...Where Dreams Come True...

Hey everyone!! So KC and I are finally back from the best vacation ever. So brace yourselves, this may be long. I'll try to keep it short though. So we left last Thursday, Jan 17 around 2pm. We flew to Atlanta, GA and met up with my family. We had my mom, dad, all my brothers and sisters, and all 3 of my grandparents. We met up with them all in Atlanta and made the flight to Orlando FL. By the time we got our luggage, rental cars, and hotel rooms it was like 130am Way to early to get up at 8am for the day).
Friday Jan 18:
Friday we went to Disney's Hollywood studios (It used to be called MGM Studios). It was great. With our party being so big, there was no way were were all going to want to do the same things. So KC, my dad, Dallin, Kimberly, and I went in our own group while everyone else went in another. My group went and did Tower of Terror (Kim's first time!) and Mom's group went and did a slower ride. We spent the rest of the day doing Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster. As a whole group we went to the Indiana Jones stunt show. That was pretty cool, they act as if they are filming the scenes right there so they have fighting scenes and even a car blowing up. The park closed at 7pm that night so we went over to Disney's Epcot center for the last 2 hours. We didn't do much there but they had a very neat firework show at 9p so it was fun to be there. We left after the firework show and got dinner on the way home so we didn't get back to the hotel again til around 12:30am-ish. We weren't getting up early the next day.
Saturday Jan 19:
Today we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. None of us had been here before so we wanted to get there early but didn't end up getting there til about 12noon (its a slow morning with tired pre-teens and grandparents). This was actually a very fun park. I would love to go there again. There are areas where the park is like a zoo and there are monkeys or bird that you can read about. We went and saw the Lion King Show and it was amazingly good. My whole family loved it. The costumes and props were so colorful and fun. This is an inside show, though, and it didn't seem like there was much air circulation so as soon as the announcer said we could get up to leave, little Jeffrey threw up everywhere. It was really gross and very sad. So we had to get him new clothes (but I'm sure he didn't mind that). Later that day we went on the Safari ride and it is a ride throughout their desert animals and they have real elephants, lions, crocodiles, hippos and lots more. That was really neat to see. Lastly, they have like 1 really big ride here called Everest Expedition and it's a roller coaster up Mount Everest. It was a complete surprise for me, KC Dallin, and Mom when we went on it the first time. We had no idea where it was going and it got kinda scary there for a minute. It was so fun though that we went on it 4 more times that day. As we were leaving the park around 6pm it started to sprinkle. No one really thought anything about it because we were about to get on to the tram and leave but as soon as we go on the tram that takes us to the parking lot the rain started coming down hard. It was out or no where but there was a huge thunderstorm and it was pouring rain. The trams aren't enclosed so we all got soaked. it was funny. We stopped for dinner and our pants we still soaking.
Sunday Jan 20:
Today was the first day of our cruise. We drove out to Port Canaveral and met up with Sam and Sheila, and Brad and Theresa's families (my cousins). They went on the cruise as well. We got to the boat and it was actually VERY cold. It was grey and really windy which was something that we weren't expecting. We got to our rooms and kinda sat inside for a Little while because it was so cold. We did go up to the top deck for the deck party as we pushed away from the port. It was fun. I don't think they party like that on any other ship. KC and I toured the Spa on the ship with my mom and dad and there is this room called the Rain Forest Room. It was the best thing ever. We bought an unlimited pass for that room and it was TOTALLY worth it. You go in to the room and there are 4 reclined chairs on one side of the room. They are made of tile so they're not soft and comfy but they are heated. They were the best chairs ever. There was also a Turkish bath room (and dry heat room), and mild steam room, an aromatherapy steam room, and some showers with aroma in them. It was the best room ever. We hung out there a bunch.
