more cruise notes

More cruise reflections: I’m remembering more of the fun stuff instead of the logical details as time goes by. I recall that when we were climbing through the rocks in the Baths and we climbed up a ladder, across some planks and down a ladder on the other side to get over a rock, Chloe said “they put stuff in here for kids!”. I guess she figured it was a jungle-gym and she’d never seen adults climbing on a jungle gym before.

I also remember that while we were eating lunch in St Thomas and the lizards kept getting closer and closer Alex was very flattered by their attention. He said “I think he loves me!” I guess we tell him that the stray cat that we call “Walt Disney” comes to visit us because he loves us, so Alex figured the lizard came over because it was affectionate. An hour or two later as we walked through the lunch area on our way out of the park, the lizard was begging from another family and Alex said “Good bye my lizard friend. We love you!”

While we were on the cruise everyone who worked for the cruise line smiled and greeted us anytime we got anywhere near them. I figured it was company policy. After a while I noticed that even the passengers on the ship smiled and/or said hello as we passed by, even as the kids were engaged in one of their favorite activities which was running down the corridors passed the doors of all the other cabins. Being surrounded by cheerful people really made my vacation a little nicer.

The kids got to practice their numbers on the ship. By the end of the trip they knew that the pool and the buffet dining room were on deck 9, so they’d look for the 9 on the elevator buttons and press it. They also knew that Grammy Barb’s cabin was on deck 1 and our cabin was on deck 4. They loved the power of getting to control the elevator (and they’d fight over who got to press the button).

While on the cruise I saw a shooting star, Casey and I saw manatee, we all saw flying fish, all while on the ship!

week ending jan 27, 2008:

Week ending Jan 27, 2008: This week we had our first parent-teacher conference. The teachers said that the kids like school, interact well with the other children, participate in the activities, and have good behavior. I asked about areas in which they could use improvement and we talked about how Alex doesn’t always know the names of shapes. They suggested we read books together to reinforce the shape learning. I was glad to hear that the kids seem well adjusted.
This week I learned that Chloe didn’t know how to operate a screw. I was helping Alex put together a project with his erector set (he and I LOVE the new erector set, thanks Uncle Billy and Aunt Laurie!) and Chloe came over to help. She’d turn the screw driver counter-clockwise for a little while and then clock-wise for a little while never fully screwing or unscrewing anything, so I had to show her how to do it. Alex figured out how to operate threaded connectors when he was 11 months old. We were on vacation in Bethany and he was playing with a bottle of suntan lotion. Casey was going to take it from him but I said it was keeping him quiet, so let him have it. Then Alex unscrewed the lid and started spreading lotion everywhere. Since then he’s understood how to screw thing on and off. Also this week one of his trains needed new batteries (according to him) and I was finally getting to eat my breakfast so I said he’d have to wait until after my breakfast for me to do it. He found a screw driver on an end table (we’re bad at putting stuff away), unscrewed the battery door and pulled the old batteries out and handed them to me! That’s the first time he’s done that. So, in the whole nature vs nurture argument, the twins are showing pretty clearly that Alex is interested in mechanical stuff regardless of what opportunities we provide, and Chloe isn’t interested in mechanical stuff unless Alex is getting attention and she isn’t. That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop providing her opportunities to do stuff that boys traditionally like more!

pictures from 1st ski trip

I've got the pictures posted now:
http://picasaweb.google.com/constance.phelps/1stSkiTrip

