Cruise day 3: sea day

Merry Christmas!  Today we sent the day at sea.

We were told that there were presents for the kids at 8am.  Since we were up and dressed by then we were there close to 8...it turned out there was a slight typo, so instead we (along with Grey Bear) got our picture taken with Santa Goofy.

The kids went to the kids area for a while.  There was some activity that we persuaded them to try.  I think Isaac did screens the whole time and Joshua tolerated it.  Ben and I hung out in the adult area and read for a little bit.

Isaac discovered that he loves crab legs!  I told both boys that they needed to try some new foods this trip.  Isaac took it to heart and found some things he likes and some things he doesn't like; Joshua tried some new foods but didn't try as much.  (The problem with crab legs is that Isaac can't take them apart and his rate of eating is faster than my taking apart.  Therefore, he only got a few per day.)

Ice cream!  Isaac enjoyed the strawberry banana swirl and Joshua changed every day.

I took the boys for a bit so then Ben took the boys.  I went to the adult area again for just a bit with my legs in the pool.

We had our fancy dinner night that night.  We were standing in line for a while and so I gave the kids my phone to take some pictures.  Isaac decided to take pictures of the lights...but it shows the lobby of the boat nicely.

We tried to get a quick family picture, but Joshua wasn't having it.

After dinner we finally got the picture taken.

Since the pool was busy during the day we went swimming at night.  This was the small pool that was warm and Joshua really enjoyed.  Isaac and Ben went on the water slide six times and he was so excited.  It was nice because the pool was not very busy at night time and so you didn't have to wait in line very long (if at all).

Friday: Lego firetruck

The Lego firetruck has been an awesome present for Joshua.  He works on it for a little bit, and then plays with it for a lot bit.

He saw me taking pictures, and so brought over every vehicle for a picture.  Several of them made noises while I was taking the picture.  (Note the bruise on this cheek...he ran right into a step ladder at full steam on Monday.)

(There's one more, but my phone is having issues.)

Thursday: class

In one of my classes an Amanda and Amy sat next to each other.  It made me think of my wonderful Roommate, and of happy memories.

Wednesday: wife

This morning Joshua managed to put his coat on and zip it up by himself.  I was praising him, saying that before long he'd be living in his own house too!  He wasn't a fan and wanted to live with Mom and Dad and Isaac.  He said that really, he didn't want to live by himself.  I said that made sense, and that maybe he could live with his wife.

"Yeah!  My wife can help me [build] my Lego firetruck.  And call Mickey and Cluto!"  (Cluto = Pluto)

Aunt C is also letting us borrow her tramp for a few weeks.  The boys both enjoyed it today.

Tuesday: school starts

Classes started for me today.  It ended up being a slightly busy day due to an orientation for lab, but I felt like I was much more in control than I was last semester on the first day.  I'm not completely sure why this is, as I didn't have a key to the new cabinet for my class and so had to teach in an offset location...it was hard to see the students as well to see if they were following along.  I think I only put two students to sleep. :D  To be fair, the first day is rather boring.

Cruise: day 2 - island

The second day on the cruise we went to Castaway Cay, which is Disney's island.

Well, the day actually started with an early wake up call by the boys.  We had even stayed up late the night before, so I was hoping they would sleep in.  A futile hope.  We had gotten some small chocolate squares the night before and the boys wanted to eat them.  So we explored the ship a bit, realizing that we were walking at the same speed but in the opposite direction the boat was going, while trying to find a nice place to eat them.  We ended up at the back of the boat, in the adults only lounge that was open, but not really.  The chocolate was enjoyed by all.

We continued to explore the ship and found the mini-golf.  Joshua and mini golf did not work.  He wanted to do it by himself and wasn't doing it correctly.  Needless to say, we only did it for two holes.  Then the fusball tables were opened up so we went over there.  Isaac and I enjoyed playing and Joshua enjoyed getting the balls from the goals and putting them in the table.  It worked.

We had a delicious breakfast with Ben and then went off the boat.  We had some pictures with characters and then found some beach chairs.  The boys played for a bit and Ben and I relaxed with our books.

After lunch we went back to the boat for rest time.  There was something fun for the kids in the late evening, and we told them they had to take a nap if they wanted to participate.  We followed it up by ice cream.

After a nice dinner we went to the nightly show.  It was a juggling/hula hoop/unicycle show and quite enjoyable.  All the cousins got their pjs on and went down for Pluto's Pajama Party.  We met Pluto in the hallway, which scared Joshua at first and then we calmed him down and he enjoyed it.  I think he somewhat enjoyed the party while he was there, but he seemed to greatly enjoy talking about it afterwards.  The adults went and relaxed together for a bit, which was nice; it was the only time that we managed to do that.

Toes

How is it, that when I get into bed my toes get colder?  Periodically I'll go to bed significantly before Ben (say, 2 hrs) and when he comes to bed my toes are still cold.

I have a toe warmer that I microwave, but it still makes me wonder.