Spring Break 2017

Warning: photo-heavy post. 

This past Christmas my hubby's grandmother gifted us a big family vacation the week of spring break. At that time it seemed so abstract and far away... and now it's past. By far the longest, most involved trip we've made as a family, we went on a Disney cruise y'all... and lived to tell the tale.

Day one was a whirlwind of travel, but we made it to port with time to spare, boarded around lunchtime, explored, had some special drinks, and saw the first of several amazing shows. (There was a Carnival cruise ship next to us in port that left about 20 minutes ahead of us and apparently narrowly missed running over some jet skiers who had fallen off their jet ski in the bay!)

The first two full days were at sea, and were actually kinda chilly, but that did not deter the kids from being in the pool for hours... and oh my gosh the sugar! Only Disney would think of cramming a bunch of families into a finite space and making sugar available at every turn. My kiddos count this amenity as one of the best parts of the trip- ahem- and will probably be recovering from their indulgences for at least the next week. Yikes.

Our first port of call, Tortola, was very pretty... but that breeze was still chilly! I couldn't make myself go into the sea past my ankles, but of course the kids were immune to the shock of the water and swam like little fishes. We were back on board in time for kid naps and a grown-up cocktail hour.

 Next we visited St. Thomas and their coral reef/aquarium center. Most of the animals at the center were part of a rehabilitation and release program, which I thought was really cool, and all of their exhibits were fed by fresh ocean water piped in directly from the sea. The stingrays were awesome. Back on board we all got to be pirates and finish the day with a fireworks show.

After that was Star Wars day at sea, which started out with a cold front and a very gray morning, plus breakfast in bed and an early ship mystery to solve. Then we changed into our "costumes" (Star Wars t-shirts basically) and spent the rest of the day chasing Storm Troopers and other characters for photo ops...

...and wrapped up with an adults-only Champagne tasting...

...lots of light saber "fights..."

 ...and another fireworks show. Our last port-of-call was Disney's private island, Castaway Cay (fun fact, it used to be a drug cartel's island, with a runway for their drug planes).

 By far the prettiest beach, I once again couldn't stand to venture into the water past my ankles, because oh my goodneseseses that water was so cold! I don't understand how the kiddos and the grandparents did it. So. Cold.

Once back aboard the ship, everyone had a hot shower and a good rest, and to celebrate our last night Mama and Daddy had a fancy dinner... right after the last live show, which was excellent.

When it was time to go back home, our disembarkation moved like a well-oiled machine, and despite a slight flight delay we made it home without much ado.

Overall I'd say this was a great trip, though 7 days was pretty much our max at this point I think. There is a lot of business to take care of now that we're back home, but we have a huge stack of mementos and even more photos than what I've shared here (if you can believe it), so I think I'll be planning a scrapbook for the kiddos soon. One thing is for sure, though: my kids think this was the best Christmas present ever.

 Thanks, Nanny!

Right Now

Right now, I'm...

...having to make lists just to keep track of all my other lists! Spring Break travel prep is in full swing over here!
...beginning to be able to smell and taste a little again- not sure which tree pollen I've been reacting to lately, but I'm starting to feel hopeful that I'm on the mend. I miss tasting my morning coffee!
...making daily trips out to the garden beds with the Littles again, watching and rejoicing over every new little sprout. Some of the seeds we've planted so far were so old we worried they wouldn't germinate (like, some of the seeds were collected from our original garden). However, life surprises us all, and they are awakening! Well, some of them are, anyway. We're still waiting on the parsley.
...noticing that our bees are finding our garden, even if only for a sip of water when we get the hose after the sprouts. It won't be much longer before there's something growing in this space for you too, ladies!
...feeling so proud of my Kid of Character, who by unanimous school staff vote was awarded for his outstanding demonstration of kindness, compassion, honesty, courage, empathy, and trustworthiness, and who gets to sport this sign in his front yard for the next six weeks! It kinda feels like my award, too, because isn't that what every parent wants of their kiddo(s)? So proud!

Right now I'm spending every waking moment trying to balance the usual day-to-day stuff with the fortifying of the ol' homestead for our time away next week. We have lots of prepping and packing to do, plus school and work and evening classes and activities and friends and pets and chores... you know, the usual.

Whew!

Break time is over, I better get back at it!

Weekending

 Neither wind nor chilly rain nor allergies will stop us from finishing the garden paths this weekend! Though the chilly rain is bringing about pauses, breaks, and late starts. We'll finish this, though. We're almost there! Plus, we're tired of driving around the giant pile of decomposed granite sitting in the middle of the driveway, so we've also got that motivating us.

May there be a little motivation to rally you this weekend, too... happy weekending!

In the Garden

Oh my goodness, does it feel good to be sharing gardening posts again! My garden space has been rehabilitated, rebuilt, and is now being replanted! The amount of help that we've had available to us in this process has been nothing short of amazing, and I'm happy to say my kiddos are still just as excited about seeds and soil as they were when we had our very first plot!

We're almost finished, but we couldn't resist getting a few things in the ground right now: onions, carrots, beets, radishes, squash, greens, dill, parsley, borage and some marigolds so far... and tomatoes will be just around the corner. Tomatoes! We are so excited.

Between checking the calendar for the next planting date and watering the things we've already tucked into the soil, we've been working on finishing the fence and pathways. Lucky for me, there's still more good help ready to go...

...and the last of the setup is speeding on by.

It feels so good to be out in the garden again!

A+

My girl. Even when she's away all day at school, I can't help but be reminded of her... mainly because everything around me is in desperate need of a vacuuming/dusting... but also because she just can't resist marking her territory. Without fail, if something is dusty she'll find it first, and you'll know it.

It cracks me up.

What a goofball.

A+.