KerryAndGabe.com

Let’s see. Where was I in these trip reports? Ah, yes. The second part of Day 3, our first full day at sea. We left the Boardwalk area and headed to the Royal Promenade where all 12 of us met in front of On Air. We grabbed donuts from the Donut Shoppe in the Boardwalk to entertain the kids (and offer a snack) while we waited. We snagged some tall bar chairs from On Air and waited for the parade to start.

We were given a tip from a previous cruiser that this would be a good spot for the parade, and they were right! We weren’t directly in front of any of the stages, but we were in a great spot to see the parade pass by. This was our view down the promenade.

This was the first time that all 12 of us were together in one place. It was so nice to get everyone together! Jason took this photo. I swear he was there, too!

They do a great job with this parade. Everyone in our party thoroughly enjoyed it. We had had a wonderful time at breakfast, but the parade became the highlight of the day. The kids (and Mick) were a little restless waiting for the parade to start, but once it did, everyone was entertained.

All of the characters who made appearances around the ship were in the parade as well as a few other bonus characters and costumes and props. The penguins seemed to “remember” Maddie and did a dance in front of us. Other characters danced right in front of us as well.

For the most part, our photos of the parade were terrible! We probably would have been better off to take video, but I don’t think any of us did this time. I really was able to enjoy the parade as Cullen was on my lap, and I wasn’t responsible for taking any photos for once. It’s nice to take a break from that every once in a while!

After the parade, we all went our separate ways. We went back to the room to get on our swimsuits and take the kids to the pool. We were excited about the pool since it had a splash area for the diapered crowd. We thought at first that the whole area that was about 2″ to 6″ of water was suitable for Cullen, but it turns off that he was restricted to a very tiny splash pool. We were apprehended by the pool police and banished to the baby pool. Cullen was not happy, but I was thrilled because the regular splash pool water was FRIGID. The baby splash pool was nice and warm. Cullen’s area is in this photo to the right/front.

Cullen was not happy about being restricted to this tiny pool. We made the best of it, but he couldn’t understand why Maddie could play in the other areas and he was stuck with the babies. He got over it after a little while and splashed around a bit. The whole area is pretty neat with water guns and fountains. Maddie explored more of the area with Daddy. She accidentally stepped from the 3″ splash pool into the 2.5″ pool. Fortunately, Daddy was right next to her when it happened (and I saw it happening from across the way). I yelled to Daddy to save her, and he was quick to scoop her out of the water. She went completely under and was not happy about it, to say the least. Plus, the water was cold! Her favorite was the family hot tub, set to a warm but not dangerously hot temperature for wee ones. I don’t blame her. The water in the regular pools was definitely too cold! Nana and Papa saw us at the pool and took some photos, but I won’t be posting any of me in a bathing suit here (or anywhere, for that matter). Let’s just say that they didn’t come out too well.

We grabbed lunch from the Wipe Out Cafe which is your typical pool area burgers and junk food. It will do in a pinch, but it’s not going to win any awards. Once we figured out where it was (the ship is huge, remember), it was convenient. We ran into Mick and Debbie, and I headed back to the room to shower and get ready for my cupcake decorating class with my mom.

The cupcake class was at The Cupcake Cupboard in the Royal Promenade. Mom and I had signed up for the class weeks ago, and it was fun to do a mother-daughter thing together. We weren’t the only mother-daughter duo in the class.

Our supplies were organized for us, and they gave us step by step instructions on how to make a burger and fries out of cupcakes.

They turned out pretty cute (and tasty)!

Meanwhile, Cullen was napping and Maddie was playing in Grandma and Grandpa’s room. Nana and I went back to get Maddie and Grandma so that Maddie could meet Shrek, Fiona, and Puss in Boots. Maddie was excited, and it’s one of the few times you can get your photo taken with multiple characters. It’s also one of the few meet and greets that they do not allow you to take your own photos. Of course, we had to buy that one.

We joined Papa along the way and headed back to the cabin to check on Cullen’s nap. He woke up a few minutes later, and we all headed to On Air for “Songs with Color in the Title” music trivia. Nana, Papa, Grandma, Gabe, and I formed a team and did pretty well. We had 32 out of 40 points, but we ended up 3rd. Oh well! Maddie fell asleep during our trivia session. The movement of the ship is quite soothing, I guess! And the ship was rocking on our sea days on this cruise!

