A Great Day Aboard

One of the reasons for haste while shopping was that I had a 4:30PM appointment at the golf simulator on the ship. It was my first time using one, and I stunk up the joint. Not *all* of it was my fault – no one told me that putting was useless on such a machine because it fails to register the motion, so I racked up a zillion strokes on the greens at Pebble Beach – but, yeah, mostly I sucked. 

It was fun though :)

Then it was back to the stateroom to shower and change for dinner. On our first cruise dinner required dress attire, a restriction that had been relaxed in the years since. We abhorred that change, even as we ourselves attended at least once in shorts, because part of the fun of the cruise was acting like you were fancier than your measly station in life. 

On the second day from port (Day Five by this tale’s reckoning) diners were encouraged to dress their best, and so I put on my shirt and tie and the kids and Lisa tidied up as well. Some of the kids whined that we would look out of place, and sure enough, some people still showed up in shorts, but oh well - I’m glad we dressed up. 

Dinner was marvelous. As always dinner was a four course affair. I wish I had a copy of the menu, but I know I had some marvelous roast duck, and a soufflé for desert that was so decadent, so wonderful, so undeniably heavenly that I do not hesitate to say that eating it may be the most pleasurable thing I have ever done, and by itself a justification for enduring forty years on this Earth. 

That said, not everyone could hang with the “fancy” food. LuLu by this night had already opted out and ordered off the kids menu. Grace kept trying but often couldn’t pull the trigger and actually *eat* the food – I ate half her escargot, and the rest went untouched. At least she tried. 

During dinner professional photographers came by to record the moment, and Tony and Jupa, our servers, made the kids origami animals. 

Afterwards it was back to the club for Smiley (the kid wanted to spend every spare waking moment there) and YaYa, despite her long standing wish to see Hades host the show that night, had some pressing engagement at The Edge and backed out. Lu went to The Edge too, but eventually returned to the room to read and chill. 

Only Junie remained with us to see “Villians!”, hosted, as I mentioned by Hades from Hercules. It tells the tale of Hades as he struggles to prove to the Fates that he’s just as evil as ever. 

Afterwards we took her to have her autograph book signed by Princess Tiana, and she got the chance to dance with Goofy in the atrium!

With a big day ahead the next day, I think we were all in the staterooms and asleep by midnight.

Uncool Miller, Uncool

I just found out that Miller laid off my Uncle Kenny after 49 years of employment. That action denied him his goal of making it to the half century mark with the company he joined as a teen. #dislike

I Guess She Was Tired LOL

A Day in the Bahamas

If you haven’t been on a cruise before, let me just remind you that the food and non-alcoholic drinks are free. Free breakfast, free lunch, free late night pizza, free room service, free calories at your beck and call at all times. Provided you remain active and burn off some of your excess, it’s a grand thing. 

We started Day Five with the breakfast buffet at Cabanas on Deck 11 – out our stateroom, left, left again to the elevator, up to eleven and left a final time. It’s quite the spread, highlighted (for the kids) by Mickey Mouse Belgian waffles with whipped cream and strawberries. Yum. 

Soon tho, it was time to go ashore at Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, a sight that had appeared in our porthole as soon as we awoke. 

(We had an inside stateroom at the aft of the ship, but the ‘porthole’ was linked to a camera that transmitted to the screen whatever was actually outside at a given moment.)

We disembarked through security, being extra sure to take along our citizenship papers for the authorities. [ Although we had blown a lot of time and some money on the effort, not once were they asked to be seen in the Bahamas. ]

We’d paid for a glass bottom boat tour excursion, much as we had eight years before. Lisa remembered it as dull, but I had fond recollections and wanted to give it a go. Unlike last time, when an energetic Bahaman native gave the tour and fed the fishes oatmeal, this one was run by a heavily tattooed Hispanic American who tossed a few slices of bread overboard. 

Not quite the same ambiance. 

We started the trip on the main deck, where the highlight was some free fruit punch, but I soon meandered upstairs with the kids to the ‘viewing deck’, and I’m glad I did. In the open air the trip was much more exciting. Just as a tour of the harbor the trip was worth the cost. We saw military vessels, legitimate shipwrecks, houses owned by Oprah Winfrey and J.K. Rowling, and lots of gorgeous sights. Over the rails the kids saw schools of fish, a stingray, and more. 

Lauren drove me crazy. She’s a bundle of energy and sometimes common sense leaves her, and more than once I thought she’d hop right over the rail and into the water. I was very grateful when Lisa came upstairs and gave me an extra set of eyes to watch her. 

