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)

Before School Started, We Departed

 "Guns have metamorphosed into cameras...Now nature tamed, endangered, mortal , needs to be protected from people."

-Susan Sontag

 

A family on the Riverwalk.

Summer was winding to a close and so much needed to be done to prepare for the fall.  It's a feeling I hadn't had for fourteen years, but the ritual carefree summers, school in the fall, and the countdown to spring begins; is once again a part of my life as my little one started her first year of school.

We decided to take one last trip to Seaworld to use those season passes before they expire and enjoy the last of summer.  Zoey was ecstatic, but I was nervous we would have to leave John behind once again.  Fortune smiled on us and last minute John finished the job, so we picked him up in Ozona, (a few hours south of here) and made our way to San Antonio once again, arriving late Friday night.

In the gardens at the Alamo.

Our hotel was right near the Alamo, which we hadn't visited previously, so I insisted we visit the
landmark on our way to breakfast.  The small mission/museum/battleground contains beautiful gardens, accounts of famous historical figures, and intriguing artifacts.  This provided an excellent brief history lesson for Zoey and a nice detour for the morning.

Driving into Seaworld in the summer was much different than it had been before. Steady streams of cars clogged the entrance and a flood of people poured forth and through the gates.  Strollers, large families, and mounds of backpacks and bags jammed up the checkpoints until we were allowed  into the park. 

The sun reflecting off the  dark pavement combined with 100°+ temperatures caused us to all feel overwhelmed by the heat almost immediately.  We ducked into indoor exhibits to find relief from the heat, but it was only temporary.  We decided to try a roller coaster and found that most of the visitors were either watching the aquatic shows or escaping to the water-park, leaving little to no lines for the roller coasters.  YAY!

One good-looking couple in downtown San Antonio.

Karlie, John and I traded off Zoey duty on the larger rides and thoroughly enjoyed the cool breezes and thrills of the coasters.  Zoey had recently gone through a growth spurt and now qualified for the 42" height restriction rides.  Approaching each new ride lead to lots of anxiety for her, even tears at times, but immediately after each ride she insisted on going again and again, which was fine due to the lack of lines.

Having already seen all the water-shows, we decided to brave the water-park.  The lines were massive and the  pools were crowded, but we enjoyed ourselves, not even noticing the heat the rest of the day.

On the Riverwalk.

Dinner in downtown San Antonio was an amazing churrascaria (Brazilian Barbeque) named Fogo De Chao, followed by a couples evening on the Riverwalk as Karlie took Zoey to bed.  I couldn't have asked for more.


We rose early the next morning to travel towards Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, a drive-thru safari, expecting the animals to be most active early in the morning.  I had seen these safaris on Travel Channel and the like, so once I found we had one here in Texas, I didn't want to miss out.

The nice lady at the gate took our money, handed us bags of undesirable looking pellet feed and told us to not feed the animals by hand, but to drop it on the ground...I don't think many people follow this rule, us included.  There were deer of every sort, a couple lazy rhinos (in enclosure), wildebeest, mountain sheep, buffalo, big horn cattle (bigger than the buffalo to our surprise) and the like.  The elk were super docile and patient, sticking their head into the car and accepting a single morsel of feed at a time.  

The ostriches on the other hand were anything but docile.  They showed no fear of cars or human contact,  They would spot the car and charge, then bravely stretch their neck through window into your space (if you were still in that space and not climbing over the seat) and quickly, almost violently snatching feed from our hands or wherever they could find it, sometimes trying to take a finger to two too...greedy birds.  These assertive birds even caused some cars to quickly roll up windows in fear of the overgrown chickens.

Entering the zebra area, signs warned that they do bite.  We observed the warning and began tossing feed to the roadside, when John realized, the zebras had devised a way to get hand fed despite the warning.  The result was a big toothey grin, allowing you to toss the feed pass their quivering lips into their gaping mouths. A hilarious sight.

The tour ended with a walk through monkey, parrot, kangaroo, giraffe and lemur exhibits.  The petting zoo was full of disinterested, overfed goats and one young deer. A nice gift shop displayed many souvenirs we neither needed, nor have the room for in our tiny home, so we settled with a coloring book for Zoey to remember her adventure.

The trip was a great end to a great summer, and the wildlife park is a definite must see if you are ever out that way, but be sure to get in early in the day to avoid tired animals and long lines, it was worth the effort.