1st ski trip

1st ski trip: I’m so tired right now I’m not sure if I can scrape together a few words to describe our 1st family ski trip, but I’ll give it a shot. Things have been kind of slow since we’ve been back in the country for 7 whole days now so I decided to take the kids skiing… no, just kidding! I’ve always looked forward to when we could start taking the kids skiing because I hope that they will grow up feeling that skiing is just a natural thing to do like swimming, or playing catch. I didn’t really learn how to ski until I was 21 and I’ve never taken the time to really get good at it and have always settled for skiing just passably well, but I think that if the kids start early, they’ll be more comfortable with it and be able to enjoy it more. So, we decided that since they are 4 and the “mountain camp” at the local resort accepts children 4 and up, this would be a good year. The next couple of weeks look busy, so we crammed it in this weekend right after our trip and invited our friend Jim and his daughter Angie to join us. Mountain camp is available in half day or whole day increments, so we opted for a half day to see how tired the kids got before subjecting them to a whole day. The resort staff had us sign a release and they took the kids and told us to be back in 4 hours to retrieve them because everything else including getting rental skis, learning to ski, potty and snack breaks, etc is handled by the resort. It felt a little odd to just dump our kids into something about which they were so unfamiliar, but we had to trust that the resort had handled this sort of thing enough times that they knew how to build the kids’ confidence. We’d also talked a great deal about how skiing works and showed our equipment to the kids before we got to the mountain, so they had a little background. We came back almost 45 minutes later and the kids were just finishing gearing up and their class of 8 tots with 2 instructors was heading to the instruction area. The area was so close to flat that the kids had more trouble getting going than they did stopping, and instead of a lift to get the kids up the “hill”, they had a treaded rubber mat for the kids to walk up with their skis on. The next time we stopped by the kids were skiing down the hill and walking back up by themselves. We saw Chloe fall down and have a good deal of trouble getting to her feet, and she still seemed to be having trouble getting going, but when she got to the bottom of the hill I called out to her and waved (we were behind the fence, no spectators allowed in the instruction area), she yelled back “Mom, I’m good at skiing!”. Alex didn’t seem to be having any trouble at all and was doing lap after lap up and down the short run. By the end of the lesson the kids were riding the “magic carpet” which Chloe explained is really a moving walkway with a different name (she’s an expert now since she’s tamed the moving walkways in the airport), and they were doing a little bit of turning and stopping. After the lesson the resort took the kids to their indoor play area in which the kids could warm up and relax while their parents finished skiing their ½ day lift tickets. The twins were more than happy to spend some quality time with their friend Angie. All told it was a great experience for all of us, but I’m still nervous about the dropping off part of the camp. While we were watching our kids ski we noticed another bigger girl who cried as she skied down the hill, and cried on her way back up and cried some more on her next run down. The staff did the best they could to reassure her, but with pre-schoolers falling all around her and piling up, it was all they could do to get the kids back on their feet and send them down the hill again. If one of my kids was that upset I’d prefer they have a way to back out of the program or at least take a break or get a hug or something so they don’t get overly scared about skiing. No pictures today because my card reader isn’t working and I’m too tired to load the driver that will allow me to download the pictures directly from the camera over a cable. So much for a "few" words. Brevity takes effort.

cruise 2008

Cruise vacation: Day 1, got the kids up at 6:45, pulled out of the driveway at 7:25. Played at the play area at BWI airport for a while and easily caught our plane. We had a new toy for each of the kids hidden in the carry-on bags so the flight was pretty easy too. We learned that giving the kids lollipops seemed to help equalize their ears better than chewing gum. We arrived at Fort Lauderdale just before 12:30, got our bags and a taxi (a first for the kids!), and went through check in and security at the cruise dock and were on the ship by 1:15! Our rooms weren’t ready yet so we went to the dining room and hit the ice cream bar. Our room had a queen bed for us, a love seat that folded out into a twin bed, and a second twin bed that folded out of the ceiling over our bed. The kids fought over the ceiling bed, so they had to take turns. Casey and I forgot about the ceiling bed just about every night and cracked our heads on it while getting in and out of bed. We gave the kids each a ½ Dramamine before we set sail and they both passed out during dinner. I ate my entire dinner one handed with Alex sleeping in my lap, but I also started a tradition that I held all week, I had a glass of champagne with my dinner.

Day 2: Alex got up early and he and I went down to see Grammy Barb and then headed for breakfast. Alex got waffles with whipped cream! After breakfast the kids couldn’t wait to get in the pool, but the water was freezing, and we noticed a bunch of kids using the 3 hot tubs. Turns out the hot tub water was more like bath water temp and the kids had a great time playing. The ship has a separate pool with hot tubs in another part of the ship that is for grown-ups only, so we didn’t worry too much about displacing people who would like to relax in the hot tubs. We checked out “Club HAL” (the kids club) and it turns out they do watch kids aged 3 and up and you have to sign them in and use a password to pick them up. There were lots of toys and video games and art supplies. This night at dinner the kids didn’t actually fall asleep (the first night was the only night we used the Dramamine), but they were pretty tired and fussy, so we hurried through dinner and had dessert sent back to our room.

Day3: ALEX SNORKELED WITH ME!!!!! I was so excited I said that if the cruise ship sinks I'll still count this as a great vacation. I took pictures with my new water resistant camera, but my downloader isn't working, so I can't see what the pictures look like except on the 2in screen on the camera. This was all at Grand Turk. Our excursion on the semi-sub was canceled so we just went to the beach and the pool. Weather was perfect. Kids are napping now, much needed. Tonight they will their 1st build-a-bear (on the ship!). Tomorrow is Tortola and a ferry ride to Virgin Gorda to see the Baths.

