Cruise Finish

Day three was a sea day. As previously described, the night was long and miserable. But, the rest of of the day was fun. We had breakfast and then I took a 30 minute power nap, after which I felt much less cranky. We had our specialty lunch at Chops Grill, which was delicious. Then Anna and I went to a movie quotes trivia where we did not do very well. From there, Thomas, Anna and I saw the ice-skating show which was okay. Then Anna, Luke, and I went to general knowledge trivia and finished second! Luke knew two answers that I didn’t, one was how many moons does Venus have (zero) and the other was what is a group of frogs called (an army). Anna also knew two answers that I didn’t: how many divorces/announcements did Henry VIII have (two) and what band was made famous by Eurovision in 1974 (Abba). So we made a good team and were pleased with our finish. After dinner, we headed to the evening entertainment, which was a magician. He was amazing with a deck of cards and we enjoyed it. Thomas, Jack, Luke, and Anna ended the night watching the Commanders/Lions game on the screen by the pool, Kara went off with her new friends, and I decided to call it an early night. Oh, I almost forgot, at some point during the day Thomas saw the neighbor who had the temper tantrum and he apologized to Thomas and told Thomas to tell me he was sorry as well. I had gone to guest services and got some ear plugs and I was so tired I didn't hear a thing.

Day four was a Bahamas visit to the island of Bimini. We had never been there before and didn't have anything planned. It was kind of cold and windy, so no one wanted to visit the beach. Right outside the port, we were asked about 50 times if we wanted to rent a golf cart, but we politely declined. We were told there was a museum about 2 miles away from the port and it was safe to walk, so we did. Some of the kids were pretty annoyed and complained a lot about this decision, which was frustrating. Although, in fairness, we definitely felt a little odd being the only people walking as all the golf carts rode past. It took us close to an hour to find the museum and then it was closed. Ugh! But, there was a beautiful beach nearby and some of really regretted not wearing our suits. Luke sat on the shore and a wave came and covered his legs, soaking his shoes in the process. He also lost his watch somehow. 

Anna, Kara, Luke and I took a cab back to the ship. Jack and Thomas wanted to walk. The driver was very nice and told us about the island, he also pointed out the main museum, we had been directed to the wrong one! Something for next time. Once we got back, the girls really wanted to go to the beach. We had lunch, then put on our suits and I took them to the one right next to the pier. The boys didn't want to miss our reserved time for laser tag. So, we went our separate ways. The waves were really strong and we had fun playing in the water. Meanwhile, the boys said laser tag was super fun. They were all on the same team with a bunch of little kids, the other team was all the kids parents (its random). But, they won and were very proud of themselves.

Beautiful Bahama water!

We really enjoyed Bimini, we talked to several locals and they were all happy to tell us about the island and they all said that they liked having cruise ships visit. That isn't always the case with the ports the ships visit and we really liked that they liked having us there. No one was aggressive and the beaches were completely free. You could rent chairs, but it wasn't required and no one made you feel bad if you didn't. We really liked the laid back feel and would be happy to go again.

We stayed for a few hours then went back and showered. Luke, Anna and I tried to recreate our trivia magic, but only got 4/15 right! Luke got disgusted with us about 5 questions in and left, telling me I really should know more. I felt very judged! Dinner was good, we were sad to say goodbye to our waiters. Then, Thomas, Jack, Anna, and I went to the farewell show. We had a late night snack in the windjammer and then packed up (Kara went off with teens and Luke watched tv in his room, but joined us later to get an ice cream cone).

We carried our luggage off the ship around 745 the next morning and were home about an hour later. It was a really fun few days and everyone had a good time. It was a smaller ship than we normally cruise, but I really enjoyed that. We didn't have to reserve any entertainment and it was nice just going  with the flow. I would definitely do this exact cruise again (and just hope for better neighbors!). 

Monday was a holiday (MLK Jr Day), so we were able to leisurely unpack and relax. I spent about 4 hours working on getting my dad's medication straightened out. It involved calls to Medicare, two health insurers, the nurses at his assisted living center and emails to the doctor. That was not fun, but I think I got it sorted for him and will hopefully save him lots of money. 

An (early) Birthday Cruise, Days 1-2

Kara turns 16 next month and to celebrate we decided to take a cruise. She chose to go on a 4-night in January as opposed to a 3-night closer to her birthday. She had a couple of reasons for this: 1) 4 nights are better than 3; and 2) a January cruise would not interfere with lacrosse (or baseball or track).

Initially, it was just going to be just me and the girls. But, then Luke really wanted to go. And, Thomas felt a little left out but didn't want to leave Jack home alone. Then, Jack agreed to go and it turned into a mini family vacation.

