Cass, Rob & Kira - Christmas on the Wonder??? Get the fog outta here!

[Timon]

Day 1 Part 3

Just a few blocks down on 61st street, we noticed there were birds EVERYWHERE!!!

Just about every wire had hundreds of birds on them! It was the craziest thing!!! This went on for the entire street, all the way to the sea wall

There were so many birds in Galveston, Kira decided the name should change to Birdston.

We hit the sea wall, turned left, drove down a bit and found the Hilton, easy peasy, lemon squeezy as Kira would say!

We parked, grabbed our bags and went through the front door, which we found out later was the long way around! Definitely park in the back, the door is open

I did try to stop at the front desk just to grab a room key for Rob as they only issue one digital key but she was busy on the phone and didn't even acknowledge me so we just went up to the room. We got in the first elevator we saw and then left when we saw the buttons only go up to 6. I realized that this was the elevator for the balcony rooms and not the tower rooms, so we headed down even further to find our elevators and up to the 9th floor.

My digital worked yay! So neat

Took some pics of the room before we trashed the place

And the gorgeous view from our room...

I have to say I loved the Hilton. I looked at the San Luis Resort Hotel and The Hotel Galvez, as well as a few others but the Hilton just matched more of everything I wanted. I loved the pool, the proximity to the ocean, it was close to 61st and Rainforest Cafe was next door, and I knew we would we eating there so the Hilton was just the best choice for us.

Having said that, I was NOT happy about being in double beds! The only option was double beds or a king with a blow up mattress, which I knew Kira would be miserable with. I seriously do not know how couples can sleep in a double bed together and still be happily married

We sleep in a king bed and I feel like I am constantly pushing Rob away to get more room

I even told him before we left that he might be sleeping with Kira tonight.

But I really didn't want to do that to him because she is a terrible sleeper! She moves everywhere, sleeps sideways and even sleep walks! And unlike me, who is used to getting a terrible nights' sleep, Rob needs his beauty rest or he gets grumpy


And double beds seemed to be the norm here in Galveston! Most hotels I checked, at least the ones that were on my short list, seemed to have double beds! I think the hotel industry needs to ban those teeny tiny double beds and make Queen beds the standard

The beds were comfy though and the pillows were awesome!

We were all dying of hunger so we walked the two minutes over to RFC for some sustenance.

Past our beautiful pool...

Which was kind of weird because it was gated on the outside in three places, so really, anyone off the street could just come on in.


Found Cha Cha!

More Cha Cha!

Requested a booth, which was neat because it was close to all the loud action, which startled Kira and made her jump

Rob was happy with his coffee fix..

I am going to end here because I have too many photos to end this day in this post

 

[bcwife76]

Following!!! Hello from Vancouver BC

We were on the Wonder Sept 2015 and will be back on her again for Alaska at the end of August so I love reading all the reports from her reimagining! We were actually booked on the Jan 13th cruise out of Galveston but since booking Alaska we changed to a day later on the Fantasy.

Have never flown through Calgary, the airport looks beautiful!! YVR is a gorgeous airport but it looks like there is more natural light at YYC.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[TestingH2O]

While I was waiting, I received a notification from my Hilton app that my digital key was ready. I am a techie kind of girl so this was super neat! I downloaded the Hilton Honors app before I left, added my reservation to it and I was able to check in the day before, choose my actual room!!!

And then I was able to download my digital key, so we could go straight to the room

Um, that app is amazing! So cool.

We sleep in a king bed and I feel like I am constantly pushing Rob away to get more room

Every trip is like this for DH and me. I need my space man! The problem is less noticeable for us though because at least the dogs stay home.

 

[Tink rules]

I too had to try to remember my Dis sign on...

I have to admit... I miss the dancing bananas


You didn't stop at Buckee's on the way to Galveston??? Gas, the nice bathrooms and multiple flavors of Jerky all in one place!!!

 

[m3owbox]

Day 1 Part 1

I had brought our dog Boo over to my brother's house the evening before we left. He just got a new puppy and I was a little worried about how everything would be over there but other than some food issues, they did just fine

Thanks to my brother and his roomie Darrin, Boo was safe and taken care of so we could go and have some fun!

