Well we “slept in” today.  R woke us at 7:30am.   This would have been great, if it hadn’t been a very restless night.   Anyways.  We went to visit Emilio and Ronnie, who took our Omelet order, then made it.   After breakfast was swimming.   It was a beautiful day, and the top dome of the pool was open.   It was quite enjoyable to have the pool gently sloshing  back and forth with the rocking of the ship.  Lunch and nap came next.

 

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This evening’s dinner was a mother’s nightmare…It was formal night, so we were all dressed in our finery.  It started with the butter.   R loves butter, and she attempted to butter her own piece of bread.  This was ok, it involved butter falling out of her mouth, and her poking more with her finger to lick.  We put an end to that, got her settled with a nice piece of bread with a thick coating of butter. Our waiter Andi, always brings R a beautiful fruit plate right away and tonight was no exception, except that today it was served in a Martini glass… See where this is heading?

She ate her supper more or less after that.  She and daddy had to go take a walk soon after while dishes we being cleared.   Daddy also had to reassure her that the dessert parade of baked Alaska  complete with sparklers would not be scary. A moment before the parade started daddy and R returned to the table complete with a new strawberry stain on daddy’s WHITE linen dinner jacket.  Sigh.   The lights dimmed, and the parade started, sparklers and all, marching to the Radetsky March.   R took this rather well.   After the baked Alaska was served with black cherry sauce, our waiter Andy came over and did some magic tricks for R.  She was thrilled.   And of course on our way out of the dining room (past the ice sculpture) we had to stop at the mint table, and be served by our friend Oka.   He is the bell boy.   He served mints, and he has a little xylophone that he plays to announce dinner.  Not a bad job I say.  

 

After a quick dance with daddy on the dance floor, we are now heading to bed.  I’m exhausted, and that was supposed to be the relaxing day at Sea.  Oh well.  Tomorrow we stop at Half Moon Cay Bahamas, the cruise line owns the island.  So we’ll have a last beach day before we head north to the snow.

Oma and Opa were very generous today and volunteered to take R for the morning so we could go on a tour.  We left in the morning.   It was an island tour.  Our driver was very knowledgeable about the island and we learned a lot.  The tiny island is really two distinct countries on one island.  Unbelievable, different laws, different school systems, 2 airports, 2 water treatment plants, 2 electrical plants.. wow. 

Anyways we had a nice drive with some stops for the magnificent views.  We stopped in the French capital,  Marrigot, and it was pretty darn French, with rude sales people just like in France!

We also toured the Dutch capital of Phillipsburg.  It was a lovely little town, with lots and lots of jewelry shops, just like on many of the other islands.   It was pretty much hard work to find shops that were not selling jewelry.   We did manage to find some nice dolls with darker skins for R.  She is thrilled with the new dolls.  

This afternoon was quite low key, we all had a good nap, then we played a bit before dinner.   Dinner was lovely, the Beef tenderloin was absolutely delish.  And the dessert, wow.  They had made a white chocolate chef’s hat, signed it with the chef’s name, filled it with chocolate mousse, and drizzled berry stuff on it, and served it with a bit of whipped cream and blueberries.  Wow.   Later tonight is the Dutch Chocolate Extravaganza.   They say it takes 60 hours to prepare!  We’ll see if I can stay up until 10 to see it.

We are now catching a bit of Rattatouie.  (the movie).   It is quite funny.

**  I managed to stay up to see this Dutch Chocolate Extravaganza.  wow.  They had built a replica of the Eiffel tower out of white chocolate, a few dozen different types of chocoate desserts, several dark and light chocolate fountains, a huge fortress made out of chocolate, and more.  Wow.  Jo-anna, that would have been your definition of heaven.  Mom and I ended up only having fruit skewers dipped in white chocolate, but that was enough!

