After a great nights sleep in our cozy room, we awoke to a steely grey sky and we were approaching Cast Away Cay, Disney's private island. Will has been dreaming about this place for years. So, you know when you are so excited about an event that there is no possible way the actual place could possibly live up to the build up. That's what happened to us today.
We began the day by singing happy birthday to Will and letting him open up his present. The night before while the boys were at the Oceanier's club we hit the stores to buy the one thing we knew Will wanted more than anything else, a model of The Disney Dream. He pulled the Birthday pin that a kind cast member had given us out of the bag, and pulled out the big styrofoam packing box. The anticipation on his face was palpable. He pulled off the tape and opened the lid, he just stared for a minute, then pulled the ship out of the package with awe. He pointed out all the features of the ship that we had seen already. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, this is the most special present I have ever gotten.' That was followed by a big hug.
After finally convincing Nate that it was time to get dressed, we headed down to the Royal Palace restaurant for a lovely breakfast served in Royal style. This was the beginning of the birthday extravaganza. The wait staff made Will feel very special, the flip side, all the extra attention Will was getting put Nate in a decidedly bad mood. He knew that it was Will's day but it was not easy for him to take. Ken had planned a great excursion for the day, it was time for us to head off the boat and onto the island.
We were scheduled to feed and swim with sting rays, ride bikes around the island and then snorkel in the crystal clear tropical waters, sounds idyllic right? It would have been had it not been about 15 degrees, with a very chilly wind. We were shivering within minutes of being off the boat and we hadn't hit the water yet. I was hopeful that the sun would come out and warm things up a bit that was not to be. We headed to Sting Ray Bay for our first adventure of the day. Despite the clouds the water was still clear and turquoise. Even from the beach we could see the large grey creatures gracefully sailing through the water. One of the sting ray specialists who lives on the island took us through an educational session about the rays, we huddled together on the benches and listened intently. It was then time to hit the water to interact with the rays. They are trained to swim across hose shoe shaped decks and take food right out of your hand. Ken and I both got right in there, we each had a ray suck a piece of shrimp from between our fingers. We tried to convince Will and Nate to give it a try but they were intimidated by the size of the rays and they had purple lips before they even put a toe in the water. Will cautiously waded in the water and giggled as the gentle giants sailed past his legs. Nate initially thought they were quite interesting to watch but then a group of 7 or 8 of them headed straight for him. One of the ray's wings grazed his leg and that was it, the panic set in. "Mommy, I'm scared", this was quickly followed by the projectile tears. I scooped him up wrapped him in a towel and sat with him on the beach. It wasn't long until Will was out of the water chanting, "I'm cold, I'm cold, I'm cold." I wrapped him up too, and we headed into the shelter to put on some warmer clothes. Unfortunately, maximum coldness had set in, this is very difficult for Will to recover from. As we made our way over to the bikes there was a mixture of whining and tears the whole way. We tried to convince him that bike ridding would warm him up but he wasn't buying it.
The beginning of our biking expedition was full of drama, Will could not get himself together and Ken could no longer cope with the whining. I took over the consolation, let him know that he would be just fine and that I would ride right beside him. Once he was off he was flying! Halfway through the trail one pedal went flying off the bike. Luckily there was a lovely British gentleman who also happened to be an engineer close by. Will and I were by ourselves well ahead of Ken and Nate so I was very glad to have a hand. The lovely man got the pedal back on and we were off again. By the time we got back to the bike rental spot Will was all smiles and had really enjoyed the ride. Ken and Nate eventually came out of the trail, Nate had done an equal mixture of ridding and walking while Ken had to ride his own bike and balance Nate's as well.
Nate was on the very of blood sugar crash so we headed to the island BBQ for a bite to eat and then we headed back to the ship. The clouds were not clearing and it seemed the temperature was continuing to fall. The up side of all this is that we will be returning to the Island on Saturday, we can only hope the weather will improve by then! The one thing the boys have been dying to try since boarding the ship is the Aqua Duck, the water roller coaster that circles the 11th deck and extends 13 feet over the side of the ship. We were all cold but the pools had been well heated so we thought the water would be fairly warm. We were wrong. We got to the top of the stairs (which is the highest spot we can get to on the ship, the view was fantastic) got into the rafts and set off. I am not a roller coaster lover but Nate was so excited I couldn't say no. We slipped down the initial drop and then were shot back up by a freezing cold blast of water. By the time we got to the end I think I was experiencing the initial stages of hypothermia but Nate was cheering, he had had the best time. We hopped into the pool to warm up but it was not warm enough. We dragged Nate out of the pool and headed up to our room to change out of our wet clothes and I had a hot shower. I have to admit I was a little bitter at that moment, here we were in the Bahamas and I was shivering. The shower helped to lift my spirits and Ken took the boys to the Oceanier's club for a pre dinner play. This allowed us to relax for a little bit and have a drink on the deck (wrapped up in a blanket) before our dinner at the Enchanted Garden. This is a beautiful restaurant that changes from day to night as you dine. Again, the wait staff made Will feel very special, to top it all off he got two desserts. The boys were big fans of the Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream bar. When he was finished that, the wait staff gathered to sing Happy Birthday and they brought him a piece of chocolate cake, he was so excited, I'm not sure I've ever seen him like that before.
The boys really wanted to head back to the club for a little more play. We dropped them off and then found the quietest bar on the ship. Outlook is the highest bar on board and it has a spectacular view. We watched other cruise ships bobbing by out on the dark water. Eight thirty rolled around and we went to pick up the boys. Tomorrow we had lots of interesting things to do in Nassau, the boys needed to get to bed. We tucked them into their bunks and they were asleep and seconds. Ken and I headed out onto the deck for a lovely glass of wine while the ocean passed by beneath us. Neither of us could believe that we now have a seven year old. It still seems like only a heart beat ago that I held him for the first time. Time evaporates, I am so glad we are spending this time together as a family, I know this is a birthday Will will never forget.
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