Cox Family Cruise 2014!

Our first cruise was MAGICAL!!
Not only was it our first cruise, it was our first experience with Disney, so our expectations are set high from now on!

We used a wonderful travel agent who talked me through the whole process and gave us such great advice. I did do a lot of my own research as well, but felt fairly prepared going into it. 

Since we told Camille a week in advance that we were going... we created a fun countdown for her to do each day, as well as a little gift that would prove useful on our trip. (glowsticks for pirate night, disney themed activities for the plane ride, a personalized shirt, etc)

We set sail on November 9th on the Disney Wonder to celebrate Camille turning 5 years old! What a memorable celebration it was. We did a 5 day cruise, sailing from Miami to Cozumel, to Castaway Cay, and back to Miami.

Camille got to fly on a plane... which may have been a bigger deal to her than actually being on a ship! She knows Mommy flies a lot for work, and so she was thrilled to get to experience it for herself. We flew from Raleigh to Miami the day before the cruise, so we could get settled in Florida and be ready to embark bright and early the following morning.

Camille was quite the ham at the airport! Can you tell she was excited?!

Since we spent the night in Miami, we were excited to wake up and head to port to catch our cruise! Camille stayed excited on the bus ride into port! It was an early start to a cloudy, rainy day, but that didn't keep our spirits down!

Disney has every process down to a fine art..... so organized and easy. My personal favorite was receiving our "key to the world" cards and personal navigator.... My type A self loved all the details and schedules!

This navigator was delivered daily and had every piece of information you could ever dream of!

Once we boarded the ship.... and yes, we were actually announced.... "Disney welcomes The Cox Family!" Exciting.... we couldn't use our cell phones. Sounded stressful at first, but ended up being such a great way to keep us relaxed and focused on each other. So all pictures were on my camera, not my phone. I'll do another post with other details of the on the cruise experience, but just take my word for it, it was GREAT!!!

Nick and I kept saying how this was the first time that we actually felt fully relaxed on a "family" vacation. We came back so recharged and ready to tackle our normal daily schedules after that week away. Thank you Disney!!

Camille had fun flying back to Raleigh, even though we were sad to leave. We were also disappointed in the weather headed back.... We came from a week of 80+ degree days to a cold Raleigh 40 degree day! She was excited to show off all of her new Disney gear and she even earned her "wings" from the flight crew! Does she look older? I can't believe our baby is five!!!

Halloween 2014

Camille decided that she needed to do a costume swap this Halloween. She had a costume parade at school where she chose to be a nice girl pirate. She seemed quite impressed with herself.

For trick or treating, Camille decided to wear her dance costume and be Cinderella. It was quite a chilly night, so we had to add tights and a sweater. Most people thought she was a fairy. She would correct them and then decided to start telling people she was Cinderella and her mommy was her Fairy Godmother :) I ended up carrying the wand around.

This was our first Halloween at the new house, so trick or treating was a great way to meet some of our neighbors that we hadn't yet seen. Of course, Camille stole the show. Since our neighborhood has a lot of older couples, Camille racked up on candy. They all were so impressed with her manners and cute smile that she was getting large candy bars by the fist full! She was so cold and her feet ached in her "glass slippers," but she was determined to visit as many houses as possible. I eventually had to beg her to let us go back home for the surprise we had in store.

Since Camille's 5th birthday was approaching, Nick & I had decided to book a Disney cruise week for her as a surprise. We knew we couldn't tell her as far in advance as we had planned it, so we decided to tell her on Halloween night, almost a week before we departed. We had arranged a call from Mickey and Minnie to share the big news. Camille was much too into her candy, so we had to beg her to answer the phone. At first, she had no idea what they were saying and she kept repeating "I don't understand mouse talk. Why are they calling me?" After we told her to keep listening to their special message.... she slowly started to put the pieces together. From there she started running around the house screaming and jumping. It certainly was the reaction that Nick and I were hoping for!

This Halloween was certainly one we won't soon forget! Disney cruise, here we come!