Days 4 and 5 (Nassau!)

On Day 4, we made our first Port Visit--Port Canaveral. Since we spend a lot of time in the Orlando area, our family decided to stay onboard and take advantage of the smaller crowds. We went in the pools, played ping-pong and had a good time. We spent a lot of time with the Tilleys. They live there, so there was no need for them to sightsee. The Wills went to Gatorland and had lots of fun. A surprisingly favorite part of the day was when a Norwegian Cruise Ship passed right by us. We stood on our balcony and waved. There were lots of people on the Norwegian Ship doing the same. The kids yelled out "enjoy your vacation" (or something like that) and someone yelled back "you too". It was a pretty cool moment that we all enjoyed. Unfortunately, this was the day that Thomas started to feel sick. He had a sore throat and cough.

The Escape looks pretty fun! 

We saw them again in Nassau. They departed from the same port as us and followed the same itinerary.

Day 5 was Nassau! We had fun sitting on our balcony as the ship pulled to the dock. It was very beautiful and we got some great pictures.

In the distance you can see there are already 3 ships docked.

Cute lighthouse and super clear water

One of my favorite pictures

Once the ship docked, we got off the boat and walked around the shopping area. The kids picked out souvenirs (Anna got a stuffed turtle, Jack got a map, Kara got a painted scene from an artist on the sidewalk who added her name and ship information, Luke just got sunglasses). There was some sort of protest happening in front of their capital building. But, we never felt unsafe, which was good, because I have heard mixed reviews on the area. Some of the sellers were a bit aggressive, but nothing terrible. Most people were very nice (just like everywhere else, I suppose).

After the shopping it was time for the part of the trip I was most excited for. I had done some research and booked us and the Tilleys for our own private excursion. We hired a boat and the 8 of us went snorkeling. The ship's snorkeling excursion sounded fun, but Luke was too young and we didn't want to leave him on the ship by himself. Plus, we liked the idea of having a boat to ourselves. It was fantastic! Our guide was Mark. He took us to one sight with a ton of fish and some amazing coral. We were literally snorkeling in schools of fish! I had bought a camera to take underwater footage and we took lots of it, however, everything on the camera was accidentally deleted. That's what I get for buying a cheap knock-off! Anna was a little apprehensive at first, but Marta was extremely patient with her and stuck right by her side. Luke couldn't get the hang of the snorkel and only stayed out for a few minutes before returning to the boat, where Frank and Mark kept an eye on him.

We were there for about 30-40 minutes and then went to our next site. There was a massive amount of amazing coral. I've never seen anything like it (not that I've done a lot of snorkeling--something I hope to rectify). The water was so clear and it was a beautiful day. We even saw a small shark! Thomas was snorkeling with Anna and the shark was in the distance. For some reason, Thomas thought it was a turtle and he and Anna followed it, only to realize it was a shark! Not the best course of action for a nervous first-time snorkeler! Fortunately, Anna was fine. It took her a bit to relax and enjoy the experience, but once she did, she was all in! The shark must have liked us, because he swam around with us and all of us were able to see him. Luke still couldn't quite get the hang of the snorkel and returned to the boat. I felt a bad for him, so I coaxed him back in the water and we decided to just forgo the snorkel. He kept the mask and fins and then he really enjoyed the experience.

It was the best day! After the snorkeling, Mark took us over to Atlantis and drove us around. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures because were relying on the waterproof camera. Fortunately, we did get a couple and Mark got a great one of all us with Atlantis in the background.

Mark dropped us back off near our cruise ship and we went in and grabbed a quick snack. I didn't let the kids eat lunch before the snorkeling. The coordinator had advised that the small boat can sometimes make people, especially kids, sick. But, we were fine. I dabbed some motioneaze oil behind everyone's ears, but we probably would have been okay without it. We only had time for a super quick stop at Café Two70, because we had another event booked--the North Star!

We got up there just in time. It was a good experience. Thomas and Anna don't like heights and they were a little nervous, but they were fine. And, it gave a great view of Nassau. It is a very beautiful island.

