Some Videos

Here are a few videos of the boys on the cruise.  We have about a gazillion and I need to go through them all but I thought these were pretty cute ones.  Enjoy!

Charlie Loving On Minnie

Tyson Showing Off Artwork

Karaoke

Day 5 - At Sea

The last day of the cruise (don't worry we aren't done with our trip yet, we still go to Disneyworld) was at sea all day.  This was the day we probably worried about the most because we thought the ship would be crowded and that we would not have much to do.  We were wrong!  It was a great day on the boat.  People must have snuggled into their room or something but we tried to get all we could out of the last day.  The kids enjoyed the best dance party of the  trip that day.  The DJ was dancing around and spotted Tyson dancing.  He started copying Tyson's famous rock star move and encouraged all the kids to follow him.  Tyson got to go up on the stairs so everyone could see him and imitate his dance moves.  It was so awesome.  Charlie spotted a pretty girl and spent the entire dance party finding her.  It was so obvious that her husband said to me that she was like one of the characters to him.  It was pretty cute.   That night our show was called Disney Believe and it was the best on yet! It was incredible!

This picture is really bad but I could not get closer to get a better picture, but the place was packed and my kids were front and center!  Once I get videos figured out I promise to put one on here of them dancing.

Goofy, Max, Charlie, and Tyson

Early in the day we had walked in late on a family game show and watched them give a real trophy to the winner.  Tyson immediately thought that he deserved that trophy and wanted one really bad.  Joel and I are really bad about not getting him what he wants so we decided we would try it again in a few hours.  We were determined to get him a trophy!  So to kill some time before they did the game again we decided to go to watch karaoke.  Little did we know Tyson and Charlie would love it!  They got on stage and say their hearts out!  Charlie is a terrible singer and reminds me a lot of Joel when he sings. Totally off key and completely out of rhythm.  Tyson say "All-star" with me and then convinced the girl working, Lauren, to sing "Life is a Highway" with him.  We have some great videos of this so they will come later.  It was so fun to watch!

After singing our hearts out we went on to win the game show.  We were soooo close to winning the second time.  We really thought we won so we had to have lost by only a couple points.  Tyson was so bummed.  Luckily, Lauren watched us lose because she later sent up a trophy and two Buzz Light-year calendars to our room with a note saying, "thanks for being such great singers!"  Tyson was beyond excited. 

These were a couple of the towel "creatures" our hostess made for our room.  We thought they were pretty cute!

So that's our cruise.  We had a blast! 

Day 4 - Castaway Cay

This was by far the best day of the vacation!  It was pirate day on the cruise and we were in Castaway Cay which is an island owned by Disney.  It was basically a private island for only the guests on the cruise.  BEAUTIFUL!  One of the boys' favorite dance parties was at Castaway Cay where they danced with the characters.  They both followed them around and copied every move they made.

Tyson's face in this one explains it all!

Pure amazement!

Another awesome part of this island is the slide.  The only way to get to it was to swim in deep ocean water.  For some reason that added to the greatness more than you would think.

That is the slide and our amazing ship behind it!

We spent more time at the beach too.  Charlie liked this one a little better because there were no waves crashing in on him.  The water was so clear!  I really don't think the beach could have been more perfect!

So precious!

Since the day was themed around pirates, all of the characters were wearing all pirate gear.  I think Charlie said, "argg matie!" at least a hundred times.  He always had to say it in a deep pirate voice too.  There was a big deck party that night with a pirate show and the boys danced and sang pirate with the best of them.  They also shot off fireworks from the ship in the middle of the ocean.  It was amazing, but a little too loud for Tyson so we did not stick around for them.  It was again an awesome day!

Tyson even let them paint his face to look like a pirate!



Day 3-Nassau

When we orignally made our plans for this trip we said that we would do whatever the boys would allow us to do.  We had no idea what that meant, but we knew we could not push them.  But much to our suprise they were up for just about anything.  So on day 3 we got off the ship at Nassau.  It was the typical crazy town with all the shops set up to buy anything you could dream of.  The boys (and myself) were completly overwhelmed with the craziness.  We decided that we should try and find the beach and have the boys enjoy the ocean.  So again we jumped in the cab and immediately Tyson started talking.  He again asked the driver her name and if she had any kids at home.  I am not sure where that question has come from but he is always asking people that now.  We made it to the beach and it was beautiful!  The water was so clear that you could see your swimtrunks while you were underwater.  Tyson ran into the waves and loved every minute of it, while Charlie stayed on the beach and played in the sand.  I must say that is the exact opposite reactions I would have guessed for them.  Everytime Joel would head towards the water Charlie would say, "Be careful Daddy, be careful!"  It was really cute. 

Nassau

After a couple hours it started to get crazy busy there so we headed back to the ship.  Charlie took a nap everyday on the boat so Joel and Tyson would explore the boat while I stayed with Charlie.  They got to watch Goofy and Max play mini golf, and Tyson really thought it was one of the funniest things he had ever seen.  He belly laughed from his toes while he watched them.

The show that night was Jeff Civillico.  He is a juggler and is amazing.  He started the show by balancing a giant ladder on his chin.  The boys were in awe watching him and Joel and I laughed so hard at all his inside jokes.  It was very fun!  After the show we went back to the pool and rode the crazy slide over the ocean in the dark.  It was all lit up and it was awesome.  Tyson still did not love it, but Charlie sure did! 