(The video is a bit wiggly at first, but gets better...sorry :)

The Big Step

  “I don't remember who said this, 

but there really are places in the heart you don't even know exist until you love a child.” 

-Anne Lamott

Kindergarten; I have been just as anxious about Zoey's first day of school as she was.  She's been my life for the last six years (including pregnancy) and my partner all through moving down here.  For so long it's been me and her-always together.  I wasn't eager to see my little buddy traipse off to school day in and day out, and she wasn't eager to leave me, but I knew it had to happen, and before we knew it, the day was upon us.

She woke up excited and anxious the first day, unhappy that she was up before the sun, but ready to go.  John didn't have a job scheduled for the day, so he was able to join us for the big day.  We were there well before the bell and the first in the classroom. The walls were full of posters, ABC's, numbers and the like.  The tiny chairs chairs were arranged around knee height tables, perfect for my little girl.  We parted as soon as she was settled in her assigned seat and starting her breakfast, which is served each day in the classroom, so she would get used to the idea of us leaving.

Picking her up, she kept asking me if I saw this and that.  I soon realized she thought I was in the hallway watching her the entire day.  I informed her I wasn't there all day and she seemed shocked.  She lamented that school wasn't what she expected and didn't want to go again.

Day two, I dropped her off in her classroom and she sat there in her kid sized chair, purple bows in her hair and tears welling up in her eyes.  I wanted to grab her and hold her as I always do, but I parted quickly feeling once I was out of sight she would do better.

I picked her up and found she had refused breakfast; preferring to sit with her arms crossed and her head hung to pout (she even reenacted it for me).  Once again she was upset school wasn't as fun as expected and said she didn't want to go again.

Day three was especially difficult as the Raptor Program had started and parents were lined out the door trying to get registered to take their kids to the classroom.  At the entrance of the hallway moms and dads were trying to send their kids down the crowded corridors as many of them clung to their parents and cried.  I realized that if I tried to register, she wouldn't make it in time for breakfast, (they have to be 15 min early), so I too tried to get her to walk the 20 feet to her classroom.  She refused and as a teacher grabbed up the hands of the tearful red-faced kindergarteners who were too afraid to go alone, Zoey started to fight and cling to me.  I had to peel her off, and walk away, crying myself.  I noticed many other moms were also crying, so at least I wasn't the only one.After school I found she again refused breakfast, and again didn't want to go back to school. 

Day four I had registered after school, and arrived extra early to receive my pass.  Once in the classroom I thought we would be fine, but she decided to cling, scream and cry once again upon my parting.  I had to hand her to the teacher and dash out once again.

Determined to change her behavior, I devised a reward system of smiley faces in imitation of the teacher's reward system, and promised her a trip to Chuck-e-Cheese if she could improve her behavior.  Immediately the next day she allowed me to leave with tears in her eyes, but without a fight.  The days after that the tears began to wane, although she informed me she cried through a few lunches.

Week three is upon us and she is happy and eager to go to school.  No tears and no fighting.  She even wakes before her alarm and now tries to drag me out the door before it's time so she can be the first kid there.  She still insists mom walk her all the way to her classroom, which is fine with me because I know someday she'll not want me there.

She's learning so much already, made friends in her classroom, and told me she now loves school.  Mom is sad her little girl is growing so quickly, but is enjoying some peace and quiet and getting to some projects that had been too difficult to start with a little one on my heels. 

Just Keep Swimming...

When life gets you down do you wanna know 

what you've gotta do?  Just keep swimming. 
Just keep swimming. 

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. 

What do we do? 

We swim, swim.  
-Dory

This year I decided Zoey was going to learn to swim.  I looked into swimming lessons and the price quickly discouraged me from that idea.  As long as we're here in Midland, we have free access to the trailer park pool, and an opportunity such as this may not present itself in the future.  So since I'm not working, I decided I'd teach her myself.

Trying on goggles, with jammies.

She was on-board with the idea in theory, but the reality was a bit beyond her comprehension.  She has never enjoyed the feeling of water anywhere near her face, and the tiniest drop running towards her eyes in the bath would result in hysterical crying and an exasperated mother trying to calm the irrational child.

Fully entering a pool was equally challenging as she would tense up if she wasn't fully clinging to me; and stiffly thrash her arms and legs unwilling or unable to follow any direction from me or anybody else.  When I would try and get her to float on her back, with me supporting her; the same result, tense thrashing and refusal to put anything other than the back third of her head in the water.

