12/26 Friday
Santa Clara to Fort Lauderdale
I'm not sure who in their wildest dreams thought it would be good
to leave on a 7AM flight from SFO on the day after Christmas, but they should
die a slow, miserable...wait, that was my idea?! Anyhow, yes, we had to
leave our house on a super shuttle at 4:50AM with Oma, Opa, Uncle Brian, and
both kids. It was a late night getting the kids to bed, cleaning up Xmas fun,
getting the house ready for our dog sitter, and -- oh yeah -- packing for an 11
day trip for all four of us -- a trip that included beach time, a gift
exchange, formal nights, business casual nights, alcohol distillery, scuba
diving, cliff jumping, and I'm sure there are activities I'm forgetting...but
suffice to say it's a lot of clothes and things.
Anyhow, we did sleep. A little. Luckily, having two little ones
has prepared us for limited functionality with little rest. Caffeine and
adrenaline help too. Our alarms went off a 3:30 and we thought that'd be plenty
of time, though, of course, we were still rushed. The rest of the family showed
up on time and ready to go (well, Opa did have to drive back to their house to
double check the front door was locked). We had all the intentions in the world
of whisking the kids into their carseats and keeping them fast asleep...I'll
wait while you stop laughing.
Around 5, we gave the dogs a goodbye pet and treat, then we were
off. Getting on 101, I was nervous since I was sitting next to J as she had a
major meltdown. Luckily, she calmed and was asleep my Mountain View. E was far,
far too excited to sleep more, but he was a very good boy. Within minutes of
being at the airport, Angelina showed up, cheerful as always...and she
had gifts for the kids.
It was quite the math problem checking in eight people with X
bags each (bag #1 costs $25, while bag #2 is $35). My brain almost popped, but
I survived. We also had to deal with the fact that our flight had been
consolidated with another and our whole group seats were separate...as in, they
had E sitting by himself. Honestly, sitting next to my 2.5-year-old is for the
benefit of all the other passengers. My flight would be far less
stressful if I had five hours all to myself. Anyhow, we got it resolved so that
the Ballous were all together.
With God's gift to airport security -- TSA Pre-Check -- it was a
relative breeze getting to the terminal. While Angelina, Oma, Opa, and Brian
got us our first dose of coffee, I got E to the potty & into his clothes
and Lisa nursed J. By the time all that was taken care of, it was time to
board. We hit the air right on time and J promptly had a 60 min nap & E
enjoyed the plane's take-off. Once that magic wore off it was time for God's
gift to stressed, exhausted parents of toddlers: iPad games (they're educational,
back off...or that's how I justify it to myself).
The last hour of our 4.5 hour journey went reasonably well,
though everyone was getting hungry and squirmy. In Charlotte, we got tables at
the sit down burger joint and had ourselves a nice lunch...or dinner...or
whatever. Both kids were busy, however, I did manage to take one or two bites
and taste the meat. With a couple more hours of layover to go, I took E to the
potty and read him Cars -- him and all the other guys using the facilities. I bet
a lot of them were smiling as I recounted Lightning McQueen's adventure in
Radiator Springs. While J took another 30 minute cat nap, which she is the
queen of, we spotted TCBY and E wanted one, and since he'd been such a champ,
we agreed to the treat. Expect for by the time Lisa got it, he was fast asleep
and it was nearly time for us to board. So daddy decided he was also a champ
and deserved some yogurt :)
Opa carried the sleeping little guy onto the plane with Lisa (and
J, in the carrier) right behind. We mostly snoozed for the quick trip down to
Miami. There, we got our bags and into the Super Shuttle to Ft. Lauderdale
without issue, other than being severely over dressed for the muggy Florida
December weather.
It took a little
coordination to get all of our bags up into our hotel room for the night and at
10PM local time, I ran across the street to the mall to get E an quesadilla and
us a shared burrito for dinner. While I was out, it sounds like J had a great
time taking a cup and pouring half her bath water over the bathroom sink.
While we ate, Nana, Papa, Steve, and Donna returned from their
meal and bearing a couple cold Dogfish Head IPAs. After the length of the day,
I can safely say they were a gift from God as a reward for my patience and stamina.
The kids were thrilled to see Nana & Papa, as were we, though I can't say
the enthusiasm foreshadowed a simple bedtime. Though by the time we got them
ready and into bed, it was only 20ish minutes of us tag teaming lullibies
before they both konked. We weren't far behind, though Lisa did step quickly
out to say hi to Vanessa & Tanner, who'd just arrived in Florida.
12/27 Saturday
Fort Lauderdale to the Open Sea
We thought that an 11AM shuttle to the cruise terminal would be
plenty of time. After all, we just had to eat and get the bags downstairs. What
wasn't factored in was the time change. Thankfully, we had plenty of help
around us and we managed to get everyone on the ship without any significant
problems. A feat that with 32 people is impressive. We had to wake a sleeping J
to get through security, which is a direct violation of my Golden Rule of
"never wake a sleeping baby." But vacations are all about bending the
rules.
Our cabin was still being cleaned, so Lisa and I carted the kids
to the Lido deck and had a burger at the poolside grill, called Guy's Big
Burger Bar (blessed by the Food Network Star himself). Though Missy J was
breaking down and we had to hand feed a very distracted E, the burger was very,
very good. We went to the cabin, got J ready for a nap, then I dropped E off
with Vanessa and Tanner while I took care of some logistics stuff. A short
while later, I got a text from Lisa asking me to bring E some new clothes and
sunscreen. Evidently, the kid could just not wait to go swimming. With the
mandatory fire drill and dinner seating at 6, I thought a nap for the big guy
was out of the question, but during the safety talk, he totally passed out in
Lisa's arms. I stayed with him and unpacked / got stuff ready for dinner while
Lisa went to the upper decks for the sail away party. Vanessa danced with J and
ended up on the jumbo screen. Lisa also relayed that they were saying,
"Let's hear it for..." and going through all the states. Sounds like
Nana had her fingers in her mouth, getting ready for her ear piercing whistle
for New Mexico...when they said, "Let's hear it for...New Hampshire! Let's
hear it for...New York!" Poor Land of Enchantment can never get any love.