The cruise let on a Thursday. I worked for a few hours that morning and Jack went to school to take a test. It was supposed to be two tests, but one was postponed. We only live about 45 minutes from the cruise port; we left our house around 10 and walked on the ship around 1115. Easy peasy.

Our ship was Voyager of the Seas. It was a new-to-us ship and smaller than the ones we usually go on. But, it worked for our schedule. And, I actually enjoyed the smaller ship. You don't have to reserve entertainment and it has a more laid-back feel. Of course, we missed some of the big ship amenities, but overall we were happy. Anyway, after we got onboard, we did our muster and then went to the Windjammer for lunch. We explored the ship a bit, including playing mini golf. The boys also played 2 v 2 basketball with some other boys. It was a cold and windy day. So no pools for us. Although Anna and I did go into one of the hot tubs later in the day. 

We had dinner in the main dining room and then the boys, Thomas and I went and saw the welcome aboard show, which included a funny comedian. It was a good start to our trip. The teens all went to the teens club. Anna said it was more middle schoolers than high schoolers and I’m not sure they will go back. 

Friday was our CocoCay day. I LOVE Perfect Day at Coc Cay. Unfortunately the weather was not really perfect. It was overcast and a little chilly. Normally when we go to Cococay, we are among the first off the ship, but as we knew it was not going to be the greatest weather day, we were in no hurry. We had breakfast around eight and then came back to our rooms and changed and were off the ship around 930. We went for a nice little walk around the island through a really cool vegetation area. I don’t know how to describe it, except it felt like we were in an island jungle. Of course, we were on a nice sandy path. Eventually, we settled in at the Chill Beach area, and even though the water was a little bit chilly, Luke and I decided to go for it. Jack came in as well and we played monkey in the middle with a football for a while. We love the giant lagoon pool, but it was just too cold. Although Luke did dunk his head in to see if the underwater speakers were working. They were.

We lounged on the beach for a bit before heading to lunch. Lunch at CocoCay is among our favorite meals on a cruise and it did not disappoint (at least for me).  After lunch, Anna, Jack and Thomas went back to the ship. Luke went and played on the kids' play structures, where he ran between buckets of dropping water. While he played, Kara and I sat and listened to some talented singers. After another hour or so, we came back on the ship, everyone showered, and we rested a bit then got a snack. The Icon of the Seas was in in port with us at CocoCay and we enjoyed walking around the top decks and looking at the ship. It is massive and looks like so much fun. We are debating whether to try and book it for next spring break. Some of us played mini golf. Some played shuffleboard. Thomas, Luke, Kara and I went ice-skating. 

We had dinner in the main dining room. Then Kara, Anna, and I went to a silent hush party, which is always fun. They played some fun oldies that most people tuned into like Livin on a Prayer and YMCA. After that, Thomas, Anna, and I listened to karaoke. Anna did not last long, remarking that she didn’t understand why I liked it. There were a couple of really good singers, a couple of really bad singers, and several in the middle. Kara went to the teen club. Jack walked around a bit. All of us except Kara called it a night around 10 PM. We walked over 20k steps and Thomas and I each climbed 38 flights of stairs!

Unfortunately, we had the worst neighbors we've ever had on a cruise. It sounded like about 10 people were in the room next to us and they were loud and kept opening the door, then letting it slam closed. I finally got mad and banged on the wall, at which point, one of them aggressively banged back multiple times and started screaming and swearing through the wall, telling me to open my door and face him and how we was prepared to spend the night in the brig. He was fighting with the people in his room too and they eventually yelled at him to leave. So, I did open our door. I thought if he saw a middle-aged mom, maybe he wouldn't try and break into our room and murder us. I told him I was sorry I banged on the wall, but I just wanted to sleep. He responded that he had just lost his father and went down the hall yelling again about how he was ready to go to the brig. He eventually came back and then the fighting resumed (not with us, with his family). At one point, his mom was in the room and he was yelling at her too. I estimate he was in his 20s. It was crazy. And, I literally did not sleep the entire night. We should have called security. 

New Years and 2024 Year in Review

On New Years Eve we had our traditional cheese fondue and talked about our highlights for 2024 and what we are looking forward to in 2025. We also shared our resolutions. I have permission to share, so here they are:

Jack: 1) don't die; 2) no added sugar; 3) no chips; 4) keep getting straight As; 5) figure out the future; 6) run a 4:40 mile; 7) stay off social media; 8) 1450 SAT.

