Benny's Soccer Game

I haven't mentioned soccer in a while because we've had so much rain, which means we have missed a TON of soccer practices.  But Spring Soccer is still on, and we are now finally getting rolling.  Benny had his second game of the season this week.

We drove out to Blue Ridge for the game and when we arrived, Benny realized that one of his soccer shoes was last season's shoe--too small and too tight.

Since it was a forty-five minute drive back home it was out of the question to fix it. So he had to make do.  This meant that he spent the better part of warm-ups trying to adjust his shoe to a comfortable looseness.

There was much adjusting. 

In the end, he just made the best of it and played hard.

The team put up a good fight against a group of kids who were all a lot bigger than they were.

Because the team is large, there is always a certain amount of time to be spent on the bench, rotating out so everyone else gets a turn to play.  But Benny got to be on the field quite a bit. And soon the game was over.  And it was so close!  They lost by one goal. 

Then it's the traditional high-five with the other team, a post-game pep talk by the coach, and off to Chikc Fil A for dinner.  Home for baths and bed.  All in all, a busy soccer evening.

Building A Doghouse

A while back, Sam came home and announced he had to do a big project for his agriculture class in school.  The project would be worth thirty percent of his grade.  He said, "I chose "build a doghouse," because I know Marty can do that with me."

He was very breezy and confident in Marty's ability to do this, but with good reason:  Last Christmas, Sam saw the giant doghouse that Marty had built for Aunt Cindy's great danes!

I reminded Sam he had to actually ASK Marty for his help.  Naturally Marty agreed, so the project was on.  Marty had an extremely rare Sunday at home this weekend, so we jumped on it.  First up was a trip to Lowe's for the supplies:

Then it was home and getting started.

Sam learned how to use a saw, measure accurately, and he got to pound nails.

He also has to fill out a paper detailing what he learned, what it cost, and things like that.  We will attach seven photos of the process to the paper, and his project will be complete!

Soon the project was done, and I'd call it a huge success!!

We do not have a dog, but Sam thinks the cats will enjoy the house if we "put a cushion in it." I think he's right. 

Great job Sam and Marty!!

Spring Cruise, Part Three

One last post about our cruise.  I have so many fun pictures of US, I wanted to share them.  For starters, here we are at the Atlanta airport, having just gone through security.  Hopes are high as we set off on our big vacation--and enthusiasm is high too, even though you would not know it from the expression on the boy's faces.

After long travels and taxi-woes, here we are the next day, being dropped off at the terminal.  We've already stared at the big ship, just off camera, and are now hastily gathering bags and trying to get out of everyone's way.

Once aboard the ship, there was much to do.  Benny in particular made use of the Flowrider.  He was very good at it and enjoyed it a lot!

Had to make sure and get some pics of Sam--who is a bit camera shy. Here I made him stand by the elevators for a quick picture as we were on our way back to the room.

 

Getting ready to sail!  We stood on deck and admired all the other cruise ships, then watched ourselves sail out to sea.  It was fun to see all the people gathered on the nearby beaches and hotel balconies, waving to us.  Somebody on a balcony nearby even had a huge pair of cardboard hands that they were waving.  It was quite a procession to see all the cruise ships head out.

At night we had dinner in the formal dining room.  We had a table all to ourselves.  The food was great and our waiters were wonderful.  We also had a table by a window, and it was nice to be able to look out and see the view.

Hanging by the Flowrider!

Brittany does the zipline!

Benny admires "Central Park," the portion of the ship that is full of trees and bushes (all real) and upscale shops and resteraunts.  There was a free cafe there which became a favorite breakfast stop.

The kids soak in the hot tub on our first day.

Benny took this photo of me, making a stuffed animal at "Pets at Sea."

Mom and Louise, after exploring the ship on our first day, grab a rest break.

Benny wanted us to shuffleboard one afternoon, so we did. Here, Mom shows us how it's done. The court was on the very edge of the back of the ship, behind the Aqua Theater.  Quite a view just outside this picture!

Last but not least, the kids really enjoyed the rock-climbing wall and did it several times. I even tried it---once.  (Once was enough.)  They were very skilled at climbing that wall and enjoyed trying to better themselves each time. 

A great time with many happy memories.  Thank you, Gram!!

Spring Cruise, Part Two

This post is all about our excursions.  While on the cruise, we made three stops:  Nassau, in the Bahamas; and then St. Thomas and St. Maarten in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The boys and I did not get off the ship at Nassau.  But we sure enjoyed the other two ports.  For one thing, the weather was perfect. For another, the water was gorgeous!  It was the unique aquamarine and deep blue that you see in postcards.  Wonderful!!

