Disney Cruise Goodbyes

We ate breakfast at a formal sit down restaurant instead of a buffet and ate with our dinner servers as a way to say goodbye to them one more time.  Everything was very structured as the US Coastal Authorities have to check the boat and the luggage and so it is all timed and proper.  The kids were so sad to leave.

Earlier in the week I was looking through my papers, however, and I noticed that I scheduled our flight home on the wrong day.  Paul and I both through we were returning on Saturday but we returned on Friday!  So we took our shuttle to the airport to see if they could change our flight.  Alas, it would be $500 per person to get on a different flight on a different day and so we spent another day in Miami!  We toyed with renting a car and looking around but we were all so tired that we found an airport Hilton with a great pool and a shuttle and we just sat by the pool all day Friday and Saturday until our flight left Saturday evening.  We ordered pizza, watched Peabody and Sherman and took naps.  It's not so bad to be stranded by a huge pool with palm trees and 85 degree weather! It allowed us to all catch up on lack of regular sleep on the cruise and prepare ourselves for Seattle again.  

Overall I would say it was a fantastic experience.  It was perfect for families and as usual, Disney thinks of everything.  The kids club was a godsend.  We didn't use it nearly as much as many other families but the thought that on vacation we could get a break from each other was worth its weight in gold.  We could do great things together, seperate for a few hours and come back together again.  And there was no babysitting fee, no guilt, just fun for them and time for us.  That part alone was what really made it great.  

The boat was clean and well cared for.  Our room was cleaned well every day and the ship was immaculate.  The pools were very small and it was rare to find a chair near a pool.  It is kind of a pain to walk back to your room all the time, but not that bad.  It was really nice to have the movies and the shows and all of the millions of activities going on all the time for anything you could possibly want to do.  The shows were really well done and we all enjoyed them.  As most people say about cruises there was really too much food. Three solid meals and then anytime you want you can go to any spot and get fruit, salad, pizza, chicken fingers, wraps, fries, wings, soda, tea, really anything without paying more.  Noah kept asking -- is this free? and we laughed and said, no but it has already been paid for!  

It also seemed to be great for all ages.  There were special clubs and even whole decks geared toward tweens and teens and 18-21 and singles.  There was no casino but there was $10,000 bingo and history walking tours and all sorts of interesting things going on.  

As we finished up on the cruise we were sure we would do another but as I sit back and think about it I'm not 100% convinced.  Of course, we live far from Florida now and so it's not an easy trip to the Carribbean anymore.  Seattle is a port and many cruise ships sail from there to Hawaii, Alaska and the California coast.  The process of getting on and off the boat at each port is kind of a pain and takes quite a bit of time.  The ports were confusing and crowded with people begging you to go on their cruises or tour or taxi.  It was all fairly disconcerting, even for someone who has traveled a lot.  I thought maybe a Sandals resort with kids club would offer the same relaxation with kids club for about the same price.  You wouldn't see all of the different islands but we didn't really see them anyway.  You wouldn't have Mickey and Co but we aren't wild Mickey people anyway.  So it remains to be seen.  The kids are already begging to go back but they love every place we go.  It was a great week and I am grateful and happy and that is enough.  

Chinatown

Maeve had her first sleepover at a friend's house and Paul was at a coworkers 28th (!) birthday happy hour so that just left Noah and I on a Friday night.  I let him pick what we would do and he wanted Chinese.  We hadn't been to Chinatown here yet and so we figured out the bus schedule and headed to The International District.  It is nothing compared to Philly or San Fran but it's still a nice little area with shops and great food.  I was a little surprised it wasn't very large because there is a huge Asian population here.  We ate at a pretty fancy place called The Red Lantern and the sweet and sour chicken was nothing that Noah had seen before but after a few wrinkled noses he loved it.  We walked around for a little afterward and he got a giant crepe filled with ice cream, bananas, and whipped cream at an Asian Food Court.  We called it a success and headed home to stay up late and watch Hole in the Wall and American Ninja Warriors!

Public Art

Seattle has so many public sculptures and works of art just displayed in the middle of walkways and thoroughfares.  The kids love to interact with the art.

Here they are playing hide and seek in this giant bamboo metal sculpture.

