Another milestone crossed off the list

Y'all know how I like to wake up at all hours of the night to obsess over things? My older sister does it, too, so she keeps a notebook next to the bed to jot down her nocturnal worries. I don't have a notebook, but I do have Tom so I just wake him up and tell him my concerns. It is one of the many things he loves about me.

Yesterday I worked up in the wee hours of the morning worrying about Jack's inability to ride a bike or swim. I woke Tom up and told him we would be teaching Jack to ride his bike that day.

I started out the day taking the kids to the pool so I could work with Jack on his swimming. He can actually swim, but he lacks confidence. But after working with him a bit, I know I can have him swimming like a fish in no time.

In the evening, we loaded up the kids and their bikes and drove to the church parking lot. It was not easy and Jack threw his bike to the ground more than once screaming, "This is stupid!" But, I never lost my temper. I was in crazy, cheerleader mode, shouting every cliche. I was ridiculous, but it worked and we had him riding within the hour.

Now, just one more kid to go.

Cruisin'

Our family reunion cruise was awesome!  I thought we would have more down time, but those eight days went by in a flash.  I missed Sam a lot, but I was able to get a hold of Donika a few times and she reassured me that he wasn't even missing me.

We left on Sunday after first attending church and getting our family pictures taken.  Then, it was off to the cruise ship.


I spent that first day unpacking and organizing our tiny stateroom.  I quickly realized that I left all of my dressy clothes hanging up in my closet at home.  Because I had packed so early, I didn't want them to get wrinkled so I had pulled them out, intending to put them back in last minute.  Typical Holly.  That is what I get for months of preparing, obsessing, and making lists.  I ended up wearing my swimsuit cover for formal night.  I dressed it up with jewelry and high heels.  I don't think anyone noticed unless they shopped at Kohls and saw it in the swimsuit cover section.

Formal night in my swimsuit cover up

I thought our tiny room would be too cramped and impossible for all four of us to sleep in, but it wasn't bad! The last two nights, Tom and I huddled together watching movies on the mini iPad, while the kids slept soundly in the Pullman beds above us.

The towel animals were a big hit

 The kids loved the ship.  They spent a lot of time in the kids' club with their cousins. Two of the nights they even ate dinner in the club because they found the Main Dining Room to be a little too slow for their liking.

Kids having fun doing Ocean Adventure activities

 Jack did bond with our assistant waiter in the main dining room.  His name was Marcelo and he was awesome.

 Jack always had to sit at our table with us, but Ellie always sat at other tables with her cousins.  She liked the independence and freedom to order as she wished.

I also liked being able to order as I wished!  I tried the escargot the first night and then ordered it every night after!

The first sea day, my parents rented the Cosmopolitan Club and paid for everyone to have unlimited frozen beverages (virgin, of course) and cake to celebrate the June birthdays. 

 The other seas days they rented a conference room so we could get together to play games and visit.  One day was a family history day where everyone shared stories of their ancestors.  It was really interesting.  I was so happy my grandpa was able to go with us on the cruise, even if I didn't get to spend that much time with him.

 There was always so much happening on board and off that everyone kind of went their own direction.  So, I was really glad we had the conference room those sea days so we could all spend some time together.

Jack wanted to keep this balloon motorcycle "forever and ever"

The ship had so much to do.  We saw some amazing shows (the highlight being an a capella group called The Edge Effect).  The kids wanted to go ice skating and I finally took them the last day.  They found it to be much harder than they anticipated.

My brothers rented out the Flo Rider on the ship two of the nights and Ellie LOVED it,  I don't have any pictures of it because I was on a "live in the moment" kick.

Our first shore excursion was a dolphin swim and sea lion show in Cozumel.  We did it with my younger brother and sister and their families and it was a lot of fun, but trying to negotiate picture prices after was stressful.  They wanted to charge over $1,000 for our group pictures.  We finally got them down to $100 per family, but that was only after almost 2 hours of bartering.  Ugh.  Here are some collages I made of some of the pictures.  Just know I paid dearly for them, haha!

Our second shore excursion was in Belize and we did the Animal Adventure Tour that included a bus tour, a boat ride, and a tour of their zoo.  Ellie and Jack wore their Wild Kratt shirts so they could feel like real animal adventurerers.  It was interesting, but really hot and muggy.  Also, the tour of Belize made me a little sad.

Our final excursion was a beach break on a private island in Honduras.  It was by far our favorite.  We did a little snorkeling, but mainly just relaxed on the beach while the kids played in the water.  The island had a little wildlife sanctuary and they offered a free animal encounter where you could hold monkeys and feed sea turtles, but the kids just wanted to play in the ocean.  They didn't even want to explore the island.

Before we knew it, the cruise was over.  Disembarking and going through customs was the worst part of the whole trip.  It was hot and the lines were long.  We got off the ship at 9:15 and made it home to pick up Sam at 1:00.  He seemed mildly happy to see us.  I am pretty sure we missed him far more than he missed us.

