OUTTA HERE!!

Here's what my bedroom floor looks like right now! The Dr. gave us the "all clear" to go on vacation yesterday-YAY! The Captain and all the kids are packed, but my suitcase is still empty! I need to get moving! I am too busy downloading songs to my IPOD for the trip. And now, I've got "the funk" the kids had UGH!

We are checking 4 suitcases and then taking 6 backpacks! Notice the "PEOPLE" I splurged and bought myself on the floor in the pic? The Captain says "you actually think you'll have time to read that on the plane?" OF COURSE! I am confident that all the kids will be good and sit COMPLETELY STILL in their seats!
I made the 6 littles each their own "QUIET BAG." They are a surprise I will reveal ON THE AIRPLANE and not before! All things I am hoping will keep them quiet in the airplane. I put their name on the front & snacks and lots of things to do inside so they won't get bored. I found these great magnetic dolls at Dollar General for $1 with magnetized clothes and all-darling!I will be putting the 6 littles to bed in the clothes they are wearing tomorrow. I LOVE color coordination when we travel! All of us will be wearing brown except The Captain. He will be wearing this shirt I got at a homeschool conference from Family Man Ministries. Todd Wilson aka "FAMILY MAN" and his wife travel in an RV with their 8 kids to all kinds of conferences. He is HILARIOUS!

We are leaving home at 5am and flying non-stop (the only way to fly with this tribe) & will be on the Florida beach by noon!

The Captain & I agree that one of the closest places to God for us, is the ocean-where you can see God's magnificent creation ALL AROUND!

I CANNOT WAIT TO GET MY TOOTSIES IN THE SAND!

BOYS Birthday GETAWAY!

Bean was given the choice of a party or a night at GWL for his birthday. Bit Buts birthday is the day after his so I got 2 birthday's celebrated in one trip!

We checked into GREAT WOLF LODGE on Tuesday afternoon into the Majestic Bear Suite-1 ROOM BIG ENOUGH FOR OUR FAMILY-very difficult to find! Usually we have to get 2 rooms anywhere we go! Another blessing of Home Schooling-we got to go mid-week when it's not crowded and dirt cheap.

Here is Nick and I next to the King size log bed. Who knew climbing on this thing would mesmerize my monkeys? NOTE TO SELF-no log beds for another few years at our house.

OF COURSE we changed into our suits AT LIGHTING SPEED (basically about a 40 minute ordeal) to get these little critters into the water park!
So nice to be in an 85 degree room & swimming when its below freezing outside! There were only about 10 other people in the water park the entire time we were there except for life guards. I am still a TOTAL STRESS BALL having all 6 the kids in water-very nerve-wracking trying to keep my eyeballs in the back of my head working.

Bit But LOVED the toddler size water slides! After playing for a few hours-we went back to our room changed and The Captains parents came to have dinner with us and celebrate the boys b-days! They gave Bean a remote SPEED RACER-he ADORES it!
We all headed down to the CRITTER CAFE for dinner and the b-day boys both got sundaes. Apparently both clothing and silverware are OPTIONAL in our family!Then it was time for story time at the clock tower-all these animals live in this clock-its animated and they all sing and talk then a lady comes out and reads a story (a real live lady). Then the best part for Bit But happened....WILEY THE WOLF came out-he was absolutely thrilled beyond words to high five and hug Wiley-so sweet to watch!After all little critters were safely in 4 different beds and DEFINITELY out for the night, I enjoyed this yummy chocolate peanut butter madness-made me feel so naughty yet so nice-you know what I mean-TO EAT something ALL ALONE without having to share.We were up bright and early the next morning with a breakfast of donuts with sprinkles and STARBUCK coffee for The Captain and I-a real treat for all of us! After a game of BINGO at Camp Critter....IT WAS BACK TO THE WATER PARK!My My LOVED THE HOT TUB!The Captain WAS A HUGE FAN OF THE BUCKET THAT DUMPS WATER ON YOUR HEAD-here are him, Bean and Bit waiting. 1, 2, 3....DUMP!

As for me, not a huge fan after the first time under, it yanked my pants half way down-not the most flatteringWe played a couple hours then it was time for my parents to come-here's Grandma and Bits-too sweet! We got changed in lighting speed again, checked out and headed to T-REX for lunch!
After being seated under the LARGE JELLYFISH-we ate and the boys got birthday sundaes AGAIN! Don't you feel sorry for them? Aren't they deprived-poor kids.Papa helping Bell finish Bits birthday sundae!Mini VACA-Just what we all needed!

Our Cruise Highlights!