Rikki Tikki Tavi

The Seattle Public Schools have an agreement with the Seattle Children's Theater and the schools have the option to buy very reduced tickets to their shows.  Noah's third grade class will go to three shows this year at the theater.  There was supposed to be a show next Friday but we were going to be away because of our cruise so I purchased tickets for Noah and I to go before we left.  The kids from the school walk about a mile into the city to see the show which I think is awesome.  My kids and I walked into the city to meet Paul for dinner and then Paul and Maeve were going to head back on the bus while Noah and I saw the show.  In order to get downtown we had to go down some VERY steep sets of steps.  I think there are over 100 sets of these steps in Queen Anne (I read about it somewhere... I'll find it and post).  The kids loved it but I was nervous they were going to fall and crack their heads open on the cement -- they are steep!  But the view the whole time we were walking we had a perfect view of the cityscape and it was beautiful!

We walked through an outdoor art installation at the Seattle Ballet and into the Seattle Center (which is where the space needle is).

We had a great Mexican meal and then Noah and I headed to the show.

Rikki Tikki Tavi is a story by Rudyard Kipling.  Noah's class read the story and we had it at home as well in a book combined with the jungle book.  The show was cute and all of the kids were entranced.  I love to see their little brains processing theater.

After the show was over the characters came back out and allowed the kids to ask questions and to dream beyond the garden in the story about their dream gardens.  Then the actors asked the kids to come forward to ask any other questions or to get autographs.  It was really neat!!!!

The Cockroach

When we were in Seattle over the summer we picked up two realistic plastic cockroaches at the zoo.  We took them on vacation to Williamsburg hoping that we could sneak them into Uncle Eric's shower but that never worked. We had them in Daddy's sink for a little while in the apartment and it would always creep us out for a second when we walked into the kitchen. Since we've been in the house we have just had them lying around.  Noah had this idea for freeze them into these giants ice cubes we have and he went looking for the cockroach but couldn't find it. He wanted to scare Paul when he got home from work.  Since he couldn't find it he gave up.  Along comes dinner time and Noah put some ice cubes in his water only to find that Paul had already frozen it into a cube and Noah was so freaked out!!!!!!  It was awesome.

October 1st

Early this morning the neighbor kids barreled in the door.  I was still in my pj's.  It was sweet and it made me happy because these are awesome kids, quickly becoming like siblings to my two.  They are kind and respectful and fantastic.  They wanted to know if Maeve and Noah wanted to walk up with them to school this morning.  I quickly changed and got ready to head out but they were already walking.  It's only two blocks and I can see the school and it's totally safe and I want them to do this, but I stood on our corner watching from afar as the tears slid down my face.  Noah noticed and ran back and said "it's okay, you can come if you want" and I pushed him back to his friends.

I read an article about six months ago about how eight is the time when a boy begins to separate from his mother.  I joked with Noah then about it and he clung to me and said "Never, mama, never."  And slowly I see him hiding things from me and closing the door when he changes and I notice that he tells me less.  The harsh and logical reality is that this is all healthy.  Goodness knows I don't want an 18 year old man cuddling up like a baby bear in my lap and I would know I really failed at parenting if that was the case!

I want them to have the same desire that I had to explore the world and have deep friendships and be confident and independent.  I see their wanderlust in their pleas to go to Paris and even Antarctica... places I had no concept of at their age.  I listen from a distance as they dream up magical worlds with their new friends in the absence of technology and motor powered devices and I am so grateful for these moments.  The boys spend hours with legos and magnets inventing faraway worlds and the girls arrange the dolls in fairytales and classrooms and I am confidant that all is as it should be.  But, I know that it is all so fleeting and it always has been and every moment will be just a wisp that I keep trying to clutch.


I don't want to forget anything.  I don't want to lose any of these special moments because I already forget so much despite my 10,000 photos and blogs and scrapbooks.

And so today I'll sit with tearstained cheeks and ask God for his release for my clutching fists so I can be reminded again and again and again to release them to the great and beautiful plans God has set before them.  It's amazing to know that your prayers have been answered and to add another number to the long list of blessings and it takes power to push down the demon and disillusion of control.

So I'll sit with my Proverb and my Starbucks and enjoy the silence I also asked for.  3:00 will be here soon enough.

The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? Proverbs 20:24

Mt Rainier Revisit 083014

Views of Mt. Ranier from Crystal Mountain

This looks so fake, right?!

The gondola ride back down Crystal Mountain.

After Crystal Mountain we headed over to Mt. Rainier National Park and did some of the trail up to the mountain.  We saw black tailed deer and chipmunks and marmots.

These are hoary marmots.