By the time we got off the North Star, it was time for dinner. We were anxious to see the Wills and hear about their day. They had gone snorkeling on a catamaran and they also had a great time. I think this was the first night where we put the kids in the kids club for dinner, although I believe Jack joined us. It was a nice, quiet night after a very busy day. By this point, Thomas was feeling pretty run down. He went searching for Nyquil, but all of the ship's shops were closed (they can't sell anything when the ship is in port). He thought about going back into Nassau, but fortunately, the Wills had come well-prepared and saved him the trip.

Cruise Day 3 & Dining

Day 3 was our last sea day before we began 3 days of port stops. We started the day with roller skating, which actually wasn't a lot of fun. The skates were uncomfortable and we had to wear a lot of protective gear--a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards. It was a bit much and it took a long time to help everyone get outfitted. But, the music and atmosphere were fun and we did enjoy the fact that we were roller skating on a huge cruise ship on a school/work day!

So much protective gear!

They knew what they were doing.

Not terrible for his first time.

Like the previous two days we had breakfast and lunch in the Windjammer, which is a huge buffet. They had an omelet station and every breakfast food you could think of. At lunch, there were fresh carved meats and nachos and salad and all kinds of good food. Luke and Jack ate a lot of pizza that week! My favorite part of the Windjammer was the ukulele player that was outside singing the "wash your hands" song to greet us. He wasn't there every time, but I was always so happy when he was!

That afternoon, we did Marvel Trivia and came super close to winning, but again, weren't the victors. We did another scavenger hunt and had dinner again in the dining room. The kids spent some time in the kids club and Thomas and I checked out the adult pool. We sat in the hottub for a while and enjoyed the break from activity. It was at the back of the ship and had an amazing view.

At some point during the cruise, we discovered the American Icon Grille for breakfast. You could go in and they would find you a table (no more searching through the crowds at the Windjammer). We ate with Frank and Marta every morning and generally the Wills too. A nice waiter brought a menu and you could choose something from that or order from the buffet or do any combination thereof. The buffet was small, but had everything we could possibly want--waffles, eggs, ham and cheese omelets, fruit, granola, cereal, bacon, sausage, etc. Anything they didn't have you could order from the menu. It was very nice and much more relaxing than the buffet. I wish we had discovered it earlier.

Luke's standard breakfast was waffles and grapes.

There was also a small snack place called Café at Two70. It was at the back of the ship and right next to one of my favorite places, Two70. It had two story windows and it was cool to just sit and watch the ocean. We played Uno in there and occasionally went for drinks or snacks (I loved the coconut cookies). It also had a small library with a good selection of books. I had brought my own, but there were several I would have been happy to read.

Uno in Two70. Sadly, no pictures of the amazing view the venue offered.

There was also a place called Sorrento's, which had different kinds of pizza. We only went once, but it was nice. As mentioned, we had dinner every night in the same dining room. They had two dining rooms for set times (5:30 and 8:30) and two dining rooms for My Time Dining. I preferred having the set time at the same table with the same waiters. It gave us an opportunity to reconnect every night and have a leisurely meal. At some point (maybe night 4?) we gave the kids the option of dining with the kid's club. You could register them and then drop them off at 5, the staff took them to the Windjammer and then back to the club to hang out. Luke much preferred going there than the long meal in the dining room. I believe he went happily every night once we found it (other than Thanksgiving). The older kids alternated, sometimes they went to the kids club, sometimes they joined us. Kara was excited to try new foods. She ate escargot, calamari, lobster and I can't even remember what else! The other kids mostly played it safe, although Jack and Anna occasionally shifted from their comfort zone. Sometimes, they ordered from the kids menu and sometimes the adult. The food was generally very good and the service was fantastic. We felt very pampered!

A table for 12 please!

Anna and Kara loved Jose, our assistant waiter.

Cruise Day 2!

We were super excited to start Day 2. The kids and Thomas were slated to try out the iFly at 9. I was going to be the designated picture taker. They gave them instructions, suited them up, had them watch a safety video and then headed to the top deck. There was another family going at the same time, so we got to watch them first. Then, they started with Thomas. Of course, he did great. Then, it was Jack, Kara, Luke and Anna. They were all fantastic. Everyone followed the directions and the instructor was able to let go of each of them and let them fly on their own. They all enjoyed it.