Piper on the left and ma Boo on the right, during a rare quiet moment

With her countdown calendar complete, it was time to go! We used our Avion points for our flights to Houston so we only had to pay for the flight taxes, which were about $450 CDN total. That saved us a ton! We always try to fly Westjet and they had a direct to Houston that left at 10:30am, so that is what we booked!

She ended up adding stickers 28 and 32 because of who the characters were

I got up at 5am, showered and got ready. Rob did the same right after me and then I woke up the princess!

Finished packing up the last minute items and made some toast for Kira and then off we went!

The Calgary airport just opened their brand new USA/International terminal so I was excited to see it and experience it for myself. It has gotten some pretty terrible reviews so I was a little worried.

Rob dropped us and our luggage off and then took the car to Park2Go, which we have used the last few times we have flown. They are pretty awesome actually and when you return, they have your vehicle started, warmed up and at the gate, ready for you when you arrive on their shuttle. With our AMA discount it was $93 for 10 days, so not too shabby at all and we didn't have to bother anyone in the early hours of the morning to take us to the airport.

New terminal!

I had checked in online the day before and grabbed seats and printed boarding passes so all we had to do was drop our bags off. The great thing about the new terminal is that you no longer have to carry your checked luggage through customs so Kira and I dealt with the luggage before Rob got back from dropping off the car.

Westjet staff were out and helping everyone with their drop offs.

Here's the new E terminal...

And then Rob joined us! Kira and I had gotten our Nexus cards about a year ago but Rob had some issues getting his. He ended up getting approved just before the trip, just in time

The other difference in this new terminal is that security is first and then customs, which is the opposite of what it used to be.

A lot of people complain about the CATSA plus system, which is implemented here only in Calgary so far, the first one in Canada but we had no issues and it was very quick for us. My only complaint (and people are furious about this!) is that there is no dedicated Nexus line. There is a separate entrance for us yes, but then it just dumps you into the regular line.

Now, the problem with this is that Nexus members (Nexus is the Canadian version of Global Entry, but if you have Nexus, you also have Global Entry but not the other way around) go to great lengths to get their cards and one of the perks is to use the Nexus/GE dedicated security lines, which they now have at all major North American airports, (except Calgary!) so you don't have to take out laptops, or take off shoes/jackets, belts and you can leave your liquids in the bag.

Because Calgary has changed their security to CATSA plus, there is no longer an actual Nexus line so everything had to be taken out and off.

Pain in the butt but the lines were short and we got through pretty quickly, even with Rob's two laptops.

Rob and Kira used the Nexus kiosks for the first time and Rob was selected for additional screening at Customs.

This freaked out Rob and Kira a little but once they did their checks on their computer, we were on our way. Another reason to always get to the airport early, like I always say

As a plus, I got to see the Customs area, like the ones you see on Border Security TV show that I love

Coming out of USA Customs, we are now technically in the States

The new terminal dumps you right into the Duty Free shops, which people loathe but it didn't bother me. Like I told Kira, it's just like Disney Parks, you ride and then you get dumped into a store


The new terminal is beautiful, huge and so clean

The problems that people are having are primarily with the new call-to-gate procedure...

People have major issues with change and they are just so used to going to the airport, customs/security and then plopping themselves at their gate and waiting until they announce the boarding.

This isn't much different, just you have to wait at the central area until it's boarding time instead of walking down to the gates.

The only thing I will say is that they really do need some more seating down at the gates. I understand that they want to prevent people from waiting there but they need to understand that flights are delayed, gates are changed and TONS of people are complaining about the lack of seating at the actual gate area. And I have to agree. If I walk down to my gate and it's delayed/changed/rescheduled, I don't want to walk back to the main area. And I am not handicapped or elderly or in a wheelchair, so I can imagine how others may feel about it too! It took about 6 minutes to walk from the main waiting area to the furthest gate and the one small moving walkway was closed (as it has been most of the time since the opening).

Rob and I were starving so we planned on eating at the brand new restaurant by Wolfgang Puck!

