Another Busy Week

Monday was eclipse day. We only had about 60% coverage, but it was still fun to see. The schools were afraid of kids looking at the sun, so they canceled all after school activities. Luke still had baseball practice that night, but it was so nice to have a day off from driving to the high school! 

The crescent-moon-like shadows were really fun to observe.

It was also a big day at work for me. I got to close the window on a major action that has been pretty time-consuming. I know I have written about work ebbing and flowing. Well, as I've mentioned (perhaps ad nauseum) I was in a flowing period for a long time and now it looks like I should have some ebbing. In an ideal world, the work would be steady, with enough tasks to fill the day without being overwhelmed. I don't really like when work is slow, but I also don't like when it is super busy. In Maryland, I worked in a couple of practice areas, which was really nice. When one area was slow, it was easy to take on more work in another area to fill the days. Here, I only do one thing and it is really cyclical. And, it is hard to anticipate. I had three simultaneous actions, but none were planned to overlap (hence the extreme flow that made me miserable for the past 8ish months). Now, I can look forward to a hopefully quiet, but not too quiet, summer :)

In other work news, our supervisor is leaving. Thomas and I really like our boss and are not excited about having someone new. But, there is no sense in worrying about what hasn't transpired. Just some foreshadowing for our future. I can't wait to revisit this in a year and see how it turns out!

Tuesday was back to the track/lacrosse routine. Wednesday, the girls had their final lacrosse game. As mentioned, they were the last seed in the district and had to play the first seed. They lost something like 25-4. The other team was amazing and it was fun to see their advanced moves. Our girls knew they were going to lose by a large margin, and I was super proud of how they handled themselves. They never gave up, stayed positive, and played hard the whole game. 

Thursday was a stormy day. Jack's track and Luke's baseball were canceled. Friday was fun--after school the girls, Thomas and I went to Epcot to see Jo Dee Messina. She sings some of my favorite songs and put on an amazing show. The concerts only last about 35 minutes, but I think she did 6 or 7 songs and sounded great on all of them. Thomas and I had fun singing along. 

Thomas and I were waiting for the theater to open and the girls texted they were on Spaceship Earth. So, somewhere in there are Anna and Kara.

This weekend, Thomas and Luke went to a baseball tournament in Daytona Beach. They had a very weird day. I know I've written about their being different tournament levels (GOB, USSSA, Perfect Game, etc.). But, did I write about their being different levels within the levels??? Well, at USSSA, there are. Two, I think, and we usually play the lower one. But, it was full, so at this tournament we played the high level. They lost their first game 17-4. They were pretty close until the 3rd or 4th inning and then just fell apart. Then, the next game, they won 15-0, in one inning. That team only had 8 players and apparently their best 3 were all absent and they just fell apart. Very weird day. For Sunday, they lost their first game and that was it for the tournament. 

While they were in Daytona on Saturday, I was home on chauffeuring duty. The girls spent the day volunteering at a Special Olympics event. They both said it was a good experience. I dropped them off at 8. Jack went to a birthday party at Andretti racing. He had a fantastic time and loved it. I dropped him off at noon, then went back for the girls at 4, then we drove and picked up Jack. I think I spent about 3 hours in the car doing all the back and forth shuttling. I did have some home-alone time, which is rare and I started a new book (Endurance, another non-fiction shipwreck adventure). That night was the neighborhood Spring Fling, so we went and got our free dinner. They had a bunch of bounce houses and live music. Luke enjoyed the bounce houses. The rest of us, except Kara, who opted to stay home, enjoyed the food.

Sports, Books, & Easter

After our blissful week off from work and school, we jumped right back into the routine. Lacrosse and track are in the home stretch. For lacrosse, the JV team fell apart. Too many girls quit or were injured so they could not field the two teams. Kara has received a lot of playing time on the varsity team. In fact, at the last game, she played the entire game. District finals are this week. Our team is in last place, so they have to play the first-seeded team. That should mark the end of the lacrosse season. Anna is glad she didn't quit and is even talking about playing over the summer and next year. Kara definitely wants to keep playing. It has been really fun watching them try a new sport and I have enjoyed the games. So, I hope they continue.

