Thanksgiving and Pre-Christmas

Sidney's hand and foot print first Christmas

I forgot a few things in the last post.  Although I had pictures of Sidney from her Spartan race I forgot to mention it.  She ran the one mile kids race.  It isn't timed, just for fun.  Although she loved the race, her major complaint were the cactus.  I second that. There were cactus's everywhere.  We mostly only had them to run and walk on.  The kids had some crawling to do on some so that wasn't good.  Everyone survived though.   

Sidney and I left for Galveston on Friday November 18 for our Thanksgiving Disney cruise.  We had a minor diversion on the way with the interstate being closed for about 15 miles. As we were early on Friday it wasn't bad.  A good detour was organized and it didn't take us more than a few miles out of our way.  

We got to Galveston and I dropped Sidney off with the luggage before I parked.  It took about an hour to clear security and wait for our time to board.  While we were waiting I got the strangest question ever.  A man came out of the men's room and asked me if there were any toilet seat covers in the ladies room.  There weren't. Strange.

We got on board and found our friends in the main dining area. I think I promptly ate 15 decent size shrimp. I was hungry and they were good but then I was shrimped out.

We spent some time settling into our room before going to our muster drill.  No one who has ever worked offshore is ever late or delayed on a muster drill.  Then the kids and I explored the ship from front to back and top to bottom.  I guess I should say we were with a friend and his wife and her son.  They were in the room next door and this was their fourth Thanksgiving Disney cruise on the Wonder.  Her son is in the same grade as Sidney and they live in Houston.  They made our cruise very special starting with flowers in our room and door decorations and a fish extender.  A fish extender is something you hang from the fish shaped hook outside your door.  It's a place where a small group of people can put little surprises for you during the cruise. There are usually 10 cabins in a group.  It's pretty fun. 

Anyway after exploring and mustering we went up on deck to push off.  We were racing the weather.  There was a great thunderstorm coming from the west with stunning lightning.  We got off ahead of it but by dinner it caught up with us.  The seas were never really bad but I definitely noticed the sway the first day.  We also enjoyed the stacked offshore equipment on our way out and dolphins.  Dinner was at Tritons Place, one of three dining rooms for dinner on the ship.  Tritons was from the Little Mermaid.  We didn't do much after dinner.  Went back and enjoyed our room and getting settled.  

Galveston Departure

Saturday was a day at sea and started with a run on the 1/3 mile track.  It was lovely.  Then breakfast at Cabanas.  There are seven restaurants total on the ship.  Cabanas is the one that is open nearly all the time.  A typical but wonderful buffet.  To the delight of the kids, they had Krispy Kreme donuts every morning.  To my delight they had smoked salmon and bacon.  There are three dinner dining rooms, Tritons, Tiana's Place and Animators Palace.  Tiana's Place was from the Prince and the Frog.  Animator's Palace was the best.  It had the pencil sketches of animations all over the walls and these large frames that showed animations being drawn.  It was super cool.  There were also two restaurants outside, Pinocchio's Pizzeria and Pete's Boiler Bites.  Finally there was one adult only dining room call Palo.  

We went to a Frozen Meet and Greet in the morning and ate a nice lunch in Cabanas while watching the flying fish.  They were super cool.  They launch themselves out of the water and then glide or fly across the top for a good 50 yards.  You can even see their "wings" flapping.  I had never really seen such a thing before.  

We helped our friend deliver all of their fish extender stuff and also took some pixie dust around.  Pixie dust are other small things that you distribute randomly into other fish extenders that are not part of your group.  They are things like bubbles, crayons, stickers and things you can use around the room.  The adults took a mixology class in the afternoon.  It was fun but I couldn't tell you a thing we made.  They were all tasty but complicated and, well, had a lot of alcohol.  The kids ran around the ship looking for trouble.  They had a club for 11 to 14 year olds and a club for 3 to 12 year olds.  The club for 3-12 years olds was very large, taking up maybe half of a deck.  The kids hung out there the most because there was more to do and it was much larger than Edge, which was the tween club.  

