Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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Cruising with M-I-C-K-E-Y

October 17, 2018 by Kristin 14 Comments

Years ago Greg and I talked about going on a just-us trip between our 40th birthdays, which are about a year apart from each other. Well, that in-between time is now. (My 40th isn’t until May 2019, for the record!)

We were discussing this idea earlier this year and kept coming back to wanting to go on a cruise. Then we talked about another Disney Cruise after going for Thanksgiving 2016. But then we would want to bring the kids and my mother-in-law. We considered other options, but we kept coming back to cruising with the only mouse I’ve ever liked.

We spent the past week cruising the eastern Caribbean Sea on the Disney Fantasy. Happy (belated) 40th to Greg and happy (early) 40th to me. Oh, and happy Fall Break, kids.

I’d say on average, we fly once every few years, if that. The point: We don’t fly often. But we have flown four times in the past five months. Whoa! The adults and two big kids flew to Guatemala in June. We all flew to upstate New York in July. Greg and I flew to Washington, D.C. in September. (Our Washington, D.C. trip was a sweet surprise, like God knew we actually needed a just-us trip after we planned the family cruise at the beginning of the year!) Then we all boarded another plane to Orlando for this trip.

This is also the year our rewards credit card offered to reimburse the $85 for us to get TSA Pre-Check clearance. We did that between our June and July trips and it’s been worth every penny we didn’t actually pay. (But I’d venture to say if you fly more than we usually do, then it’s actually worth the pennies you pay!)

I don’t regret for one second flying all the times this year to all the places we got to go. I don’t regret bringing the kids on what started as an idea for an adult trip.

Yes, traveling with kids can be complicated and more stressful than the alternative. Yes, kids require stuff that takes up room in suitcases. Yes, bedtimes were pushed way back, dessert was consumed more than once a day, and I was constantly counting three heads (although it was mostly the youngest who kept me alert).

But I have a phone full of photographic memories and a heart full of family memories.

As I was eating peel-and-eat shrimp from Cabana’s buffet on the ship, I remembered sitting in a condo in Perdido Key, Florida, probably not much older than my oldest kid now, as my dad boiled shrimp for us to share.

I want my kids to remember seeing the British Virgin Islands in good spirits but still obviously recovering from a devastating hurricane 13 months earlier. I want my kids to remember the times they played on the beach together in Saint Thomas and again at Castaway Cay, picked which complementary Disney movie to watch next, and posing with beloved costumed characters. I want to remember how even with their age gap, all three kids were excited to meet costumed characters, play on the sand, and snuggle new stuffed animals.

I want us all to remember we are in this life
together and taking a break is refreshing.

{Tweet that.}

Now, back to “normal” life around here after two trips in three weeks with the toddler’s Fall Break thrown in the middle. Perhaps I’ll find the bottom of those laundry baskets.

*****

I took a bunch of pictures, which I’m sure surprises no one. I shared most of them on Facebook recently, so feel free to browse that album if you want to see more of our trip. This was our second Disney cruise, but you can read about our first one.

*****

Kristin Hill Taylor - Porch Stories
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Filed Under: Disney, Porch Stories Tagged With: Disney Cruise, Greg, life, motherhood, travel

Comments

  1. Barbara Harper says

    October 17, 2018 at 7:53 am

    What a wonderful vacation, and what sweet memories you all will have from this time together! I have often wondered whether we’d enjoy a cruise. I never thought about investigating a Disney cruise – I am not even sure I knew they had them!

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      October 17, 2018 at 4:26 pm

      I want to remember all the things! So sweet! Thanks for being here, Barbara!

      Reply
  2. Michele Morin says

    October 17, 2018 at 8:39 am

    Oh . . . savor those good memories! I loved traveling with our crew!

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      October 17, 2018 at 4:25 pm

      I love your ahead-of-me perspective. You encourage me, Michele! xo

      Reply
  3. Susan Shipe says

    October 17, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    You lucky ducks… Hmm. did you see Donald?

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      October 17, 2018 at 4:25 pm

      We did. 🙂 And Ben was wearing a Donald shirt that day. Donald liked that. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Melody says

    October 17, 2018 at 3:52 pm

    awwww this is great! I can’t believe how big the kids are getting. Never too big for Disney though.

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      October 17, 2018 at 4:25 pm

      I love Disney as a mom more than I ever expected to. The cruise was really good for our age gap here too. Good to see you here, Melody!

      Reply
  5. Tara says

    October 17, 2018 at 4:28 pm

    What a fun trip! Such awesome memories. I’ll have to check out your photo album. Oh and the line “the only mouse you’ve ever loved” made me smile and chuckle.

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      October 17, 2018 at 4:30 pm

      I do like the actual rodent mice. Nope. Not at all. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the pictures. Thanks for being here, Tara!

      Reply
  6. Lauren Sparks says

    October 18, 2018 at 3:04 pm

    We just got back from seeing the mouse too, but we saw him in Disneyland in California. laurensparks.net

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      October 18, 2018 at 7:55 pm

      Fun! Hope y’all had a good time too.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Stories from the Porch in October says:
    October 31, 2018 at 4:02 am

    […] keeps asking to go back on the “big, big Mickey boat,” so, obviously, our Disney cruise was certainly the highlight of our month. One of my favorite things about Disney vacations – the […]

    Reply
  2. Documenting life on the wall says:
    November 26, 2018 at 4:01 am

    […] but I love the snapshot moment of our time together at the British Virgin Islands stop on our Disney cruise. The memories that surface when I see life documented around our house is why I hang […]

    Reply

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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our eighth-grade girl who never forgets, our have-no-fear fifth-grade boy, and our joy-filled preschool girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

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My youngest child has a vivid imagination, loves b My youngest child has a vivid imagination, loves books, and somehow already knows how to work all the technology! @vooks is is a collection of virtual books that incorporates so many things my girl already loves. 

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Pardon the weird lighting of the photo, but you know that’s real life. We celebrated his birthday with friends over the weekend and then again last night with just the five of us. He gets to choose dinner out after soccer practices tonight. Through it all, I’m reminded how this guy just wants to be with his people and is always thinking about the next activity. He’s 100% extroverted yet somehow still calms the crazy in this house.

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My friend @lesliemariecates has an inviting blog a My friend @lesliemariecates has an inviting blog about faith, home, and food that always encourages me greatly. She recently shared about hospitality and mentioned my book, "Bringing Home More Than Groceries." 

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I asked Greg what he wanted to do for his birthday I asked Greg what he wanted to do for his birthday (which is next week) and he said have friends over to play. So that’s what we did yesterday.

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