We've loved every WP location we've been to and this was no different! The only let down was the fact that they had no waffles, which I was hoping to surprise Kira and Rob with as they LOVE their waffles

Kira wasn't all that hungry so I just shared mine with her and Rob had the oatmeal.

We were past security/customs and our trip was just beginning, look at the happiness

Mine was sooooo delicious!!!

It was doubly delicious because I have been eating low-carb for 6 weeks now and I LOVE carbs!! I mean, loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove carbs

So even though I have done remarkably well with my low-carb diet, I was really looking forward to a bit of a break this trip. And I will tell ya now, no carb was safe around me this vacation

Kira and Rob got settled in the waiting area and I decided to explore.

The terminal was huge and beautiful but I think it could use some art or more decor or something

I went back to get Kira because I knew she would like to see a certain store...

Let me just say now that this kid is stuffy CRAZY!!! If there is a stuffed animal to be found, she will find it and want it!!!

I am almost embarrassed to tell you how many stuffies she has at home but it's all she ever wants and all she asks for (other than Minecraft stuff) and she buys most of them with her own money from birthdays and Christmases.

So when she saw the back wall, she almost had a heart attack (in a good way!)

She wanted them all but I was a horrible Mom and didn't get any!

However, I did buy her a new Christmas-themed Beanie Boo named Mac that I gave to her upon our arrival at the airport, which has become a little tradition for her and I You can see Mac in the settled-in pic above, right next to the love of her life, a stuffed bear named Louise.

We explored the airport a little, saw three dogs (she's also a huge dog lover like her momma!) and then it was time to head down to our gate.

Even though the screens did not say our flight was boarding yet, by the time we got down there and had a quick pit stop in the bathroom, half the plane had boarded!

When we got to the back of the plane, two people were in our seats. I politely said "I think you're in our seats" and they said "Ummm, nope, we're in OUR seats!"

So I pulled out our boarding passes to show them just as they blurted out "WE are in 21!!!" to which I replied "Well then you're in the wrong seats because this is row 22!"

So, I sit down, remind Kira not to touch anything and I hose down our seats! Okay, well, I used Lysol wipes on everything, not a hose I have to do this every time as I have an auto-immune disease and get sick super easily and when I do get sick, it lasts a month!

All sanitized and settled...selfie time! This is a tradition that goes wayyyyyy back, before the term selfie was coined. It was MUCH harder to do when you had a film camera but we still did it

I have to end it here because the DIS will only allow so many pics per post and I am at my quota

 

[DWGal210]

I'm here to read! Great start!

I love that reveal video with Kira....how sweet. So precious!

That's very neat and interesting about the airport remodel; good that you got to experience it for yourself!

I REALLY looked at those Galveston cruises, the prices were SO good! Now I have a good hotel recommendation for where to stay - your place looks nice! I do agree about the beds; Happiness is everyone having their own sleeping space.

Can't wait to hear all about your cruise!

~ Katie M

 

[jenseib]

That key app is about the coolest thing I have ever heard of. who knew they could do such a thing? We stayed in Huston...now I wish we had headed down to Galveston for our prestay.

 

[Timon]

Following! I'm ready to hear about the updated Wonder and hear the good the bad and the ugly. So far I have only been on the Dream, but we're looking at taking the family to Alaska in 2018 on the Wonder. Also excited for a few days in Canada.

Yay, nice to have you join us

Honestly, there was no ugly on the Wonder, only from passengers on her
I've wanted to do Alaska for awhile now since I am heat intolerant but love cruises. One day

Obviously different from the Dream but you will still love her

Wow! A last minute Christmas cruise....Can't wait to read all about it!

Thanks for reading, can't wait to tell you all about it

Cool! We were on the cruise with you. I'm excited to follow along and relive it!

Awesome! Hope your cruise was just as good as ours I always like reading someone else's perspective of the same sailing because it can be so different and interesting

Found my DIS password and I'm ready to follow along again.

Loving the pics already! Well, except the selfie of the three of you. Rob really must have that piece of square confetti removed from his right eye sooner rather than later. Seriously, you have an amazing little family there and we love you all to pieces!

HAHAH, been awhile, has it?