Suddenly, it was time for dinner. Unfortunately, we had to wake E
up from his nap, which makes him very, very grouchy. We got the kids ready
despite the temperaments, just glad that when we got to the Posh Dining room,
we'd be at a table with many of the other family members and that would snap
him from his mood. After a few minor detours getting lost on the ship, we found
our section -- two big tables, a medium table, a booth, and the four of us --
at a four-top. Just like any other night. My heart sank. It's not that I mind
taking care of the kids while we eat, everyday, it's just they're much happier
and have more fun when other people besides boing Mommy and Daddy, We made it
through appetizers with die cast cars, spoons, and revealing the butter under
it's mini-dome and only spilled the water once. The tides turned when Lisa got
over tired J to sleep and Nana moved E over to her booth -- suddenly the night
was far, far more pleasant.
Post dinner, we scoured the ship for the walking deck, eventually
finding it. E had a blast running down the deck, swinging from Opa and Papa's
hands, racing with Nana and Donna, while the babies enjoyed the tropical
breeze. At one point, E stopped looking out into the and the far off lights of
other cruise liners and said, "I see other ships, but I don't see
ours." Inside, he danced his little heart out in the lobby and became
obsessed with the glass elevators.
After we got the kids down, Lisa hung out on the deck and I
self-toured the ship. Later, we laughed over all the funny stories from the day
in the bathroom (so as not to chance waking any sleeping child). Boy, vacations
changed.
12/28 Sunday
The Open Sea
With bodies still pooped from jet lag, xmas, and travel, our 8AM
alarm felt very, very early. Once we got rolling, the big family breakfast came
quickly. It was delicious (I had the Funnest French Toast, which was cheerio's
encrusted and was pretty darn fun). Toward the end of breakfast, Lisa started
getting a little sea woozy. We got her up to the cabin, got her a Sprite and
acupressure bracelet thing while J napped and E went with Nana & Papa
to...well, I dunno what the exact plan was, but I knew he was in safe hands. In
short order, Lisa was feeling better and hanging on the balcony with J after
the gal's power nap. It sounds like the group had a great time too, doing just
about whatever they wanted...from sunning to swimming to haircuts.
I started wandering around the ship, generally wondering where
Nana, Papa, and E were. And the more I wandered, the more I wondered. Not by
the pool or the food or the playground or their room or our room or the walking
deck. The more I looked, the more curious I became. I wasn't worried -- like I
said, he was in good hands, except I kinda wanted to hang out with them...or
someone. On a ship with 3700 passengers, I know it's finding a needle in a very
large boat, but our group is approximately 1% of that large number, so most the
time you at least run into someone. Which I did, eventually, with Dasha.
We chatted for some time and I was thinking that maybe if I stood in one spot,
maybe E & crew would find me. Soon Mark showed up and asked if I wanted an
E report. Evidently, they were in the shops looking for him some sunglasses. I
dashed off before they bought anything, because his glasses were in my bag.
They weren't in the shops by the time I made it there. Finally, I
went back to our room and collected Lisa and baby J for a quick bite. Between
our room and the taco bar, we ran into just about everyone except for my
parents and son. We ate while the Huis fed J. Then we made our way to the
deserted piano bar for our gift exchange. Finally, E and Co. appeared and told
us about the wonderful day of spotting ships, walking in the wild wind,
spinning on every chair in a certain bar, a burger, looking at "spensive
sunglasses" (his term), and plenty of potty breaks.
The gift exchange was a riot. No matter how many I participate
in, I always forget what fun they are.
People were stealing from babies and parents. There were calendars featuring
Goats in Trees, pounds of chocolate, glitter pens, and Unstoppable T-shirts.
Even E played...though we'd planted a gift in there for him to open...a model
cruise ship.
Afterward, we tried to squeeze a nap in for both kids to nap
before our formal night. I'll wait again while you finish laughing. E was
definitely skipping his nap, so he and I headed up to the crowded hot tub to
let J rest in peace. We slipped into a tub full of a bunch of 20-year-olds.
Luckily, E is too little to understand what sort of weed the kids were planning
to buy when we docked.
We headed back to the room to get ready and showered both kids.
Being formal night, it took some additional time to get us ready. Us boys were
ready before the gals...I guess that stereotype begins at infancy. Anyhow,
before all the ladies chew my head off, let me get back to my day. So I took E
with me to get our of Lisa's hair and meet most of the group for wine.
The lobster dinner was superb and I actually got to enjoy it with
Nana taking J for a little. We had fun talking with Mark, Dasha, the Huis,
Kevin, and Angelina. For as tired as E was, he did pretty good and did great
once the wait staff started singing 'When the moon hits your eyes..."
while we all waved our napkins and he danced with Vanessa. It was a magical
moment.
Then it was time for bed with both kids beyond tired. It took
some finesse to get them both down, but we prevailed and Lisa left to go meet
Vanessa & Tanner at the Piano Bar while I watched the kids and got ready
for my big day of diving the next day in Grand Turk.
