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Something that makes me happy: We had a fun day for Maddie today, similar to Cullen’s special day. Her birthday is tomorrow. I love days with my family!

Something I’m thinking: Four years ago, we had just gotten the news at around 5pm that they wanted to induce the next day. We were nervous, gathering the hospital bags, and dreaming about the arrival of our little girl.

Something I’m hoping: I hope Maddie enjoyed her special day!

Something happening around the house: The usual. Kid chaos across every inch.

Something I’m reading: I finished A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. It’s not the happiest book that I’ve ever read, but I thought it was a good one. I started and finished Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin. I thought it was better than her last one (Love the One You’re With). It was a quick read. It seemed like a bit too much potential reality for me, especially when it started with a young child getting badly burned in an accident. I started The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I remember seeing the movie as a kid, but this is the first time I’ve read the book.

Something Gabe is reading: He’s enjoying Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Something I’m watching: Amazing Race and Survivor started this week.

Something I’m playing: Gabe and I have been playing Reiner Knizia’s Skyline on the iPhone. It’s a fun little puzzle game. Maddie picked out a new version of Zingo, Zingo 1-2-3.

Something I’m creating: I am going to have to write Maddie’s 4-year old letter.

Something tasty: We got fancy cupcakes from Gigi’s Cupcakes. I like cupcakes fine, but I’m not sure that I’m crazy about them. I mean they were good and all…but…I don’t know. They are just cupcakes.

Something about both kiddos: We saw some new deer statues this week. Cullen said, “Bambi! Bambi!” I said, “yes, those are deer. Are they real deer or pretend deer?” Maddie said, “They are pretend. If they were real and we were in Chapel Hill, you would have bumped them.” Um, wow. She’s referring to when I hit a deer on the way back from Chapel Hill. The incident happened almost a year and a half ago!

Something Maddie is doing (47 months old): Our little girl is turning FOUR tomorrow. I can’t believe it. We had a day of fun, very similar to the one we had for Cullen’s birthday. We started at our breakfast place. They didn’t have the gingerbread pancakes, but they did have a special red velvet pancake that Gabe ordered. Maddie ate quite a bit of his special pancakes! We then went to Target where Maddie got an owl pillow and Zingo 1-2-3. We also got her a few reusable preschool workbooks with mazes and letter practice and washable dry erase markers. We got some new clothes for the kids from Target and Kohls – winter clothes on clearance and a few spring clothes. We had a 30% off coupon from Kohls, so it seemed like a good time to pick up a few things. Maddie picked out a few special outfits. She’s been asking to get her hair cut for a while, so we did that today. They cut it shorter than ever…a little shorter than we intended! It’s cute, though, and she was excited to get beads put in her hair. We had lunch at Noodles and picked up a new 100-piece horse puzzle from a specialty toy store. Maddie has already put it together once. She’s really doing well with those puzzles!!! I’m impressed. We also picked up the special cupcakes and sang a lot of the “Happy Birthday” song over and over. When we got home, Cullen napped while Maddie put together her new puzzle and practiced her workbooks. She requested Mickey and Minnie PB&J for dinner. Yesterday, Maddie went to a birthday party for one of her best buddies and her twin sister. It was at the Natural Science museum, and we had a great time at the party and exploring the museum. Maddie pointed out that all the dinosaurs died. They died a long time ago. The dinosaurs died, mommy! They are dead.

Something Cullen is doing (24 months old): Cullen had a big week and started his new 2-year old class! He visited on Monday for a couple of hours, but he still had lunch and nap and the rest of the afternoon in his old classroom. On Tuesday, he was asked where he wanted to take his nap. He said, “In my classroom. Here.” It didn’t take him long to make that transition! He was ready for new challenges. He is doing a lot of new work, and he already brought home a folder of artwork from his first week. He’s been communicating with his classmates and teachers. He was in the housekeeping area, and one of his new friends asked if he wanted help. He said, “No, keep your hands to yourself!” I’m glad he’s using his words! We’ll work on being more courteous to our friends, though. Poor guy has been fighting an ear infection this week. The tubes are doing their job and the icky fluid is draining out of his ear, but I think it’s bothering him. On Tuesday, he had some drainage and then later in the day he told his teachers that his ear was hurting. I’m impressed he was able to communicate this! He has started doing jigsaw puzzles (as opposed to the peg/shape puzzles). He is getting pretty good at doing the 12-piece puzzles.