I loved the cruise and would do it again as a family vacation in a heart beat.  Tom enjoyed it, but said he wouldn't mind waiting several years before doing it again.  He said we can stick to road trips for the next few years.

Back to reality

We have now been home for over a week from our cruise and it has taken me that long to recover.  Not that the cruise was bad, far from it, but coming home from it was really hard!  Not only did I have the post cruise let down (what? I have too cook AND clean?), but also we had a series of frustrating events occur.  The first was Monday when Tom and Ellie made the hour trip out to Spring to pick up Kali and found her looking pretty bad.

The email I wrote the facility pretty much sums up what happened.  They never bothered to respond to me:

Good morning. I boarded my dog, Kali, with you from June 6 - June 15. When my husband picked her up yesterday afternoon, she had two very large hot spots on both flanks. You told him it was probably caused by intestinal worms and then proceeded to sell him a dewormer for $36. My husband was so caught off guard that he didn't even think to question it or to remember that our dog is on Tri-Heart Plus which prevents intestinal worms as well as heart worms. Kali is 12 years old. In those 12 years, she has never inflicted a hot spot on herself, nor has she had worms.

When we dropped her off on June 6, she was the picture of perfect health. When we picked her up, she had two huge, oozing, painful sores bigger than the size of my palm and was having difficulty walking. I have attached pictures of her injuries to this email to verify the severity.

I had to take her to the vet and the vet was shocked that any facility would let it get to that point without notifying us or at least putting on an e-collar. Her exact words were, "This is unacceptable" and she told me to contact your facility's manager to complain. 

The lack of notification or action on your part leads me to believe that you just locked her in a cage for over a week and paid no attention to her. This infuriates me because I drove over an hour to board her at your facility. I believed the runs to be larger and the care to be better. Clearly, I was mistaken. I am not blaming you for my dog's actions, but I do hold you responsible for your inaction. I want my entire boarding fee and the cost of the unnecessary dewormer refunded. Unless, of course, you would rather pay for the vet bill that comprised of an exam, cleaning, antibiotics, steroids, betagen spray, and an e-collar.

Please reply by email or call me at 832-xxx-xxxx so we can resolve this privately.

The next morning, Tom was really sick and vomiting so I had to take Ellie to swim, then hurry and take Kali to the vet.  Right after the vet, I had to go get a mammogram and ultrasound on a painful lump in my breast.  What I thought would be a quick appointment ended up taking over 2 1/2 hours (and I have to go back this week for the biopsy!).  Poor Tom was at home with the kids the entire time, but unable to get out of the bed/bathroom so they were pretty much given free reign of the pantry and electronics.

The rest of the week continued on in the same vein.  Tom was gone Friday and Saturday for a coaching conference so I had to take the boys with me to Ellie's final swim meet (the district meet).  I had to work a shift selling concession tickets all while trying to keep an eye on Sam.  That was fun.  Ellie did awesome, though.  She PR'd in the freestyle and the medley.  She really ended the season on a high note.  Now it is on to soccer season.  Sigh.

The Final Countdown

We are in countdown mode around here. Today is the kids last day of school, 1 more day til my last day of school, and 3 more days til the cruise.  Jack announces the cruise countdown every morning and evening.  The kids are so excited for the cruise.  We have watched YouTube videos, looked at maps and pictures of the ship, learned about the islands we are visiting...you name it, we have discussed it!

Last weekend was the official end of t-ball and softball season.  I thought Jack would like t-ball more than he did and I was surprised at how much Ellie liked softball.  Her last tournament game was Saturday, but she also had a swim meet so she went to her swim meet and swam freestyle.  She  PR'd by 3 seconds. Then she rushed over to her softball game where they lost and then it was back to the pool to swim backstroke.  Poor kid, she was exhausted! We also had Olivia's baptism that evening so it was a long day.

Sunday was just as long.  We had church in the morning and then Tom and I split up and he took Ellie to her end-of-season softball party and I took Jack and Sam to Jack's party.  Right after the parties, we rushed over to Tom's dad's house to celebrate his birthday.  Tom's dad was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer awhile back. He also had a tumor in his pancreas.  The cancer is very aggressive and the surgery and radiation didn't eliminate it, so he starts chemotherapy and other drugs this week.  Even with all of this going on, it is had for me to remember he is sick because he looks so healthy!  He always works out and is careful how he eats.  I feel like his healthy lifestyle will be a benefit to him during this next year as he has to undergo chemo.  He is weighing more on my mind this morning because they are putting in a port for the chemo today.  We are all praying a little harder around here.

Okay, back to talking about more lightweight matters!  Yesterday, Ellie's elementary had an award ceremony and Ellie received awards for perfect attendance and straight As.  This kid is awesome.  I will have to remind myself that next time she is arguing with me or talking back. :)