Thomas showed them there was nothing to fear!

Jack made the best faces! This one reminds me of that one scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Thankfully, no deadly fan up top!

Kara

Small, but mighty, Luke

Anna in deep concentration!

After that, the kids were ready to try out the kids clubs. The older kids LOVED it. They had the best time. They learned a game called Gagaball that they were super excited about. Unfortunately, Luke was not a fan. We told him he had to go at least 2 hours a day, which he was not happy to hear. However, whenever anyone peeked in on him, he appeared to be having a great time. He would've rather just played ping pong.

After the kids club, the girls and I went on a photo scavenger hunt. We had a list of items we had to go all over the ship to find. We managed to get most of them, but unfortunately, not all. We didn't win, but we had so much fun!

One required item: a selfie of your team.

Thomas and Kara did the rock climbing wall. Thomas did the hardest one and made it look like child's play as he quickly made it to the top and rang the bell. Kara didn't quite make it that day, but she did later in the week. Anna also gave it a try later in the week. Unfortunately, Luke was too young to participate and Jack didn't have any interest.

Go Kara, Go!

Then, it was time for pools. They had one large shallow pool that everyone liked and we spent a lot of time in. Jack and Luke were thrilled to be playing with Kolten and Bennett on the high seas. They had a great time! And, we were sure to stop by the ice cream machine, which we did on most days.

Eventually, it was time for dinner and formal night. Everyone dressed up. My plan was to try and get a few good photos so that we could use one for our annual family photo. The girls liked dressing up, the boys tolerated it. Even thought it was just night 2, the waiters had already learned our preferences. They brought out drinks and fruit cups for the kids before we could even ask. It went much better than the first night.

I love the cheesy fake ship background!

To close out the night, we watched Trevor sing Wagon Wheel in a karaoke competition. There were 10 competitors. A couple were terrible and a few were really good. Unfortunately, Trevor didn't win, but it was really fun to cheer him on and he did a great job. We tried to convince Thomas that he should do one of the competitions, but he refused. Regardless, we all had fun, except Luke, who got cranky and had to be taken to bed. In his defense, it was around 9:30 at the end of a very busy day.

Thanksgiving Cruise! Day 1

When I was a few months pregnant with Luke, we took the other kids on a Disney Cruise. Everyone loved it. A few years later, Thomas and I did a cruise and had a fantastic time. We felt we were due to take the family on one again. I wanted to wait until Luke was fully potty trained so that he could take advantage of the kids' rooms. We scheduled one and canceled. Then, decided Thanksgiving 2018 was the time. This was in May 2017. A full 559 days in advance! So, it was almost a surprise when the day finally came. We had been anticipating it for so long that it was almost surreal when the day actually arrived.

The cruise left on Saturday, November 16th from Bayonne, New Jersey. We went up on Friday and spent the night near the port. We had another anxious experience with our van. It was in the shop again and we got it back on Thursday, only to discover that the new hybrid battery wouldn't charge. They assured us it was safe to drive and said we could bring it in when we returned. I still held my breath for about the first 100 miles. Fortunately, it got us there safely. We spent the night at a Homewood Suites.

We got to the port around 10 the next morning. The excitement as we saw the ship was unbelievable. Everyone was squealing and just so thrilled. We got through security and check-in just as they opened the ship for passengers. Perfect timing! We explored and had lunch and made reservations for some of the fun things on the ship. We played ping-pong, which Luke especially loved.  We were cruising with the Tilleys (Grandma Marta and Grandpa Frank) and our good friends/neighbors, the Wills. We found each other, checked out our rooms and unpacked.

I think ping pong was Luke's favorite activity

At 4:00, they had sign-ups for the trapeze. Both girls wanted to do it. We were able to get them wrist-bands for the 5 o'clock session. They wore harnesses and had to climb a tall ladder to get to the platform. They were told to lift their knees and swing and then flip off the bar. Most people couldn't do any of it. Kara made it through most of the routine, but couldn't gain the momentum for the flip. We were very proud of both of them. Anna does not like heights, so the fact that she climbed the ladder and jumped was especially impressive.