12/29 Monday
Grand Turk
It was an earlier morning, as I had to get myself fed and off the
ship by 8:30...which seemed to be the exact same time the rest of the
passengers were aiming for also, since it seemed like they were all at the
breakfast buffet. I did feel slightly guilty leaving Lisa as J crawled all over
the place and E was very hungry. Not guilty enough to abort my diving...and I'm
sure glad that I didn't since we all had fantastic days ashore.
Minutes after finding the dive operator, Oasis Divers, my
parents, uncle Mark, and I were on the turquoise waters, skimming past the low
white sands on our way to the Dive shop to get outfitted for gear. It was a
boat for approximately 30 people, but there were only 12 divers, 2 dive
masters, and the captain aboard. We geared up and were back on the water in a
jiffy. Just a few more minutes and we were all suited up and taking our giant
strides into the 80 degree water.
Meanwhile, Lisa, the kids, Oma, & Opa were getting off the
Freedom and heading toward the nearly new Margaritaville resort complex where
most the rest of the group already were. It sounded insane (as evidenced by the
64 oz blenders full of Margaritas that everyone had). The pool was epic and
included a standing wave to try surfing, several bridges, and maybe a pool bar
or two. There was dancing and shots and...well, let's say it was a little
overwhelming for E. J on the other hand, appeared to be a party girl, and had a
great time being traded for Margarita blenders amongst the relatives. Opa,
Lisa, and E went to the beach and E was in heaven. He donned his goggles and
swam to the buoys. They played diggers in the sand.
Thirty feet underwater, the divers were having a great time too.
The visibility was better than I could ask for and the coral reef was full of
life. We even saw a sea turtle on our decent and a huge Moray Eel sticking out
from a ledge. However, the real thrill was the wall. Picture flying a yard
above the surface of the ground and then it dropping off over a mile. Grand
Turk isn't my first wall, but it was one of the "most wally walls"
(as I coined it). The majority that I've dove cut down at a 60 degree angle of
so, which is impressive, though nothing compared to the sheer 90 degrees of
Turk. We dropped another forty feet down and swam along it before heading to
the surface with a total bottom time of 45 minutes. We chatted and recounted
our experiences with each other, comparing and contrasting over dive locales
we'd done.
They were finally able to drag baby J from Margaritaville to the
beach. And, jeez, she sounds even more of beach than party. They had her infant
life jacket on and she even fell asleep doing a back float. She would get upset
if anyone attempted to take her out of the water, though she did enjoy trying
to eat sand (and/or feed it to others).
We had a short break between dives as the boat headed to another
spot called Prime Ministers. The plan was to head back to the wall again,
except stay shallower at a maximum of about fifty. It was a fantastic dive on
just about all the major criteria I judge. Big animals: An eagle ray gliding by
the wall and a couple southern sting rays playing in the sand. Small stuff: an
extremely rare yellow frog fish and schools upon schools of fish. Visibility:
same -- perfect. Gear problems: Not even a foggy mask. Bottom time: 55
minutes...any longer an I freeze my nookies off, even in the tropical waters.
It was even more fun rehashing the dive as we pulled back to the
dive shop. Papa bought a round of the local amber and we walked back to the
ship along the perfectly soft white sands. Only half an hour remained before we
needed to dock and so Margaritaville was heading back into a more sane state.
We were headed on board when we heard Lisa & the family calling us. We
waited in a notably long line to get on, but it went quickly since we were all
telling the various stories from our day.
Dropping off our bags quickly, we hit the fish & chips place
a deck above the buffet and watched as the Freedom pulled anchor. I got E to
nap, even though he had planned just a "rest", and took the time to
catch up on this trip log on the balcony.
As usual, we had to wake E from his nap to shower and get ready
for dinner. As usual, he woke up with grumpy pants on. Luckily, Grace came over
and all three kiddos played in the crib while Lisa and I finished getting
ready. E sat next to Aunt Dasha, who sure knows how to entertain little ones.
She broke out the winter theme foam stickers and they went to town making
snowmen and penguins. J, on the other hand, sat next to Lisa and was a real
handful. We've started to refer to the little girl as our diet. The highlight
of dinner was getting word that Steve & Donn'a newest granddaughter had
been born. The 2nd highlight was when they dimmed the lights for the entire
wait staff to dance to APPLE BOTTOM
JEANS. E even boogied with them some.
Since both kids were well reseted we went to the comedy / magic
show. Parts of it were cute, but for me the real fun was having E turn to me
from Nana's lap and say, "the man is making jokes and we are
laughing."
After, I took J back "home" to get ready for bed and
have cereal while Lisa & E capped the night off with dancing in the atrium
and riding the 10 floors of the glass elevators up and down, and up and down,
and up...you get the concept. Again, both kids were rested so it took a chunk
of an hour to get them both down, even if it was late. So it was after 10:30
when I went "out"...and since I didn't feel like spending too much
time looking for people, I went and bought myself a pint of the Carnival
exclusive RedFrog Amber, had some fro-yo, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy
on the jumbotron over the pool. Maybe not the most social of things to do on a
boatful of family and friends, but a rejuvenating one for me...especially with
a busy day coming at La Romana, Dominican Republic.
12/30 Tuesday
La Romana, Dominican Republic.
While I had my relaxing evening Monday night, Lisa got us and the
kids ready for the excursion in the Dominican Republic. Man, were we lucky she
did...the morning moved like a well-greased machine. We rolled out of bed at
7AM, got ourselves ready, dressed the kids, and up to breakfast in an hour.
With a lot of help from the grandparents, we managed to meet the whole group on
the pier by 9. We weren't even last!
