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!

Baby Silas

We got to meet baby Silas today.  He's Marty's first grandchild, and as Marty would say, "he's a dandy!"

Proud Mom!

Lots of family resemblance!

He's four months old, and a happy little guy.  He's easy-going and smiley and very sweet natured.

We'll see him again this summer and I'm sure we'll be amazed at how fast he's grown. 

He's a cutie pie!

Ice Cream and Reading

How are ice cream and reading connected?  When you're in fourth grade, they are connected by one word:  PARTY.

When you meet 100% of your Accelerated Reader goal for the year, you are rewarded with an ice cream party in the library! And this year, despite numerous snow days once again, and having to tackle some very large, heavy books in the homestretch, Benny met his A.R. goal.

So I headed down to his school to help out.  Spring is here---look at the lovely trees in bloom!

Benny's school.

The library!  Lots to read!

Here come the kids!

They were happy and ready to have a good time.  These kids put some serious time into reading this year and they deserved every last treat they got.   The party started off with bringing their lunch to the library--what a treat!  The librarian (and she is fantastic) played lots of finger-snapping, chair-bopping, kid-friendly music to set the mood.  Everyone danced and joked and ate and laughed.  These kids can make even small things fun.

Then it was on to the ice cream buffet.  Toppings:  Chocolate chips, oreos, sprinkles, chocolate sauce and caramel sauce.  And yes, that long haired boy in the middle is Benny!

After a serious chow-down, the kids had to hurry back to class.  This is two years in a row I got to see Benny have his ice-cream party.  And he just yesterday told me that his new goal is to read one million words!!  And yes--they have ways to figure that out at the library, and they have special markers on the wall for all the hundred-thousand words mile points.  Wow!  Looks like we'll be doing a lot of reading over the summer!

Guide To The Solar Systems

Today Sam brought home a project he completed at school. It is an extensive Guide To The Solar System.  It's wonderful!!  No wonder he got an "A" on it.

First off, don't you love the illustrations?  I think they're great.  I personally could not draw a cross-section of the sun, or accurately depict all the planets.  So--I am impressed.

Some information I learned from reading Sam's book:  "The Sun is an enormous ball of gas that produces energy by fusing hydrogen into helium in the core.  This energy travels outward through the radiation zone and the convection zone."

Did you know the sun has a photosphere?  Or a Corona?  I guess I did know these things at one time, but I'd forgotten.

Love the drawing of Earth, so friendly and healthy looking.  Did you know:  "The Earth is 150 Kilometers from the sun; one astronomial unit."

Astronomial unit?

As for Venus:  "Thick atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide."  And:  "Droplets of sulfuric acid in atmosphere makes it look yellowish-greenish."  "No moons," and "Surface has craters, cracks, and volcanoes."

I have to say, I picture putting my sleepy boys on the school bus at 6:30 a.m., and sending them off for a long day of school---and they pay attention and learn these things?  I think it's amazing. I can't imagine staying awake all day long, let alone absorbing this information and putting the time, energy, and focus into creating a project like this. 

He sketched and talked about all the planets, then came a sheet about probes, asteroids, comets, meteroids, meteorites, and meteors.  Whew.  Then he made a timeline of important dates in space research.  Example:  "December 24, 1968:  Apollo 8, along with its crew, becomes the first mission to orbit the Moon." 

All in all, he did a great job.  And yes, this one is going in the scrapbook so we can keep it forever!

Spring Soccer

It's here at long last!  Soccer time again.  The boys have been looking forward to it a bunch.  And with the snowy, wet winter we had, everyone is looking forward to exercising off some of those winter blahs.

Benny has moved up to the "12 and under" category.  The kids on his team are all ten and eleven years old.  Oddly enough, there are no twelve year olds.

Instead, the twelve and thirteen year olds (including Sam,) have been put in the "fourteen and under" division.  And...there is no coach for that division.  Volunteers are desperately being sought.  If no one steps up, Sam won't get to play!

For one crazy moment, I considered volunteering, just so those kids get to play this year. But I don't see how I could be available for every single one of Sam's games, given that Benny is on another team in another division. How could I see any of his games?  Or drive him where he needs to be?  I couldn't. 

So...we wait and see what happens with Sam's team.  In the meanwhile, Benny had his first practice this week.

 His coach is a fellow mom who thought exactly what I thought:  "I guess I'll step up and coach, otherwise, my kids don't get to play!"  She has two kids on the team.  The team is especially big this year, which makes it nice---if somebody misses a game, it will not create an emergency.

Practice went well in the snow-damaged, unmarked and half-forgotten soccer field we are granted by the recpark for our use.  We were missing several goals, the ground was in terrible shape, etc, but those kids were thrilled to be there.

Doing the "bear crawl" to warm up those muscles.

And--there were tryouts for goalies!  Benny did a fantastic job. 

Last year, if Benny had to miss a game, it was a huge problem for them, as no one else could do his goalie-job.  This year, they had three kids who all want to be goalie.  Maybe they'll rotate...that would be great.

In any case, we are back to living at the soccer field, washing uniforms, grabbing fast food at 8pm for dinner, and generally squeezing in homework when we can.

And I still haven't found soccer cleats in Benny's size...the stores around here are sold out.  Busy times, but it's worth it!

Have a great season, Benny!