Cruisin'

Our Ship: The Disney Wonder

In celebration of several milestones (Anna's 4th birthday, Alex graduating with his MBA, our 10 year wedding anniversary) we decided to take a real vacation.  We left on May 9th on a Disney cruise to the Bahamas.  Of course, we took the nanny (that would be our friend, Liz - inside joke).  After a long day of travel just to get to Cape Canaveral, we boarded the ship in the afternoon and after settling into our cabin, Anna and I went for a swim in a Mickey Mouse shaped swimming pool.

That night we watched the first of several Broadway caliber shows, The Golden Mickeys.  Before the show began, Anna was recruited to be one of the seven dwarfs in the production.  She did a great job and didn't have one ounce of stage fright...amazing.  Of course, it may be that she was too star struck by Snow White to notice much of anything else.  She almost fell off the stage at the end because her eyes were glued to the princess in awe.  (If you're looking, she's 4th to the left of Snow White - staring intently at her.)

The next  day we arrived in Nassau where we did a dolphin excursion.  We were in the water petting and playing with this amazing creature, and I struggle to find the words to explain what it was like.  In the absence of eloquence, let me just say...it was so cool!  Then we played on a gorgeous white sand beach before heading back to the ship to clean up for dinner.  Let me interject that the dinners on the ship -- the restaurants, the menus, the wines, the staff -- were amazing.



The next day was spent on Castaway Cay, their private island.  Alex and I abandoned Liz and Anna and went snorkeling.  Anna was busy as a bee with her pail and shovel in the sand, while the rest of us got lazy, and not just a little sunburned.

The Flying Dutchman

That night there was a Pirates In the Caribbean deck party, complete with all the Disney characters and fireworks at sea.  After the party broke up, they played the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie on the big screen (think drive-in movie theater size) which hovers over the family "Goofy" pool.  By the way, swimming while watching a movie on a theater-sized screen is highly UNDER-rated.  I'm thinking of asking our builder to work something up for the new house, but I'm pretty sure that will put us over budget.  Ha ha.


 The last day was spent at sea.  We sent Anna to the Oceaneer's Lab to make Flubber while the adults chatted over espresso martinis in the coffee bar.  We laughed while discussing how Liz thought our animal shaped towels in our room looked to her like a turkey carcass ready for roasting (it was a hanging monkey).

Our last morning, I stepped out onto our verandah and took one last deep breath of ocean air.  

Om.  Back to reality, but it was completely worth it.

P.S.  Just look at this kid, having the time of her life.

The End

Don't Blink

I have no picture to accompany this entry.  Do you ever have that moment where you wish your eyes were a camera?  The moment when you see something extraordinary and your heart leaps into your throat as you think, "How far is the nearest camera at this moment?"  "Do I have time to grab it?"  "Will catapulting my body toward a camera distract and change the moment, ruining what could have been?"  Sometimes it's better to let the moment unfold and just observe with your eyes, recording grooves into your memory.  I just experienced one of those moments.  Anna went to bed late and got up absurdly early.  She's now watching PBS Kids program Super Why.  The Super Readers kids took off on an adventure and all put their hands in for a sportsman-like moment.  Anna ran up to the television so she could place her hands on top of theirs.  Go team!  Then each character introduced themselves and their special power.  Anna joined in and said, "Anna Sage with the power of bedtime!"  Bedtime?  Really?  More like the power to avert bedtime.  But seeing her spark of creativity gives my heart a squeeze, like a hug.  Wish you could all crawl into my head and witness this moment...or maybe you just did after all.

The Girl's Got Skills

We just enrolled Anna in a "Little Kickers" summer soccer camp.  

Alex bought Anna the next size up soccer ball, pink shin guards, shorts and pink soccer socks.  She geared up and kicked the ball around with Dad.  The new ball definitely made her work harder than her previous size 1 ball, but she loved kicking it between Dad's legs.  Her footwork has become pretty impressive thus far, but we just want her to have fun and be active outdoors.  Stay tuned to see how she likes it and if I transition into a soccer mom.

In the blink of an eye...

Anna is 4 years old.  I am the mother of a 4-year-old.  Four years ago I became a mother.  It's still sinking in.  I believe I mentioned before how at this age every holiday, every event, is d-r-a-w-n o-u-t.  This birthday was no exception.

Anna had her first real friend birthday party this year at the local carousel in the park.  It was a lovely day.  The kids had so much fun riding the carousel and then playing in the park afterwards.  I'd brought a couple of games, just in case, but there was no need.  The kids created their own entertainment...freestyle.

Then, a couple of weeks later, we had a family birthday party.  All the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins (well, the ONE cousin) were there.  We had dinner at our favorite locally owned BBQ joint and then came home to open presents.  The cousins stayed up WAAAAY too late, but had a grand time playing with glow sticks in the yard, pretending they were light sabers.

Last, I had agreed to bring brownies to Anna's school the Monday after her birthday.  Every day the kids get an afternoon snack, so for birthdays you have to let them know in advance so your treat is the snack of the day.  I remembered to let school know I was bringing treats, but nearly forgot to actually BRING the snacks after our busy weekend.  Nothing like baking brownies at 11:00 at night.  Excuse me while I polish my "Mother of the Year" award.

It's kind of bittersweet watching this little sprout....well, sprout!  Motherhood is the most achingly sweet experience in a lifetime.  I wouldn't miss it for the world.