Taking 30+ people on a self-booked excursion was a little bit of
a gamble. The instructions were very clear about where to go, what taxi company
to take, and what to tell about where to go. Angelina & Kevin went ahead,
scouting the taxi, and getting us moved to the front of the long line. That's
when the chaos hit. They whisked us into four or so different vans with kids in
laps and with other passengers NOT part of our group. Ron and I ended up as the
final two with no Taxi and prayed they knew what group we ultimately belonged
to. Thankfully, we found a few other people taking an excursion with the same
company and made sure we were all in the same van.
DR was very nice with smooth roads, decent highways, and lush
tropics. There was a little more chaos as we got to the tour operator on the
beach of Bayihbe...with it's pure white sand, postcard turquoise water, and
about the pushiest trinket vendors of all time (more on that later). I checked
our party in and was gathering folks to head for our boat when we realized one
of the vans was missing. Specifically, the one with my wife and infant. I
didn't panic for long, when they showed up. Evidently, the driver took them to
the wrong place, but the tour operator there redirected them to us.
All present, we jumped on the speed boat aimed for Saona Island.
Ok, jumped is a strong term. We packed into the seats, struggling to balance
us, the babies, the gear, all while keeping the aisle clear for others and
getting lifejackets on all four of us. At one point, E -- who was on my lap --
was pushing off my backpack (which was also on my lap) and kicking the towel
bag (on my lap too), summing up the situation as only a 2-year-old can,
"Daddy, you have to much stuff."
Once settled, the stressed faded away as our personal guide CJ --
the redhead from Buenos Aires -- took charge. Minutes later the boat zipped
along the resort / jungle covered coast, bouncing along the waves. Every so
often, we'd hit bigger one and the back (where we sat) got doused. E seemed to
like both the speed and the splash zone. J smiled and would lick her salt-water
drenched fingers every chance she got.
The boat ride took half an hour before depositing us on the white
beach of the small island of Saona. There we all relaxed, swam, drank, and
snorkeled off an old pier. Lunch was delicious. All too soon, we were back on
the speed boat heading to just off the main island for snorkeling / wading on
sand bars with lots of starfish and more rum punch. We took a ton of pictures,
listened to CJ's fascinating starfish facts, and enjoyed the company in the
perfect blue waters. J was asleep again (the queen of power naps), so one of
the workers held her so Lisa could experience the fun.
Both kids fell asleep on the boat ride back and CJ was so
complementary toward them. Sadly, both children woke up the moment we got back
on the beach. Luckily, E snapped into a perfect mood the moment he saw a
tractor / trailer driving along the beach. He'd never seen such a thing.
Ron and I took E this time for the taxi ride home and all the
other passengers got a kick out of him saying, "bye white van with blue
letters. Bye green motorcycle. Bye bicycle. Bye..." you get the idea that
he did it for just about every identifiable object. Back on the ship, we found
out that Tanner, Vanessa, Kevin, & Angelina had some trouble with their
taxi driver and almost had to find alternate means to get home.
Back on the ship, we showered and made an attempt to get the kids
napping. After a short try, it became obvious that (1) E was skipping nap and
(2) J couldn't and (3) she wasn't sleeping if E was in ear shot. So I took him
up to have a snack of fries, lemonade, and froyo. We (meaning me) had wine in
Nana & Papa's room while E made a track between the balcony door and the
bathroom. They took him down to our group's makeshift wine party on Deck 5 Aft
while I got dressed and helped with J.
Dinner went pretty well since once again Nana & Papa ate with
E at their table. J was a little harder to deal with, but allowed her Mommy to
eat half of her meal before flipping out. The waiters shook their booties again
and it really was a blast dancing and singing with them.
Post dinner took on an air of routine. Lisa and E rode the glass
elevators and danced, while J got ready for bed. Exhausted, both kids went down
within minutes. While Lisa put the final touches on her make up (it was an
"out" night for her), I grabbed another RedFrog Amber and my iPad and
wrote the very blog you're reading right now, enjoying having both kids fast
asleep.
At 11 my luck changed-- J woke up and was NOT happy to see Daddy.
Tried everything. Ended up locked in the bathroom, with her screaming at top of
her lungs, back arched, and with a face so red it thought she had a horrible
sunburn. By some miracle, I got her to quiet enough to phone Nana for help --
who went and found Lisa to come and rescue me. Honestly, it was hard to admit
defeat, but it's better to loose a battle than ones sanity.
12/31
Aruba
No port until later in afternoon,
so a subgroup went to sit down breakfast -- merely 20 of us -- it was nice
though the menu was trunkated compared to Princess or even the Carnival Brunch
at Sea. We met up at the pool and Oma took J so Lisa could swim. A lot of us
ended up going down the slide and hanging out in the hot tub, which became E's
favorite spot on the ship.
We are a really quick burger lunch
(have I mentioned how amazing these burgers are), and then headed off ship. We
pushed the elevator down button & waited forever. Finally, the an up
elevator stopped and knowing that what comes up must come down, we took it.
Only to find that EVERY deck's button had been selected. Somewhere on the
vertical journey, a set of grandparents joined us and were so nice that we let
them be our kids' "grandparents" for the purpose of bypassing the
long line and sneak off the ship with the strollers at the front.
I met those heading to the Jeep
tour (Metsers, Ballous, Neumons) and got them underway, before going back and
collecting the rest of us just hanging out in Orangjestead (spelling?). It took
some finesse, but we got out on the town. Strangely, sounded like a war zone,
pop Pop POP all the time. Turns out it was some festivity where they'd lay
these huge poppers along the roads and light them. It was one of the loudest
things ever. Both kids slept through the whole thing. We tried to cut through
this tunnel / mall when we noticed them prepping another series of explosions
in front of us. They went off before we made it back the other way. I was
mistaken earlier: THAT was the loudest sound ever -- the echo and confined
space tripling the effect. Our ears literally ringing, we collected everyone
(though we lost the Geissers / Christensens back to the ship). Once again, the kids
stayed asleep through it all...which begs the question: how at home, does J
wake up when we cough loud, but can be dead to the world in the middle of that
chaos? Should we look into buying a place near more gunfire to get a good
night's sleep?