Kara looking like a pro.

So carefree!

I don't have a full picture of the ladder, but it is well above the second floor. It was intimidating!

We had 5:30 dining reservations that night and every night. That first night was a little rough. It took a long time (2 hours!) and the kids were going crazy by the end, or at least Luke was. But, the food was good and the setting was beautiful. More on the food/dining later.

It was a good first day!

Jack and Anna are 11!

We try to make all our kids feel super, extra special on their birthday. That is a little harder with Jack and Anna, since they share a day. So, we have to spread it out a bit. I'm sure this has been mentioned, but our kids choose between a gift, a party, or a special outing. They only get one! Jack and Anna generally pick the outing. This year, Anna wanted Great Wolf Lodge and Jack wanted to bike ride at Valley Forge. Anna's trip to GWL was supposed to be on Fair Day, but was postponed to November. Valley Forge will be this weekend. (Note, I wrote this back on October 4th, now it is October 20th.)

In the meantime, we had Anna's cake on Saturday, Sept 29th. She wanted a mermaid theme and asked if I could incorporate candy. It didn't come out quite like I'd hoped, but she loved it, so I was happy. It did taste good. To get it the right height, I actually made 3 different cakes--red velvet, vanilla, and lemon. And, for future reference, the graham cracker added a little crunch that everyone really liked. We may be crumbling graham crackers on all our cakes! For her meal, she wanted Golden Corral. It is not mine or Thomas' favorite restaurant, but the kids really like it and on their birthday, they get what they want. We did that on their actual day (Wednesday, October 3). They had cards to open and our neighbor gave them gifts. Kara made presents. She made Jack a cool sign and she made Anna a mermaid care package, which consisted of a seashell necklace and a coconut bra! It was very funny and super creative.

We will have Jack's cake tomorrow (rather, we had on Friday, October 5). He wasn't picky about design, he just specified chocolate, and Thomas volunteered to make him a baseball cake. For his meal, he wants pizza hut stuffed crust, which we will also have tomorrow. He has chosen pizza for many years in a row. The girls used to choose homemade meals, but this year both chose restaurants, which makes things easy for me. I can't say I miss it. I also told Anna that my cake decorating days might be over. I will still probably make Luke's cakes for a bit longer. But, I am kind of tired of the tradition. I don't feel like my skills have improved much and it is a lot of work for not much reward.

On Saturday, we got up at our usual work/school time and headed to Valley Forge. Thomas dropped me, the girls and Luke off at the King of Prussia Mall and headed off to bike ride. I would have loved to join them, but Jack wanted to really explore the historical stuff and not everyone in our family is up for that. So, the compromise was that we all went on the trip, but separated into the shopping crew and the biking crew. Jack and Thomas spent about 4 hours biking and had a fantastic time. Jack loved it and says he wants to do this every year. They went to some of the things we didn't see last time. Which, I will have to ask Thomas to write about. Meanwhile, we shopped until we dropped, or at least browsed.

Here's what Thomas wrote:
The bike ride was really nice.  We had done it before, but with only two of us this time, it was a much more relaxed experience. We didn't have a specific agenda, which allowed us to take whatever trail sounded good and stop at any site we wanted.  One of those stops found us inside an old church.  As we walked out of it, Jack noticed some buildings down a small road behind the church.  We decided to check them out and our curiosity was rewarded when we discovered a small used book store!  It was very quaint and the volunteer worker was really friendly.  Jack and I ended up getting a few things, and they were nice enough to hold on to them for a few hours while we finished our bike ride.  All told, we spent about four hours at Valley Forge, but could have stayed even longer.  We didn't really spend much time in the visitor's center and there were plenty of other sites we could have checked out.  But we knew the rest of the family was waiting on us, so we packed up our stuff and headed back to the mall.  I'm proud that Jack chose such an enriching event to celebrate his birthday and I'm grateful that he allowed me to experience it with him.