Gabe and I headed to the meet the penguins again and ride the carousel with the kids. Cullen wanted to meet the penguins, but Maddie was more interested in riding the carousel.

After a few times on the carousel, we decided to try Pets at Sea, which is located next to the carousel. It’s very similar to Build-a-Bear. The kids had fun picking out their special new friends and outfits.

They both picked bunnies with Royal Caribbean sweat suits. Inside each bunny is a star that they used to “make a wish” (well, somehow I don’t think either of them understood that concept).

We went back to the cabin to get ready for dinner and headed to meet Alex the Lion on the way. Alex was huge, but Cullen and Maddie weren’t scared and enjoyed meeting him!

We all paused to get our photo taken together.

We tried to get some photos in front of the Christmas tree, but the kids weren’t too cooperative. We headed to dinner. Mick and Debbie had a show at 7pm, so we had an expedited dinner. My parents had a reservation at 150 Central Park where they had a fabulous dinner.

It was Italian night, and we were disappointed that Mick and Debbie had to leave before we were serenaded by the waitstaff. It’s the same pretty much each cruise, but I enjoy it! Cullen was restless during the meal, and we tried distracting him with Monkey Lunchbox towards the end of the meal. At some point, Jason finished his meal and took Cullen outside to watch the elevators so we could finish our dessert. Clearly, Jason was trying to steal one of our kids again!

Gabe took Cullen back to the cabin for bedtime, and I took Maddie to look at some of the photos. Mom and I had stopped by the photo gallery after our cupcake class. The way that they do the pictures on this ship is really cool! Your sea pass has a number that refers to your carousel and folio number. They use some kind of facial recognition, and I was surprised that almost all of our photos made their way to our folder. We didn’t have to search the walls to find every photo. I loved that system! Since we had two cabins, we had two folios, so we used one for our potential keepers and the other for our rejects. That worked out quite well and helped us narrow down our choices out of dozens of photos.

Melissa, Jason, and I decided to take Maddie to play trivia in the Schooner Bar. Jason took Maddie while Melissa and I stopped by the restroom. When we showed up in the Schooner Bar, the bar tender had offered to bring a Shirley Temple for Maddie. I was concerned that it would be made with a caffeinated soda, but I was relieved to see it was made with Sprite. Maddie had never had a carbonated beverage, and I wasn’t sure I wanted her to have soda! There was no need for me to worry as Maddie had one sip and made a panicky face and said she didn’t like it. I was glad, and I hope that she won’t have soda again for a long time! We ordered her an orange juice instead, despite it not being a complimentary drink in the bar! Maddie happily wiggled and played Monkey Lunchbox while we played Modern TV Theme music trivia. We ended up 3rd again. We keep getting close!

We escorted Maddie back to the cabin, and Melissa, Jason and I spent a few minutes in the casino. It was long enough to lose some money! I did not have much luck in this casino! I came back to the room to let Gabe play real, live poker. He ended up winning about $200 (though we did not end up ahead with our gambling on this trip!). Woohoo! As we predicted, the competition on the ship was fairly soft. Gabe was excited to get in some real poker time.

Day 3 favorites:
Kerry: the parade
Gabe: the parade (though he might also say winning at poker!)
Maddie (according to her): the pool
Cullen (our best guess): maybe the chocolate breakfast? getting a new bunny at Pets at Sea?

Well, we don’t do much for Valentine’s Day, but it’s hard to avoid when you have kiddos. The extent of our celebrating is to dress the kids in red or hearts and send in the requisite cards for classmates. And I try to get them to pose together for a cute photo. Maddie’s class decided to have pajama day on Valentine’s Day. We found out late in the day on the day before, so I’m glad we had cute jammies with hearts. The scarf completed the look. I thought about not brushing her hair, but it was a big mess this morning! I think it’s about time for another haircut for her.

Cullen started his new classroom yesterday (for only a couple of hours). We had some back up Valentine’s Day cards just in case he needed them (or Maddie didn’t complete her project). He was excited about the Mr. Men and Little Miss cards. He picked out which one went to which classmate.

Maddie decorated this mailbox for her cards. The kids were supposed to bring in unaddressed cards for 19 kids and a decorated box.

Maddie did a great job with her homemade cards. We had to do a few at a time so she didn’t get tired of making them. She decided to put “XOXO” (from a few choices of sayings) at the top and “From Maddie” instead of “Love, Maddie.” I don’t blame her. I mean you never LOVE all of your classmates. You don’t want the wrong person to get the wrong idea, right?