Our vacation started off with a 3 hour drive to the airport. Our flight was at 4:30 so we left at 11am-stopped at McDonald's and fed the kids on the way while they watched the new Tinkerbell movie. Jett never did eat, he fell asleep practically at the end of the driveway! The BIG highlight is that NO ONE had ANY accidents/puking the entire way there WOO HOO-We have come such a long way! We got to our meeting spot with our friend & babysitter Jamie around 2pm-went to another McDonald's there, pottied and had a snack break. Then we headed to THE PARKING SPOT to park our vehicles and get on the shuttle to the airport-which may sound easy but with 6 kids and a ton of bags...not so much. We packed backpacks full of "stuff to do" and luckily grandma sent a bunch of dum dum suckers-don't know where we would be without these as our flight was delayed almost 2 hours!

Here is Tori buckling Jett in for his first airplane ride! We got to our hotel in Tampa about 10pm-we were all exhausted and HUNGRY!!! We ordered pizza and retreated to our separate boy/girl rooms and crashed! We got up early, packed up and dressed, ate breakfast and headed out around 11am to start our cruise!Here are the kiddos in front of the beautiful Embassy Suites in downtown Tampa. Jett's trying to take a dip in the fountain

Here's Tori waiting to get on the ship!

Here we are during the "muster drill" This was required in case of any "TITANIC" type crashes or emergencies-very stressful with 4 toddlers!

BON VOYAGE TAMPA!

Our first day was spent at sea-The water park and waterslides & 24 hour ice cream on board SAVED US! They were SO FUN!! 1 large waterslide and 2 small to keep the big kids busy and tons of water stuff for the little ones to play in that weren't too deep all while mom & dad lounged in our chairs in the sun AHHHHHH!

It wouldn't be a TRUE CRUISE experience without towel animals and an ice cream swan! The kids thought this was over the top fun!!

Our first port was Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands-BEAUTIFUL as you can see. We opted to leave baby baby Jett on board at Camp Carnival for a nominal fee. We took a taxi to the beach and just played in the sand & water for a few hours, it was truly gorgeous and FUN! The highlight was seeing Nick get buried in the sand by the kids!

Caty even found makeup in the Cayman Islands LOL! We ate then played in the water park on the ship the rest of the afternoon and as you can see that ocean wears ya' out!
That evening we got on our "fancy duds" and went to dinner in the dining room-just Nick and I. We left Jett with Jamie. We didn't even get sat down when our Camp Carnival special RADAR CELL PHONE rang telling us Wyatt was flipping his lid SO... there I sat at the table alone while Nick went to get him. We started in eating and RING RING there the phone went again and this time it was Caty-Nick again went to get her and take her to be with Wyatt and Jamie. Needless to say, our romantic evening didn't happen. Nick retreated to "the boys room" and I to "the girls room" and to bed we went anticipating our day in Cozumel. Surely that would go smoother right?

As soon as we got off the ship, it was BEAUTIFUL once again. This time we were pulled up directly to the dock where in Grand Cayman we were tendered in (meaning we had to ride a smaller boat to get to the island). We again opted to leave baby Jett on board with the Camp Carnival staff. We were bound and determined to let the kids swim with the dolphins but through Carnival this was very expensive. We decided to take a taxi to CHANKANAAB National Park and try to negotiate The Dolphin Discovery on our own AND......IT WORKED! Nick negotiated a more than fair price for our ONCE IN A LIFETIME dolphin experience! The little ones had a complete blast, they got to get in the water, dance with and get kissed on the lips by a real live dolphin! It was truly worth every penny!

Brendan met up with a pirate in Mexico-we thought he was a statue but he was REAL! VERY COOL! Nick walked and carried a lot of weight this trip-love those biceps! Here he is walking about a 1/2 mile with Myah on his shoulders and Wyatt in the front! OUCH!

The last day at sea was cloudy and not so fun so we stayed inside and ate and the kids went to Camp Carnival for their "going away" party! They decorated t-shirts, backpacks and the counselors decorated them! Aren't my 2 butterflies adorable? Caty and Wyatt opted out of Camp Carnival but Myah, Brendan and Tori LOVED IT and had a great time!

Overall, this vacation was extremely stressful at times but SO WORTH IT! Our kids would have never been able to experience something like this in their other lives and Nick and I teared up just thinking of it. Like I told someone else, everywhere we go is a bit stressful-(shoot going to Pizza Hut is a lot of work) and EVERYWHERE we go is a LOT of work but our kids deserve these fun experiences & we did it for them! No matter what vacation we would have been on, the results would have been the same-more times were felt being blessed than ever being stressed!

To see all the pictures from our trip click HERE!

I am SO READY to pack up and go again.... THIS TIME WITH ONLY MY HUSBAND!!!