Back to Kori:
The mall is huge (2nd biggest in America!) and has lots of high end and unusual stores. For starters, we looked at Teslas. They are pretty awesome. And, since we had no agenda and were in no hurry, I pretty much let the kids go in any store they wanted. We bought earrings at Claire's and had lunch in the food court. Gymboree was having an awesome clearance sale, everything on three racks was $5 or below, and the girls picked some summery dresses for our upcoming cruise and Luke chose some stuff as well. We played (or watched Luke play) in the play areas and tested all the mattresses in Macy's. The 4+ hours flew by. Thomas and Jack met us at the Macy's and I showed him all the things I want to redo our house with.

We checked into our hotel and relaxed before heading to dinner. I had it in my head that we were going to go to the Cheesecake Factory and was mightily disappointed when Jack chose Taco Bell. I have nothing against Taco Bell, but it's not exactly the kind of place you go to celebrate. Unless you are Jack, I guess. At least it was cheap. After we let him pick, Thomas reminded me that he had already gotten his birthday meal of stuffed crust pizza, so he shouldn't have even been allowed to choose. Next time, I am going to remember that!

Our plan for the next day was to stop at Six Flags on our way home. Which we did. However, it was bring-a-friend-free day and it was packed! I think it was the most crowded I've ever seen it. After my day in DC with Anna Saturday, I feel like everything around here is getting more crowded, but that's a rant for another day. We rode a few rides, had lunch, did the trick-or-treat trail and got out of there.

We still have Anna's Great Wolf Lodge trip to wrap up the 11th birthday celebration!

Kara's Appendectomy and our Experience with Children's National

On Monday, I came home from work to Kara saying she wasn't feeling well. She said her stomach was upset and she was very agitated. She said it started in the morning and got worse as the day went on. She didn't want to go to the nurse because she figured the nurse would just send her back to class. She threw up about 10 minutes later and kept throwing up. She sat on the couch moaning and couldn't even watch t.v. or play her kindle. I was worried, but figured it was just a bad stomach bug. She didn't have a fever and the pain was around her belly button. I promised her she would feel better in the morning. Kara had a lot of trouble falling asleep and when she woke up she was still in pain. I thought she was acting better, but she said she felt the same. Of most concern was she couldn't stand up fully. She was walking around hunched over. The pain was still in the middle of her stomach and she still didn't have a fever, but we decided to go to the ER anyway.

We got there around 9 and saw the doctor around 11. They immediately thought appendicitis. They gave her Zofran and some Tylenol and she finally felt better (she threw up 11 times from 4pm to 9am!). The poor kid was super hungry, but they wouldn't let her eat or drink anything, except for the CT contrast.  When we checked in, her temperature was 99.5. When she got to the back, it was 102.8. She was also really dehydrated. I called Thomas and he left work and met us at the hospital. But, then she got better. She could walk normally and said the pain was gone. We figured it was probably a virus made worse by the dehydration. We even talked about cancelling the CT, because why expose her to the radiation? But, her white blood cell count was elevated, so they strongly suggested we do it anyway. And, of course, we don't ignore medical advice when it comes to the kids. 

At 2, they had the results of the scan. Her appendix was 3x its normal size! They had already talked to the surgeon on duty and he wasn't comfortable operating on her, so they were trying to arrange transport to Children's in DC. They wouldn't let us drive her because they feared her appendix could rupture on the way. She was starving, but the nurse said she would have surgery that night so she couldn't eat or drink anything. We had a friend who had recently had the same situation and Children's didn't operate on her son until the following day (despite the local hospital telling her with certainty he would be operated on that night). Thomas called Children's, but all they would say is that they would have to evaluate her when she arrived. The staff at our hospital said they were confident that based on her CT scan, her operation would be that night.

Children's transport couldn't give our hospital a time when their ambulance could arrive, so we used an independent company. They got there around 6 (4 hours after diagnosis). Thomas rode with her and I followed right behind, I was afraid of getting car sick, and Kara was fine as long as one of us was with her. We got to the hospital at 7:30 and Kara checked into her room. They had the room ready for her and on the whiteboard, they had her listed for surgery the next day! Ugh!!! Apparently, that is the default if you arrive outside normal hours. We were kind of irritated. She was in pain again and super hungry. But, they couldn't tell us what time the surgery would happen, so they still wouldn't let her eat. We had arranged for a friend to spend the night with the other kids, figuring Kara would be having the surgery and we both wanted to be there for that part. But, instead, we just hung out all night. Had we known before we left St Mary's that the likely plan was surgery on Wednesday, one of us would have gone home to be with the other kids and come up the next day. 

