Karla's Cottage

Swimming with sharks? More pictures from the Disney Cruise

One of the highlights of our trip on my 60th birthday was a day trip to Atlantis.  We splurged (big time! Geez) for the water park package during our Bahamas day in port.  

There was an underground aquarium, beaches, and endless pools to explore.

All surrounded by beautiful architecture.

But the coolest part? The waterslides ended in the shark tank.  

Actually, the flue that the inner tubes leisurely floated through at the end of the slide went through the sharks.

It looks like this is my last birthday post.  I am afraid that I am all out of parties.  I might have had more than my fair share, and I loved every minute of them and of the time I spent with the people I care about, celebrating together!

Acrylic Paint Pouring, or Flow Painting- my latest obsession and how it morphed into oceans

This medium intrigued me and I thought I'd give it a try.

uh oh

I was hooked!

You mix acrylic paint with silicone or dimethicone (found in Coconut Hair Serum), and a conditioner to make it pour easily, a little water, and then use different tricks for pouring it onto a canvas. Afterwards, it gets hit with a heat gun to create the "cells" or bubble formations that come from the heat making the additive rise to the surface.

And it is an ooey, gooey, mess of fun!

After a few days of learning how the paint moves and how to control it a little (haha, it is wayyyy out of control, but you can try!)

I decided to try some more representational works.  Or as Sugarwings calls it, intentional pouring.

And then I discovered oceans.....

And I cannot stop.

This is why, the elusive cells. When they happen where I want them, it is a wonderful thing.

Some have more than others, but I can't stop chasing them and hoping I catch some.

 

An early morning Cocoa Beach Sea Shell Fairy

We arrived in Cocoa Beach the night before our cruise with big plans for an afternoon on the beach, which got changed by a late flight and lost luggage.... But that is a whole other story.

Our flight was late, yet still in time for a sunset dinner on the pier, and a quick trip to the touristy, swimsuit store nearby. Then my husband took the girls swimming while I ran to Target before it closed, to nab some underwear and toiletries.

 Sugarwings woke up Friday morning to see the sunrise, and the two of us snuck out for an early walk along the water while the others slept in.

She was just too excited to waste a moment of beach time.  And I was antsy about the lost luggage, and wanted to check on it.

Yep, it was there! It was delivered to the front desk of the hotel at 5am. Whew, what a relief, I'd only got enough at Target to get us through the morning, not enough for a 3 day cruise. 

Plus, it contained our Pirate costumes! How could we go on the ship without those???

There is something very special about being out on the shore early before the crowds. And the shells were plentiful.  Often, it takes me a full week's vacation to find the right pieces to leave a sprite on the beach, but we were lucky in finding all we needed in mere minutes at Coco.

Fairies are even more meaningful to me, when I have Sugarwings as a helper.

It was a beautiful start to a beautiful weekend!

A Caribbean Sea Shell Grammy Fairy

As I said, we LOVED our Disney Cruise.  It was a short one, three nights. We stopped at the Bahamas and Disney's private island.

There was a breathtaking amount of sea glass on the beach at Nassau! Trouble was, it wasn't the old, really cool stuff, it was more of the beer bottle variety.  I still managed to find a few bits that were nice, and while they are not my favorite kind of beach glass, they were still a thrill to hunt for.  I also found lots that I considered dangerous and sharp, so picked those up too, and threw them away to save bare feet.

And what a funny shell I found to make this Grammy Fairy's face. Goofy, huh? Or creepy?  

This looks like a postcard, doesn't it?  Our whole weekend looked like we lived inside a vacation postcard. It was beautiful.

Disney is all about the layout and design. Every corner is a photo op. 

The island had an ideal beach for little ones, with a barrier to keep it safe and calm. I dressed them in swim shirts to keep off the sun, and that worked well to prevent sunburns and also helped me find them in the water. Those shirts stood out nicely and I was able to keep an eye on them.  But, the beach itself wasn't all that crowded, so it wasn't hard to find them at a glance.

We were comfy, relaxed, and had perfect weather as well as a perfect day.

 

On the Disney Dream

This bread sums up what I loved about the Disney cruise we went on to mark my 60th birthday and Avahni's high school graduation.  The loaf shows the imagination and attention to detail that we saw everywhere we looked. 

Our dinner that night was in Cinderella's ballroom, and the bread is shaped like a pumpkin, in a bowl encircled with a dancing royal couple, and was served by a waiter all decked out in a fancy costume.

Every night, we changed to a different dining room, but had the same waiters each time.  Those guys were the best, full of magic tricks, puns, puzzles and jokes. We were always the last to leave the room, our waiters were just too entertaining til the very end.