Monday Jan 21:
Today we went to Nassau, The Bahamas. It was still really cold, windy and gray. KC, Alyssa, Dallin, Kimberly, and I had an off shore excursion to The Atlantis Resort. Unfortunately it is a water park and it was so cold that no one wanted to go swimming. I was not about go get in that water and freeze to death when I got out but everyone else did. I was the towel holder and watched everyone. But once everyone else got out for lunch they didn't want to get back in. We met up with Mom and Jeffrey who had and excursion to the Atlantis Beach. We all ate lunch together and while we were eating we started getting attacked the seagulls. Some of the tables around us were getting ambushed so we had to eat really fast. But we walked around to the aquariums at the resort and saw some really neat fish. We saw some Manta Rays that were about 15' wide. It was crazy. We also saw a shark that had a nose or mouth that was the shape or a saw with edges like a saw and we saw some green eels that we nasty looking. They just hang around upside down and everything not moving at all. We ran back to the boat and straight to the Spa to warm up in the Turkish Bath and on the heated chairs. That nigh KC and I got facials. It was really nice and relaxing.
Tuesday Jan 22:
Tuesday we docked in Castaway Cay which is called the Disney Island. Only workers live there to keep maintenance, other than that there is no one on the island until the boat docks there. The weather was nice and SUNNY, yay. it was the best. The water is also amazingly clear, you can see right through it. KC and I rented water tricycles. I'm not sure what they're really called but it's a very much over sized tricycle that floats on the water and treads the water as you pedal. That was a workout but very fun. Later we rented bikes with my family and rode around the small, island. There was a look out point where you could see other islands in the distance and you could see the whole island we were one. It was way cool. Once we got back on the boat we went straight to the spa (KC, Alyssa and me) and fell asleep on the heated tile chairs. It was the best. We eat dinner each night at an assigned table. My table consisted of Brad and Theresa's family and my grandma Nana. They have different menus each night and you order full meals with appetizers and everything. Each night there is some sort of play that some of the cast members put on. Tonight was the Golden Mickeys (like the Golden Globes). So it was a musical celebrating and commemorating the classic movies that were the start of Walt Disney and such. It was really cute and of course I loved it because it was all about the Disney movies that I love.
Wednesday Jan 23:
Today was a Day at Sea. Fortunately the weather was really nice so we hung out on the top deck around the pool and of course took our daily visit to the spa. I literally could live in that Spa. The play that night was another musical about remembering to dream big. It was a cute story of a little girl who has a visit from Peter Pan and they take journeys to help her remember. Apparently it has be awarded the best cruise entertainment out of any cruise line. We liked it alot.
Thursday Jan 24:
This morning we had to get up earlier than we had been and get to breakfast before we got off the boat. It was sad getting off. No more fun cruise with people there doing everything for you. We have a room steward that comes in each day and makes our beds then at night comes and pulls them down and puts chocolates on our pillows. You can get spoiled doing that. After we were off the boat we drove to Kennedy Space Center. It was a little more expensive than we had planned so we didn't go in but it was fun to stop there :) We then just spent the rest of the day shopping at various shopping centers. We stopped at one outlet mall and then went over to Downtown Disney. While we were there KC bought me a stuffed Tigger to go with my stuffed Eeyore that I have. He's the best. We got back to the hotel and got to sleep early tonight so that we could get up early the next day.
Friday Jan 25:
Disney's Magical Kingdom!! It's pretty much an exact copy of Disneyland. If i had my choice between the 2 though, I'd go to Disneyland. KC, Alyssa, and I got up early with Mom and Nana to get there on time when it opened and everyone else was still asleep so we let them meet up with us later. The first ride we went on was Space Mountain which is lots different than the one at Disneyland but it was still fun. We even got Nana to go on it. It was funny, she didn't like it, but she went. We had fun. We stayed the whole day at the park and it closed at 8pm. There was a really nice firework show at the end and it was just the perfect way to finish the trip.
We got up at 4am Saturday morning to make out 630am flight. KC, Alyssa and I slept all the way to Houston and didn't sleep at all on our flight from Houston to SLC but we got in about noon. KC and I have been pretty out of it all day. We didn't come home and sleep so I'm sure we will sleep forever tonight.
We just want to say how thankful we are to have had the opportunity to go on that vacation and spend all the time with our family. We are grateful for my parents inviting us to go with them and letting us spend so much time with them. We all need to remember that everyday we are given opportunities to be grateful and we need to make sure we show enough appreciation for everything. We LOVE you all lots!!!!