Yeah, the problem with selfies in low light

We love you to pieces too

Following!!! Hello from Vancouver BC

We were on the Wonder Sept 2015 and will be back on her again for Alaska at the end of August so I love reading all the reports from her reimagining! We were actually booked on the Jan 13th cruise out of Galveston but since booking Alaska we changed to a day later on the Fantasy.

Have never flown through Calgary, the airport looks beautiful!! YVR is a gorgeous airport but it looks like there is more natural light at YYC.

Can't wait to read more!

Hello beautiful Vancouver!!

Ohhh, I am very jealous, I would love to do Alaska on the Wonder

Yes, the new terminal is beautiful, they need to make a few changes and it would be awesome! I've heard it sucks for connecting flights, due to the size of the new terminal now

Um, that app is amazing! So cool.



Every trip is like this for DH and me. I need my space man! The problem is less noticeable for us though because at least the dogs stay home.

So amazing right??

Yes, dog at home and sometimes she sneaks up on the bed but mostly sleeps on her big dog bed pillow. According to my brother, she slept with him all week and hogged the bed

I too had to try to remember my Dis sign on...

I have to admit... I miss the dancing bananas


You didn't stop at Buckee's on the way to Galveston??? Gas, the nice bathrooms and multiple flavors of Jerky all in one place!!!

LOL, well glad you joined us

Hmmm nope, no stop anywhere actually! It was only an hour and a half away and we had a full tank of gas so no need to stop

Welcome m3owbox, not much to say eh?

I'm here to read! Great start!

I love that reveal video with Kira....how sweet. So precious!

That's very neat and interesting about the airport remodel; good that you got to experience it for yourself!

I REALLY looked at those Galveston cruises, the prices were SO good! Now I have a good hotel recommendation for where to stay - your place looks nice! I do agree about the beds; Happiness is everyone having their own sleeping space.

Can't wait to hear all about your cruise!

~ Katie M

Yay, thanks Katie, glad you're here!

Yeah, couldn't really say no and since we have to fly to any port anyway (except for Vancouver) and the taxes are about the same, it was such a no-brainer!!

The Hilton really was great and the beds were so comfy but more suited for 1 adult or at least two adults who are used to sleeping in a double bed together

That key app is about the coolest thing I have ever heard of. who knew they could do such a thing? We stayed in Huston...now I wish we had headed down to Galveston for our prestay.

So freaking neat, right?

Actually, I got the digital key via the app but I had to choose my room on the computer as it wasn't working on my ipad, but so freaking cool that I could do that!

Yup, totally different! Next time...Birdston

 

[Timon]

Day 1 Part 4

We typically eat at Rainforest Cafe during our Disney trips and we've always been happy with service and food and this visit did not disappoint! It probably helped that we were all starving at this point

Kira chose the chicken nuggets

Rob chose the rib/steak/shrimp combo

And I chose something I have been dreaming of for about 8 weeks now

And even after all this time, I am still shocked when they ask me how I want my burger done! For those of you who don't know, if you order a burger in Canada, it comes well done, they do not ask you how you would like it! This is for safety/liability concerns in that uncooked meat is not safe for you.

And for someone like me, a little bit of pink can make me very ill which is why I always cut open my burger and check it!

Thankfully it was cooked to perfection and it was sooooooooooooooooooooooo good!! I think I ate every single morsel on my plate

I should also mention that Kira was heartbroken that the iced tea in the USA is very different from what we get served in restaurants up here in Canada. Iced tea is what both of us girls drink here when we dine out. It's usually Nestea, whereas in the USA, they usually serve brewed tea, and sometimes a sweetened version of that brewed tea but it tastes gross to us.

Even though I had warned her about it, she was still adamant about trying it, which our server was very nice about and let her have a little sample. After her first sip, she said it wasn't bad but I think that had more to do with trying to prove her Momma wrong and less about her actual opinion of it because on her second sip, she sadly admitted that I was right, she didn't like it

She tried a capri sun water thing and seemed to like it but she had a tough time this trip as she is not used to drinking anything really sweet. She doesn't like pop, except ginger ale or orange pop as a special treat but thankfully she drinks plenty of water (I would say 90% of what she drinks is water, along with milk and iced tea in restaurants).