In St. Thomas we did a little shopping, then we all packed up, got on a catamaran, and went snorkeling and Turtle Cove.

Our huge ship!

There were iguanas all over the rocks near the ships.  I mean---REAL iguanuas, really huge, and really close.  We counted sixteen!  One of them chased after me a minute.  I found out later he was attracted to my tote bag, which was a bright blue.  Scarey.

Sailing to Turtle Cove, Sam is ready to snorkle!

 Danielle, Corey, and Brittany are soaking up the sun!

Benny jumps off the boat--this is how they were expected to get into the water and go!

 Happy snorkelers.  They said they saw lots of stuff--fish, sea urchins, coral, etc.

And true to its name, we saw a LOT of Sea Turtles!!  They were bobbing around all over the place, and seemed genuinely interested in floating to the surface and checking us out before submerging again.  As long as they were left alone, they did not seem to mind all the extra swimmers.

We were all treated to free "tatoos" from the ship.  Also, see the neat ring I am wearing?  Benny bought that for me from the ship and suprised me with it.  I love it!

Afterwards Benny got a turn steering the boat home!

And he got some good pictures of our mammoth ship as we returned.

Our next stop was St. Maarten.  This was also a pretty place, but not quite as nice as St. Thomas.  We got on a bus and took a tour of the area.  They have beautiful beaches, amazing hotels and lovely water, but much of the actual island is run-down, shabby, dirty, and lined with homes and buildings that look ravaged by hurricanes.

We did see a real live iguana, again, in a TREE.

We went to a shopping area as part of the bus tour, and we shopped for fun souveniers.  Here, Benny and Mom are checking out a spice-market stall.  They sold home-made hot sauces and you can bet Benny bought one!

  Lots of inexpensive T-shirts, hats, and trinkets galore.  We bought hats, shirts (one had an iguana on it), a carribean doll, and jewelry.

Mom and Sam enjoy an ice cream.

Funny bus, painted very creatively.

This is us earlier in the day, when we set off for some brief shopping.  We had a great time!

Spring Cruise, Part One

Last Christmas, Mom surprised the boys with a once-in-a-lifetime gift.  She was taking them, me, and my nieces on a CRUISE to the Caribbean!

And not just any cruise--but a week on the world's largest cruise ship:  Royal Carribean's THE ALLURE OF THE SEAS.

The boys have been soooo excited. (And me, too!) And to make it even better, my Aunt Louise decided to join us and to bring her two grandsons, Mikey and Corey. And a few weeks ago, the time came to GO!

We made the trip to Florida, spent the night, then headed over to the cruise terminal.  We met up with everyone and boarded the ship.  Wow---what a HUGE ship.  And soooo beautiful!

This was a solarium near the front of the ship, at the very top.  A wonderful place for sunbathing and watching the sights go by.  Just out of sight of this picture is a large hot-tub that hangs out over the edge of the ship. On the other edge of the photo is a resteraunt that featured health-conscious breakfasts by day, and Brazillian-style steak dinners at night.

One of four swimming pools on board:  One was just for small kids, one just for adults, and two others to choose from as well.  Lots and lots of lounge chairs nearby, as well as a bar (free water!) and a free frozen yogurt stand.  Also nearby was the Flowrider (very popular), miniature golf (with fish-food eco-friendly golf balls in case they get knocked into the water), and a Zipline.

The lobby was amazing!  All indoors, so rainy days could be spent here, shopping the many shops, hanging out at Starbuck's, or enjoying two of the free cafes on board.  See the red area Benny is standing in front of?  That was a water fountain show--that is, until a bar lowered itself from the deck above and came to rest there.  The bar went up and down all day long, with customers aboard.  Very neat!

Gorgeous elevators which were made of glass, of course!

This area was called "Boardwalk" and it's the area our room overlooked.  It was the most happenin' place on board--complete with a carousel, a free hot-dog place, ice cream, Johnny Rockets diner, Rita's Cantina, a few shops, and the ever-popular Rock Climbing Wall and Aqua Theater.  The Aqua Theater had a fantastic diving show that played several nights, and we were able to watch it from our balcony.

One of our favorite shops on board: The Cupcake Cupboard.  Fancy cupcakes in the most creative flavors!

It was a fantastic ship and we had a fantastic time.  I have over 300 pictures from the cruise!! To keep the blog from being over-run, I'll divide our week up into a few posts. But even then, I'd just be scratching the surface.  Stay tuned!