Something happening around the house: We had quite a turnout for games night, wow! Things were a little crazy and overwhelming, but it was a lot of fun.

Something I’m reading: I finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and I look forward to discussing it at book club! I also started reading another library kindle book, A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.

Something Gabe is reading: He finished The Fall of Hyperion which means that I think he’ll start Ready Player One soon!

Something I’m watching: Alcatraz. It’s even more confusing than LOST.

Something I’m playing: Die Bergen von Burgund, Times Up: Title Recall, Big Boggle, Call My Bluff, Taboo, Sour Apples to Apples, and No Rules Pictionary. It was a party game day for me! We’ve also been playing a lot of Zingo with the kiddos.

Something I’m creating: Not much. I finally finished Cullen’s letter. I guess I should get started on Maddie’s since her birthday is only a week and a day away.

Something about both kiddos: They have been loving Zingo, a bingo-style game with pictures and words. Maddie does really well with the concept. Cullen seems to enjoy putting the rejected chips back into the magic box. Maddie played at least a dozen times with Gabe on Monday when she was home sick from school. Cullen loses interest after a game or so, and he doesn’t quite play correctly. He does seem to want to play, but he isn’t quite getting it.

Something Maddie is doing (47 months old): Maddie has been playing a lot of Zingo, as I mentioned. She’s also very good at doing the 100-piece puzzle she received for her birthday. She calls Cullen, “Brudder,” quite a bit. “Hey, brudder, come with me!” I told her that I liked that she called him, “brudder.” She said, “Why, Mommy?” I said that I thought it was sweet. She said, “Sometimes I call him ‘brud.’” Too funny! As far as I know, she has never called him that before, but she started using it that evening and the following morning. She created valentines for her classmates. They all say “XOXO” and “FROM MADDIE” with stickers. She chose what to write from a few choices and chose “FROM MADDIE” over “LOVE, MADDIE.”

Something Cullen is doing (24 months old): As I was getting him milk for breakfast, I said, “Cullen, go sit down at the table.” He replied, “No, I not sit down at the table. I just standing here watching you pouring the milk.” At the breakfast table, he had put his robot matryoshka on the table. He said, “The robots are watching me eating breakfast.” “I want to sit next to you with Maddie’s Annabelle.” When I told him that he’s going to be starting a new class tomorrow, he said, “I see Clare. I show Clare my hurt piggie.” (He said this while lifting his toe to show his band-aid from a booboo on one of his toes). He’s only two and already showing chicks his scars. I can’t believe he’s moving to the older toddler room tomorrow. I hope that the transition goes well.

Something I am struggling with: I think I might have broken my pinky toe today. If it’s not broken, it’s bruised and swollen. Ouch!

Something I’m doing towards my goals: I’m seeing Les Miserables this week!

Something I learned: I learned that I really didn’t know that much about footbinding and Chinese culture in the 1800s. I feel like I learned a lot through reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

Something I’m looking forward to: Cullen’s moving up to his new class! I am also seeing They Might Be Giants and Les Miserables. Woohoo! Maddie has her last ballet class and is attending a birthday party on Saturday. We’re going to be celebrating her birthday with a special day on Sunday, similar to what we did for Cullen on his birthday. Maddie is excited!

Something captured: I’ve been having problems getting decent photos of Maddie in her ballet class! She’s so cute in her ballerina outfit.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

I’ve been working on Cullen’s letter since his birthday, but I had quite a bit to cover this time. I think it’s probably my longest letter ever, but it has a lot of major milestones and events! (more…)

Something that makes me happy: I finally finished Cullen’s 2-year old letter. I plan to post it tomorrow. Whew, it’s a long one!

Something I’m thinking: Guess I better start on Maddie’s 4-year old letter soon!!! Time is flying.

Something I’m hoping: I hope we’ll be able to have our rescheduled games night this week.

Something happening around the house: We had a party with family and Maddie and Cullen’s closest friends yesterday, and Gabe’s mom has been spending the weekend with us. We’ve had a great time, though I’m pretty tired!

Something I’m reading: I don’t know if I will finish Peter and Wendy or not. I’m over halfway finished, but I’m just not all that interested in reading it. I started Snow Flower and the Secret Fan after it finally becoming available for me on the kindle at the library.