While I drink about 2 litres of water daily, I prefer to drink something else on vacation. I also can't handle sugary drinks so I usually drink Diet-Coke. I used to drink DC like I drink water now but thankfully I stopped that bad habit about 15 years ago but it's funny how I can just go back to drinking it just like that every time I visit the US!

Kira and I made a potty stop, I was telling her how cool the bathrooms were at WDW because she doesn't remember them but sadly, these were not painted like the Disney ones are.

She did check out the very cool bar stools, of course

I forgot to mention that when we got to the hotel, the valet/doorman gave us a coupon card for a free kid's meal with 1 adult meal purchased, so that was a nice little bonus since we were going there anyway

We were all stuffed so no dessert for us, which is something we don't have at home usually but we like to indulge in on vacation. Kira was asking if we could go on the River Adventure Ride so I told her we could go check it out after dinner and find out the price.

Kira and Rob has been on this ride before in 2010 with Rob's parents but obviously Kira does not remember it.

It ended up being $20 for the three of us so we said why not!

Here's Rob (with his parents) and Kira back in 2010...

It was as cheesy as I thought it would be but our little chicken girl loved it and that's all that counts, right?

We explored the store, bought a shirt for her that was soooo appropriate, we just had to!

The shirt had Beanie Boos on it (which she has an absurdly huge amount of!) and said "Hanging with my Boos", which was also funny because we always call our dog Boo "Boos" or "BooBoos" She wears it the next day, so you will see it on all of tomorrow's pics

From the entrance of RFC, we sent a video to Auntie Heather because it was her birthday today and then we walked back to the room and changed into our swimsuits. Rob stayed in the room and caught up on work while Kira and I enjoyed the beautiful pool.

The pool was awesome, it was huge and kinda warm and there was nobody in it! We hopped back and forth from pool to the hot tub a few times and then Rob joined us poolside.

Rob runs as cold as I run hot. Poor guy is always freezing so he is not a pool kind of guy. Kira runs cold too, like her daddy but she is okay if she has a hot tub to warm up in.

The hot tub was weird and neat...there were no steps into it, so you had to be careful getting in and out of but it was lit with beautiful changing lights.

While Kira and I were goofing off in the pool, we heard this big noise and looked up to see that it was the RFC volcano "erupting", so neat!!!

Kira and Rob went back to the room so Kira could have a shower and I stayed in the pool by myself.

I gotta say, swimming in the pool and hanging in the hot tub at night might be my favourite part of any vacation!

I enjoyed some Mommy time for about 30 minutes and then back to the room where I found my family snuggling, watching a movie.

We had no schedule to follow and it was an hour later here than at home so we let her stay up and finish the movie.

Two minutes after saying prayers, she was like this...

She always sleeps well on vacation, lucky her!

I was so tired, I think I crashed right after Kira and Rob stayed up a bit working I think.

It was a long but pretty fabulous day

 

[cntkg1]

Those pictures of the birds would have made Alfred Hitchcock jealous. He probably paid a pretty penny to get that same shot in his movie.

Gotta say your food pics all look delicious. Well, except that one with the bones. Haha. His love of meat made me remember the cruise I sat across from Rob at dinner one night and had to look at his prime rib dinner for waaaaaay too long. But, that's a whole different story, isn't it?

So no actual bathroom pics? What's a Cass Trippie without those? The RFC bathrooms must've been pretty boring for you not to take a picture.

I was just telling our mutual friend Karen how you had an entire section in your blog about Disney bathrooms. That was all too fabulous for some of us.

 

[Timon]

Day 2 Part 1

Well, I have to say that sleeping with my husband in a double bed went better than I thought it would but with that being said, it really wasn't that great.

I totally thought I would have woken up in the middle of the night, cursing at him to get the heck out of my tiny bed

To his utter delight, I did not yell and I tried my best not to kick him over. He said he was sore from sleeping on the very edge of the bed but honestly, I felt like I was sleeping on the edge of the bed.

I was hoping to awake to a gorgeous sunrise over the Gulf but sadly it was quite cloudy out and a little foggy.