With a full summer of practice available, I started her out first weekend the pool opened and started getting her accustomed to the water by going several days a week.  Our sessions were short since even if the weather was over a hundred, her little body couldn't stay warm in the cool pool and in a matter of 10-20 minutes she was shivering and her lips turned purpley-blue.

She started to relax a bit after a few weeks and was even willing to launch herself from the shallow end into my arms a couple feet away, but still no face in the water.  A low buoyancy life-jacket allowed her to start to tread water a bit, without the fear of getting anything on her face.  Then I got her a pair of goggles, which she refused to wear at first, but after much bribery, she put her face in the water, and from that moment on it was 1, 2, 3 and down she would go as long as she could. 

One month from the day we started our regular lessons, she suddenly put her face (with goggles) in the water and swam a good 4 feet to me, then raised her head to tread water.  It was as if she suddenly figured it out.  Her reward was a cute wetsuit I won on ebay, to let her stay a little warmer while swimming.

I am so proud of my little girl who now even puts her face in the water without goggles, although very briefly, and can swim.  We now can swim laps together in the pool with snorkels, unassisted by flotation and she loves get thrown to the bottom and swim to the top herself.  She still has a long way to go for me to be confident with her far from my rescuing reach, but she accomplished what we set out to do, and I couldn't be happier.

Rabbits

 “Be brave, little rabbit. Take a chance.”
― Cherise Sinclair, Breaking Free

Behind our house, in front of our house, and along the road, we see hundreds of cotton tails in our area.  Every sighting is fun and we never tire of it.  Zoey has yet to catch herself one, but I'm sure she won't stop trying.

The purchase of new shoes for school introduces another rabbit to her.  The rabbit goes around the tree and then down the hole.  I know this has been the adage for ages, but I never understood it until I was older and I don't think it makes much sense to her either; but she's got to figure it out before school starts.  Her first lace up shoes are going to be another learning experience for us both.

Texas Critters!!!!

“Don't grumble! Don't stew! 

Some critters are much-much,

Oh, ever so much-much 

So muchly much-much more unlucky than you!”  

― Dr. Seuss

 When we decided to move to Texas, I often heard concern over the critters.  'Aren't you afraid of the snakes, scorpions, and tarantulas?'  'Watch out for snakes, scorpions and tarantulas!'  'How is Zoey going to play outside with all the snakes, scorpions  and tarantulas?'  It seems people have the image that every square foot of Texas is covered in these buggers all ravenous for human flesh, but I'm here to tell you, it is not.

courtesy of Texananreview.com

Ever since I've moved to Texas, I've kept an eye out for these buggers, simply so I can check them off my 'cool experiences list'.  If you know anything about my siblings and I, you know that we don't shy away from the creepy and crawlies, in fact we love 'em, so I've been looking for my bragging rights.

The rattle snakes have alluded me, although my neighbors had one under their deck, killed it, and let Zoey play with one of the two skins it had shed while living in their shed and eating the mice (a community service if you ask me).   I think I saw a scorpion from a distance in the Kingdom Hall, but a brother squashed it before I could get a good look or picture.

Lastly is the tarantula.  This critter had alluded me too for some time, although Karlie was privileged with two sightings.  I had researched the Texas Brown Tarantula, and although it is poorly named since it is sometimes brown, black, or a combination of the two, I felt I could identify it.

Sunday evening back from Corpus Cristi, Karlie and I were recovering from our long drive back, (by sitting more of course), when Zoey runs in.  "Mom, I found a tarantula!  I just know it's a tarantula because it's huge!"  We ran outside to find a mid-sized Texas Brown Tarantula in the middle of the yard, surrounded by Zoey, a couple neighbor kids, and their squeamish mom.

I poked it with a stick and it scurried.  I poked it again and it scurried.  This was a good sign, no aggressive behavior, i.e. front legs in the air.  My neighbor, surely fearful of it's plots find it's way into her house and eat her face in her sleep,  threatened to try and maneuver her car to run it over, so I decided it needed saving; after all who else is going to eat the cockroaches?  I may be adventuruous, but I'm drawing the line there.