Something Gabe is reading: He’s almost finished with Fall of Hyperion.

Something I’m watching: We watched Moneyball again with Gabe’s mom (she had not seen it). I really like that movie, which is surprising considering it’s a baseball movie and all.

Something I’m playing: Fruit Ninja! Maddie also got Zingo for her birthday, and she loves it!

Something I’m creating: Cullen’s letter. Hopefully, this week I can get back to the trip reports. I have other photos I need to sort through as well. I have thousands of unsorted photos. It’s ridiculous. Oh, and I am painting a piggy bank for Cullen. It’s a dragon – he’s going to be so excited when it’s finished.

Something tasty: Birthday cake, yum!

Something about both kiddos: They had their joint birthday party with a Mickey and Minnie theme. We decided to keep it small this year with 4 total kids (the ones that we see most often outside of school). I made a Mickey cake and cupcakes with little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse character cupcake toppers. Maddie was fascinated with the icing tinting process. I look forward to decorating cakes together in the future.

Something Maddie is doing (47 months old): She was so excited about her birthday party, which she realized wasn’t her “actual birthday.” She was very into getting presents, but she appeared to be more interested in opening them than what was inside. We need to teach her some manners about the presents as she several times said to Grandma, “where are my other presents?” I think it might be because she knew we had other presents to open that we still haven’t gotten to yet (from others). We like to spread them out a bit when we can. She has been playing with each of her new toys quite a bit, so they all seem to be big hits. Sometime this week, Daddy belched, and Maddie said, “Excuse you, Daddy!!!” We were talking about college in the car, and she said that Cullen needed a piggy bank so that he could go to college. She remembers a discussion she had with Daddy about how she can make money if she goes to college to “learn a job,” and she thought she could put that money in her piggy bank. I thought that the preschooler logic was great – therefore, Cullen needs to have a piggy bank so he can go to college! She has been practicing her balance bike skills and is getting better and better at coasting on it. She got a 100-piece puzzle from the birthday party, and she’s already put it together once. She needed a little encouragement here and there, but she pretty much put it together fairly quickly all by herself. She had a fever tonight, so she will be missing school tomorrow. We can’t seem to get well around here.

Something Cullen is doing (24 months old): Cullen also enjoyed the birthday party. He was a little embarrassed when everyone sang, “Happy Birthday.” He made a huge, happy mess of the cupcake, though!!! He loves his new toys as well. He has a new book, “Happy Hippo, Angry Duck.” The book explores many different emotions, and we act out each one. It’s adorable to see his different faces. I need to figure out a way to get it on video. This week, he told Maddie, “I’m angry at you, Maddie.” He shrieks at her (and sometimes at us), but we learned that he doesn’t do this at school. In the grocery store, he pointed to a bag of Starbucks coffee and said, “We have those at school. Hannah needs those!” Hannah is one of his teachers. He will be moving to his new classroom a week from tomorrow.

Something I am struggling with: I’ve had some bad headaches the past couple of days. I hope I’m not getting sick.

Something I’m looking forward to: Finishing the dragon piggy bank, another ballet class for Maddie, dinner and games with friends, and games night.

Something captured: Maddie and Cullen getting ready to make a wish!

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something I’m thinking: We would have had a record turnout at games night yesterday, but we had to cancel due to Maddie throwing up in the middle of the night. It turns out that two of her friends also were throwing up this weekend, so I think we were smart to cancel. It does sound like a mild bug. By the morning, Maddie was normal and has been for the rest of the weekend.

Something I’m hoping: I hope that we’ll have a good turn out in two weeks with the rescheduled games night.

Something happening around the house: I think we would be in better shape if we had had games night. We would have had to at least tidy up the toys before people arrived. Of course, the toys would be all over the place afterward, so maybe it’s about the same.

Something I’m reading: I finished The Last Olympian. I started and finished Ready Player One, and I LOVED it. It was a fun read with all sorts of geeky 80s references. Good stuff. I started on Peter and Wendy, one of the selections for February’s book club. I thought I would enjoy it more. At least it is short. It shouldn’t take me long to finish. I’m on the waiting list for Snow Flower and the Secret Fan for kindle at the library. I hope that I will get it soon since it is the other February selection.

Something Gabe is reading: He’s reading The Fall of Hyperion and plans to read Ready Player One next since I’ve been telling him over and over that he needs to read it!

Something I’m watching: We are enjoying Alcatraz.

