She Learned her ABC's and 123's

"All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten"

-Robert Fulghum

Kindergarten was a big year for my little girl.  She was so scared to start the year, but settled in, and began to love it. Starting math was a breeze after what I had taught her before school started, and reading has taken off, much to this mom's delight.

There were snacks every day, and we made sure to make ours cute and fun.

She survived the 100th day of school and even had her own fun poster for the parade.

For Dr. Suess day she refused to be something "weird" so she chose to be fox in sox, from Fox in Sox of course.

She even had a tail!

When field day rolled around, she wanted to know what it was.  From my experiences as a child I told her it's a great day of competitions like big kid field and track, with relays, dashes, distance runs, high and long jumps, and distance throwing.  I wasn't sure for her, but in my school there were first, second, and third place ribbons; but for if you didn't place you still got a participation ribbon and could be happy.  She was excited for the event, and hoped she might even place.

Boy was I wrong!  Either they do things different here or they had changed a bit since I was at field day.  There were several events such as stick horse races, little scooter riding, jump roping, parachute play, hurdles, and obstacle courses.  Not a single one was highly competitive, some not at all.  No prizes were given, and no ribbons.  I guess in the name of equality they chose to keep it more of an event day instead of a track and field day.  I personally enjoy a  bit of competition to encourage kids to try their best and learn to be gracious when loosing, but in this was not the case and I guess that's okay too.  She had so much fun with her friends, but was a little sad I had mentioned ribbons, and been a big fat liar.

Sometimes you get bucked off!!!

Her kindergarten class.

Then there was kindergarten graduation, an adorable ceremony  where kids get confused on their cues, sit in the wrong places, and parents gush over their first big accomplishment.

They even performed a few songs.

They sang, "We learned our ABC's and 123's, we learned to get along...now we're going to be a part of it, first grade, first grade." to the tune of New York New York by Frank Sinatra and also sang What a Beautiful World by Louis Armstrong.  Later when I sang it with her, she asked me if I had learned the lyrics to What a Beautiful World when I was in kindergarten also.

One of the biggest disappointments she's had this year was when she turned six this May.  On her birthday, she asks me if she has a loose tooth.  I check, and nothing is wiggling; so I ask if her tooth hurts.  She says, "The dentist said I would loose a tooth when I'm six."  I explained it was likely, but he was referring to sometime during the entire year she is six.  That was not her understanding and she feels jipped. I'll be sure to inform the dentist of his mistake.  :)

Now if she would just stop growing up!!!

Another Big Vacation - Part 1

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."

-Robert Orben

Walking on the beach in Galveston, TX.

I've slacked a bit on the blog because life has a way of getting busy, but here's what we've been up to!!

My sisters planned a big cruise for the same dates and destinations we had gone last year:  Roatán, Honduras, Belize City, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico.  Of course I wouldn't pass up  a chance to spend time with my sister Chrissy, and my little girl needed to see her aunt also, so the three of us booked our tickets.  We were excited to revisit these great locations, spend time with family, and curious about a different cruise line, Royal Caribbean.

John, Karlie, Zoey and myself arrived in Galveston a day early after an overnight drive of 9 hours.  Karlie and Chrissy had found us an interesting hotel with a great location.  The place itself was a little run down and the staff lacked in the hospitality department, but we couldn't beat the views we were privileged to wake up to both mornings.           

Our morning exercise took us to the shoreline to outrun the wind as fog still enveloped the town.

 As we walked collecting treasures for Zoey, I braved a touch of a jellyfish and convinced my daughter and sister to do the same...because I am a great role-model.  It is very clear why the call it a jellyfish, because it feels just like thick jelly.

 Next we drove the length of Galveston and back towards Kemah, TX.  In Kemah we toured a few great live-aboard sailboats and decided it is not only a financially feasible option for us in the future, but that living in one is not much different that our current home, so the transition would be easy.

The day was chilly (go figure it was December) so having had a long night previously, we finished a bit early with dinner at Fish Tales.  Karlie and I were challenged to our first raw oysters, and we both accepted with grimaces. We both agree, they are...gulp....slimily okay.

Brandon, Chrissy, and Bianca arrived late that night via shuttle transport after we had tucked in for the night, so the next morning we had a great morning reunion.  Waiting for the time to depart, we walked the beach tossing jellyfish back in the ocean then shuttled the crew to the pier to load onto the ship.

Once aboard we started with the essential exploration of our rooms, self-guided tours, first meal, and jumped in the hot tub as the boat launched.

Days and nights aboard the boat we ate, sat in the hot tubs, swam in the salt-water pool, drank foo foo drinks, ate, danced, watched flying fish, played shuffle board and miniature golf,

Doing it right!!!

...drank foo foo drinks, napped, shopped, ate,

...watched an ice skating show, played dodge ball,

A team to be reckoned with...

 ...ate, drank foo foo drinks, rock climbed,

Sadly I didn't make it to the kiddie bell, I might be a bit scared of heights.

Karlie is a pro!!

...dressed up, took pictures,

...participated in ridiculous game shows, and last but not least enjoyed time with each other.  Did I mention on a cruise ship you eat a lot, and drink at least one foo foo drink a day?


You may be wondering, what was Zoey doing all this time?  Although she spent much of her time with us, immersed in our activities;

Enjoying our morning balcony view.

So happy to see Aunt Chrissy.

Our waiter made her a paper animal each night.

Loving her towel-monkey our cabin steward made.

...she also enjoyed the kid's daycare area.  She played with kids her own age, created art projects, had her face painted, read books and watched shows. The first night's dinner she curled up o the chair and slept through the main course.  After that, we had to enforce an-hour-nap a day to ensure she could enjoy the night shows and stay awake during dinner.

John and I had been able to experience the Carnival, Magic (which runs the same course at the same time) on our previous trip and were able to now compare it to the Royal Caribbean, Navigator of the Seas.   Both were great vacation ships, but when we went on Magic, it was less than a year old, and we were on Navigator's last sail before refit.  Comparing them based on that was a bit difficult.  The ship was a bit worn, and so was the staff, probably ready for a much needed vacation.  Although both ships had comparable amenities, the Navigator's buffet had shorter lines and Carnival's snack shops were more plentiful, flavorful, and diverse.  We preferred Carnival's dinner menu, much to our surprise after reading some other reviews.  One plus when in port was disembarkation via tender was much quicker on Navigator.  In the end they were both great ships and vacations, but we didn't really see a justification in price increase for Royal Caribbean over the cheaper Carnival, when comparing these two ships.  Note: Perhaps I would change my mind after a refit, but unlikely.

For us, the purpose and highlights of cruising are the destinations. Our three ports of call were as exciting as ever.  After three days at sea, our first port of call was Coxen Hole, on the isle of Roatán, Honduras.

 (to be continued)