The Disney Wonder

Dinner was formal attire and we ate in Animator's Palace.  It was wonderful.  We had a great seat because the character parade came down the aisle towards us and then turned into another aisle right at our table.  It was good fun.  After dinner we went to a show called the Golden Mickey's.  It was a tribute to various classic Disney Movies.   It was done as a musical and very cute.  

Every evening the beds get made for the kids, chocolates get left and a towel animal.  We love the towel animals.  One of them was a bear and he was so cute we kept him the whole trip.  Also, a copy of the Navigator would be left in your room which would have all the activities for the following day.  There was also an app we used that we could look at activities on, mark favorites, look at the ship map, look at the dinner menus and text each other among many other things.  It was very handy.  

On Sunday morning I walked on the track.  Sidney went to Lava Flow, a show about volcanoes for the kids and to the Marshmallow Olympics.  We had dolphins right out our window in the late morning.  Shortly after lunch we made our first port stop to Key West.  Key West was once the wealthiest per capita town in the US.  They are located on a major shipping route and before the advent of radar navigation there would be a ship wreck per week.  This meant that wrecking was a lucrative business.  Wrecking involved first rescuing any survivors and second recovering the cargo.  Some cargo was very expensive.  We went to a wrecking museum and it was super interesting.  We also went to the aquarium which was very small and pretty old but had a lot of hands on for the kids.  Sidney spent a lot of time with the horseshoe crabs.  There were also two turtles that were permanent residents.  One had only one functioning flipper and the other had three.  It was really a nice afternoon.  After walking about we got a snack at Sloppy Joes before pushing off again.  

Dinner was at Tiana's Place.  We had a good seat again, right by the stage.  The food was supposed to be Cajun but that was the only meal that was really a let down.  It was very bland.  We still had a nice time though.  After dinner was a magic show.  It was pretty good.  

Monday morning found us in Castaway Cay.  Four of the five of our group participated in the Castaway Cay 5K.  I ran the first 3/4 with my friend and then ran that all again with Sidney.  Immediately after that we did our para sailing.  It was so much fun.  It is very scary to start and end but amazing once you are up.  The views were fabulous and it is so quite and peaceful.  We did get a decent splash coming down as they seemed to enjoy putting you in the water briefly before bringing you back onto the boat.  

After that high, we ate some lunch and then hung out.  The kids swam and we snorkeled a bit.  The snorkeling wasn't fabulous but we still saw some good stuff and the water was clear.  We were worn out when we got back to the ship.  

Sidney and I Para sailing

It was pirate night so we all dressed in our finest pirate garb and went to Triton's for dinner.  It was lobster night. Yum.  There was a pirate party afterwords complete with Mr. Hook trying to ruin the party and Mickey zip lining in to save the party.  The finale was fireworks.  It was a lot of fun.  

We got settled into bed and the noise started.  I have not mentioned yet that I wasn't sleeping at night because of noise.  I was wearing earplugs and covering my head with a pillow.  Our friend fared slightly better but by the time we got into bed and it started again, we were both tired of it.  It was the noise of the galley and moving tables, chairs, carts etc.  It would go well after midnight.  

We went up to Guest Services and they actually moved us from deck 2 to deck 5.  It was 10 pm but I couldn't handle another sleepless night.  I got all of our things packed, which was no easy task.  Then I tried to wake up Sidney.  That turned out to be impossible.  I ended up carrying her tied up in her sheets with her animals from the old room to the new.  She opened her eyes for about 10 seconds but she wasn't actually home.  She seriously is getting too heavy to carry.  She doesn't remember the move at all.

So we get up to the new room and, remember who did the work to move us, and who slept through the whole thing.  Well the sleeper got a Magician Mickey Mouse pillow pet with a hat that lights up.  She also got two Mickey Mouse shaped rice crispy treats.  I got a bed.... but it was quieter.  And we had a veranda.  Which was fabulous.  

