mickey-shaped!

On the last evening of the cruise, the dining crew sang Maysen "Happy Birthday". The chef had made him a birthday cake and he was thrilled. He felt really special. (This was at no charge to us!)

On Day 3 of our cruise we stayed in Puerto Vallerta, Mexico. We had pre-booked an excursion on a pirate ship. (Above). It was a 2hr ride out to a private beach where we boogie-boarded, swam, the pirates led the kids on a real "in the sand" buried treasure, we kayaked, and just relaxed. During our ride out to the beach, we had a pod of dolphins that swam with the boat. You could look down and see them right there, about a foot under the water. It was so refreshing seeing them in their natural habitat!

The island was a private ecological beach, so there wasn't much domestication which was refreshing. There were no manufactured homes, only man-built huts. Reminded me very much of the movie Nim's Island.

The 2hr trip to the beach and back was a bit long. It was hot, and the canvas that they strapped to the top to keep everyone out of the sun made a breeze impossible. They filled the ride with a sword fight, dance competitions, and fun stuff for the kids (tattoos and scars) but it was a bit long in the heat. Griffin even incidentally grabbed the first "fruit smoothie" he could find (they were passing them around the ship) and sucked it down! That is, until I noticed it was a white one and none of the other kids had a white one.  Yep. It was a pina colada! He had sucked down about half of it, not realizing that it was actually the man's who was sitting beside me. Oops! Needless to say we understood as he quietly passed out about 20min later on the bench and remained asleep the rest of the trip. It was OK, he needed the nap ....

That night we left Puerto Vallarta, the cute pirates, and pina coladas behind. The next morning we were in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for 2 days. We chose not to do much in Cabo but remained on the ship and took in shows and events the ship was offering. The pools were amazingly quiet so we took advantage!

Watching the parasailers was breathtaking from our balcony. We sat watching them and the sunset.

Cabo Night #1 was Pirate-Themed. The boys (minus Griff) went impromptu and dressed up. Nate had the best time. The boys got pirate guns and enjoyed walking around the ship shooting folks. They were great sports.

Because it was pirate night, they had a pirate party out on Deck 9. It was filled with dancing, music, a buffet of pirate foods, and finally Mickey Mouse zip-lined across the deck from above. It was amazing! After he landed, there was a magical fireworks show. Disney is the only cruise line allowed to have fireworks on board and we were right where they were lighting them off. Griffin just laid with his head on my shoulder as we listened to Disney music softly in the background watching these wonderful fireworks against the warm, dark sky.

Triton, one of 3 of the restaurants we ate in for all 3 meals. Every night we ate in a different pre-assigned restaurant. However, Emma & Leo went with us to every restaurant so we had them every night. There was Triton, Parrot Cay, and Animator's Palate. Animator's Palate was a neat restaurant that started out black and white, and as the dinner service continued the pictures on the walls that were once black and white were now filling in with color; the paint brushes (beams) changed colors, and by the end of the service, the whole restaurant was alive with color.

Elevators looking out over main lobby, Deck 3.

Main lobby, Deck 3. Mickey and Minnie were out greeting guests.

Giant port hole seats. It was fun to sit and watch the ocean as we cruised at around 20 knots, usually. We were waiting for our show to start at 6:15pm. We had amazing entertainment shows each night. We had comedian/ventriloquist who was really funny. They were able to pull off Toy Story: The Musical which brilliant how they were able to assemble all 3 plots together into a musical. Disney Dreams was a play that was performed on the last night. It was set up where Peter Pan visits a little girl who wants to fly. Throughout the night they visit her dreams (Lion King, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) with songs and dancing, and Peter Pan who really flew on stage and into the audience. The kids loved it.

Of course all the excitement and entertainment led to exhausted and irritable children. We had to have the "Be Grateful, not Spoiled" speech a few times but in the end the boys did great. About every other day we had to have a "down" day which still seemed to be filled with fun. In the afternoon we'd take in a movie at the Buena Vista Theatre on board where they played up to date movies such as Cars 2 in 3D, Reel Steel, and Nate and I even snuck off to see The Help (which I bawled my eyes out).

I just think this picture is incredibly cute. Goofy napkin hat courtesy of Emma.

We attempted a few of these and this one turned out relatively good. Everyone we asked to take our picture was extremely intimidated  by our camera. It's like "You just point and shoot".

Our character breakfast morning came after our long day on the pirate ship. It started at 9:45am and Griffin was so tired he barely moved when we tried to wake him. Feeling sorry for him (who are we kidding, I wanted more sleep) Griffin and I stayed in bed, cuddled, and snored together while Nate and Mase went down to Character Breakfast. Nate admitted he ordered the Mickey waffles with Mase and Leo was nice enough to bring Nate a kiddy plate. He even cut his waffle for him. Leo was a character!

Of course there was a multitude of character meet and greets. Griffin thought Minnie was so pretty in her princess dress ... he even kissed her nose.

Stitch was a huge hit the last 2 days of the cruise. Why? I don't know. The boys haven't seen Lilo and Stitch the movie, ever! However, the boys insisted on getting Stitch stuffed animals and seeing him was a huge highlight.

We were lucky to also have an amazing Room Attendant, Dom. He would come and fix our room up twice a day; morning and night. We're talking I'd be horrified that anyone saw our room the way it was, but he'd come in and make it look new again. At night he would come and turn the beds down, make the boys' bunk beds up, and leave us little treats. He would make us a different towel creature every night and the boys couldn't wait to get back to the room to see what he had left. I took their t-shrits down to guest services and they had all the characters sign them. What a fabulous souvenir.

We are all still feeling a bit like this! What a fun time we had. We were checking out of customs and Mase kept looking back at the ship. He was quiet and without being prompted said, "Thank you so much for this vacation. It was a blast!" That made the trip all worth it. 

We officially left LA at 10:00am and arrived back in Oregon at our home 14hrs later around 1:00am. Just as we were crossing the Oregon border I felt my throat start to get sore. Sure enough we all ended up with colds within the next day or two. Welcome to Oregon! 

We had the trip of a lifetime. I'm sure the boys will remember this for years to come. I can't wait to do it again. The spirit of Disney filled the ship and everyone in it. It is a very different experience than what you get at the Disney Parks in CA and FL, yet just as amazing. 

The night we told the boys of this surprise, they slept on the couch up in the playroom. We woke them up at 4:00am and everything was left as-is upstairs. When we returned, the boys stumbled back upstairs in a haze and laid in the mess left the week before. Moments later, Maysen stood at the top stair.

"Mom? Dad? Could you come up here and tuck is in?" 

"No. It's so late buddy, just go to sleep."

"But I want you to tuck us in to complete the trip circle. Then it will be like our trip was all a big dream."

That's what it felt like. A dream. I want to go to sleep and go back!

If you didn't get enough pics (Ha!) then you can view the whole set here.