Something I’m creating: I’ve been working on Cullen’s 2-year letter. It’s taking me a while to put together all the words from my notes that I made on his birthday. I need to finish it so I can get back to writing about the cruise. At this rate, I’ll have trouble finishing the trip reports before our next cruise.

Something Maddie is doing (47 months old): She had another ballet class (I think that we have 6 sessions with this set). She didn’t listen to the teacher very well this time. Instead, she goofed off with her friend. I went to tell her that she needed to listen to her instructor, and she said, “But Sofie isn’t listening!” Oh boy. That stuff starts so early, doesn’t it? She had a stomach bug that caused her to throw up in the middle of the night Friday night, but she was fine the rest of the weekend. I hope that is all we will see of the bug and the rest of us stay healthy.

Something Cullen is doing (24 months old): We had a little party for Cullen at school. He requested cupcakes and rocket ship goldfish. While we were at the party, Cullen pointed at Gabe and said, “Daddy! You’re not going anywhere!” I still love how Cullen talks with pauses between every syllable. Also now sometimes he sings random lyrics about what he’s doing. I love his little songs!!

Something I learned: Good things.

Something I’m looking forward to: A couple years ago, I painted a piggy bank for Maddie. I’m planning to paint one for Cullen this week! We also have a small joint party with mostly family next Saturday to celebrate both birthdays.

Something captured: At Cullen’s classroom party. We didn’t get too many good photos – he was too busy talking about the rocket ships.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

It’s time once again for my “best of” list for the previous year (inspired originally by Cindy in 2008).

Best Restaurant: This is a tough category to start with because I don’t feel like we ate too many remarkable places this year. Our anniversary dinner (post coming soon) was great, but it wasn’t as notable as some previous dinners have been. I think my favorite restaurant this year goes to Bosphorus. Thanks to Michelle for introducing me to it!

Best Book: I thought it would be difficult to pick my favorite book from the year, but when I glanced through my list the answer was clear: Water for Elephants. We read some other good ones, but this was a fairly easy choice.

Best Vacation: This category doesn’t seem quite fair when we have one big vacation each year, usually. Obviously, our best trip was our cruise on Allure of the Seas! More stories, reviews, and photos coming soon…

Best Movie: We saw some good movies this year, but I cannot think of a more perfect first theater movie than the new Winnie the Pooh.

Best Album: Well, it wasn’t released this year, but my favorite album that we bought this year was Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons.

Best Board Game: Gabe played Die Burgen von Burgund at this year’s That Board Gaming Thing. He raved about it, so I managed to get a copy for his birthday. I’m glad we bought it when we did, because it has been hard to get since then! We both love it, and it plays well with two players.

Best Lighter Game: King of Tokyo was one of the most played games at That Board Gaming Thing, even with only one copy out of the entire convention. We picked up a copy, and it gets a fair amount of play at our house. It’s (usually) quick and accessible and entertaining.

Best Kids’ Game: The kids started to get into board games in 2011, and Go Away Monster is the best game we have found for little kids that both Cullen and Maddie can play. They love it! Maddie is ready for some more involved games, but she still enjoys playing this one, too.

Best TV Show: Hmm, this is a tough one. We don’t watch much TV these days, but we did enjoy Ringer with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Best Toy (for Maddie): This is a hard choice, but I think that the Bitty Twins got the most play for the whole year out of Maddie’s toys (from both Maddie and Cullen, for that matter). She didn’t play with them as much for a few months, but her interest was renewed when Cullen started showing interest in them. She’s become more interested in changing their clothes and playing with their accessories lately.

Best Toy (for Cullen): Even though he got his Bitty Twins at the end of the year, I’m going to have to say Annabelle (meaning both Maddie’s Annabelle up until he got his own). He has been crazy about Maddie’s dolls for a while. We could not wait for Santa to bring him what have now become known as his “ladies,” Annabelle and Izzy. The house seems a tiny bit more peaceful now.

Best Children’s Book: I’ll have to pick Mr. Bump from the Mister Men (and Little Miss) series. Both kids have enjoyed the books in that series.

Best Maddie Moment: Maddie had so many great moments this year, and it’s difficult to pick a favorite. One of my favorites is the family birthday party that we had at the American Girl Bistro in Atlanta. That was a very special birthday for a very special 3 year old!

