So, uh, I got a little worked up before our first family vacation- out of the country- on a boat- in the ocean... I joked about it a lot, but will be honest. I did have new concerns I had never had before. But let me tell you right off, they were ALL gone as soon as we pulled out of the driveway.
Our trip began with a short drive just south of Dallas. We thought it would be smart to break up the 9 hours trip since we did have two kids in the back who we assumed would drive us crazy and have to pee all the time. So after making a stop in Norman to drop off the bird, we made one stop in Ardmore and not again until we were there. WHAT?!?! Now, while the trip down was nice and smooth, dinner was not. Lyla was TIRED and fussing the worst I've ever seen her. "Hope this isn't how the whole trip is going to be" Josh said. We got our Chilis to go and headed to the hotel.
Once in the room we tried to let the kids sleep together. Didn't really work. They had never done that before. So I put L in her pack-n-play and C and I cuddled up for the night. And when I say "cuddle" I mean C kicked me in the kidneys all night...
The next morning we woke up the kids and took off. Stopping ONCE. In the Woodlands. The kids were ANGELS and we were feeling better and better about the trip.
When we got to Galveston, we stopped and had some lunch then headed to the boat. You can view C's reaction here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=celTcqS0U80&feature=g-upl&context=G26c207eAUAAAAAAAAAA
If that doesn't work, copy/paste.
I did just make a whole photbook about this trip for my records, so I really don't have the energy to recap EVERYTHING, so here is a short(ish) version:
When we finally made it on the boat after an hour and a half in lines with two kids, one suitcase, one large full beach bag, a big purse, and a bag full of diapers, I was ready for a cocktail. While waiting for it a lady came up to me and said "Your kids are beautiful. You're not going to have ANY fun, but your kids are beautiful. You are couragous and your kids are beautiful." "Thanks" was all I could say...
ANYWAY- C couldn't believe we were on a boat. He kept asking when we were gonna get on it. It was so "amazing". We started everyday off with breakfast, had lunch either on board or on land, and always had formal dinner. The kids were drinking out of stemmed glasses by the end of the week. Carson ate shrimp, lobster, duck, alligator, sushi, FROG LEGS, prime rib, etc. It was crazy. I learned that I just feed him the wrong things because I thought he was picky.
Lyla entertained everyone everywhere we went. Several times people told us that Carnival needed to pay her for the entertainment. She would dance by the pool, dance during the dinner show. She loved it! Once she was dancing and she fell and half the deck of people gasped at her. That's when I realized the crowd she was gathering. People gave them gifts, knew their names. LOL. It was funny.
We had a birthday celebration for C during the beach trips and at dinner and even had his room decorated for him. He hugged me SO big when they brought out his cake. It was SUPER sweet. Lyla then got down and danced away during the "show".
My kids learned all kinds of things. How to push the elevator buttons to the floor others needed, how to say excuse me, how to move to the right when others were coming, how to use lots of silverware, and of course, Carson learned about how people live in Mexico. When we were passing by houses he said "Mom, those houses are broken and nasty. I sure am lucky."
Carson also loved to play "Gator Golf", (mini-golf), eat ice cream, dance, he LOVED the beach, playing at Camp Carnival (we only let him go twice because it was a family vaca after all), both kids even let us have nightly Champagne hour in the lounge before dinner. They would just sit in their chairs and play on our phones while we had grown up time. We would then go to dinner, enjoy great food and excellent service, and of course, you know my kids, go to bed around 7.
The kids slept great. Lyla was true to form and would pull us to her bed each night so that she could go "night night". I think the rocking was good for Lyla. She didn't even chirp in her sleep like normal. It was a little different for J and I however. We had a couple of ROUGH nights, even the crew said it was bad. So we rocked pretty good. But it wasn't really the rocking that got us, it was the shaking. It shook about like a 5.0 earthquake, and since we just came off those... well, not the most relaxing. But we got used to it.
The last day we woke up early to get breakfast before getting off the ship only to find out that we were stuck for the day because Galveston's port was closed due to the CRAZY fog. It was so bad that you couldn't see the back of the ship from the front OR the 75 or so HUGE ships all around us that emerged as the fog lifted. No wonder we were blowing the fog horn non stop. I know what you are thinking. Extra day of vacation? Sweet. Welll. It was hot. We were in sweaters. All our luggage was taken the night before and our charge account was closed because we were done after all. So we waited, and ate, and waited, and of course danced. TWELVE hours later we got dismissed. Then 1.5 hours later we got to our car. The whole time, not a PEEP of a complaint from our kids.
Things were going so well, we decided to spend the next couple of nights in Katy since we missed our Thursday visit. We then drove straight home. Lyla went the whole way since she was sleeping at our half way stop. Not one problem thanks to IPADS. Although she did have one wet diaper she never complained once.
Overall, it was the best week of my life. I can't imagine not taking my kids on every other vacation until they are grown. I just kept saying to Josh, "I'm so glad C is here to see this." We got plenty of relaxation time, I told C that we needed grown up time and he said OK! I can't wait to have Girls Only beach time. I loved getting to show them parts of the world they hadn't seen and I loved loved loved doing it all with just me and my husband. It felt so grown up. ha. I just can't wait to plan our next family adventure. Well, I really can't wait I guess, I have had that in the works since the drive home. And, to the lady at the bar...we had a LOT of fun!
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