There was so much to do for the grandfairies, from flying the Millennium Falcon, to swimming, dance parties, movies, and plays.

While we stayed busy, nonstop, I still feel like we didn't take advantage of half the activities offered.

We sure didn't miss Pirate Night!

By the way, Dewdrop wasn't sad, she was just being a model.  Most photos I got of her were super serious, pouty poses, instead of her normal, goofy smile.

She was about as happy as a kid could be, but when I asked to take her picture, she often turned Super Model on me.

We were all as happy as could be, Sugarwings' joy was about to explode during most of the trip.  She was thrilled to be up on stage at the dance party.  That is her on the big screen to the right.

The ship was beautiful, and the shows were the best.  I thought I loved the Beauty and the Beast movie, til I saw the play on the ship- it was even better!  We saw two plays and a magic show, the teens saw first run movies too. 

The only thing that maybe wasn't the best, were the kids' pools, both were quite small. But our girls didn't mind a bit, I doubt if they even noticed. There was free ice cream by the pool and never ending Disney movies playing on a giant screen above them.  

While the adult pools looked more tempting to me, I didn't have time to check them out.  And we never got to ride the waterslide/roller coaster, because we were simply too busy having way too much fun elsewhere.

I guess that means, we need to go back someday to fit more adventures in?

We were extremely lucky with the weather that weekend, it was perfect every where we went. Warm with a slight breeze, so we didn't get hot.

The seas were calm, which was lucky too. I might not have enjoyed it all as much if it had been rough. 

I took non-drowsy ginger tablets and wore my motion sickness wrist bands just in case. And the first night I took one Dramamine so I'd sleep better, not realizing that they last 24 hours, and I was still loopy when I woke up. 

Oops. 

Should've trusted my ginger pills!  The Dramamine put a damper on my birthday, I napped by the pool at the Atlantis resort instead of paddling in the water.

Mickey was very kind to me on my birthday, and left a birthday card on the cabin door in the morning, then a gift certificate to the spa in the afternoon. At dinner that night, I was brought a special cake, and was serenaded.

The spa was really something. My pal, Mickey had gifted me $50 to use there, and I thought I'd apply it toward a facial (since I just turned 60 and could use all the help I could get), but instead, I bought a $27 day pass to the Rainforest that included heated lounge chairs, Jacuzzis, multiple steam rooms, and specially showers along with my choice of scented scrubs.

I picked lavender, my fave.

Oh my goodness, those showers!  All were lit up, and had different settings.  I went for more of the tropical ones than the Siberian ones.  Actually, I very much avoided the cold ones.  But I tried all of the others, over and over.

I went straight to the spa from my shore trip, still in my swimsuit.  After a day at the beach, this treat of an hour at the spa was perfectly delightful.  The cabins were comfy and more spacious than I expected, the bathrooms in them were nice.

But getting cleaned up and pampered in the spa was still a thousand times nicer than the small shower/tub in the cabin. 

Thanks, Mickey!

If you love to be surrounded by tiny princesses and pirates, I couldn't recommend a Disney cruise highly enough. It was kid heaven.

As an adult, I was completely entertained and happy the whole time, but I do have to admit that it was oriented toward the itsy bitsy types. 

Then again, I didn't go to the bars, adult restaurants, or shops, so maybe there is plenty of completely grown up stuff there too.

There are clubs and organized activities just for the little ones if you want some time to yourself for a movie or a drink in one of the bars.

Having two teens and two adults, we were able to take little breaks from kid-dom.  My husband saw a movie with the big girls, I had time in the spa.  

But honestly, I didn't need breaks from any of them, they were the best. I was so lucky to have this trip with them all!

Thank you to my Handsome Husband for taking me on a special trip.

Randomness

This was painted years ago for a friend, and I just recently visited their home and saw it again, what a nice surprise. 

On one of our LONG, cold Spring days, while waiting for the weather to change, we went out for hair cuts and treated ourselves to milkshakes, pretending that we were not cold.

We spent a few days at the Discovery Zone in Topeka too.

There is always plenty to do there.

The grand fairies could stay for the whole day, and sometimes we do.

Sugarwings has been making mini waffles for us, after getting her own waffle iron from the Easter Bunny.

I don't think this is the Easter Bunny himself,  just some random bunny I saw at Home Depot.  A toddler, shopping with his mom, helped me follow him around and watch him nibble on the flowers.

Aren't these a pretty color? I mean, two pretty colors? I love these shoes and they were only $10 since they were mismatched.

A two toned bargain didn't bother me at all.

And here is some random cuteness from my world.  A picture of lazy dogs for this lazy, post I just wrote.

 

Prom

Avahni is graduating soon, and her Senior Prom was the week before our cruise.  I was lucky enough to get to help her choose her prom dress!

