And Then There Were 2!!!: Disney Wonder Cruise - Day Five

We arrived in Grand Cayman early Wednesday morning. Tate made me happy and slept til 6! WooHoo!

Still I set him up with breakfast and lazed around in bed til 7:30. Got us dressed and we headed off to breakfast with N and H. Yum-o though Tate was becoming less enthused with the pancakes :) but gobbled down the hot chocolate like a fiend :)

Tooth brushing, last minute Cayman packing and we were on our way to the Buena Vista Theater to get our tender tickets. In Cayman we did not dock right at the shore, so you had to take tender boats to the pier. We loaded up with everyone else and made our way to the pier.

As we motored to the pier I was overcome with an amazing sense of calm and peace. I can't explain why, but I just felt so happy to be in that beautiful place with my beautiful boy. So blessed and complete. From that point forward this whole cruise was just fantastic!!

N and H were taking a tour of the turtle farm only, and I had signed Tate and I up for the Turtle Farm and Dolphin Encounter. We (me and Tate) had some time to kill, so we piddled around a bit; he was most displeased, but soon it was time to get on the bus to the Turtle Farm. As we drove through Cayman we passed many places I remembered from my visit several years ago to see Kristen. She was in Cayman for almost 2 years fulfilling her dream of living the island life! She worked as an underwater videographer and I had a fabulous time visiting. We were new friends having just met in Bermuda via the Houston Leukemia and Lymphoma Society when we participated in the full and half marathon in Bermuda.

We arrived at the Turtle Farm and got all our instructions. Lo and behold we ran into H and N! Tate was thrilled as he was most upset to see that H was not on our excursion.

I think Tate looks like a hip teenager here!!

H and her mom went on to continue their tour which put Tate in a sad mood, but once we saw the turtles he perked up a bit!

And then we came upon the wading pool where the kids could get in and pick up and touch the turtles. Tate was so excited and immediately lined up.

When it was his turn, he started crying and came clamoring down the steps. I tried to convince him to try again to no avail. He kept whining and crying about how sad he was.

I did not take this well. Ack...bad mom!

I told him he needed to at least try, that I wasn't going to let anything hurt him. More tears prevailed. I could tell he wanted to do it. I told him to stop whining and do it. Ok I also told him not to be a baby about it! Yes I said it. Finally, I said he needed to try or stop crying and that I was going to take him back to the boat and I would come back to play with them while he went to the Kids' Club.

He ran over, climbed those stairs and got into the wading pool in seconds flat!

He was almost giddy with excitement and pride in himself. Though he wouldn't pick up a turtle he happily touched them. There were some very sweet older kids who were more than happy to hold the turtles up for him to touch and play with. I was so excited for him.

We then made our way to the Dolphin Encounter across the street. We got suited up in our life vests and made our way to meet our dolphin Galileo. Tate wasn't quite tall enough to walk/stand once we got into the water so I had to hold him (quite a feat with two huge life vests on).

Of course when it was his turn to shake hands with Galileo the tears and twisting away from the dolphin began. Sigh. I firmly sat Tate down on the edge of the pool and told him I would have to take him back to the ship for the Kids' Club while I returned to swim with the dolphins. A big sniff and voila!

He is having SO MUCH FUN!!

His absolute joy was infectious. Everyone clapped for him and he had so much fun. He was kicking and doing that shaking thing with his full body he was so happy. He laughed and talked and giggled with joy. I will never regret 'making' him play with Galileo.

After our group's time with Galileo we returned our life vests and sat down for some lunch. I had snuck some food off the boat for Tate...left over Mickey pasta and broccoli from dinner and some yogurt and applesauce from our room. I got some food for myself and we enjoyed the view while we ate lunch.

We looked through the gift shop offerings, getting him a t-shirt and the disc with our dolphin photos then climbed the bus to head back to the ship. We boarded the tender boat and bid Grand Cayman a fond farewell.

Enjoying the Tender Boat Ride!

Once back in our room we were greeted with a trick or treat bag filled with candy for Tate. Disney Wonder had let us know prior to our trip that there would be a Halloween celebration on board for all trips in October. Tate was thrilled, and yes I even let him eat a package of Skittles!

Is that CANDY????

H and N were back, so we let the kids play for a bit, then she put H down for a nap (H ended up falling asleep at 4 and not waking until the next morning!). Tate played happily with his trains and I got a moment to decompress.

Dinner was quite festive as all the kids had been encouraged to dress up. I was not about to bring Tate's costume on this boat (he wants to be the Polar Express, not the conductor, but the actual train...heaven help me I'm making it out of a huge box...not cruise ship friendly), so I brought along his fireman raincoat and boats and he was happy happy.