There was a point about a month ago when I thought, “Hey, maybe I’m done with this blogging thing. I’m so far behind!”

But then, I printed my NINTH blog book. I mean, come on. What kid has a BOOK of their life?! Well, maybe there are those kids, but maybe not a lot. Plus, it’s a gift I have the ability to give. And so, here I am, catching up from [GULP] September.

And I’ll tell you September was a pretty cool month! We left off after the girls’ birthdays, then headed out on a Disney Cruise, thanks (again) to my wonderful mother.

Following is my “I can barely remember all the details but it was so fun!” memory of that, filled with pictures and some snippets.

“Since we’re going to be all the way over there Orlando, don’t we HAVE TO go to Disney World?”, asks Bart Johnson, fearless adventure dad of Zoe & Ella. It was cheaper to fly in a day early (though not when you add the Disney tickets…), so we were going to “be there anyway”. I caved; we went.

From meeting princesses, to riding that scary Matterhorn ride (not Ella), they had a blast. Dad wins again! The following day, completely rested (HAHAHAHAH), we boarded the Disney Dream, bound for the Bahamas – and Disney’s own private island, Castaway Cay.

The first night was low key, just excited to get family time, and guess what we woke to on the first morning? Ella puking. Yep. First thought? We just brought a stomach flu onto a floating petri dish. Thankfully (I guess?) that was not the case. Ella had motion sickness, which was managed by kid Dramamine and some Sea Bands my sister was smart enough to bring along (what CAN’T she do?! don’t tell me).

Guess what we had planned for that first morning? Pictures with princesses… And guess which of our princesses was reluctant to participate? The pukey one. Now to be clear, she didn’t puke again, she just felt not great, which I totally get (and tried not to mention that I spent the first 16 weeks of her in my tummy feeling just like that).

Regardless, coaxed she was, and we got some cool photos to prove it:

The second picture was the happiness that comes AFTER princess time :)

That night was HALLOWEEN on the ship, which brought out the GREASE in all of us:

There was Trick or Treating on several decks, and our Pink Ladies got a lot of attention.

The next day we got off the ship at Castaway Cay, playing in the sand and water, and returned to another fun evening: PIRATE NIGHT. ARRRR! The picture up top shows our whole pirate crew, and here are a couple more:

On the last night… Wait, I need to explain something: Dinners are the really fun part of a Disney Cruise, for the family. Everyone gets together, often there’s a theme, and though the rooms and menus change, your servers go with you. The “Clubs” are the really fun part for the kids. There’s the Oceaneer club (ages 3-11), Edge for tweens and Vibe for teens – no parents allowed. Those are filled with non-stop, age-appropriate activities all day (and much of the night) long. There are also all-age magic shows, plays and more – and “tastings” for adults. No, I don’t work for Disney.

So, on the last night, we gathered for dinner and our “they’re so used to us they know my kids will want sprinkle cheese on everything” servers sang Happy Birthday to Zoe and Ella (a late September treat). We enjoyed another family dinner, then everyone dispersed for a final time to enjoy their last Disney evening.

And that was our Disney Cruise 2019 adventure (finally). If you’d like to see more pictures, the very entertaining B-roll, I’ve got our 70 best right here. There are a few more “professional” photos, lots of Disney magic touch photos (like the fun towel scenes they set up each night in our rooms), and lots of smiles there. Including this one of my gorgeous mother:

Guess I spoiled that one. Anyway, I’ll start working on the next 8 blog posts (that’s how far behind I am, if I conservatively hit the high points). I mean, come on: The Holidays!

Hope your year is off to an amazing start – here’s to a 2020 filled with more happy memories for all of us!