Track is also wrapping up. I am not sure how districts work for them yet. Jack ran the mile on Saturday in 5:34. His goal was 5:30, so he was slightly disappointed, but it is still faster than the last time he ran the mile, so he is making good progress. The fastest times are around 4:30. Jack's time put him squarely in the middle of the pack. Considering this is his first year of track and he has never been a runner before, he has accomplished a lot. He enjoys it and plans to try cross-country in the fall. We also enjoy watching the track meets. I knew I would like watching Jack run, but I was surprised to find that watching a track meet is also pretty fun. Those kids are amazing athletes! 

I think he looks so strong!

Luke's Battle of the Books team won their first round and get to move on to finals! We are super excited for him. For the first round, they were in a division with 19 schools and only the top two moved on, so it was a nice accomplishment. The finals are next Wednesday.

The battle of the books team.

School's Facebook post congratulating the team. Last year, based on the same format, I thought each group was only 5 teams, this year I figured out that they only list the top 5 teams from each group. 

I enjoyed this weekend. Thomas and I were off from work on Friday, but the only thing we did was go to Walmart. Super exciting. We did go to Kohl's Friday night to check out their winter clearance. Most of us found some things that will be useful for our Alaska trip. Saturday morning I visited my dad. It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside and chatted.  He is dong pretty well. They removed his ankle monitor. Officially it's called a wander guard, it sounded an alarm when he got too close to the doors and he hated it with a passion. We had a nice visit and traffic was surprisingly light (comparatively speaking).  I was even able to make it to Jack's track meet. After his meet, we went out to a late lunch at 4Rivers, which we both enjoyed. When we got home, Kara and I watched a movie (Family Plan, it was okay). It was a busy, but nice Saturday. While we were doing that, Luke and Thomas were in New Smyrna Beach for baseball.

Sunday, I went to Luke's tournament. They did not win, but again, it was an absolutely beautiful day. I know those days are numbered. Next week, we are creeping close to 90 degrees. Because they lost their first Sunday game, they were eliminated from the tournament, making it an early day. While we were driving home, Anna texted asking to go to Universal. We haven't been in months, so even though we were tired, we agreed. Jack and Luke did not want to go, so we took the girls. The spring break crowds have left and we had a good visit. We didn't realize it was the last day of Mardi Gras, so we got to see the last parade of the year. Normally, we love the Mardi Gras event and go multiple times, but with lacrosse and track this year, that just wasn't possible. We were very happy we got to see it. We also tried the Minion Cafe for dinner, which we all thought was just okay. 

You can't see it too well, but it is raining confetti :)

I should try and write every week, because I don't remember what we did the week before this one. Oh! Easter! We started the day with the traditional egg hunt. Jack is not eating added sugar, so he was not interested in looking for candy, but did find one of the special eggs, which had a little bit of cash. Marta, Frank, Elizabeth and Travis joined us for dinner. Marta brought the kids an easter basket that included two new (to us) types of Uno: Uno Flip and Uno No Mercy. We played both and had fun. We also played Scattergories. It had been a while since we had seen them and it was nice to be back together. I didn't take any pictures, but Anna had a couple:

This was okay on Easter, but amazing in the following days. 

Elizabeth brought some adorable frosted cookies. They were delicious!

Cruise Wrap-Up

Our last full day started with breakfast in the Windjammer. Thomas and I had to wake everyone up at 8:30. We had a laser tag reservation at 9:30, so they needed enough time to get dressed and have a quick breakfast. We saw Mike and Sunshine in the Windjammer and Anna graciously volunteered her laser tag spot to Mike. Fortunately, the worker allowed us to add him to our reservation, so we were all able to play. Laser tag was super fun. The laser tag we play on the ships is the best laser tag we’ve ever played. It was the same as the one we did on Mariner where they divide you into two teams, Aliens versus Robots, and you're battling to see who gets to claim a new planet. All of us, except Thomas were on one team. Noncoincidental, all of us except Thomas, lost the planet. But, most of us had a blast. The girls didn’t really like it for some reason; the boys and I loved it.