In the CT scan (she wanted pictures to show her siblings, which is also handy for blogging).

Strapped in to begin her ambulance ride

It was a restless night. We saw a doctor around 8pm and he confirmed the surgery would be the next day.  He said the antibiotics bought them time and would keep her condition stable, so there was no hurry (again, information that would have been more useful when we called). Another doctor came in around 9pm and told us that the surgery times would be set in the morning and that when the doctors did their rounds at 7am, they could tell us when. He also said she could eat since it was before midnight. But, the 8pm doctor had said she couldn't have anything. After the nurse pointed out the discrepancy, they decided she could have ice chips only (I think the 8pm doctor outranked the 9pm). No doctor ever came in the morning. We asked the nurse repeatedly and she just kept saying a doctor would be in soon. Then, she told us the doctor said they had come by, but we weren't in the room. Not true! I left the room briefly at 6:30 to go for a little walk, but I saw they were in the hall, so I came right back. And, Thomas never left. I actually heard them outside her room at 6:45, discussing her. They didn't come in and I assumed they would return. 

After the nurse called again, a doctor finally came in at 11:45 and said he wasn't sure how they had missed us. But, he had no information. He didn't know when her surgery would be. She was an add-on, so he figured they would put her at the end of the day, around 3. We explained we had 3 other kids at home that we needed to plan for, and told him the other doctor said she would be listed on the board in the OR, but he just held firm that he had no idea. 

Right after he left the nurse came in and told us the OR had just called and they were coming to get Kara. Yeah! We met her surgeon, who we liked and the operation started around 2. We saw lots of kids coming in for surgery. Most appeared to be scheduled surgeries. And, I am sure they had waited a long time for their surgery date. But, I couldn't help but feel that if you were going to push someone, it should be the kids who aren't in pain. Kara hadn't eaten in more than 48 hours and she was scared and in pain. I get that to them an appendectomy is pretty routine, but it was really hard to sit around with no real information. And, I feel like a lot of the frustration, actually all of the frustration, would have been eliminated with consistent communication. She could have at least eaten something the night before and we could have made advance arrangements for the other kids. 

While people were nice, they didn't seem to really care, if that makes sense. The nurses were better, but even they weren't great. It regularly took them a long time to come in to turn off her beeping IV (which seemed to go off every couple of hours).  At one point, she had to go to the bathroom and it took at least 20 minutes for them to come unhook her (they were pumping her with fluids). Another time, they just never came at all and Thomas finally wheeled everything in with her.  Although, in fairness, they definitely did their best to alleviate her pain. However, the nurses at St Mary's when I had my C-section with Luke were much more responsive.

But, back to the surgery, we finally decided that I would go home after she was out of recovery. We didn't want to leave the kids 2 nights in a row, especially since nothing was arranged at home. The guest room wasn't ready, the house was a mess. It just didn't feel right or fair. Of course, leaving Kara again didn't feel right or fair either. She came out of recovery and was shocked the surgery had happened. Before she went in, the anesthesiologist told us she would wake up and feel like only a minute had passed, and he was right. We told her she was done with surgery and her response was, "already, are you sure?". She quickly ate a popsicle, which she then threw up. She had a lot of pain, which seemed to surprise the nurse. They gave her more medicine and she felt better. I left shortly thereafter to go home to the others. The surgeon had said Kara could go home the next day. The surgery had gone really well and while the appendix definitely needed to come out, there had been no rupture. I got home around 5:30 and Thomas called and said another doctor had just come in and said she could go home that night! Ugh, again, information was not consistent! I was more than willing to go and pick them up, but I was nervous about her coming home when she had so recently thrown up and been in so much pain. Thomas agreed and we opted to have her spend the night.

I got there the next morning around 1000 and she was a new kid. She was sitting up, eating, could walk to the bathroom on her own and no longer had watery, sick eyes. It was such a relief. She actually walked all the way to the car! She had Motrin when we got home, but hasn't had anything since. She is already planning on returning to school Monday. Our kid is tough!