Continuing our Oranjestead
adventure, we marched on -- though every time we tried to cut left to the
"main drag" there'd be another round of explosions. We were having
fun. The little girls would all mimic the statues we'd come across for a
picture. There was a beautiful park with a bunch of iguanas and pelicans.
Eventually, we found a small beach / bar and spent the rest of the time
sampling the local beers while watching the kids play in the sand / ocean (ok,
not E, he was still asleep). The instant J heard the water, she HAD to go
swimming, despite not having a swim suit or anything -- hey, what are vacations
for?
Gradually we headed back to the
ship, avoiding more of fireworks. Getting on, we suddenly realized we had 50
minutes until formal night and weren't ready...at all. We more of passed though
the shower with the kids than actually taking one as well as throwing together
some impromptu fancy clothes for this unexpected formal night. AND we made it
to our seats on time. It was impressive if exhausting.
The people on the Jeep tour were
still on island, so we had a quaint dinner of 20. It was fun. Oma & Opa
watched E at the other table, so we just had J...who really took both of our
attention -- she needed another nap and there were no live ammunition around.
As redemption from the night prior, I did get her to sleep twice during dinner
(the power nap queen, of course, didn't stay asleep).
The waiter dancing was great again
and E boogied down with me and the staff. After dinner, E wanted to go dancing
more. So we went to the lobby, only to have the music stop moments later.
Disappointed, we went the main pool and found the NYE band warming up and E was
in heaven. The whole dance floor and band to himself. Back in the room, they'd
left a noise maker and E thought you had to say "Happy New Year"
before blowing it. So while we got the kids ready for bed, he kept going,
"happy new year," blow, honk, deep breath, "happy new
year," and so on. He was so jazzed it took him some time (over an hour) to
wind down enough to go to sleep. When he did, Lisa went out for an hour to
watch the 2,200 balloons drop from the atrium while I got stuff ready for the
early excursion on Curacao the following day.
Lisa and I traded spots at 11:30
and I found our group hanging out on on a balcony over the pool. I talked with
the Jeep people and it sounded like a fun, wild day: including a daring rescue
by Steve's jeep for another Jeep (Kevin's) stuck in the stand. Double fisting a
Red Frog Amber and a champagne, we counted down with the other 3,700 guest +
staff. It was probably the biggest New Years Party I'd attended (which, doesn't
say much, but still). The youngin's went to the clubs, but I opted for a frozen
yogurt with my folks and then back to the room for my New Years kiss with Lisa
(slightly belated).
1.1.15
Curacao
Considering that everyone stayed
up very late to usher in 2015, getting off the ship in Willemstad at 8:30
for 19 of us was very, very early. We made it though and were met by Bob (our
tour guide / driver from Irie tours right upon entry into the terminal. He
ushered us on to our home for the day, an open air bus, painted rastifarian
colors and outfitted with huge speakers and a body-sized cooler full of the
local beer, POLAR, sodas, and water. The name, plastered proudly on the side
said it all: LOKO BUS.
On the way to our first stop, we
got a sense of Curacao a mostly volcanic rock island, that's concrete buildings
suffer from salt erosion so severely they have to be repainted annually in the
Caribbean pinks, yellows, and teals. It makes things so colorful and clean.
Coupled with the dutch style of the original European settlers. Bob conveyed
this all in a fun, relaxed fashion...only interrupting the party hits blaring
out of the speakers for a minute or so at a time.
We made a quick stop at the famed
Curacao distillery which mades the famed sweet liquor from the bitter orange
rinds grown on the island. Being a holiday, nothing was functioning except the
gift shop -- and that was fine. At 9AM, post-New Years, there was less interest
in drinking besides the nimble-sized tastes they had to encourage additional
souvenir purchases.
A lagoon that typically attracts
Flamingos was a quick break on our island tour. The birds must've also been
taking a holiday, as there were very, very few of them and pretty far off.
Though we did see a couple fly off and seeing the large birds, pink as they
come with black tipped wings, was impressive. The inch deep, fresh water was
also home to these little brown jellyfish that floated "head down"
with short tentacles reaching for the surface to catch food. It was surprising
and just one of those little things that make you shake your head at the wonder
and sheer variety of nature.
We had an hour to hang out at
Porto Marie -- one of the most perfect, postcard worthy beaches imaginable.
Tucked in a lush cove, a dock jetted from the white sands into the flat, warm,
teal waters. A hundred yards off shore was a floating deck that served for sun
bathing, jumping, and a pit stop to the slightly deeper snorkeling area. The
line of buoys marked these submerged hallow soccer ball things, 3 feet in
diameter and half buried, which served as an artificial reef and home to all
kinds of tropical fish: yellow striped Sargent Majors, pastel Parrot fish, and even
a pair of comically skinny trumpet fish. Everyone, including J and E, enjoyed
swimming and playing in the sand. Before we knew it, we were back on the LOKO
BUS en route to our next adventure.
The National Park we stopped
reminded me of Montano de Oro by where Lisa and I went to college. A windblown
ground giving way into a craggly coastline with waves breaking so hard that the
spray lifts yards into the air. A short walk deposited us near a cave nestled
in the shoreline and though the seas were too rough to go deep into it, we all
snuck inside as far as we felt comfortable. Even E was brave enough...though we
held him tight since the rocks were wet and slippery. He liked power and spray of the waves, going
"OHHH!" after each.