The forecast was calling for showers all day and that would put a crimp in our plans for later this evening.

We got up, got showered and dressed and then Rob and Kira headed down to the car in the hopes of finding Kira's missing iPad case. She either had left it on the plane or in the car.

After searching the car to no avail, we figured she left it on the plane.

Time for breakfast!

As soon as I had booked the cruise and started making plans for Galveston, I knew we would be stopping at Waffle House for my husband. Apparently he has this thing for Waffle House pecan waffles. Whenever he travels with this Mom & Dad, they make sure to hit every single WH they see.

I don't care for it at all but I love my hubby and I know he really enjoys it so I made plans to stop there three times for him. Kira also loves waffles so it totally works out.

The WH was just a few blocks away on 61st street, so the car ride over was just a few minutes.

I gotta admit, it's pretty darn cheap! Kira and I shared the breakfast special and Rob had his own, so it was a cheap meal for us.


Our waitress heard us call Kira princess, so she brought over a special hat for her with Princess written on it

Food was pretty quick too!

Kira practically inhaled her waffle! Thankfully they messed up our order and brought us the plain waffles instead of the pecan ones because they ended up making us a pecan one for Rob and she didn't like it at all.

Rob was happy and ended up loving it all!

Oh look, birds waiting for us at the car...

I wanted to make two stops this morning, Walmart and Target. Walmart was super close so we went there first.

Walmart had the BEST Handicap parking I have ever seen! We should all take a lesson!!!

Kira needed a new bathing suit, or two. I tried finding them in Calgary before we left but stores really only carry them in the warmer months. I also wanted to look for footwear for her, there is always a much better selection in the States.

I had to laugh when I saw this...


Welcome to Birdston, Texas!

Rob was laughing at me because he knows how much I love birds

Well, these birds were fine, because they were quiet....I just hate the loud, annoying kind.

Lemme tell ya a little story that my Dad used to love to tell people....

One spring day, very early in the morning, my Dad was out on the back deck, enjoying some fresh air. He said he was out there thinking about what a beautiful morning it was, the leaves were just coming in, the birds were chirping, it was warm out. Then like a bat out of hell, I stomped outside onto the deck, grumpy as heck and screamed "You stupid a$$ birds, shut the &^#@ up!!!!"

We have a lot of magpies here in Calgary and they are so freaking loud and annoying!!! Thankfully, there's not many in our community because it's pretty new and the trees are small and sparse.

So yeah, not very fond of the winged creatures but the Galveston birds are rather quiet so it didn't bother me. We asked 3 different people what kind of birds the "hanging on the wire" birds were and no one knew

After we were done at Walmart, we headed over to Target since there wasn't a single swimsuit to be found at Wallyworld.

Target was the opposite, there were tons!! They were all on sale for $20 so I did the most horrible thing in the whole world and make Kira try a few on.

Man, that was not a fun way to spend 20 minutes

SO. MUCH. COMPLAINING.

And she's not even a tween yet!!!


She had been asking me for awhile to buy her a bikini/two piece swimsuit so we ended up finding one and two other swim suits that fit her nicely, which is tough since she is so tall and so skinny.

I also found a few things that were on my list for my niece for Xmas, so Target was a very successful stop for us

We headed back to the hotel to dump our stuff back in the room. The plan was to walk along the beach but when we got back, it had started to rain.


The grass in the back of the Hilton was crazy green, it looked photoshopped

Oh look, more birds, yay!

Looking northeast from the hallway over to the San Luis Resort Hotel...

It was a little drizzly but we went anyway. We figured it might get even worse if we waited and it did. It was barely raining, actually it was more of a mist, than a rain.

I was in my happy place because I LOOOOOOOVE the rain! It's my favourite kind of weather and I get happy when it rains.

We walked over to the RFC to cross at the lights...

You can see our hotel in the background here...

Rob and Kira ended up back in the store to buy....

Can y'all guess?????

Let's say it all together now...


A BEANIE BOO!!!

She has the monkey and the unicorn at home, so apparently she needed the panda bear too

This whole area is the San Luis Resort district, which I absolutely loved and would highly recommend!

Across the street we go!

