Day Three: Thanksgiving Cruise

I am in danger of failing at the 12 Days of Blogging on Day Three. A pile of grad school decisions came up today, and between that, an ear infection and nasty time with antibiotics for Corin, a bad sleep night for Lily, and a head cold for me, it was a seriously rough day.

So I am not going to write much tonight. I will just post a few pictures from our awesome Thanksgiving Cruise and give you a few highlights. For those of you who did not know, we went on a Disney Cruise with 29 extended family members over Thanksgiving Break. We sailed out of Galveston, Texas to the Western Caribbean.

Lily: Lily loved being doted on by so many family members; having all of her aunts in one place was a particularly fun treat. She also loved meeting the princesses and other Disney characters. Perhaps her favorite moment was the character dance party in the atrium one afternoon. They played club music and released confetti from the ceiling, and she danced until she was red in the face. I got a little misty eyed watching her. She looked so grown up, and it was moving to see such complete enjoyment. I don’t think I am capable of that sort of enjoyment now because I cannot so fully lose myself in a moment.

Corin: Corin had fans. I kid you not. One night, when the atrium was empty, we set him down and let him crawl, which he had been longing to do since the ship does not give much wide open space. He made his way over toward the Guest Services desk, and the next thing I know, he and Matt are making friends. Corin has a game where he raises both arms and then drops them down quickly; it started with my mom trying to teach him “up” and “down,” but now, he’s figured out that he can get adults to do it after him rather than the other way around.

The Guest Services staff suggested that he compete in Jack Jack’s diaper dash, which became another great memory which I will dwell on another day. Oh- and they also sent Corin and Lily a Mickey and Minnie plush- as far as I know, just because Corin is cute.

Parents: Matt got to go on some neat excursions with his mom and siblings. One day, they saw Mayan ruins in a village populated by mostly Mayan descendants, and another day, they went sailing.

We went on one excursion all together to a sea turtle farm; it seemed like a bust at first since Lily, who has been extremely timid lately, did not want to touch anything. Oddly enough, it was some wandering Caribbean chickens who finally drew her out to have a good time. They were wandering around the dining area picking up crumbs (including chicken crumbs, I might add), and Lily was amused by a mother hen and her five chicks. That got her to go see the aviary which eventually led to her actually touching a sea turtle.

I learned an important lesson on the cruise though: family vacations are mostly about the kids. This was our first vacation since Lily was a baby, and then, she mostly came along with us in the ergo carrier. Now, she has definite preferences, and it is a different experience. I had a lot of fun, but I did not do much of what I thought I would- namely, hang out in the hot tub or a lounge chair or the beach. Instead, my favorite moments were those like the dance party- watching the kids have over-the-top fun.