I carried it on the stick to the edge of the field and it still seemed docile, so I decided to try and hold it (of course).  I put my hand to the ground, as if I know exactly what I'm doing, and coaxed the spider toward my hand.  It quickly scurried across my hand and up my arm!  Aaaahhh!! I swept the little guy onto the ground as if it's his fault that I chose to hold him and he should know exactly where he is and isn't allowed to be.  Again with the stick; slowly, slowly, then... scurry across my hand.  Shaking the willies off, I managed to calm my nerves and convince him to move slowly into the palm of my hand despite the fact he was now attempting to hide in the brush.  I could barely feel it's weight and the touch of it's tiny legs.  As long as it wasn't scurrying, it was easy to hold, though I was afraid with it's speed it would find it's way once again heading toward my face; or I would drop it and shatter one of it's tiny legs.  After a little coercion and minor bullying I talked Karlie into a brief holding and then we let the little creature go into the field behind my house. 

If you ask me, I think the Texas critters and many creepy crawlies have got a bum rap.  If you are ever so privileged to see one, take some time and research it; you might just find they're not so scary.

Corpus Christi and All That

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."

 -Marcel Proust

Fourth of July weekend was great!  Karlie had time off for the holiday and made plans for visiting the our friends in the Corpus Christi area.  If there's one thing I know, visiting the Lossings is a guaranteed good time!  I reluctantly left John behind (still sad about that) and happily joined Karlie for another adventure. 

Zoey got to "surf"

Corpus is a "short" 7+ hour drive if you don't stop; winding from the Big Bend area, through Hill Country, to the Gulf Coast.  We made the trip in 8 hours, cuz we just had to eat and stretch.  It's funny how a driving and distance becomes relative when you have to drive so much to get anywhere of consequence.  John averages two hours each way for work and we've averaged 2-5 hours to visit surrounding areas just for the weekend.  If we're willing to take five hours to San Antonio, Austin, or Dallas, what's another 2-3 to see old friends and the ocean?

We arrived Thursday afternoon and met up with Corey and Vanessa Lossing to head out into the Bay for a day of sun and fun; meeting up with our hosts Melissa and Trey Cross and their awesome little boys Luke(9) and Elijah(3).  The water was calm and the sun shone bright as we caught up on years apart, drank water and sipped on beer, snacked, fished, splashed, and after the sun set, spied a few bursts of fireworks across the bay.

"The Shell"

Zoey found a large spiral seashell, (I'm thinking Horse Conch but I could be wrong), and after inspection Karlie awarded it to her as her first ever found seashell. She proudly carried it around all day, holding it up to everyone's ears and claiming she could hear the ocean, (of course we were on the ocean, so hearing it was easy), then brought it home in the car.  The next morning we were belting up to go to breakfast and she let out a bloodcurdling scream.  A large hermit crab had emerged from the shell and was attempting to carry his home to a wetter location.  Sadly she returned her shell to the ocean, although glad to be rid of the dreaded creature inside.

Friday was filled with brunch in an art gallery overlooking the water and meeting up with Miki Amlin, and a brief tour of Corpus.  Melissa and the boys then treated us to a small water-park, Hurricane Alley, where the Zoey challenged herself to even go on a slide that splashed her in the face.
Evening was spent dining on great food at a Hampton's Landing, a breezy-all-deck restaurant perched above a small marina, and enjoying the company of Melissa and Elijah as the older boys fished.  We topped off the evening at Greg and Gail's house, enjoying some good laughs and stories as Zoey and Elijah played like old friends.

Karlie leaping on the beach!!!

Saturday was a treat as it was Zoey's first trip to the ocean to experience real sand waves and where we were privileged to meet some of their friends from the area.  The beach was packed with people enjoying the holiday weekend, and many flew kites-making the beach beautifully festive.  Karlie and I made sure to play like kids, swimming out and riding the wavers, making the best of our beach time.  Zoey said she wanted to build sandcastles and made a small attempt, but found searching for shells and sand-dollars to be much more fun.  She's always been whiny about water in her face, so I didn't think she'd really enjoy the waves.  WRONG!!  She loved it, laughing when the largest waves overtook us and hollering "in-coming" at every decent sized swell.  She had so much fun she lost her voice by the end of the day.

Me and my ocean hair.

Melissa and Trey have some great kids and were amazing hosts.  (They were there,  but I stink at taking pictures when I'm having fun.)  We loved catching up with their family and friends, and making new friends.  Karlie and I agree, we're going to have to visit again, maybe permanently.