Kira was having the time of her life, she was finding really neat seashells, enjoying the breeze and just being a kid on vacation.

This small video I took kind of sums up how she was feeling

I have to end this chapter, at my photo limit

 

[jenseib]

I do the Galveston Beach dance all the time! No one thinks I am cute when I do it though.

 

[m3owbox]

Lol sorry about that. I was trying to comment but my computer wasn't cooperating. I didn't even know it sent anything. Haha. I was trying to say that I have the same Mickey backpack that I take everywhere I go! Also you take great pictures!

 

[condorthb]

bump

 

[jenseib]

bump

Why are you bumping this? It's a new report going on so it doesn't need to be bumped

 

[Timon]

Day 2 Part 2

We walked just to the Convention Center because I wanted to duplicate a photo that Rob took in 2010...

It was getting a little chilly for Rob and Kira so Kira put on her jacket and I gave my jacket to Rob because I wasn't cold at all and he needed it more than me

We walked down to the very end of the breaker and took a selfie

A very windy and wet selfie

Which totally reminded me of this selfie we took back in 2012 in Victoria...

We walked back to the beach and I asked Kira if she wanted to put her toes in the water. We warned her that it would be cold but she didn't think it would be that cold

Here's me laughing at my kid's reaction

More birds

My family were very cold and getting wet so we walked back to the hotel. Rob had some work to do and Kira wanted to go to the pool.

I didn't go in with her but she said it was nice and warm.

I think she spent a good couple hours in there doing handstands and other crazy things!

My original plan was to have an early dinner at Bubba Gump's at Pleasure Pier and then spend the rest of the evening doing the rides on the pier but it was still raining and too cold for my family to be doing outside rides.

We did visit Bubba Gump's though, a first time visit to BG's for all of us. I do not like seafood and although we've had ample opportunities to visit other BG's, I never really had the desire to try it.

I meant to watch the movie with Kira before we left but it totally slipped my mind, so the whole theming was kind of lost on her. It's one of my all time favourite movies so I knew I would enjoy the theming, at least!

Rob wasn't keen on posing for this photo, which I thought was weird because he is game for almost anything, so I got this face

Kira was totally game, even though she didn't understand it LOL!

It was a beautiful restaurant, with great views, even though you can't see it in this pic!

Our server was good, very friendly but a little too overboard, ya know? After I told him that we had already made up our minds, he still went through the whole menu with us But still, I would rather have that kind of server than a bad server, so I am not complaining

We decided to split an appetizer, two entrees and the dessert sampler.

The bread "basket" with two small pieces of garlic toast for $5.29!

Rob likes his souvenir glasses so he got one for him and one for Kira.

Rob and Kira got the Shrimp Lover's Feast or whatever it was called....

And I got the fish and chips.

They enjoyed theirs but mine was terrible! I shared it with them and I only ate one piece. Even the fries were terrible. I also gave my coleslaw to Rob because it was very dry.

We split the dessert sampler and I tried a bite of each and didn't care for it. The cookie wasn't too bad but that was the only one Kira liked so I left it for her.

The total was $80 + tip. Soooo not worth it!

Just as we were leaving, Rob asked our server if we could possibly get some new glasses to take with us as ours were full of ice and leftover drinks. Normally they let us do this, no problem. And the server did say we could, we just had to stop off at the till and show them our receipt. I took Kira outside with me while he did that but the girl wouldn't let him have them! She said you are only allowed to take the ones you used

So he had to find a place to dump the ice and we left on a sour note.

It was my first and my very last time to a Bubba Gump's, I will tell ya that!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

What a great trip report! Thanks for sharing your trip. That restaurant sounds outrageous. I can't imagine them staying in business with those prices.

 

[Timon]

Day 2 Part 3

We went back to the hotel and Kira decided to try on her new swimsuits. Like I mentioned, she had been asking for a two-piece, specifically a bikini-type and I told her that if we found a decent one, then I would get it for her. Since Rob wasn't in the change room with us, he actually had no idea what we bought so he had no clue about this purchase until she emerged from the bathroom wearing it.

He said to her/us "What the heck is this?"