Something I am struggling with: I love my kids, but they can be totally exhausting!

Something I’m doing towards my goals: I saw Les Miserables, and I loved it! I had to concentrate to follow the story, but I was able to follow it for the most part. I got a little thrown a few times when a decade would elapse. We were all the way in the back of the theatre, so it was difficult to see who was singing or to tell the difference between certain characters.

Something I learned: I think that I’ll stick to better theatre seats in the future. I do like to save money on tickets at times, but I think that shows that are new to me should be seen from a better vantage point!

Something I’m looking forward to: We’re taking Maddie to lunch tomorrow for her birthday and bringing cake for her classmates on Tuesday. I’m not really looking forward to wearing a mouth guard at night, but I’m getting mine this week. We have Maddie’s 4-year check up, too. Gabe has poker, and the family has a birthday party to attend.

Something random: It’s snowing outside tonight, and it was like 70 degrees and sunny yesterday. How’s that for random?

Something captured: Maddie looks like such a big girl with her haircut!

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

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 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

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?)…

It’s time to wrap up Day 2, finally! After we dressed in our formal clothes, we went to find the Madagascar photo opportunity. This was one of the designated professional photographer character meet and greets. They will not allow you to use your own camera for these, and this photographer did a great job to take a ton of photos of Maddie interacting with King Julian.

We had a tough time narrowing it down! We especially had a rough time choosing between Maddie kissing Julian and Maddie dancing with Julian. After a vote of our friends, family, and the ship’s photographers…we went with the kissing photo. She really had a great time interacting with King Julian.

Cullen wanted absolutely nothing to do with King Julian, but somehow we managed to get our best family portrait on the trip. Of course, that’s not saying much.

We then headed to our show reservations, Ice Games in Studio B (which doubles as an Ice Skating rink). After our last experience in Studio B with the muster drill, we didn’t have high hopes of being able to see the whole show. We weren’t able to get advanced reservations. Between meeting King Julian and the ice show, we realized we left the camera in the room. Gabe and Maddie ran back to get the camera, and Cullen and I headed to wait for them outside of Studio B. I really thought we weren’t going to be able to get into the show because we were pushing it very close! Gabe ended up getting there just in the nick of time, and we entered the theater at the last minute. We were thrilled to get in without reservations.

Cullen wasn’t happy before the show started, but fortunately we didn’t have to wait very long. Once the show started, both kids were entranced. This was Cullen’s first experience with any type of show or movie, and he did wonderfully! He seemed to love it.

The ship really started rocking quite a bit during the show. I was impressed that the skaters were able to keep their balance and perform all kinds of tricks. The show had a monopoly theme with the characters moving to different spaces on the board representing venues around the ship. It felt a little like an advertisement for some of the extras on the ship, but I thought it was pretty neat, too. We loved this show, and we were really glad that we were able to see it.

Cullen just stared at the skaters for at least 20 or 30 minutes. During that time, I looked over at Maddie, and she was looking at the floor, like she was sad about something. I went to ask her what was wrong and realized she was falling asleep! We couldn’t believe with all the music and flashing lights that she was able to fall asleep, especially considering that she rarely naps when she is with us. I guess that there was something about the comfortable seats, rocking of the ship, and the darkened room. She snoozed in my lap for the rest of the show. Cullen was a little restless towards the end of the 45 minute show, but he made it through and did great.

We headed to dinner and attempted to get a formal portrait of our family, but none of them turned out too well. Others had better luck with their portraits.

My parents had several nice formal portraits.

Melissa had many fancy dresses for the cruise. They took the opportunity of formal night to get their photo with the car. I’m not actually sure if this portrait was taken on the first or second formal night.

We made it to the dining room, and tonight our tables were joined together. It was nice to have all 10 of us together and not worry about splitting into two tables.

Cullen was restless through the meal and didn’t have much of an appetite. He played a lot of Monkey Lunchbox on the iPhone with his Apptivity case. We were thankful for the iPhones once again. He was starting to get really good at the minigames on Monkey Lunchbox. By this point, he could do almost all of them by himself.