En route to lunch, Bob stopped at
bluff overlooking another beach to "take some pics." Suddenly, Tanner
was ripping off his shirt and shoes, standing on the muddy edge above the
pristine waters. Before I had time to ready my camera, he leapt from 45-50
cliff. I was ready to snap the pictures as Erik was the second to take the
plunge. It was as Vanessa readied herself that I felt the twinge of wanting /
peer pressure. It'd been maybe a decade since I'd jumped from something
remotely this high -- it was at Lake Powell during a college break and that was
more like 70 or 75. And that time it ended in one major adrenaline rush and one
major botched entry (and one major bruised backside). I'd swore to myself that
my cliff jumping days were at an end. I should learn not to swear things like
that, I'm not good at keeping them, especially when E is saying, "Go,
Daddy, Go." I handed Gary all my stuff and had the wind whistling in my
ears before I gave my mind to remember any self-oaths made decades prior. For those of you who haven't done a ton of
cliff jumps, heights lower than 30 feet don't really give enough fall time for
your brain to realize that you're plummeting. This fall, however, was long
enough from my neurons to register the fact that gravity had good hold and a
floor of very hard looking water was swiftly approaching. Splashing in the
water a split second later, the relief and adrenaline caught up, and breaking
the surface all I could do was laugh and hoot. The feelings were doubled when I
heard Lisa telling me that E was saying, "Again, Daddy, again."
However, it was on the swim back -- as the natural high faded -- that I felt
the slap the water had made on my...ummm, back upper thigh...a result of
another semi-bad entry. (Later, I found the bruise. Not as bad as that Lake
Powell one, but all the same -- a purple-green reminder of why I stopped doing
some things.) I swear my cliff jumping days are over ;)
The late lunch at a local open air
restaurant was chaotic figuring out who got what meal and whatnot, but we all
ate plenty and had fun recounting the day so far. We decided we needed to make
our way back to the ship. Part of the return road was so hilly, we had E
raising his hands like a roller coaster. After smoothing out, he feel asleep on
my lap despite Rhianna and Timberland blaring over the Loko's music system. Of
course, J zonked out in Lisa's arms. Yet more evidence that we live in much to
quiet of a neighborhood.
E didn't wake up until I was
carrying him up the gangway. The moment his eyes opened, he said, "I want
to skip my nap." I laughed and told him that he'd already taken it. With a
couple hours to spare, he and I went to his favorite hot tub with Nana &
Papa. He loved watching and cheering as people exited the water slide,
especially his grandparents and daddy.
After another fantastic dinner, I
took J to the cabin to play / get ready for bed. At some point during our trip,
she figured out that that the switch over our pillows turns the main lights on
& off. It took some crazy daddy skills to get her diaper and clothes
changed with her singular, all consuming goal of pressing the switch as many
times as humanly possible. Lisa returned from the show without E...evidently,
going home with her wasn't an option with him telling everyone on the way out
of the theater, "Opa, off to the glass elevator." A quarter of an hour later, I found all of
them dancing in the atrium lobby.
Oma & Opa volunteered to watch
the sleeping kiddos so both Lisa and I could go out together. Of course,
neither kid wanted to go to sleep. J would whine and E would say, "you
need to go to sleep," and then proceed to sing "Rot-a-bye BAY-Bee"
at the top of his lungs. Already late meeting Kristin and Graham, I'd given up
on going out, when Oma & Opa arrived and told us that they'd get them to
sleep. Guiltily, we agreed and grabbed some drinks and met some of the others
outside the Red Frog Pub. Less than halfway through my first beer, Oma came
down to tell us J & E were out. We joked about Oma coming to find us just
to rub in their superior skills, but really, it helped both of us relax knowing
our baby sitters weren't trapped in screaming-infant / Rot-A-Bye hell (see my
night with J).
We roamed the ship with the
"youngin's" of our group, chatting and drinking until we eventually
wound up at the back of the ship and having a late night pizza snack. It was
fun, but after such a long day, it was nice to crawl into bed, looking forward
to a more relaxing day at sea.
1.2.15
Open Sea
With so many days of go-go-go in a
row, most of our crew slept in, so we went to brunch just the four of us. In
the true spirit of Carnival, it was a FUN meal: E decided he wanted Mac'n'cheese,
Lisa had a stack of pancakes, J had banana with baby oatmeal, and I had cheerio
crusted french toast. Later E and I went to pool and spent 90 min in the hot
tub -- refused to get into the pool, thought it was cold. So as the Caribbean
temperatures rose, I roasted like a lobster. Totally worth seeing how much fun
E has playing in the water. Eventually, I coaxed him out with a promise of
lunch with Nana and Papa. I actually only had a salad...a much needed dose of
lightness and veggies. Then down to the room to get E an early-ish nap. We read
his new souvinor book, WE WISH FOR FISH featuring Cat in the Hat (prep for his
character breakfast scheduled for Friday). Lisa and J got to the room and J
napped too. Yes, that's right: both kids asleep at the same time.
Not only that: Vanessa came to
relieve us. We bought a RED FROG Amber to split & hung out by the adult
pool. Just before Lisa went to Tea with the ladies, we ran into Graham,
Kristin, and baby H. I walked around with them before finding myself a sunny
deck chair for 45 min of pure, hot relaxation. When we got back, our cabin was
empty -- no kids, no Vanessa, no note. Though we found Vanessa, Tanner, Opa,
Nana, and Papa at the kids' playground where J loved climbing through the
tunnel and E conquered his slide (see broken leg posts).
