Many of you have asked to hear about our cruise- so here it goes... more than you ever wanted to know. This will be done in separate installments for each day of our trip.
Day One- May 21, 2007
Our day began early. Alan and I woke at 4:30 a.m. got showered, did some last minute packing, and fed Chancey. Reshen was still snoozing away at 5:30 (unusual), so I had to wake him. I felt so bad rousing his cozy little body from his warm bed, but we had to leave the house at 5:45, so it had to be done. He was a bit groggy, but didn’t complain, and after he was dressed and had his sippy of milk in hand, we loaded up everyone and everything into the car and were on the road (on time!). We drove to the airport and didn’t hit traffic until
The airport experience was thankfully non-eventful. It is a little stressful juggling all the luggage and getting us all through security, but we didn’t get stuck anywhere or loose anything, so it was good. Reshen did great in his new stroller, and didn’t make too much of a fuss. He seemed to understand that he needed to stay in there while we were waiting in line and pushing him through the airport. We let him run around at the gate to stretch his legs. He liked looking out of the large window at the runway and would exclaim “Plane Bye Bye!” when he saw them taking off. He also liked the airport trucks.
Time went really fast at the gate and before we knew it, we were boarding! It actually caught us off guard and we were scrambling to pack our carry-ons back up and get a tag for the stroller. It wasn’t until we were already on the plane that we realized we hadn’t changed Reshen’s diaper. Oops!! Bad mommy! Luckily he didn’t have a poo, and it was a short flight and also he had his overnights on (super absorbent), so decided to let it go. I changed his diaper right after the flight and it was fine (not *too* full).
He was good on the plane as well. I am *so* happy I had Alan with me this time, though. We didn’t buy a separate seat for Reshen (although next time we will), so it really did take two of us to hold him, juggle the carry-ons, and take things in and out of the bags. He is just so much to handle physically. I had a very hard time when I traveled alone with him last December, and really appreciated Alan’s help this time J
I don’t think he really understood that we were on a plane. He watched in the window at take-off and as soon as we flew into the clouds he got this confused look on his face and said “Go?” Like “where did the ground go?” I explained that we were up in the sky in a plane. I wonder how much he really grasped of that.
We did have a few moments where he began to get “iffy”, but I had packed a bunch of toys he had never seen (from his Grandma and also the Dollar Store). He really liked this travel-sized Magna-Doodle we bought at Walmart. It was perfect. He could write “S’s and “B’s” to his heart’s content and “got” how to erase them with the lever. He also played with stickers, cars, read books, and played with cards. He looked really tired around 10:30 a.m. and was getting crabby, so we broke out the laptop and let him watch some Baby Einstein. He totally zoned out in front of it and before we knew it he was asleep on my lap. He took about a 30 minute nap and woke just as we were landing. I think he had some ear/sinus discomfort on the landing as he suddenly began crying (he wouldn’t drink his juice, so didn’t pop his ears), but then when I pointed out the window he calmed down. He watched the approaching ground with wide eyes. After we landed he looked up at me and said “Again! More!” I said “Was that fun?” He looked back out the window and said “More! Fun!” I wonder what he thought was happening??
We collected our luggage in
The cruise boarding had a lot of “steps” to go through, but it was all pretty painless. It was kind of a whirl-wind. We didn’t really know what we were doing, but we just shuttled from one station to the next. . It probably would have helped if we actually had read our Cruise Handbook (or brought it with us, which we didn’t). Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and loved Reshen (of course). Most people thought he was a girl, but he gets that all the time. He was even wearing blue today.
Once we were on the ship we checked out our rooms and were shocked at how *tiny* they were. I mean really really tiny. Alan was worried that would wouldn’t be able to fit the play pen in it, it was so small. After some creative unpacking, though, everything fit (even the play pen). It’s cozy ;-) The coolest thing about our room is that we have an ocean view. Pretty amazing to look out your window and see the open ocean.
We next went to the main dining room and had a late lunch at the buffet. There was a nice selection and the food is good (not excellent, but pretty good). Reshen wasn’t eating still, but was doing OK just watching us and playing with a spoon and his cup.
After lunch I tried to get him to take a nap, but he wouldn’t have it. He at least drank his milk, but after he was finished he just wanted to play. *I* was tired, so was hoping he would lie down with me, but I finally gave up. So instead, we walked around the ship with Alan and his parents. Reshen was very cute, holding May and Ben’s hands. He *really* likes stairs and wanted to walk up and down them all. After touring some of the ship, Alan and I came to the conclusion that it reminded us of the boat version of
It was now 3:30 and Reshen was so tired he was loosing coordination, so Alan and I took him back to the room and tried for another nap. No go. He was in quite a state. Frantic, crazy, and only wanting one thing- to get *out* of the room. We kept trying, but finally it was time for our safety drill. We all had to put on life jackets and report to our muster station. We found out one thing today… it is *very* difficult to carry a toddler when you are both wearing life vests!! We ended up making him walk, holding our hands. He did look really cute in it J
So we all stood in a grouping of lines, clad in orange life jackets, waiting for the drill to begin. Forever! Shocking part is, Reshen stood, as still and quiet as he could be, holding our hands. Never cried, never tried to walk away. Just stood and stared. I don’t know if it was because he was exhausted or if he just knew that he needed to be good, but it was truly amazing. He’s only 18 months old!
*Finally* the drill began, and all the knowledge I gained from it was how to put on my life vest and that I needed to meet there in case of an emergency. Duh!! I needed to stand there for 15 minutes to figure that out? I thought we were going to learn how to get on the boat or the evacuation procedure or something. We were a little peeved, but at least they let the people with children leave first.
At that time we went back to the room and let the little man play while we dressed for dinner. I was a little worried about sitting through a formal dinner with the no-nap king, but we thought we would at least try. He did some more stair-walking and then we went to the dining room with Alan’s family. He sat on my lap for awhile, until the food came out. He was *very* tired (you could see it in his eyes), but he behaved wonderfully. He didn’t eat much (some bread, *loved* the strawberry bisque, and some cake), but at least he was content to sit and graze and watch the people around him. I did have to sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” and “Ram Sam Sam” quite a few times, but he was happy. He lasted there for almost 1.5 hours! We had a good dinner too- I had Antipasti, Lamb Shanks and Chocolate Cake. Really great food. At around 7 we left and picked him up some milk and looked out at the water, as we were now out to sea. We saw dolphins leaping through the water towards the front of the boat. Really cool.
We finally went back to our room and put Reshen to bed. He went down pretty easily and is now sleeping peacefully in his playpen beside us. I hope he sleeps well tonight and I look forward to another full day tomorrow.
Tune in tomorrow for Day 2 of our trip!
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