We took the kids back to the room and realized that we had accidentally left our “do not disturb” sign on the door. We were able to easily find the stateroom attendant so that he could freshen our towels and clean the bathroom. I read stories to Maddie, and Gabe put Cullen to bed in the other room.

Gabe headed out to the casino for a couple hours with his parents and Jason. He came back in time for me to head to see Chicago with my parents and Jason and Melissa. Gabe played video poker with his mom, and they started out badly but ended up even. That’s a win in our book!

I thought Chicago was great, but I was very tired as it didn’t end until about midnight. The version on the ship was an abbreviated version of the Broadway show at about an hour and a half. It was the first time that I had seen any version of Chicago, so I am not sure how it compares to the original show or movie. I thought it was great, but wow, I was tired!

Whew, we had an incredibly long day. We weren’t terribly excited about Nassau as a port, but we still had a wonderful day.

Our favorites from Day 2:
Kerry: Ice Games
Maddie (according to her): the carousel
Gabe: Ice Games and playing poker with his mom
Cullen (my best guess): either Ice Games or playing Monkey Lunchbox on the iPhone

I’m woefully behind on the blog, due to an awesome 5-year anniversary photobook that I made for Gabe for Christmas. I included photos from our wedding day to our 5th anniversary. I think it turned out great, but it took a lot of work (including two vacation days to get it done in time). I didn’t have time to sort through any photos since then between that and then the cruise and then Christmas. Whew!

So, I wasn’t able to give Coquette Brasserie a proper review, considering it has now been two months since our meal. I’ll see what I can remember.

We made reservations at the last minute since our original plans fell through. A friend had recommended it, and French cuisine always sounds like a fancy place worthy of an anniversary dinner. Our criteria for anniversary dinners is that it has to be fairly fancy (somewhere that we wouldn’t want to take the kids is best) and somewhere neither of us have been (preferably, though in later years we may change our minds).

When making the reservations, I just happened to mention that it was our anniversary. I remembered that when we ate at Second Empire, they made us a custom menu, and other places have recognized our anniversary.

We arrived a little early, and they were not very busy and seated us right away. We were a little disappointed as many of the tables are quite close together. It’s not a great place if you want a private meal. We were seated right next some other people who finished up not long after we arrived. We had two small tables on either side of us. The hostess tried to seat other people next to us, but everyone requested a different table, fortunately. I wish we had thought to do that! We were happy that nobody wanted to sit close to us.

I’m glad we mentioned our anniversary, because they brought us complimentary champagne to celebrate soon after we were seated.

I wanted a glass of wine, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted. The waiter brought me 3 different samples (at least a third of a glass each) to try before I ordered a full glass. One of the wines I hated, but I ended up liking the one I ordered, especially with my entree. I wish I had written it down so I could remember what it was! We were impressed with the service and their attention to our special day.

We had a cheese plate, and I think we’ve both decided that while we love cheese, we’re not sure we love ALL cheeses (especially most blue cheese type cheeses). At least one of the cheeses was yummy. I had the Onion Soup Gratinee and Beef Bourguignon. Gabe had a special soup (we can’t remember exactly what it was, but it wasn’t a regular menu item) and one of the fish dishes (probably salmon). I think everything was good, but nothing has compared to our experience at Mo’s Diner. I’m pretty sure we had dessert, too. It was a nice experience, and I would recommend it for a special occasion.

In late October, we went to Sofie’s birthday party at Marbles. We had not been to Marbles since Maddie was little, so we were excited to explore the museum a bit after celebrating Sofie’s birthday.

The birthday girl!

Yay! Cupcakes!

Icing is yummy.

Everyone has a different method.

Clare’s method was a messy one.

Cullen tried to steal Sofie’s presents.

He looks like such a big boy here. He was trying out cars on the ramp.

Daddy helped the kids build a house out of giant blocks.

Cullen took a doggie for a walk. It was quite a drag for the dog.

Considering that I’m usually the one hanging out with Cullen while Gabe is with Maddie, we almost always end up with more photos of Cullen. This second child should have no complaints about their photo coverage! Cullen loved playing with the farm animal figures.

We had a fun morning!