It was a mad dash to get them
& ourselves ready for formal night. We took formal pics and had a much
needed glass of wine before (another) delicious dinner. Fun, as always. E loved
the dancing and sitting with Nana to play trains. The highlight was the
mustache party. It was the gift Simon took home from the exchange earlier in
the week. It was hilarious, especially when the kids wore them. Some guys work
the 'stache better than others. Erik could basically become Uncle Ron...who was
the grand master of the Mustache party and the only guy to have ''the real
deal." Later E stroking my eyebrows and asked if they were my mustache.
Such a joker at 2.5...I think we're in trouble.
I got J ready for bed while the
others went to the show. We had cereal in the buffet and she loved looking at all the people for her pre-bed
snack. Lisa put them both to bed, and I wandered the ship waiting for Graham.
Later, Lisa told me that as she went through all the places people were going too
soon (Ron to Arkansas, Vanessa & Tanner to Alaska, Nana & Papa to New
Mexico, etc), E asked, "What about Steve & Donna?" Amazing. He
noticed they'd been left out of Lisa's list. Next time, he's helping me keep
track of people on the excursions. Graham and I met up at 10:30 and a
"young dad chat" which was so engrossing that a couple beers and a
couple hours passed in a blink. It was past both of our bedtimes.
1.3.15
Open Sea
We wanted to make the most of our last full day on the ship, so
we woke up at 7. Ok, it really was because Lisa & E had the Dr. Seuss
character breakfast with the other kids. Sounded like a great timeL Bright
green eggs. Waffles filled with alternating colors of frosting filling each
square. Bow tie napkins. E loved the characters and getting his pic taken with
G in the cut outs.
Meanwhile, J & I met Nana
& Papa at the buffet for breakfast. No banana, so she had a
macerated peach. We hung out on the balcony until the Dr. Seuss breakfast crew
returned. Then I took G & E to the pool while J napped. Another boiled
lobster day and E still wasn't done. I traded kids with Lisa (so I could
cool and de-prune).
The little gal and I met Oma & Opa down at the trivia to help
Simon, though their team came in second, so I guess we weren't that much help.
J just was so confident in her answers :) Back on the Lido deck, I had a final
Guy's burger for lunch -- those are good enough to sail Carnival again, for
sure. Since I scarfed down the burger so fast (why can't I savor things??), I
helped E with his bean & cheese burrito so Lisa & my parents could eat.
It was a lifesaver having that extra time to get ready. Though it
made it the usual mad dash to get to dinner. J feel asleep again in the
stroller durning our wine happy hour. The final dinner was as fantastic as the
rest: My Flat Iron steak was awesome and E devoured his bacon mac n cheese.
Nana & Papa took E to the show while we had H & J wear their new
"Bear Bum" and "Moose Caboose" leggings from Vanessa. Lisa
got J to sleep (funny how much of our lives, even vacation, is spent getting
kids to go to sleep). I tracked down E who was having the best time dancing
with Vanessa and Nana on the atrium floor. It was late, but I just couldn't let
the magic of that moment end by my hand. Finally, I got him to bed and Lisa
went out, my fingers crossed to prevent a repeat of the melt down night last
time Lisa had a night on the ship. And sure enough, everyone stayed asleep. I
was feeling a cold coming on, so I got to bed as soon as I could.
1.4.15
Debark at Ft. Lauderdale.
AKA "Plugging back into the grid day." Woke up to the
announcement that we'd reached FLL. We got ready and out of the room pretty
quickly, with the most complicated part was figuring out breakfast plans --
people were calling and running to different decks and leaving sticky notes. It
was Lisa who realized that we could just all turn on our cells. What a wild
concept. The sit down breakfast stopped at 8:30, and I think we rolled in with
20 or so people at 8:29. They must have loved us. By the time we were done,
they were pretty far along in the disembarkation process. We said bye to the
Huis and then waited out the rest of the time in the empty comedy lounge with
Dasha handing out the final bites of her homemade, hand-carried fudge and the
kids spinning in the lounge chairs. Then it was time to say goodbye to our
Pennsylvania congregation. After a quick potty break, it was time to step off
the CARNIVAL FREEDOM with a ship-ful of great memories and already talking
about where "Cruisin' into 2017" will be.
In the terminal we secured a porter and, man, did he earn his tip
on us. Frightening to see all of it piled on one guy's cart. We breezed through
customs and by the time we zig-zagged our way through the chaos of people &
bags all in various states of being picked up, Nana had two shuttles coming to
deposit us to our hotel. We used Mark & Dasha's "shuttle guy"
(not to self: you really cruise often when you have a Fort Lauderdale
"shuttle guy" -- needless to say, I kept the contact...so I now count
myself as having a Ft. Lauderdale "shuttle guy").
Unfortunately, while bag pick up went smooth for most of us,
somehow one of Donna's bags went missing from the time they left it out the
night before to when they tried to pick it us at the terminal. They scoured
just about every possible bag in the huge room without luck. She filled out a
form, crossed her fingers, and we met up with the others where the first of our
two shuttles arrived.
