Category: Current Family Life

The night went fairly well. J had a small crying jag, but settled down
with a drink of water. Once again we were up early, and walking down the
hallway to breakfast at 7:30. Yup, I can hardly believe it myself. I am usually dragging myself out of bed then!! What a difference sun and being on vacation makes!

We set off for the pier and our Glass bottom boat tour. The guide
assured us it was only an 8 minute walk, but that must be like Island time or something, as it was more like 20 minutes. R was hot, and complained about it! How quickly we forget that our summer was pretty much the same temp! (27 degrees). The boat was interesting, although the coral reef and fish on the bottom only entertained R for a little while. J was also not that interested, but that was likely due to the fact that he wanted cheerios and water.
Upon returning to the dock I popped into a few stores, found some postcards, and R a “girls rule” shirt. Yup, that was the t-shirt she
picked out, of course it was purple-blue tie dye to boot. She then
decided she’d like her hair braided. We found a nice lady and proceeded
to the “Official Hair Braiding Pavillion”. R managed to sit still, and
got her hair done. I wandered off on a mission for stamps. While she
sat still for the hair braiding she dictated postcards to daddy. For
those of you who get them, this is why it is in daddy’s handwriting. R
loves her braids. Actually I think she likes the fact that they make
noise when she walks the most. She is constantly jumping up and down to
show us how much they jangle!
Back on board, we cooled off in the Lido and had lunch. After R and
daddy went swimming, I tried to nap J, but he had other ideas. We went
to try to learn how to play steel drums, but were late, and alas there
were no drums for us. Perhaps they’ll repeat that session. R went to
the kids club for a while, she already has a good friend there. Daddy J
and I had some ‘floor’ time on the sports deck. We got the kids bathed
and ready for dinner (Formal night) and actually left the room about 30
minutes early for dinner! Since it was formal night there were
photographers scattered around, and they took some picture of us. Dinner
went very well, we’ve had several people compliment us on how well our kids are behaved! (Proud parent moment!) After dinner daddy put J to bed and R and I went to the lounge for her to read to me, and me to read to her. Now they are both asleep, and I’m
heading there soon too. We have a restful day at sea tomorrow!

Well I woke up at 6:56 to a beautiful beach sunrise. I hadn’t even heard the kids. Albert had taken R into the other room so I hadn’t heard a thing.
We were all showered and ready to go at 7:58! Unheard of, I know. It helps when you go to bed at 9pm!

So after a bountious breakfast, we were off the the pool. It was still overcast, and windy. Warm though, and the pool was heated, so daddy and R were toasty. After the swim we walked down a few blocks. I popped into the drug store, and R and daddy went to the beach across from the store. I came out a few minutes later and lone behold the sun was out. We headed back and took a shuttle to the ship. Boarding was uneventful, and we went right to lunch. They have these nice highchairs, wooden with a small tray, but the best part is that they sit up really high, so J is almost level with our heads. I think he really liked it.
We got to our room, and while daddy and R went swimming, J had a little nap while I did the domestic unpacking. For those of you who have cruised, you know how small those state rooms are. Everything really needs to get put away. There was plenty of storage, so I squirreled everything away. When they came back we all went to the kids club to check it out. There are 22 kids on board apparently. Very nice staff,we spent some time in there. Then it was time for our lifeboat drill. Thankfully they no longer make you wear your life jacket to and during the drill. Safety hazzard, go figure. I thought this on the previous cruises as hardly anyone actually does up the life jacket, so there are dragging/dangling straps everywhere. Anyways. R freaked at the 7 blasts of the whistle, and surprisingly J didn’t!
Supper was good, R complained about her head hurting. The ship started moving, and my head felt swimmy too. By the end of the meal she was better. I should mention supper was very delicious, I had linguini with pancetta, daddy had veal. Our room wasn’t quite ready so we went to the pool deck where they were playing music. R got up on this raised/gazeebo thing and started dancing. It was great. Other people love her! Now all is finally quiet, and both kids are sleeping. I’ll head there myself soon. I’ll try to find an internet connection tomorrow so I can type on my laptop and include pics. Yes, I have typed both of these updates on a blackberry!

Well. We got to the airport with some time to spare, and check-in, customs and security all went well. We got some food and drinks on the other side and waited to board. Once on the airplane, I realized what a different plane ride this would be. J was in the seat beside me while things got settled, and he immediatley turned and tried to pull himself up on the armrest. (Up until now he hasn’t been moving at all, read our website for updates). The little stinker wouldn’t just plain sit, had to be moving all around…while it is great to see, it is also not as convenient!!

Other thank squirmi-ness, our flight was uneventful. Arrving in Miami things also went smoothly until we tried to get a taxi. I am astonished at the rudeness of some Americans!! Anyways. We finally got a taxi and got to our hotel. We are staying at a nice hotel, right across the street from the beach, and for some reason got upgraded to a suite with a huge balcony overlooking the beach. Wow. 2 bathrooms, and the one is just HUGE! It also has a nice kitchen, granite counters, stainless steel appliances. I’m a little sad it is only for one night!! We decided to try the Thanksgiving buffet. It was pretty good. The turkey was good, the gravy super good. They had yummy beets and goat cheese, and R ate a bowl of muscles and crab legs. J ate pretty much everything, but really liked the butternut squash soup. From where we sat we could see the pool, beautiful, lots of palm trees, hot tubs, and a ocean view which I’m looking forward to seeing in the morning. J and I did some tummy time therapy while daddy and R hit the pool. I am so amazed at J’s progress. A week ago today was our initial consultation/session, and today he is moving from sitting to crawling position, back to a sit, from belly to crawling position, can pivot 360 on his belly, and has learned to go from sitting to standing you have to bend your legs! Oh, and also from lying down to sitting up. Quite the list I know, but a week ago he was doing NONE of these things!
Anyways. The kids are asleep,and I may just have to head to bed soon too. I want to pack a bunch of things in tomorrow morning before we transfer to the ship!

Well we skipped school for a day and went down to Great Wolf Lodge. The kids had a blast, especially R, as she had a friend along. A nice time!