Spring-time dreamin'

It's been a long winter.  We've had record snowfall.  We've run out of space in the backyard to place the snow!  We are preparing for flooding if and when it melts.

I'd rather be spring-time dreamin'.  So instead, I'll take you on a little cruise, a Disney Cruise on the Fantasy:

We enjoyed our W Caribbean cruise!  The kids were delighted by the Aquaduck (altho they weren't heavy enough to go on the Aquaduck on their own so one of us parents had to accompany each rider -- brrr, it was cold!).  They also enjoyed the Midship Detective Agency.  The food was fabulous!

Our ports of call were St Thomas, San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Disney's Castaway Cay (Bahamas).

St Thomas harbour

St. Thomas was beautiful from a distance but quite impoverished up close.

biking on Castaway Cay

It was quite cool the day that we were at Castaway Cay so it was a great morning to go for a bike ride.

Snorkelling on Castaway Cay

K, N & my dh went snorkelling for the first time. The water was cold.  N announced that she can strike snorkelling off her bucket list now!

San Juan was our favorite destination.  All four of us enjoyed a tour of the Fortress of San Cristobal & the Disney cast entertained K & N while my dh and I ventured out to explore San Juan for an hour (aka shop)!

Fortress of San Castillo

I feel much better now!  Although I am looking forward to warmer climates, I am ready to don the winter boots & jackets tomorrow!

winter wonderland

For a person with chronic back problems, this has been the best winter I've had in years (excepting the 6 weeks with the cast on my left arm over Christmas but that was just a blip!)  I am mustering the courage to go skating tomorrow.

Last weekend, the girls and I tried this:
Snowshoeing!  I purchased a set of snowshoes for K (6 years), N (4 years) and me now that they are discounted in stores preparing for the upcoming spring season.  I figured that if you can't beat winter, you might as well try to enjoy it!  The girls really enjoyed dashing about on top of the snow and took great delight that they were able to walk on snow banks that I still crashed into despite my snowshoes!

What do I like best about winter?  I love hoar frost.  The frost was so thick on the trees this week that I couldn't resist the temptation to take photos.  Here are some unaltered photos (and no, I haven't switched them to black and white photos):