This are some shots from the first day on the boat that I forgot to put on the post.  This was the very first thing he did when we got on the ship.  He is getting to be a pretty good shot!

 Yes, that is the top level of the ship! 

Day 2

It was like Christmas morning all over again for Tyson.  We were going to ride in a taxi to get on the cruise ship!  Tyson loves riding in a taxi.  When we got in the car he immediatley asked, "I'm Tyson, what's your name?"  The driver told him his name was Peter.  "Hey Peter, do you have kids at home?"  "Hey Peter, do you see our cruise ship?"  "Hey Peter, there's our ship!!!"  "Hey Peter, that's our ship, do you see it?"  I could keep going but I think you get the point.  Nonstop, I tell you, nonstop!  Tyson was right though, the ship was absolutely amazing to see in real life.  We had to stand in many lines to get everything ready before we got to get on the ship and the boys were great.  As we walked on the ship they announced "Everyone welcome the Lundstrom Family!"  I mean right up our boys alley, right?  Just like we were the starters for the KSU Wildcats!  We knew at that point everything was going to be ok. 

Our room wasn't quite ready so we just walked around the ship.  Amazing.  There were basketball courts, mini golf, a replica of Andy's room from Toy Story and so much more.  It was amazing.  Once our room was ready we walked in and Tyson says, "This is awesome!"  He was beyond excited.  We went swimming in the pool that is shaped like Mickey and he kept screaming, "It's Mickey, Mommy, it's Mickey!"  Everything about it was amazing to him.

That night dinner was with Crush from Finding Nemo.  He talked to our table, but tried to have a conversation with Charlie.  Crush called Tyson out for answering the questions for his brother and kept referring to Joel as "Jolly Joel", it was pretty funny.  After dinner was the Golden Mickey's Show.  It was so good and the boys just sat there with their mouths wide open.  It is beyond words what it feels like to watch the excitement through your kids eyes.  We of course had to buy them a Mickey Mouse after that, and they were with us the rest of the trip.  We also watched the Broncos beat the Steelers in OT on the big screen by the pools and went to our first dance party.  It was a great day!

Charlie enjoying the cruise from our room's balcony.

The boys before dinner the first night.

Not a bad spot to watch a football game, right?

The boys showing off their dance moves at the first dance party we attended.

This is kind of a long video but it is pretty cute of the boys jammin out with their new Mickey's.

http://youtu.be/4ktOPbRwDxk

Our Vacation - Day 1

As many of you know Joel and I decided to take a family trip.  We have never taken a trip with just us.  Actually the last big trip Joel and I went on was our honeymoon 11 years ago, so we were due.  Being the crazy people that we are we decided to take the boys on a Disney Cruise and then added a few days at the end to go to Disneyworld.  We gave it to them as a Christmas present.  Being the literal thinkers they are we knew we had to clarify everything for them.  Joel made a little video to explain to them exactly what we are doing.  He made it kind of like a Dora show where we start at Mommy's house, then to the airport, then to Florida, then to a cruise ship.  With pictures and all we really thought they got it.  I am not going to lie and say Joel and I thought this was the most amazing idea ever and that we would for sure have the time of our lives.  We were hoping for the best but had prepared ourselves for the worst.  They honestly could hate it and we would have to just go with what we could.  We really had very low expectations and were willing to do whatever we needed to to make our boys comfortable.

That morning Tyson knew exactly what was going on.  He was so ready to head to the airport, and since Charlie does whatever Tyson does he was super excited too.  We checked in, waited and waited and it was finally our turn to go on the plane!  Tyson was THRILLED!  The plane took off and Tyson screamed, "We are flying!  We are flying!"  I am sure you can all picture him thrilled to his bones.  He loved every minute of it.  Charlie on the other hand had a really hard time.  It was all geared towards me so I don't think in bothered anybody else, but what do you do?  We were stuck for 3 hours no matter what.  As we landed Tyson yells, "Let's do it again!" like he had just gotten off a fabulous rollercoaster. The airport experience was a little crazy considering Tyson thought the airport security was for sure stealing all his toys and it took Joel and I way too long to realize that $4 for a luggage cart is SOOO worth it.  Needless to say we weren't really up on the picture taking on Day 1.  But all in all, not too bad!  We then rented a car (which Tyson thought we just bought) and spent the night in Cocoa Beach.   Pretty uneventful which is considered a success in this Lundstrom Family. :) 

(This was taken on my phone on the airplane, can't you just feel his excitement?)

More to come...

Only Charlie

This child #2 is going to be the death of me.  Seriously, we have had quite a few weeks with him.  He is going through a really bad phase (well, we hope it is just a phase).  He is always getting into something.  Like at Christmas he dedided that a 3 year old that is as big as most 5 year olds should hang out in the baby swing.  Seriously...

Then the other day I was on the phone with a friend for approximately 4 minutes.  Joel was in his office doing something on his computer.  I looked out into the living room as I was hanging up the phone and it seemed a little "smokey".  I walked out to find this...

Baby powder...EVERYWHERE...

I mean EVERYWHERE...and he was so proud...

And being the great mother that I am, instead of yelling, I got the camera!

Only Charlie!