Day 4, 5, & 6: Whew! 3 islands in 3 days was busy. We're glad for a day at sea to catch our breath. On Tortola we took a ferry to Virgin Gorda and saw the "Baths" which a pile of huge granite boulders on the beach. We played at the beach and climbed through the rocks. On St Thomas we rode a semi-submersible boat with glass windows to look out onto the coral and fish and then we went to Coral World Ocean Park and the kids fed Lorikeets (colorful birds) and Stingrays and pet starfish. A Lorakeet landed on Alex's head and he just laughed. That kid has gained so much confidence this year it is amazing. On day 3 I forgot to write that Chloe didn't snorkel because she was too hungry and was wilting when we got around to snorkeling, but the next day at the beach she still wouldn't try the snorkeling. She's very brave about swimming though and the water is so clear that you hardly need to stick your face in the water to see. One night Grammy Barb and BobBob watched the kids while Casey and I had dinner by ourselves. It was a nice treat and the kids were funny when we got back, Alex said “Mom, I had soooo many desserts!” It turns out he had 2 desserts, but that was pretty exciting for him!

Day 7: Today we went to Half Moon Cay, Holland America’s private island in the Bahamas. Our scheduled excursion was a swim with the Sting Rays. They are in a fenced area to keep larger predators out, and there is a set of stairs down into the pen. The water was pretty cool in the morning so the kids weren’t up for swimming with the Rays, but they walked down the stairs and Alex fed a squid to a Ray and Chloe pet one. Afterwards we went to the beach for the remainder of the day. The island is exactly what I picture in my head when I picture an island paradise in terms of the beach, clear water, and beautiful plants. And then Holland America added bars, a barbeque (included in your cruise fare), clean restrooms, several stations for washing sand off, and a water play ground for the kids complete with water slides and a floating trampoline. Grammy Barb watched the kids while they built sand castles and Casey and I snorkeled a bit and saw some pretty neat coral and fish right off the beach. All told it was an amazing day! We heard that Columbia, MD got 5.6 inches of snow so the kids at least have something to look forward too in going home. Me, I’m having trouble thinking of anything that is better than fun in the sun!

Day 8: We had an easy trip home, and although most of the snow is gone, the majority of our backyard is shaded in the winter so there is still a crust of snow for the kids to see. I was right about nothing to look forward to at home, the cat spent all week peeing on both the kids’ beds, and stepped on the scale and discovered I gained 6 lb on the cruise.

Reflections: On the cruise I was pretty worried about the kids bothering people with their naturally boisterous behavior, but everyone I talked to seemed glad to see some kids and talked about missing their own kids or grandkids. Alex and Chloe had a fan club by the end of the trip and they got used to the attention from strangers and started playing to the crowd.

At dinner every single night Alex ordered cheese pizza and Chloe ordered a hot dog, and our server had two glasses of chocolate milk waiting on the table before we got there. Chloe did try the escargot and had a lot of fruits and vegetables throughout the day, but Alex ate junk the whole week (much like his parents).

The kids really weren’t excited about Club Hal, and we learned later that neither were the other kids on the cruise. We heard one parent tell his son “if you splash your brother one more time, you are going to Club Hal!”.

The kids had a great time. At random times during the day one or the other of them would say “I really like this” or “I’m having a wonderful time”. They were tired all week because there were too many exciting things going on to get proper sleep, and they were very active. This led to quick tempers and a lot of tears when things weren’t going well, but fortunately most of the time things did well.


I’m going to be stingy with the pictures this time. When I send them out into cyber space I miss out on the privilege of droning on and on about what a wonderful vacation it was, so this time I’m going to put my usual 100 pictures in a paper album and you won’t get to see them until you see us :)

week ending jan 13, 2008

Week ending Jan 13, 2006: Early entry this week because we’re leaving for the cruise. The kids and I have been counting down since there were 10 days left and we could count the days on all our fingers, then each day we put one more finger down. We’re all really excited. I got out the photo albums and showed them pictures from when they went to the airport to fly to Florida last year and the pictures of my 2 previous cruises. I told the kids that the boat would rock them to sleep which Chloe thought was great because she loves pretending to be a baby. That is until she asked if the bed had sides to keep her from falling out. She didn’t dwell on it too long, so I guess it isn’t such a big deal. I’m worried about 3 meals a day in the restaurants. At home we eat all our meals sitting at the table (facing the table, knees under the table, using an inside voice, is the chant of the reminders I keep giving them), so it won’t be a foreign concept for them, but I’m guessing that dinners will take longer than the kids are used to. Chloe’s excited to try new foods. Months ago Grammy Barb told her about Escargot and caviar and I said that maybe they’d have some on the cruise that she could try. Alex is a pickier eater, but he does like pizza and they’ve got a pizza restaurant, so he can survive on that for the week, worst case. We invested in some family radios (walkie-talkies) so if we split up, we can find each other again. The kids have been practicing using the radios around the house. On the radios you can’t receive if you are transmitting, so the kids have practiced saying one thing, then waiting for an answer. They don’t really need to know how to use the radios because they’ll always have a parent with them, but the concept of saying one thing and waiting for an answer would be such a useful skill for them to learn that I’m all for them playing with the radios (except, you know, for the EM radiation).