And she let me do a photo shoot with her as we waited for her date.

When he arrived, he was a good sport and posed for me too.

Aren't they cute together?

I thought this gown suited her dramatic coloring.

And he chose the ideal corsage for her to wear.

It was an honor to be a part of her big night.

Dewdrop enjoyed the prep too, and had a bit of a make over herself.

We are proud of our girl, not only because of how gorgeous she looks, how kind hearted she is, and how talented she is when she flies through the air on the silks.  She has made plans to be a paramedic and has been taking college classes toward her goal while still in high school.  She has even gotten some scholarships lined up for future classes! Congrats, Avahni, we love you!!

Great Grandma Nellie and her sister, Martha

Previously, I showed you the old, family photo my sister had, and how I edited it.  I was so in love with the picture, I wanted to do a very special frame for it, hopefully, a shadowbox.

But I couldn't find a shadow box as ornate as I'd like. Instead, I bought a black, oval frame ($7, Hobby Lobby), painted and distressed it.  Then,  filled it as I liked and added the glass to the top rim of the frame instead of flat against the insides as it was meant to be. 

I glued it down (Crafter's Pick, the Ultimate Glue), but the glass was made slightly larger than the place I wanted it to be, so I had to do some camouflage.

I goobered it up, with ruffled ribbon, and lots of foof.  That took care of the problem.

The sisters were cut out of the picture, and edged in brown marker, with a little brown water color on the vintage, ledger paper behind them, to make them stand out.  Their dresses were sparkled with a Gelly Roll stardust pen in clear, and I gave them millinery flowers to hold.  

There was also a slight, gappy looking area around the inside of the frame, where the glass should have been before I decided it needed to be on top instead.

I ruffled some crepe paper and trimmed it to about a 1" long and then pressed it into a bead of glue all the way around the inside edge of the frame before permanently gluing the glass down to the top and foofing it up.

 

Special K Day, a party in the studio

When I'd heard that my Fab, Florida Friend, Karen Hillman, was going to be in Kansas, I thought it would be an ideal time to plan a craft day.  

Since my birthday was coming up, I thought I'd combine her visit with a little party to celebrate the occaision.

Karen and I call each other, "Special K", along with our third K, Guncle Kevin.  And I wanted to make the day extra special for my K, so I set the table with some of my favorites and we all made some goodies for a ladies' luncheon.

I fixed quiche, bread, and cupcakes. Others brought snacks, treats, and plenty of deliciousness.

While in Florida, I arm wrestled Guncle Randy for the leftovers of the cake Karen had baked, packed it in my carryon and froze it that night, to thaw out for Special K Day and serve to the guests.  

It was every bit as mouth watering as it was the day she made it. Wow, I need to try to make one of those.

We had some afternoon goodies in the treat cabinet too.

Can you have enough desserts on craft day? I don't know if I like craft days for the food or the projects.

For birthday party gifties, I provided unfinished wood shadowboxes, with a table full of the supplies to fill them up.

I also found some Crabtree and Evelyn scented cream, in pretty, spring like tubes for everyone.

It always makes me happy to see what variations the artists come up with for the projects. 

I didn't have kits as I would for an actual class, just a table full of goodies to chose through, so the styles were even more unique than usual.  I also set out wooden bird houses to fix up.

(That dark paper with the birds? A gift from Alice-Anne, it is scented drawer liner that came in a box labeled, "Birdsong"!

Pretty ideas, aren't they?

So sweet.

Tami brought this lovely bouquet and table runner for me.

And Nora crafted this hand made basket!  My friends were very generous and thoughtful. It made Special K Day even more special to spend it with some of my dear, Birdsong Peeps!

 

 

 

 

Bahama Bound

Today, I am 60.

I've decided to relish every second of this year and celebrate throughout.

I'll wear the swimsuit that might not be quite age appropriate, knowing that if I don't now, then WHEN?  (This sagginess isn't going to get any better.)

I'll ride the roller coaster (after taking ginger pills) and deal with the motion sickness because life is too short to avoid fun when it is offered.

I'll say YES when friends offer an invitation and make the most of the time spent with them.

I'll play hooky with the grand fairies and float away with them across the seas to explore new places.

I'll take the time to paint, to play, to walk in the woods. 

I'll look for the happiness that is always waiting for us, if we just give it a chance.  

I'll be thankful and recognize the blessings I have, and treat each day as a brand new gift.

 

The 4 grandfairies, my Handsome Husband, and I are on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas now, and my birthday dinner will be before Pirate Night on the ship, after a day on the beaches. It can't get any better than that. We are also celebrating our eldest girl's high school graduation while floating around.