On Sunday, December 11, 2011, we woke up and told the kids we were going to the beach.  They knew something was up because the night before we had Aunt Amanda and Uncle Darrell as well as our friends Jim and Randy Weiss spend the night at our house.

In the morning, we all got ready and got our suitcases packed.  We've had SO much company and gone so many places over the last two months that the kids didn't even question us.  The only two questions they had were: "How long are we going with that much luggage?" and "Which beach are we going to?"  Little did they know...

This is one of my favorite pictures.  While I was doing some last minute preparations, Jason and Jim were in the kitchen quickly washing up the breakfast dishes.  What awesome guys!

When we got to the port - I didn't take any pictures, but I did take a 5 minute video of the "reveal" to the kids.  We weren't actually going to the beach.  We were going to Port Canaveral and boarding the Disney Dream for a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas.  It was our Christmas present to each other and the kids - a family Christmas vacation!  It took 5 minutes from the time they saw the Dream until they realized we were actually GOING on it!  The moment of their realization was totally priceless - and very loud!  :)

The kids wore some special new outfits from our dear friend and "fairy Godmother", Susan Larson.  She and her husband along with their daughter, Mary, and granddaughter, Anna, went on the Dream the week before we did.  About 50% of the clothes the kids wore on the trip were from Miss Susan.

My very excited girls!

Jim and Randy Weiss (dear friends)
See www.greathall.com for more information about Jim and his FABULOUS recordings.

Diane and Larry Dahl (aka Mom and Dad)

Darrell and Amanda Walters (Amanda is Jason's sister)

Being welcomed aboard the incredible Disney Dream!

Welcome to the Dream...the Walters!

Happy Holidays from the Disney Dream Crew!

The Weiss's being welcomed aboard

Going up the grand staircase

The one and only picture of our whole group together.

While heading up to lunch, lo and behold, we ran into just the person we wanted to see the most aboard the Disney Dream - our friend and assistant server from the last cruise - Predrag!  It was such a God-thing that we saw him when and where we did.  He was able to spend some time with us and love on the kids.  It was a special and precious moment for all of us.

We were all very excited to see him again - especially Kira!

Predrag with the kids

Lunch at Cabanas - very sunny!

Checking out the room...
We didn't take as many pictures of the room as we did last time because it was the exact same layout.  But the kids were still excited and wanted me to snap a couple nonetheless.

Cuddled up on Mommy and Daddy's bed

Jason in "his chair" - and very, very happy to have a kindle, a balcony,
and a front row seat for an amazing view of the ocean.

Just walking around the ship...
We wandered up to the pool deck and got some ice cream.

Checking out the gingerbread house in the lobby (atrium)

Merry Christmas, Kids!

A family picture...

The kids LOVED to sit in the extra large portholes.
Hi Kira!

Hi Siri!

Yes, you are certainly getting bigger, Jase!

The kids loved these poinsettia plants. 
Whenever we walked by them, they wanted to have their picture taken!

Yes, believe it or not...they asked to have these pictures taken!  :)

We went to make dining reservations at Palo and who was there to greet us?
Predrag of course!  Predrag has been promoted twice since our last cruise. 
We are so proud of him!  Of course, each child wanted their own picture with our dear friend.

Afterwards, we took the kids to the place they wanted to be more than anywhere else on the ship - the Oceaneers Club and Oceaneers Lab!  (aka the Kid's Club!)  It is AMAZING!

Here is Siri in her very favorite place - Pixie Hollow!

Daddy and Siri in Pixie Hollow

Jase and Kira in Nemo's submarine playing computer games.

Look at what I can do, Daddy!

Our girls...

Fun times on the Magic Dance Floor!

The girls LOVED how their new dresses twirled on the dance floor!

This is the Monsters Inc. room.

Kira showed Daddy how to fill the laugh cans.

Here's Andy's room from Toy Story.

Siri and Jase crawling through the slinky dog

Resting on Andy's bed

Playing with the piggy bank

Kira walks by the larger=than-life size Mr. Potato Head.

Captain Jase goes to the Lab where he can captain his own virtual pirate ship!

Laser Hockey was a popular and favorite game for our kids. 
Very often when we came to pick them up, this is where we found Jase.

The craft room was in holiday mode making decorations.

That's a lot of glitter!

Look at what I made, Daddy!

This is Daddy's favorite spot in the kid's club.

Daddy shows the kids how to use the detective card to play a detective game around the ship.

The girls and I headed up to Deck 11 for the Sail Away party!

We didn't get a spot on deck 12 like last time, so we watched what was happening on stage on the large Funnelvision Screen.  We couldn't see over the people like last time, but this was still good!

What were the boys doing?  Jason had given Jase a breathing treatment and Jase fell asleep.
We decided it was good for him to get a nap before the evening's festivities.

Sailing out of Port Canaveral

Heading down to dinner at the Royal Palace.

My princesses and little prince

Quiet Daddy! (Jase being funny)

A quick picture with Mickey Mouse before dinner.
(You'll notice that many characters came out and made appearances just before or after dinner.)

A family picture with Daddy's boss.

Our group went off and did their own thing during the day but we all had a table together
and dined together in the evenings.  There are three dining rooms on board.
The first evening we were assigned to my favorite - the Royal Palace!

Dad and Mom

Randy and Jim

Darrell and Amanda

Jason and Karin

Jase gives it two thumbs up!

But, as usual, the kids decided to forego dessert and head back up to the kid's club instead.

I purchased this new "fish extender" for our cruise.
This is a completely "guest driven" phenomenon.
Cruisers go on disboards.com and sign up to be a part of the FE group for their cruise.
Then, everyone brings little gifts to put in each other's fish extenders...kind of like stockings or Secret Santa gifts only this happens on every cruise - not just ones during the holidays.
I didn't know about these on the last cruise, but I did for this one!

This was how the FE was filled when we returned from dinner the first night.

The kids were THRILLED!

Checking out their gifts...

Towel art - night 1: a lobster!