Best Cullen Moment: Cullen has been amazing this year as well, and his vocabulary is extraordinary. One of my favorite moments was on the cruise. His reaction to some of the characters was priceless. The first time that the dragons appeared in the How to Train Your Dragon ice show, he was in awe and gasped, “FWAGONS!”

Something that makes me happy: My sweet TWO year old boy!

Something I’m thinking: Happy birthday to Cullen!

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping that this week passes quickly.

Something I’m reading: I didn’t read too much this week, but I’m still reading The Last Olympian, the final book in the Percy Jackson series.

Something Gabe is reading: He finished The Sea of Monsters (the 2nd book of the Percy Jackson series). He’s now reading The Fall of Hyperion.

Something I’m watching: We recorded Alcatraz, but we haven’t watched it yet. If we don’t watch it soon, we’re going to run the risk of it being too overwhelming once the recordings start piling up.

Something I’m playing: We played a little of the Hinterlands Dominion expansion. I think I might have played a little Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Something I’m creating: Hopefully, I’ll create a few more blog posts this week.

Something tasty: Mmmm, we ate at Brigs for Cullen’s special birthday breakfast this morning, and I had gingerbread pancakes. Yum!

Something Maddie is doing (47 months old): It turns out that Maddie was unable to avoid the stomach bug, though it appears that it didn’t hit her too hard. Thank goodness. The last thing you want is a preschooler with a stomach bug. It sounds like she mostly had a fun day at home with Daddy. She and Daddy baked Cullen’s birthday cake together today. She also mostly iced it herself and did all the sprinkles. She loves helping in the kitchen. She’s been cooking a lot in her play kitchen, too. She’s gotten into building forts out of their Anywhere chairs and blankets. For whatever reason, she calls it the “jail.”

Something Cullen is doing (24 months old): We had a big day for the birthday boy! We started at Brigs where he helped himself to handfuls of my pancake. He just reached over and tore off sections of it over and over. I guess we should have gotten him the gingerbread pancake instead of the plain one! He thoroughly enjoyed his breakfast with scrambled eggs, fruit, pancakes (both plain and my gingerbread), turkey sausage, and milk. We then headed to Target where he was allowed to pick out any toy he wanted (well, we would have steered him away from something expensive!). He did very well with the concept of picking out one thing at a time and then “trading” it for something more desirable. He started out with a cowboy rubber duck and ended up with a Duplo Firehouse set. We were happy with his choice! In between, he held an apple shaped pillow, a Minnie Mouse pillow, a set of toddler cars, a LOUD Lightning McQueen toy that talked and raced when you shook it, and a Mater spy truck that did something but we weren’t able to figure out what. The process was entertaining! We stayed out of the decision making process for the most part and just let him ask for the things he wanted. We also picked up some Space shapes goldfish and had a snack in the car on the way to get his haircut. He sat very still and the stylist was surprised at how good he was during the cut. For dinner tonight, he had some of his favorites: pasta, strawberries, broccoli/cauliflower, and garlic bread. Of course, we had cake. This week, he really has made progress with his one-to-one correlation when counting. He has demonstrated accurately counting objects up to 8 (and I think 10 once). Sometimes when the items are all together (rather than distinctly apart) he does the thing where he just points and counts out numbers, but for the most part he really seems to be getting it. He does especially well with 4 or less items. Earlier this week, one of his teachers told us that he declared that “Aiden can’t eat milk and egg.” I’m surprised he’s picked up on his classmate’s allergy! I guess he’s heard the teachers talk about it enough times. He also used air quotes for the first time. His teacher said that Cullen said his diaper was “messy” (and used air quotes when saying this). Cullen then looked at me and said, “I pooped. It was ‘messy’” and used air quotes appropriately. Ha! I’m so proud.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: I booked TWO trips to Disney! Woohoo!

Something I’m looking forward to: Lots of stuff going on this week. I’m mostly looking forward to getting through the week, book club, and games night!

Something random: Well, I thought I had found my Favorite Thing of 2012, but I might have to reconsider. On Saturday, I took a bubble bath with my kindle double bagged in ziploc bags (admittedly, one bag is probably sufficient). It was fabulous! Best use of a ziplog baggie EVER.

Something captured: The birthday boy!

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

I definitely prefer itineraries where the first full day is an “at sea” day. I do like the ports and excursions at times, but my favorite cruise days are sea days! Of course, if we did the same itinerary in the future, I’m pretty sure we would just pretend that Nassau was a sea day, but that’s another story.

