Cruisin' With My Homies

Again, sorry for the much overdue update, but we just got back from a much needed, and quite possibly the best vacation I've ever taken in my life, a week long trip to the Bahamas on a Disney Cruise. This was our first time on a cruise, and I'm glad we chose the Disney line over any other. We were looking for a family-friendly cruise, and Disney definitely fit the bill in every way. Plus, the kids loved it too because they got to interact with characters and themes they were already familiar with and adore. (The girls are gaga over Disney Princesses and my son loves anything to do with Playhouse Disney). We had done the Disney World tour thing in Orlando last year for vacation, and although we all really enjoyed walking around the parks and seeing the shows, we were exhausted by the end of the trip. Standing in long lines all day for 3 minute rides, bathrooms, food, etc.. really zapped the energy out of us. This year we decided to try something different by going on a cruise, and I'm glad we did because it was the first time we went on a vacation and all of us actually got to relax and have fun.

I think the best part of the vacation, aside that I didn't have to cook or do laundry for an entire week, was that I didn't have to watch the kids for a good part of each day. All of them were enrolled in The Oceaneers Club, a playgroup for kids ages 3-7, where they got to hang out with children their own age, make crafts, dance, play, and meet the Disney characters face to face, even the girls' favorite, Belle! The Oceaneers Club was such a fun place to be, the kids would beg us to drop them off after breakfast each morning, and usher us to just "Go! Go!" after they got signed in. The supervisors were great, and even hooked me up with a pager in case somebody wanted to be picked up early, but that rarely happened. The staff in the Club took care of everything, from making sure they ate their lunch and dinner, to reading them a story before naptime, and most importantly, making sure everyone took frequent bathroom breaks. It was perfect, and just the kind of break all of us were looking for.

I'd like to say that with my kid-free time on the ship, I went to the ship's spa and got one of those fancy stone massage treatments, but they were damn expensive, so I didn't. Instead, I used my free time to do a little shopping on the island with the husband, eat, drink, and roam around aimlessly. It was the best fun ever.

Now we're back, about 5 lbs. heavier from overindulging in all the awesome food onboard, and slowly settling back into our normal routines. I spend a good part of last week helping my son catch up with all the homework he'd missed in kindergarten. Who knew kindergarteners had so much work to do? And you know, the homework really is for me. If I don't keep track of all his assignments and make sure he gets them done, it's me who gets in trouble with the teacher, not him, because I'm the one who the assignments are given to. I'm usually up-to-date with all his homework, but with all the hustle and bustle over the holidays, I came this close to completely forgetting about his Flat Stanley project. Luckily, I had left a giant Post-it note on the fridge with the words "Don't Forget To Mail Flat Stanley!" to remind me. My original plan was to take Stanley with us to the Bahamas and mail him from there, but he was accidentally left home alone. When I got back, I overnighted the paper dude to my sister in Pennsylvania with a note to please send him back to school with a picture of a tourist attraction in PA. It's so crazy. My son, all he did was color Stanley in rainbow colors and bring him home with the instructions. I'm the one doing all the work, and yet I'm taking a most unusual interest in it. I hope I..... I mean, my son gets an A.