Baby J was taking a much needed power nap (partly why I think the
immigration / customs officer let us through so easily was partially the fussy
baby), so Lisa stayed there and I took E on that shuttle. Ten minutes later, we
arrived at a perfectly nice Hilton Garden Inn. Mine was the only room ready
that early, so we used it as our group's baggage drop. By the time we crammed, 20
people's luggage in there, it felt like that gigantic room was our tiny ship
cabin again. Though it didn't matter because we all met up in the lobby as the
second shuttle arrived and walked to lunch at Chipotle. I'm not sure why I
thought we'd all be able to sit together in a Chipotle on a weekend lunch. Or
any lunch at that place. Or any meal, for that matter. Chipotles are always
packed. Some people at there, though we took ours to go and ate with the
Metsers back at the hotel lobby. Not much after finishing the food and playing
"Name That Car" with E, it was time to say bye to Ron, Vicki, and
Kristi, who were anxious to get started on their 20 hour drive back to Arkansas
(with a quick jaunt by Harry Potter World -- so jealous). And with that,
the Arkansas delegation parted.
A bunch of us hit the pool, because well, we hadn't hung out in a
pool all week? Anyhow, it was a blast and baby J giggled and played the whole
time. E didn't want to get all the way in, the hot tub was too hot and the pool
was too cold, though it didn't end up mattering since he was perfectly happy to
walk from one to the other just getting his feet wet -- though the highlight
was seeing a gecko on the wall. He had a million questions: What's its name?
(E-lizard-beth, we decided). Was it a girl? (All E-lizard-beths are girls). Was
it a Mommy? (Probably, but we should ask before assuming anything). And on and
on.
The kids took baths and us showers before making a decent walk to
an Ale House. We occupied a whole corner of the place and tried the different beers
on tap while watching the football games. Even with a later, huge lunch, we
were all starving again. This a syndrome I call Cruise Ship Metabolism (CSM) --
where the body expects to be stuffed to the brink every 2-3 hours, with snacks
such as soft serve / frozen yogurt in the intervals. It's a severe condition.
Luckily, the Ale House was willing to accommodate by serving HUGE portions. Plus,
we walked by a pay-by-the-ounce frozen yogurt place on the hike back to the
hotel -- Yumi Berry. I can safely declare Yumi Berry as the single strangest
yogurt shop of I've ever been to: Kosher (they had a very official looking
certificate from a Rabbi) that also served Greek, Pannis, and Sushi. It was
packed!
Back at the hotel, we had a heartfelt goodbye with the Alaska
delegation -- Vanessa and Tanner, since we were on a different shuttle and
airline as them, we weren't sure we'd see them. Then it was an early to bed for
us all...well, everyone except for J, her 30 minute power nap on the the walk
home was good. Fortunately, Vanessa texted that they were having wine in the
lobby. Lisa took J for an hour or so while us boys slept. The extra party wore
J out. Phew.
Around midnight, we heard from our housesitter that she and the
dogs were doing great and up at her family's Sierra cabin. They'd taken a
mini-vacation themselves and hiked a 4 miler one day and a 6 miler the
following.
1.5.15
Fort Lauderdale to Santa Clara
When the alarm went off at 4 AM, I wasn't sure how much I'd
slept. It was one of those restless nights: worrying we'd oversleep, getting
too hot, getting too cold, E tumbling out of the double bed in his sleep. That
sort of thing. Though I heard from Nana that half the group made it to the
airport on the 4:30 shuttle.
Anyhow, in a mad dash, we managed to get everyone else on the 5
AM shuttle, which I'm sure glad we pre-arranged, because we skipped ahead of a
lot of people. Our driver made a brilliant game time decision and dropped us at
the baggage claim versus the huge line up of cars at departures. It took an act
of God + a smart cart + every hand we had to get the baggage upstairs and
checked in. The four in our family semi-strolled through security, though I'd
forgotten to empty E's wow cup from water and they had to do some chemical test
on it, so that slowed us down a little. It was nothing compared to the line
Erik, Kevin, Angelina, Gary and Brian endured. They were still coming through
when the rest of us boarded. (And, THANK YOU, Nana, for meeting us on the safe
side of security with coffee and breakfast in hand).
Miraculously, we all ended up on board and with seats. There was
a little...umm, what I'll call heated confusion with some lady and a seat. The
flight went smoothly with E & I doing iPad stuff and most everyone else
napping. We landed on time and deplaned at Gate 21 in Houston Hobby. Our next
flight was at Gate 41 with 45 minute between. We rushed over, only to find 21
was just across the way and we had no reason to rush. As they called boarding
group A, we said our farewells to the New Mexico delegation and hopped on the
plane...of course, there was some additional heated confusion with that same
lady, who was on this leg too. It all worked out and we left on time without
any brawls in the aisle.
After J snacked on some cheerios, Lisa took her into the bathroom
for a change. Returning a little flustered, she said me, "I just had a
weird scare," and then told a story about how, upon pulling up J's onesie,
Lisa noticed that the baby's belly button had become an outie, when that
morning, it'd been an innie. In a irrational panic, Lisa thought, the
altitude! before discovering the outie was, in fact, a cheerio.
Landing in Oakland went smooth as did saying bye to the remaining
members of our group since we all had different ways of getting back to the
South Bay. Ours turned out to be a bit of a headache and we ended up waiting
around for a couple hours before finding a different shuttle. We got home to
two very excited dogs, though we quickly found out that they were
exhausted from their mini-vacation. Exhausted, we spent the rest of our paid
time off with the kids...taking down Christmas lights, walking the dogs, and
beginning the seemingly impossible tasks of unpacking and digging out from
Christmas.
Despite the knowledge that work and reality waited for us in the
morning, laying down in our own bed felt heavenly. As we drifted to sleep (ok,
maybe it was more of a Curacao cliff jumping plummet), we talked about how the
trip was just about the best family cruise to date...and one of the funniest
trips we'd ever taken. My last conscious thought was that all the time, prep,
organization, packing, and money had translated into a unforgettable vacation
for myself plus 31 of the people I love most in this world. And I couldn't
think of a better way (or better company) to usher in this new year.
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