The kids were restless at night again and we were all up around 6am. We had to be up early for the first of three DreamWorks character breakfasts (“Rise & Dine!”). The 8am start time is a bit harsh for all three at sea days, but most days we’re up with plenty of time to get ready anyway.

We had made our reservations weeks (months?) in advance. My parents had already gone in, and they were unsure of how many of our total 12 people were going to be at the table this morning. Because of that, they gave us two tables of 6. It turned out to be a great mix up because we had the best seats in the house!

The character breakfasts are also “chocolate breakfasts” with selections on the menu with and without chocolate as well as chocolate pastries. I felt a little guilty about the state of Cullen’s chair at the end of the meal, but then again whose idea was it to have a kids’ chocolate breakfast?

They don’t tell you ahead of time which characters are coming to each breakfast. We got the idea that there would be two Madagascar breakfasts and a Shrek breakfast. This was the first of the two Madagascar breakfasts, and Mort was up first. Our two tables were the best place to see each character arrive and dance. We were in this “island” area with only about 6 tables, so we felt pretty special indeed.

Our photos from the character breakfast didn’t come out so well. That didn’t stop us from taking a ton! Dad was the first one of us to meet Mort.

Cullen started to warm up to the characters at this breakfast, but he still wasn’t quite sure.

Next were the penguins!!! We took that opportunity to get a group photo of all of us (Melissa’s parents weren’t at this breakfast).

The penguins always had a lot of personality with their silly antics.

Cullen was excited about the chocolate laced pastries.

Gloria was the last of the characters at this breakfast. The kids tried to give her a big hug.

After breakfast, we headed to the Boardwalk where we thought we might ride the carousel a few times. It wasn’t running. We hadn’t yet figured out the schedule for the carousel, but I think it typically didn’t start until 10am. We spent some time at the play structure next to Rita’s Cantina.

The kids enjoyed climbing and sliding and climbing and sliding. As long as we had an adult at either end of the structure, it was fairly relaxing to let them climb and slide.

Cullen posed for some more photos.

Since the carousel wasn’t open, Debbie decided that she wanted to go and do the zip line! Our first mission was to find Mick. We knew he’d probably be somewhere on the pool decks, so we headed up to Deck 15. We searched for a little while and finally found him basking in the sun. When we got to the zip line, we saw Melissa’s parents and learned that Melissa and Jason were waiting to take their turn on the zip line! We had to wait a little bit, but we could see that the carousel was running again (since we were directly above it). Gabe and his mom took the kids back down to the carousel, and I took video of Melissa and Jason ziplining.

The zipline experience is very short (less than 10 seconds), but it’s a pretty cool thing to do. Melissa, Jason, and Dad were the only ones who ended up actually doing it. Debbie was ready to do it, but they closed the line RIGHT before she stepped up to wait her turn. She was disappointed! Some of the rest of us thought we might do it, but we never got around to it or made it a priority. Oh, well. That’s something to do next time, I guess!

The kids took a few spins on the carousel before the “Move It” parade.

We might have gotten our money’s worth for the cruise based solely on our rides on the carousel. Seriously, this was the greatest thing for the kids. They could have ridden it all day for 7 days.

Next up…the Move It parade and cupcakes and the rest of day 2 (maybe I can fit it in one more post? maybe?)…

I still haven’t posted my favorites from 2011 (that post is coming), but I think I have found my favorite thing of 2012. That’s right, a mere 20 days into 2012, I’ve discovered The Coca Cola Freestyle machine. I was coerced to give Moe’s a try. I’ve declared that I hate Moe’s which is quite the unpopular opinion! I think I’m just not a fan of their burritos, but the steak quesadilla was fine. So, perhaps I won’t refuse to go there next time…but what may tip the scales is the Coca Cola Freestyle machine.

I was thrilled to find that they had Caffeine Free Diet Coke, a rarity in restaurants. Little did I know what choices I was about to encounter! It has one dispenser and a big touchscreen.

And that’s just the start! After you pick your base soda, you can have it plain…or add delightful flavors.

My first thoughts were, “um, can I buy one of these for my house??” I chose the Raspberry Caffeine Free Diet Coke. YUM! I hear that all of our Firehouse Subs now have these as well. Awesome!

So, when I win the lottery (that I don’t play), then I think my first call will be to the Coca Cola headquarters to see about installing one of these in my house.