Tuesday was another walk morning since I ran the day before.  We also discovered how fun it is to blow bubbles on the veranda.  They float around normally and then hit a certain point where they just get sucked away.  Totally fun.  Tuesday was also Nassau.  But before that I had a lovely two hours with my friend's wife at a private spa and with a 75 minute massage.  It was so very relaxing.  

The friends weren't going to get off in Nassau but one did with her son.  We wanted to try to go to this bird sanctuary but we weren't prepared enough for the walk.  We gave up and went to Senior Frogs for a while to get Internet and then got back on the ship.  The Disney Dream was docked in Nassau also.  I have since learned that some old friends from Findlay were on the Dream  I was so bummed.  So close but so far away....

Departure when there are two Disney ships is quite fun.  There is a horn battle.  Our ship being the smallest in the Disney line can only play the first bit of "When You Wish Upon a Star".  The Dream can play that plus two more songs.  And so there are several back and forths between the two ships.  They can play more but we could get louder at least.  It was fun.  

Dinner was back at Animator's Palate.  This time we all had a place mat we could draw on and a marker.  We could each draw any sort of figure we wanted as long as it was in the lines.  While we were eating, they made all of the drawings into animations.  They played them during dessert.  It was super cool.  Sidney drew an orange cat which was in several animations.  It really was a lot of fun.   Tuesday's evening show was a vocal talent person with some singing.  It was OK.  

Wednesday was a day at sea.  I started with another run.  I really liked running on that track.  It was a little bigger than a regular track and there were people to watch or the sunrise or things on the horizon.  The kids and I went to two animation classes in the morning.  We did Stitch and Ray the Firefly.  After the animations the adults went to Palo for brunch.  The food and selection of items on the buffet and menu were amazing and fabulous.  I left so over stuffed but happy.  They had two tables devoted just to cheese and two two seafood!  Oh so good.

We did origami in the afternoon.  We made a hat and a fish.  We also saw Moana, the latest Disney movie.  It is a very good movie.  They show the newest Disney movie at a few minutes after midnight on the day it is released in the US.  They actually had permission to show it a bit earlier the previous night but it was still after ten so we didn't stay up.  We got it the first full day instead.  Apparently there is frequently a new Disney movie released on the Thanksgiving cruise.  That was fun.  Dinner was back at Tiana's Place.  The food was a little better this time.  A bit more Cajun.  After dinner we saw the Frozen Musical Spectacular.  It was very nicely done.  I also haven't mentioned that there are Disney movies in the theaters and on several channels all the time.  We saw parts and pieces of a lot of movies.  Sad to say, some I had not heard of before.  

Towel Turkey

Our final full day, Thanksgiving was upon us.  My friend's wife and I started at the spa for a while before watching the kids build gingerbread houses.  What a mess.  We couldn't carry them off the ship so they spent some time eating at least part of the house.  We went back to the spa where I took a nice nap before seeing the juggler in the afternoon and going to towel folding.  The juggler was very impressive.  Mostly because the ceiling was very low and he really got the kids into the show with some marshmallow throwing and other silly antics.  His last act was getting onto a very tall unicycle and juggling which was extremely near the ceiling.  He had to make sure he stayed between the lights.  He was super fun to see. 

Animator's Palate

Towel folding was fun.  The folding itself isn't that hard but understanding the directions was hard.  The kids had a lot of help from the staff.  Dinner was at Tritons Place.  There was a more traditional Thanksgiving option along with others.  It was also semi-formal night.  There was always at least eight main courses to choose from, four appetizers, four soups or salads, six or eight deserts and two breads.  The kids always had interesting and fun things also.  The most popular kids dessert (sometimes for the adults too) was the Mickey Bar.  It is a Mickey shaped ice-cream bar.  The last show was Disney Dreams.  It was fabulous like most of the other shows.  No one really wanted to go to bed.....

We were up early on Friday morning.  We ate one more more really great breakfast before disembarking.  Sidney and I carried off our luggage so we were off and in our car even with the 8 block walk within 30 minutes of when we could get off.  So we were on the road by a little after 8.  However, we had an hour long delay when I stopped to get a low tire indicator light checked out.  Glad I did as they pulled a nail out and were able to patch the tire.  