[In the picture where Junie is standing by the pole, note the woman in the gray dress kneeling with her back to the camera. Along with two other Asian women in her party, she insisted on leaning so far over the railing that their dresses rode up, showing the world their panties. While normally I’m in favor of such things, I thought it inappropriate given the time and place.]

The actual glass bottom portion of the trip was a bust. We were escorted down to the viewing room but didn’t see much more than we had over the rails, and certainly less than when we snorkeled later in the cruise. 

Keep in mind this wasn’t a Disney excursion, but a private party. The men’s room was broken, as was the toilet in the ladies room. The latter didn't stop people from doing what nature demanded, and by the time the lady in front of me had a chance to use it it was disgusting. Instead, she held her young daughter over the sink to urinate (or so she told me). I don’t blame her. When it was my turn, I peed in the sink too, rather than overflow the nasty multi-person mess that was the toilet. Yech. 

After the viewing and the restroom fiasco, the tour guide ran a trivia contest where the kids each won a Bahamas keychain. 

If the excursion sounds awful, it wasn’t. It wasn’t the best, but I enjoyed it more than the one in 2006. The kids seemed more enthused by the sights and the sea than I had hoped, and the views were breathtaking. It was worth the (comparatively) small amount we paid for the tickets. 

Much of the day lay ahead . . .

Zoboomafoo :(

Zoboomafoo,the lemur from the PBS show, has died. RIP.

Wouldn't You Know It

For years Lisa has had to hunt and scrape to put together the light blue tree she desired. No more. Finally, as with most things, our culture has caught up to her taste.

LOL

Isn't it disgusting what you can buy at Wal-Mart nowadays? ;)

Creepy

The airline finally delivered Lisa's bag. But someone went through it.  Stuff is mixed about and somebody pinned a button featuring the kids - normally on her cosmetics bag - to one of her blouses. #creepy

Just to be Clear

I've said it many times, but since they don't seem to believe me, let me be clear: having thrown all my funds into Disney, this Christmas will be lean. There will be no dollar store gifts, IOU's, or "hug coupons", but it may very well be recession era-crappy job lean.And I think our annual Boxing Day trip is nixed..You went to Disney World, you went on a cruise, you spent time on foreign soil. You're lucky kids. Don't expect me   to feel bad for ya. :) So consider yourself officially, publicly forewarned. 

25 Years Ago Today

Today is the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

I grew up with the Wall as part of my world and my consciousness, to the point where I still get freaked out that it only stood for three decades, not thirty. 

Seeing it fall - not because of war but instead because of peaceful reform - wow.  A powerful moment, for the 15 year old Dan, and for the world. 

The Return Flight

The flight into Milwaukee

Kovalev - Hopkins

Kovalev-Hopkins tonight, the boxing equivalent of Yankees-Red Sox at the start of this century. It should be a doozy.

Life at Warp Speed

#TeamSlap resumed real life at warp speed. Nine hours after our return we left for dance class, music and voice lessons, some grocery shopping, and dropped Smiley off at Train Fest with Tre. Lisa's luggage is still missing btw

Oh btw - thank you for re-electing Scott Walker in my absence. You made me proud Wisconsin.

Bahama Style

YaYa's new do. Her sisters have them too, but apparently they didn't "borrow" my phone for a selfie like their sister.

Return Day

1. We have arrived in Orlando to find our flight - excuse me, the first leg of our flight - doesn't leave for EIGHT hours. The fee to change the flight is $1800. We can't even check our bags for four hours.  I have four children. This will suck.

2. Screw it. Superdad saw a Hyatt sign in the airport and rented a room for the next eight hours. I dread coming home and checking my bank balance. I may cry. My mortgage company may cry more when I can't pay them. But let those bankers keep my kids at an airport for 8 hrs. Then they'd understand lol

3. Everyone is either asleep or watching Flea Market Flip.

4. I have blisters on my feet and toes. My left ankle hurts and is swollen. My right hip and left knee ache. I have scrapes on my arm, a cut on my hand, bruises on my chest and I'm exhausted. And yes, it was fun.

5. YaYa and I both had our cameras going non-stop throughout the trip, and Lisa pre-paid for Memory Maker, which gets you every professional shot at WDW. Once I lost wifi I stopped supplementing all of the above with phone pics, but fear not: I plan on breaking the internet with all our pics once we're home.

6. Just touched down in Atlanta. Just a note: the last row of a 717 is a noisy place - and no window!

7. Nerves frazzled. We took four kids across a continent and part of an ocean. Who wouldn't be frazzled? Whoever picks us up should bring booze as a welcome home gift! Lol

8. Home safe and sound but the airline lost Lisa's bag.