Also this week, Chloe picked up the word “crap” and used it “correctly”. When I asked her what she was saying she said “that’s what I say when I drop something, I say ‘oh crap’”. We talked about how it is not a nice word and none of us in the house should be using it, but she’s “forgotten” several times about the rule already. Before the children, her father and I were a couple of potty mouths, so it isn’t really surprising that we’ve slipped a couple times, but now we’ve really got incentive to keep it clean.

In the last few weeks Alex has been noticing Chloe writing and drawing all the time and he’s started to follow along. He’s practicing his letters more and his drawings are starting to look recognizable. So I guess in this family the children are the good influence on each other and the parents are the bad influence.

Alex's cough

Alex’s cough came back this week. He coughed from Thanksgiving until just before Christmas, then had about a week off, then started up again with a bad cough, so I took him to the doctor. This is the second time this year that I’ve taken him in for coughing, and both times he hardly coughed while he was at the doctor’s office. This Monday he coughed all day, and then it seemed to miraculously stop at the doctor’s. I told the doctor that perhaps Alex is allergic to something in my house that isn’t at the doctor’s office. He agreed and suggested that I consider allergy testing. I’m weighing the benefits of Alex potentially feeling better over the cost of one miserable day getting poked with potential allergens. Casey had the allergy testing when he was a kid and he said it wasn’t too traumatic. Then if we find out he’s got strong allergies, we’ll have to decide if allergy shots are a good route. Wouldn’t that be fun, getting shots all the time? Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but I don’t really know what other benefit could come from the testing except to tell the doctor what to put into a serum. I guess I’ll have to talk to an allergist and do some research to find out.

week endin jan 6, 2008

Week ending January 6, 2008: This week we crammed the car seats, enough junk for an overnight, and breakfast for 10 people into the new convertible and headed to Rob and Tina’s house for a New Year’s Eve party. 2 other families brought their kids as well and the other families let their kids stay up until midnight, but no one has ever told our kids that New Year’s Eve has anything to do with midnight, so they didn’t even complain when we took them upstairs to bed and then we went back downstairs to party. It was a win-win situation because the kids love going to Rob and Tina’s and playing with the other kids, and we love having grown up time after the twins go to sleep.

After New Year's we took down the Xmas decorations and cut circles out of the cards and stapled them into ball-shaped Christmas tree ornaments out of them. This year the kids cut their own circles that I traced for them.

Later this week Chloe asked to play the rhyming game at dinner and sometimes she really seemed good at coming up with words that rhyme, and other times she’d pick “grape” to rhyme with “plate” or “orange” to rhyme with “door” (the “or” sound is at the beginning of “orange”). Then one time she really surprised us with her rhyme. I asked what rhymes with “corn” and Chloe said “forlorn”. I thought maybe it was a coincidence, just a random assembly of sounds like “zipzorn”, so I said “what does ‘forlorn’ mean?” Chloe said “sad”. I do vaguely remember that one of her books has the word “forlorn” in it, and I remember saying that it means “very sad”, but it has been so long ago I can’t even remember which book. Then later in the week we were watching a Backyardigan’s episode on DVD and they sang a song that said they were forlorn about the corn. So, maybe she’s not a prodigy for recalling that “forlorn” rhymes with “corn”, but it is still impressive that she remembers what “forlorn” means!

This week Big Daddy and Bubbe took us and the twins, Trish and her kids, and Aunt Jenny to see Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” performed by the Children’s Theater of Annapolis. Alex and Chloe just adore Blade and Skye. Before we left for the theater, Blade was playing with Alex’s new R/C helicopter and he showed Alex how to do it and let Alex have a turn. Alex flew the helicopter by himself for the first time! Until then we’d been helping Alex by controlling the vertical while Alex controlled the horizontal direction. Anyway, at the theater Alex insisted on sitting next to Blade and Chloe next to Skye. The production was very lively, the costumes imaginative and there were plenty of songs to keep the kids engaged. Alex was coughing a lot during the show and I asked him if he wanted to leave and he said he'd rather stay. When the Beast had been stabbed by Gaston, Chloe said "I hope he's going to be ok". Alex liked it much better than the Nutcracker and Chloe wants to bring her “Belle” costume with her on our upcoming cruise.