Luke: 1) get stronger; and 2) better at baseball

Kara: 1) win lacrosse districts; 2) get drivers license; 3) keep getting straight As; 4) get more creative at photography

Anna: 1) less screen time; 2) do a front and back walkover

Kori: 1) no added sugar at home; 2) average at least 10 minutes a day of DuoLingo; 3) turn over more control to the kids (stop doing so much for them and let them be accountable).

Thomas: 1) eat healthier and 2) read more.

Everyone except Jack stayed up until midnight. Thomas and Luke played blackjack, the rest of us mostly did our own thing. Before midnight, we all went outside and counted down to the new year. Some neighbors were shooting off fireworks, so we watched those, did some sparklers and then called it a night. 

Now, the Year in Review:

2024 was an amazing year! The first thing that comes to mind is obviously our trip to the West Coast. We spent several days in Seattle, then a few in Vancouver, then embarked on a week long Alaskan Cruise. The whole trip lasted two weeks and took extensive planning. The effort was worth it, as we loved every minute. It was our longest ever vacation, the first time 5 of us saw the Pacific ocean and the first time on a plane for Luke. We traveled by car, plane, boat and train. There was a lot going on and everything went just about as well as it possibly could have. It was everyone's highlight of the year. 

In other fun, we also did a Spring Break cruise. It was on Symphony of the Seas, which we really loved. We used our passes to all the theme parks. Somehow we ended up owning passes for SeaWorld, Disney, Universal, and Fun Spot. Which is really too much (both $$$ and not enough hours of the day to make it worthwhile). We did not renew Fun Spot and probably won't renew SeaWorld. But, I am not giving up Disney or Universal. That covers most of our free time. And, we are definitely a family that lives for the weekends :)

We had some other major expenses: a big plumbing issue in January. A major car repair later in the year and Anna's wisdom teeth removal, which for some reason insurance did not cover. We bought a new car and passed the Honda to the kids. 

For individual summaries:

Luke: turned double-digits. We celebrated on the spring break cruise. He played a lot of baseball. He finished the season with a .526 batting average and OBP of .641 and was one of his teams go-to pitchers, often chosen for the highest pressure games. He is doing amazing in school and was the captain of the Battle of the Books team. He is in the gifted program and earns straight As and high test scores. He is mostly a homebody and is happiest hanging out in his pajamas. He would rather stay home than go to a theme park or just about anywhere, unless it involves playing sports. He is also still too hard on himself and can be a bit of a bad sport. His favorite things are the iPad, the t.v. show Big Time Rush, and baseball. 

Kara turned 15 and got her learner's permit, but has not done much driving yet. She does great in school and is very social. She has many, many friends and is often busy doing things with one friend or another. She enjoys playing lacrosse and is a very aggressive defender. She also enjoys doing creative things, like painting and photography. She also likes music, her favorite artist is still Lana Del Rey. She is the opposite of a homebody and gets irritated when we spend too many days, which for her is probably more than one, without plans. 

Anna turned 17 and is enjoying her junior year. She likes all her classes and is much happier at school this year. She also played lacrosse, but unfortunately, did not like it very much. She enjoys the theme parks, especially Universal and is generally up for an adventure. She is interested in joining the Air Force when she graduates. She has gotten much better at advocating for herself. With Thomas and I, she vacillates between I'm still a kid/I'm practically an adult arguments (whichever suits what she is aiming to achieve). She also started posting fun 'day in the life' type videos on TikTok and Instagram.

Jack also turned 17. Like all his siblings, he is doing great in school. He is very busy with band and running. He really enjoys track and wishes he had started running earlier. He has a good group of friends that he enjoys doing things with. He is still very intellectual and enjoys history and reading, both fiction and non-fiction. He also enjoys music. He is generally helpful and good-natured, although he still gets frustrated with his siblings rather easily.

Thomas and I enjoyed having every other Friday off together. We would often drop Luke off at school and then spend the morning at Epcot. It was nice to have those regularly schedule day dates. It was a busy year with work. My year started very busy, then was calm in the summer, and now is busy again. Thomas stayed busy all year. We were without a supervisor for about 6 months and Thomas had to take a rotation, which made him my boss for a month. Unfortunately, I did not receive any special treatment during that time. 

Today, we spent the last day of our winter break going to Fort Christmas and lunch. I may write about it later, but in short, we played tennis together and had a fun few hours. While we were at lunch (Steak n Shake) I couldn't help but look around and notice how big the kids are, at least the oldest 3. It is going by so fast!

So, what is everyone looking forward to in 2025?

Jack: mountain trip

Luke: mountain trip

Kara: mountain trip

Thomas: mountain trip

Anna: Senior Year

Kori: mountain trip