We stopped and got Stormy and started the mountain of laundry.  Reality was pretty tough but at least we had Saturday and Sunday to get re-engaged.  We got Christmas more or less set up.  I actually set up the big tree this year.  I haven't put it up since the accident.  One reason is that I need the 8 foot ladder to reach the top.  It was nice to get out some of the ornaments I hadn't seen in a while, but also bitter sweet.  I am really glad I set it up.  We have enjoyed it. 

Dog Towel

I also made chicken tetrazzini on Saturday night and invited several friends over.  We had 6 people around the table and enjoyed the great food and fellowship.  It was really nice to have a full table.  

Sidney took the SAT on December 3.  It is for the Duke Talent Identification Program.  It isn't for a score exactly but more to identify areas of strength to further develop and see what programs are available for that.  She was pretty wiped out when I picked her up so we went out to see Kirk for a while.  He is still doing well but is quite a ways away from us.  He still seems content but also still as confused as ever.  

Sidney also showed her engineering talents by rigging up a square fabric box on a makeshift pulley to take stuff up and down stairs.  It is set up on one of the balusters on the bridge to her room.  The cat thinks the string is great and there just for her.  Sidney also had a swim meet at the nearby pool.  She swam in the early afternoon both days which was nice as we got to sleep in a bit.  She is making some improvement in times.  Probably not quite as quickly as I would like......

The Captain

We continue to volunteer more regularly.  We have enjoyed going to work at the San Antonio Food Bank the most and are trying to do that at least once per month.  

We did have a sad experience last weekend.  I saw a Great Blue Heron in a neighbors yard and quickly saw that it had a broken wing.  I was able to get hold of wildlife rescue but they couldn't find a volunteer that late on Saturday.  We knew it was still in the neighborhood when the sun went down and could only hope it would stay until morning when we could get more help.  Somehow though the neighbors cornered it and caught it.  They put it in their garage which was a relief because it got super cold that night with a windchill in the teens.  We loaded it into Stormy's kennel on Sunday and took it to  the rescue center.  They immediately put it on pain killers and unfortunately had to euthanize it the next day after the vet saw it.  The wing was too badly broken and had been broken for some time.  Sidney and I were heart broken.  

This week was the first week of break.  I worked half days Monday through Wednesday and am off the rest of the year.  Sidney swam each night but earlier so we had a semi calm life.  I took the rest of Kirk's guns to consignment.  It was hard to do but while I was there someone got so excited about one of them for his grandson that I knew they could make people much happier in use that locked up in the house.  

Great Blue Heron

Last night we went with friends to see two shows at Fiesta Texas.  The first was a musical about various letters the mailman got to deliver.  It was a cute little show.  

The second show was amazing.  It was called the Majesty of Christmas.  It was about Christ's birth and it was beautifully done.  I was so happy that a theme park had such a show.  But it was also spectacular.  First Mary came in on a real donkey.  There was a service dog in the audience that barked once but fortunately donkey really didn't care.  Then there were human angels hanging from the ceiling.  Then there were sheep and goats being tended by the shepherds.  Finally two of the three wise men showed up.  We were all looking around for the third one.  Following a very short delay he arrived by coming down the aisle from the back of the theater on a camel, a real one. The camel went up on stage where he wasn't terribly sure about the angel flying around above him.  The whole thing was spectacular and so honoring of the true Christmas story. 

We will be headed to church tonight and to our friends tomorrow before visiting Kirk.  I made a pie today and will take the green bean casserole tomorrow.  I have some fun gifts that I hope Sidney will like.  

We are home Monday and then head to Colorado on Tuesday.  We are looking forward to a short visit with my folks.  Sidney goes back to school on January 2 and I go back to work on January 3.  We will get straight back onto the swing of things.  Ugh. 

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas where you make happy memories and spend time with your loved ones.  We also wish you the best New Year,