Day Three – Grand Turks

Well we were up again at 6, and off to breakfast shortly after 7.   By 8 we were done, and by 8:30 we were off the ship at Grand Turks.   They have build a large area on shore with shops, and a large pool just for cruise ships.   There is a gorgeous beach just off the pier, and that is where we spent the morning.   R had a great time playing in the sand and surf.  She quite happily was humming to herself and/or telling stories.   Daddy mentioned it was pretty easy to entertain her because we were just props in her stories ie. Daddy move here and be a child, mummy be a fish.  She really need a sibling….

Oma and Opa met us on the beach too and each had a delightful time with R in the water.   Waterlogged, we heading back to the ship to clean off the salt water and have some lunch.   Lunch is always eventful.   R stole Opa’s jello, and Opa graciously admitted defeat and got himself another bowl.  R is charming everyone where ever we go, and all the staff (and passengers) love her.   At pretty much every meal, the waiters make her intricate origami toys.  She has quite a collection of frogs that hop, birds and a bunny.   They are all smitten with her.

We had a nap, and now we are just lazing about our cabin until it is time for supper.  I wanted to do my update now rather than later when I’m just to pooped after such a long day of relaxing!  Sorry, only one picture now, I’ll have to fill in the galleries at home, it is a slow process with a satellite connection

Day Two – At Sea

Well it was a relaxing day at sea.  We were up (6am!) hung out in our room until about 7, then went up for breakfast.   Fresh omelets are fantastic!   After daddy and R went swimming.  The pool was really wavy, as the ship does have a mild sway to it.  R really liked the slow sloshing from side to side.  Meanwhile I found a deck chair (a teak steamer type) and read my book.  Of course after a short time I fell asleep, which you are allowed to do on vacation.   We proceeded to the kids club and R had a great time playing with a box of Mr. Potato head  pieces. 

After lunch came nap, and then we got ready for our formal supper.   Wow.  People really do take the “gown” and “Tux” thing seriously…lots of sequins.   We were respectable, but certainly not dresses the fanciest!

After supper we had some time with Oma and Opa then it was off to bed.

Day 1
Well, the day started early at 3:30am.   And yes, as you can see, there are times when R does sleep very soundly!  Thankfully we only has a minute or two of crankiness then she became her cheery little self despite the time.   We stayed at the airport hotel last night, and for once I think we really got our money’s worth.   There was a nasty little snowstorm last night/early morning, and lots of people/flight attendance/planes/passengers, you name it, were very late.   We took off around an hour later than we were scheduled to.   Yes, R fell asleep on the plane, it was pretty funny, she was sitting, then pretty much slumped over double, funny picture. (check the gallery)
Once we landed things went pretty smoothly, and soon enough we were on the ship.  We dropped our bags in our room, lovely may I add, and headed to lunch.  Poor R was so tired by this time, she was quite beside herself (read, super wiggly, wouldn’t eat, wanted to jump into our laps).  Lunch was good if a bit hurried, then we tried to get a nap in.  Well R and daddy did, my mind was racing despite my being exhausted. 
We woke up and proceeded to do our life boat drill.  Read many people standing on deck feeling like fools in their lifejackets.  Thankfully, our lifeboat was on the shady side of the ship.  Did I mention it is 30 degrees here? 

We had a quick swim which was wonderfully refreshing, and quick spiffed ourselves up for supper.   Wonderful prime rib in the dining room, I even tried some horseradish with it for the first time, not bad.  After R wanted to go dancing, so we found a corner with a jazz band playing, and daddy and R danced. 
Now it’s time for bed, lots of fun to be had tomorrow!

R and grandpa did some fix-it work today around the house.  R ‘helped’ grandpa a bit, but also enjoyed rummaging through the tool box.  The picture is of her examining a dowel.

R was delighted to see daddy today, they had some nice hugs!

We had a good time at the extended Franz gathering this today.  R had an especially good time with all her 2nd cousins.   The boys were particularily good playmates, letting R wrap them in ribbon and pretend they were horses! It was a good time, good food and great fellowship!