Day 3- Castaway Cay and Pirate Night

Day number 3 was supposed to be the highlight of the trip- a day at Disney's own private island, Castaway Cay- with snorkeling, biking, water slides, swimming, tubing, and a jet ski adventure for the biggest boys.

But the weather didn't seem interested in accommodating our plans.  The jet skis were cancelled before we got off the boat, and the other port adventures were at our discretion.  We ended up biking but only the big boys tried snorkeling.  I remembered how salty the water was last time, and how much it bothered my sinuses, and that combined with the cold temps made it an easy pass for the rest of us. 

We enjoyed plenty of time on the hammocks

and in the sand.

Leah, Adam and Savanna tried out the snorkeling gear on the beach, but decided they weren't all that interested in heading out to the deeper water. 

Mostly they were just happy happy happy to be together.

More time in the hammock- trying to stay warm.  It wasn't cold, exactly, but the gray skies and clouds weren't quite warm either.

 Biking in January!  What a treat.

We had to get a family picture by the same palm tree that we posed by last time.

Here we were back in 2012.

Boy that about sums up the difference between our day at Castaway Cay this time with last time.  

It was still a wonderful day, but the lack of blue skies and clear water and white sand really made a difference in the overall fun of the day.  During lunch the rain started to come down and we all huddled up under the Cookies BBQ pavilions, laughing and shaking our heads and trying to stay dry.  When we got back to our spot on the beach we found everything soaking wet, but a rainy day in paradise is better than a sunny day in Iowa, right?

 After lunch and a bit more resting and playing on the bead, I headed back to the boat with Emma and Noah.  I went right over to guest services and explained which of the excursions we weren't able to enjoy because of the weather.  They immediately credited our account, which was only a fraction of the total cost of the trip but nice to not feel like we had paid for something we didn't get to enjoy.

The boat was empty, and they had so much fun running down the long corridors 

before we grabbed a snack or two and warmed up with some dry clothes and Mickey films.

After a bit of rest it was time to get ready for the highly anticipated pirate night!  Everyone was ready to get decked out for a night on the high seas, complete with fireworks!

 

 Dinner was a top highlight every day!

Our servers were so amazing.  They did magic tricks this night,

 floating a ring,

 scaring everyone with a wiggly thumb,

 and now you see her...

 now you don't!

 Ta-da!!!

Boy were we pooped by the end of this night. 

A simple pleasure- the elevator!

 Where we got to zoom past Woody and Buzz!

Back in our room we found Jack Sparrow

with some gold doubloons!

I ended up taking fast-asleep Noah back to the staterooms, having a good stressed out/tired/seasick cry myself, then scraping myself off the bed and finding my way up to Deck 11 to find my still-awake babies enjoying the funnest night on the cruise.  Fireworks over the AquaDuck on the Disney Cruise.  Pure magic!

 

Dolphin Encounter

Jason and I really went back and forth about whether or not to do a dolphin encounter.  On the one hand- it would be so fun! Dolpins!  In the Bahamas!  But on the other hand, it would require that our family split up- Jason with the babies and me with the big kids- and that we would have to leave our beloved cousins for a while.  And it was a fairly pricey excursion, so we wanted to make sure the kids really really wanted to do it.  We watched YouTube videos so we would know what to expect and after several conversations about what to expect, everyone was still in favor of doing it, so we did it!

Leah, Adam and I said good-bye to Daddy, Noah and Emma, and we headed over to the dolphin swim area while they did the dolphin encounter.  We could see the beautiful dolphins swimming up and around the water, and suddenly Adam and Leah were very hesitant about the whole idea.  I wasn't expecting that!

 We had to jump right into the water- which was not warm but not cold either- while the dolphins were swimming around us.  The guide wasn't very tolerant of anyone who was thinking about changing their mind, so I gave the kids a quick pep talk about the guaranteed functionality of their life jackets then hopped into the water.  With great trepidation they followed me in and did a great job of not panicking when the dolphins started swimming around.

You can see the hesitation in Adam's face.

Such a cute shot!  But Leah and Adam were both really nervous- the water was cold and deep, and dolphins are big and strong!   

Adam's face kills me!

But he did it! 

Here!  Just take it and get away from me!

I hate this dolphin.

What a fun experience!  I tried my best to do exactly what the trainers said, because if the photographers didn't get the shot they made you do it again.

Oh boy!

I gave him a fish-

and he gave me a pebble from the ocean floor!

A bit more petting, 

and then we headed over to the dolphin push.  Jason, Emma and Noah were done by this point, so they got a few fun pictures of the dolphins as they jumped up and out of the water right by us over and over again.

 Yep, that's a dolphin right in front of us.  No biggie.

They kept surprising us!

Now the dolphin push was cool! Two dolphins came up behind us, stuck their noses on our feet and pushed us across the lagoon! 

I'm flying!  I'm flying!

 Leah went next.  Look at those dorsal fins coming right up behind her!

 Wheeee!

 Splash!

 And Adam was the very last of the whole group. 

 Not so sure about it...

 but he was so tiny he basically stood straight up!  Amazing!

Daddy, Emma and Noah also had their own dolphin fun.  They were in a separate section of the lagoon, and did a lot of the same things we did without having to tread in the water. 

Splash!

 Petting her belly.

This is the same face Jason makes when I try to kiss him after eating garlic.

Emma, not interested.

 Feeding her some fish!

Look at these brave kids!

 

The major downside to their activity is that only Jason could touch the floor.  So he held Emma and Noah and had no hands leftover for touching the dolphins.  Oops!

Here's a two-kids-in-one-arm shot. That looks like a lot of balancing, which is why Daddy was in charge of the little kids.  He's got the muscles!

Once they were done they headed over to watch us finish up. 

Two cuties in paradise!

All in all, the dolphin encounter was fun, but not anyone's favorite part of the trip (except maybe me).  Maybe it's something we'll try again in a few more years, when the kids actually want to touch- and be touched by- a huge sea creature!