First Day of School

p1000831

This entry is LONG overdue, but my first day of school at Country Day was on 9/17/2011.  It’s a Parent/Child program, so Mommy has taken off every Friday so that she can accompany me to this class from 12:00-1:30 PM.  It’s not an ideal time for school since it’s my lunchtime and it cuts into my nap time, but we make do.

Here I am getting ready for school with GongGong.  Thanks to Uncle Ming and Aunt Maggie in Long Island, NY for my snazzy Polo outfit from head to toe!

img_4506

Parent Trap: 1st Disney Cruise

img_4484

So Mommy & Daddy never thought they would fall into the “trap” of Disney, but sure enough, they have!  Mommy’s colleagues have raved about Disney cruise and now, I’ve given them an excuse to book the cruise.

Back in September, before GongGong and PoPo left to go back to Taiwan, we all took our first Disney cruise.  It was a three-night cruise which stopped at Bahamas and Castaway Cay (Disney’s private island).

img_3984

Several things surprised Mommy & Daddy about me during this trip:

1.  Most surprising is that I actually LOVED the Disney characters, even though I didn’t know the characters.  They all looked so friendly and nice.  I wasn’t afraid to go up to them and hug them or pose with them.

[singlepic id=1326 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1322 w=320 h=240 float=none]

2.  I could also sit through the one-hour Disney show without getting fussy or irritated.  It’s too bad I fell asleep before the first night’s “Golden Mickey” show —  they had an “Under the Sea” theme with bubbles that were released from the ceiling.

3.  I don’t like American-style food.  It took a lot of effort to get me to eat American food, but one day for lunch, we found some sushi and miso soup and I ate that like I hadn’t eaten in days.  One dining room called Animator’s Palace was amazing — there were huge plasma TVs on every wall with interactive characters from “Finding Nemo.”  This was right up my alley and I loved every minute of it until I feel asleep which was exactly 10 minutes into dinner service.

[singlepic id=1301 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1300 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1298 w=320 h=240 float=none]

4.  I did SO much better on the airplane ride this time.  Granted, it was to only a 2-hour flight to Florida and it was a direct flight, but it was even an improvement from the Chicago trip.  I actually fell asleep during the return trip which made Mommy & Daddy’s life easier.

———————————

There was also a “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme night.  We were all given bandanas to look like pirates.  The same night, there was a firework display.

[singlepic id=1321 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1314 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1317 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1318 w=320 h=240 float=none]

Daddy caught a glimpse of these cute Japanese girls  and GongGong couldn’t resist taking a photo with them on the cruise who really got into the pirate spirit:

[singlepic id=1315 w=320 h=240 float=none]

I also loved going to Nemo’s Reef, a sprinkler area (and mosquito breeding ground) for little kids — how did they know I “Finding Nemo” is my favorite movie?

[singlepic id=1284 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1285 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1281 w=320 h=240 float=none]

Here’s all of us posing with our Mickey Mouse ice cream bars.  Note to readers:  They don’t taste as good as they look, but the waiter was nice enough to bring sprinkles fo rme to dip them in.

[singlepic id=1313 w=320 h=240 float=none]

Here I am checking out the automatic hand washer at the Oceaneer’s Club in the cruise.  I was too young to join the the fun by myself, but Mommy & Daddy did bring me by to check things out:

[singlepic id=1290 w=320 h=240 float=none]

The bathrooms in each room was designed with us kids in mind.  See me in the tub on the cruise:

[singlepic id=1288 w=320 h=240 float=none]

Here I am on the veranda.  We had adjoining rooms with GongGong an PoPo and not only did our rooms connect, but our decks connected too.

[singlepic id=1295 w=320 h=240 float=none]

Here we are in the Bahamas, including a trip to Atlantis.  This time the trip to Atlantis was a bit disappointing.  There were far fewer sea life than when Mommy & Daddy went about 5 years ago.  It also was not as clean as they remembered (or perhaps they were just spoiled by the cleanliness of Disney).

[singlepic id=1312 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1310 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1311 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1308 w=320 h=240 float=none]

Here we are in Castaway Cay.  Thanks to GongGong and PoPo for taking care of me while Mommy & Daddy snorkeled to check our the “ruins” of a Mickey ship.

img_4323

[singlepic id=1327 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1332 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1330 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1329 w=320 h=240 float=none]

[singlepic id=1331 w=320 h=240 float=none]

We had a great time and are already thinking about where to go on our next Disney cruise!  Maybe Alaska?

img_3703_0