We didn't want to waste a single moment of our day that day and we had all kinds of plans. First, the pool deck.
We spent about an hour there but at 10 am there was face painting again. I told Dakota about it and warned her that if we did face painting it wouldn't be wise to come back to the pool and she chose face painting over swimming. I really tried to talk her out of it but she was very determined to get that little face painted, so off we went. This time around she asked for a mermaid and we just loved how it turned out! There were many people waiting in line and many of them commented on how beautiful she looked with her new look! One man, who didn't speak English, blew her a kiss in appreciation of her beauty and she looked at him like he'd lost his mind!
While Dakota and I were with the face painters Harper, Tony and Mema stayed at the pool. Then we all met up again at 11:30 for the Let You Entertain Me! show at the aqua theater. I was worried it was going to be boiling hot out on the open air deck watching this show but luckily it was shady the whole time we were out there. The show was really cute with lots of crowd interaction and dancing as well as characters from the movie Madagascar. Dakota and Mema were sitting with me but Harper and Tony sat down front in the splash zone where they got pretty drenched!
After watching the show we stopped at the Boardwalk Dog House for lunch and then made our way to deck 14 where we watched Away We Go, a black light puppet show in the Adventure Ocean Theater at 1 pm.
When that show was over (it was fairly short) we went to find the balloon twisters on the promenade. Dakota got a flower and Harper got a ladybug.
Both kids wanted to go to kids club so we dropped them off for the kids session which ran from 2-5 pm. Tony and I walked around for a bit and then made our way to the Ice Games ice skating show. We got there a little early though and found Skipper the penguin waiting to have pictures with us! :)
Ice Games was really good! The skaters were amazing and the show was entertaining and unique. Definitely worth seeing, in my opinion. I think it's one the kids would have enjoyed as well. After the show we made our way to Champagne Bar. I'm not a huge champagne drinker but they had martini's as well so we both tried a Tropical Martini while we relaxed in the oversize chairs.
We swung by and grabbed the kids from kids club a little earlier than the 5 o'clock pick up time and then went to the Boardwalk to let them make a stuffed animal at Pets at Sea. It's just like a Build-a-Bear, just a bit more limited in animal choices.
Dakota chose a pink poodle and named her Sparkles.
Harper chose a dinosaur and named him Toothy.
We headed to the main dining room for dinner afterwards and there was a bit of singing and dancing as a farewell. Harper and Dakota were both upset and when Harper began to cry, our head waiter gave him a big hug and told him everything would be okay. We all felt like crying but it was just too much for Harps. After dinner that evening there was a Farewell Dreamworks Move It! Move It! parade. If you're ever on the ship and plan to attend that parade, go EARLY! When we got there, about 15 minutes early, there was standing room only, and very little at that. It was a great little parade but a bit overwhelming with such a crowd.
The trip seemed so "over" after the parade. It was a nice send off but one we'd have liked to avoid in lieu of a few more days on the ship. We ended up walking back to the boardwalk so that the kids could ride the carousel a few more times.
When the kids went to get on the carousel the lady told Dakota it'd be best if she let us hold her poodle while she rode so that she could use her hands to hold on. (Harper darted past, with his dinosaur and was able to manage riding while holding it.) So, Dakota handed Tony her poodle and went to ride. Dakota kept checking on the poodle as she rode round and round and I told Tony he should hide it from her before she came back and he slipped it behind his back. On her last few times around she tried asking him where her pup was and he pretended not to understand what she was asking. When the ride finally stopped she and Harper came over and she began questioning Tony about where her poodle was. I told her that Sparkles had gone back over to Pets at Sea to say good bye to her friends and would be back in a minute. She looked at me like I was crazy but because they couldn't see the dog, Harper looked at me and said "Is that really true"? It was so funny because he said it with disbelief in his voice but a look of pure innocence and wonder on his face!
Before heading to our room for the night everyone met up and hugged their goodbyes. There were more tears then, this time from Dakota, but after lots of hugs and kisses from everyone she was okay again. We all had different departure plans so we knew that seeing one another in the morning was unlikely. Zoe and Brandon were flying home to Maryland. Meme, Papa and Kyle flew to South Carolina while LaTisha, Jaron and Alexis made their way home in their car. Tony, Mema, Umpa, Landon, Harper, Dakota and I had a van picking us up to take us to our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale where we'd be staying until Wednesday.
I took this last photo of the kids that night as we walked back to our room for the evening. I don't remember what they were talking about but I loved that they were walking so closely together, chatting, winding down from a busy day. They both had their new stuffed animals and Dakota had streamers from the parade tied in her hair. We'd had an amazing trip and were so incredibly sad to have to go. I'm so thankful that the 15 of us were able to be together, relaxing, laughing and having a good time! I sure hope we'll be able to do it all over again sometime.
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