I realize this sounds like a lot of whining. At the end of the day, we fully recognize that the most important thing was she have a successful surgery, which she did. And, it isn't their fault we live almost 2 hours away (thanks to DC traffic). Yes, communication should have been better, but our childcare issues were the fault of distance, one huge drawback to where we live. I am grateful for skilled surgeons and nice nurses (even if they didn't come quickly, they were always nice). And, I am really grateful for the friends who helped us and those who checked in on us. Kara loved hearing the messages of well-wishes and it truly made a difference to know so many people were thinking of her. We received many text messages and phone calls and felt lots of love and support. My friend Kayce got the other kids off the bus on Tuesday and picked up Luke. She fed everyone dinner and kept them entertained. My friend Jennifer came over at 7 and took over. She put them to bed, spent the night, and got them off to school the next day. Another friend (Dana) drove Luke to Prep and Play. Then, Kayce did it all again until I got home on Wednesday. Yet another friend (Summer) was fully prepared to spend the night Wednesday, but as mentioned, I decided not to leave them 2 nights in a row. Many more were willing to help out and offered meals and anything else we needed. It meant so much to us! It is hard not living near family, so having friends willing to step in makes such a difference and we are so thankful!

One more cool story--the blanket was given to her at St Mary's Hospital. It is part of the Linus Project. People in the community make them for children in the hospital. She kept it every step of the way. Yet another thoughtful gesture, this one from a stranger!

Vacation Day 7: Newport

People were pretty tired on Thursday morning. Poor Luke's voice was hoarse and his foot had a blister. Even a more relaxed vacation (from my point of view) is still pretty intense for a little kid. We let them sleep as late as they wanted and had a fairly relaxed morning before heading to Newport. Our plan for the day--mansions! We started with the Breakers, the biggest of them all. The gilded age is definitely well-named. The mansion is very impressive. And, definitely over the top. For example, in the "silver room" the walls were actually accented with platinum, because silver needs polishing and platinum will stay shiny forever. Luke and I shared headphones, so I did the kids tour and it was fun. The summer schedule of the Vanderbilt children sounded pretty darn nice: wake up, breakfast, swimming in the ocean, lunch, nap (on clean sheets), horseback riding or tennis lessons, dinner, bed (on clean sheets). They changed clothes at least 4x a day and that combined with all the clean sheets must have made for an insane amount of laundry. But, fortunately, they had 40 servants to take care of them. And, this was just a summer home (I believe they owned several)! The cost of building the mansion was 150M in today's dollars.

Ostentatious, yet beautiful

This, I would love. An amazing view of the ocean from a huge veranda.

We had a light lunch and decided on our next mansion. We chose Rosecliff. It was not as spectacular, but it did have the largest room in Newport. The owner, Tessie, a Nevada silver heiress, built it for entertaining and we heard great stories of lavish parties, not only at Rosecliff but at the neighboring Newport Estates. One funny story talked about a monkey being dressed as a prince and literally swinging from the chandelier and throwing light bulbs at people. Allegedly, that was the straw that broke the money's back and the old money turned their backs on the new money (what else is there to do when you're super rich besides feud with other super rich people?). Tessie fled to Europe for a bit, but then returned to Newport and like others, refused to travel again after the sinking of the Titanic. The elaborate parties continued until she died at 56. The estate went through a couple of owners before the last private owners bought it and used it for 25 years as their summer home. When they died they donated it to the Newport Historical Association. Today, it is used for tours and weddings.

Rosecliff

The largest room in Newport. Built to host parties.

Another grand piano.

Many of us wanted to see more mansions, but unfortunately, Luke was done. D.O.N.E. He was good for Rosecliff because I bribed him with the promise of ice cream, and he is generally agreeable to begin with. But, he couldn't stand the thought of seeing any more buildings. I wanted to do the Cliff Walks, but it was super hot and again, Luke was Done. So, we went back to the house and watched a movie, did laundry and started preparing to get back on the road Friday. We ordered pizza and calzones and it was a peaceful final night in our awesome rental house.

Note made on 6/20/23: see June 2023 for Cooperstown Flashback memory to complete vacation.