His reaction was so typically father-ly hilarious!! I wish I had it on video because it was pretty funny! His look of shock/horror/over protectiveness stopped Kira in her tracks and caused me to snort out loud!!! Which, of course, made Kira burst out in giggles, it was such a great, funny moment, one that I will remember forever

She couldn't hold still for the photo, she was still laughing!

Our plan was to go back to the pool together but I told her I needed to check my emails and do some work so she just chilled for a bit, which also made me giggle when I found her chilling like this...

And yeah, she found some BEANIE BOO slippers in Walmart when she was shopping for footwear with her Daddy

It was a very foggy, rainy day in Galveston but the weather suited me just fine! I loved looking out from our hotel window, such an amazing view, lucky us

It wasn't too long before Kira and I headed down to the pool. This time Rob came with us but just sat in the chairs while we played some silly games.

By the time we had our fill, I was STARVING!!! Like I mean, wasting away, people!!! Since I didn't eat more than a few bites at Bubba's, I was in need of some foodage, stat!

I asked Rob if he would be so kind as to grab me a RFC cheeseburger to go. He's an amazing hubby so I knew he would!

Kira and I headed back to the room shortly after he left for RFC and then she showered and got ready for bed.

We told her that we would check to see if Forrest Gump was on Netflix, and if so, we would watch it all together. It was and we did

Rob got back with my burger in pretty good time and I was so thankful because it was almost as delicious as the night before!

We watched the movie and then it was time for bed! Once again, she was gone in 60 seconds

The next day was cruise day so we all hit the hay early. We were pretty excited, we hadn't cruised as a family since October 2013

Good thing we all got some rest because the next day was tough...on everyone!

 

[Timon]

Those pictures of the birds would have made Alfred Hitchcock jealous. He probably paid a pretty penny to get that same shot in his movie.

Gotta say your food pics all look delicious. Well, except that one with the bones. Haha. His love of meat made me remember the cruise I sat across from Rob at dinner one night and had to look at his prime rib dinner for waaaaaay too long. But, that's a whole different story, isn't it?

So no actual bathroom pics? What's a Cass Trippie without those? The RFC bathrooms must've been pretty boring for you not to take a picture.

I was just telling our mutual friend Karen how you had an entire section in your blog about Disney bathrooms. That was all too fabulous for some of us.

Yes, crazy crazy birds! I felt like it was a movie, so surreal

Hahaha, yes, we both love our meat so that must have been a tough couple of cruises for you staring at all that disgusting meat

No, they were very plain bathrooms, not worth taking pics of

My bathrooms page is still there

I do the Galveston Beach dance all the time! No one thinks I am cute when I do it though.

HAHAHAHA! Well, next time I see you, I will tape you doing your little dance and I will post it on YouTube and we'll see how cute you are

Lol sorry about that. I was trying to comment but my computer wasn't cooperating. I didn't even know it sent anything. Haha. I was trying to say that I have the same Mickey backpack that I take everywhere I go! Also you take great pictures!

You didn't send anything actually, it was blank but I couldn't quote your quote because there wasn't anything in it, so I added the smiley

I loooove that backpack! We actually bought that at Disney World as a replacement because our old WDW backpack broke while at the Magic Kingdom but I totally love it!! I almost bought the DCL one on the ship but it wasn't nearly as nice

And thanks, they are all just iPhone pics, I did not want to lug my SLR on this trip

bump

HAHAH Thanks

Why are you bumping this? It's a new report going on so it doesn't need to be bumped

Hey now, maybe I paid them to do that

What a great trip report! Thanks for sharing your trip. That restaurant sounds outrageous. I can't imagine them staying in business with those prices.

Why thank you

Well, they have a prime spot right on the pier, so they probably make a good penny, especially in the summer but they will never have my business again

 

[bcwife76]

Ugh, definitely a less that stellar experience at BG! We've been to a couple of locations in the past and eventhough it's not mondo-fabulous, it wasn't bad. That fish in your fish and chips looks horribly overcooked. And dry coleslaw, yuck. The glasses thing is just ODD. I mean, give you guys new ones and then they just go wash the other two. How hard is that?

Waiting for cruise day but I take it it wasn't all fun and games....