After laser tag, Anna and I got off the ship and walked around Nassau.  Well, really just the port area. It’s changed since we were last there and we enjoyed browsing the shops. We got a few souvenirs in the straw market. While we were doing that, Sunshine and Kara took Mike and Luke to the FlowRider, then the waterslides and hot tubs on the pool deck. When Anna and I got back on the ship, I went and sat with Kara (Sunshine and some of her family had also left to explore a little and Kara said she was happy to keep an eye on Luke and Mike). The boys had a good routine, they would go down the slide, then jump in the hot tub for a few minutes before going back to the slide. It was actually pretty chilly out and very windy so this worked out well for them, and there was almost no line for the slide. 

Luke didn't mind the colder air. After the slides, they headed over to the kids splash area.

Thomas and Jack went off the ship to visit a new museum on island culture. It was very small, but Thomas said it was nice and both he and Jack said they were glad they went. 

Thomas took a few pictures from the colorful museum.

We had a late lunch in the Windjammer, later Thomas and the girls went to El Loco Fresh and I took a nap. Luke ended up going to the kids club for a few hours. After my nap, I took the Abyss down to meet Thomas and the girls on the boardwalk. Anna and I had missed the morning trivia, so we went to an afternoon trivia and got 11 out of 15. The winner was 13, so it was the closest we had gotten.  

Me and my trivia buddy.

I’m not sure what Jack was doing while we were all doing the above. After dinner, we browsed the shops, looking for a way to spend our remaining onboard credit. Kara ended up getting some perfume, Luke got some candy, and Anna got some funny grape-themed stuffed ‘“animal”. We went to the 730 ice-skating show and then did all our packing. Jack went to the teen club to say goodbye to the friends he made, Kara was going to go, but then ultimately decided to have an early night. Our time to get off the ship was 7:30 AM, so that was probably the right call.

Departure day was sad. We weren't ready to leave. We got everyone up at 645 and went to breakfast. We went downstairs to disembark at our 730 appointed time, but they weren't ready for us yet, so we had to wait around a few minutes. Fortunately, it did not take long and we were in our car around 8 and on our way home. 

Before we left, we did one more walk on the music stairs.

The cruise was really nice. It is different with the teens getting older and having more interest in the later night activities (well, at least Kara and Jack. Anna takes after me and is not really a late-night person). This was also our first cruise where we didn't have anything to do at any port. For the large ships, like the one we were on (Symphony of the Seas) they really are a destination in and of themselves, so it didn't matter too much. It is very different from our upcoming Alaska cruise, where the ship was secondary to the itinerary. That being said, I would definitely prefer a different itinerary next time. It was crazy to not have a good beach day and I missed Coco Cay. 

Unfortunately, I looked at cruises for next Spring Break and they are 40% more than we paid for this one. I am glad we have gotten to do so many, but I am not sure it is going to be a frequent vacation for us in the future. The value has diminished with the price increase. For example, our last two cruises were both six nights and just under $6000. Once you add in internet, refreshment packages, parking, arcade, excursions, trip insurance, and other expenses, I am guessing it ends up being around $7500 (less on this one since we had no excursions, more on the one where we did a couple of excursions, but I think $7.5K is a reasonable estimate). We get three rooms, so when you factor in food, lodging, and entertainment for 6 people, that is a decent deal. But, we did two separate weeks in Pigeon Forge in 2022, one at the start of summer and one Thanksgiving week. Both times staying in cabins where we did lots of activities: Dollywood, white water rafting, ziplining, caves, hiking, horseback riding, museums, mountain coasters, etc. and it was around $5K a week. I am sure that those costs have also gone up, but it would be easier to make adjustments to stay on budget. I love a cruise vacation for the complete ease--I don't have to cook, clean, or micromanage our days. Once we are onboard, everything is taken care of. I am willing to pay some premium for that, but we also love our trips to the mountains, so the amount we are willing to pay is definitely capped. And, we may have reached the point where it just isn't worth it anymore. Or, maybe we need to look at a different cruise line. Anyway, that was my tangent on vacation choices. I am glad we went, we had a great time and I hope we will be back. But, if not, there are plenty of other things in this world to see and do. (And, sorry, I know it is a little weird to post how much things cost, but I think this will be helpful for me in future years to see how things change.)