Epic Experience Pt. 5

It is Tuesday. We have been at sea for two and a half days and this morning we woke up at port.

 
St. Maarten/ St. Martin here we come!

I can officially say that I picked the dumbest tour for this island. We were given a tour of both the French and Dutch sides of the island, by giant tour bus, complete with grumbling, traffic, and finally naps. Grrr…

 

 

Boring. I get it. I’m sorry.

As soon as this kid stops slapping himself, I’m gonna slap him!

I learned a lot. I enjoyed it. All except my travel buddies were pissed at me. But we did get out and stretch our legs. What a view!

 

Would it be super dumb if this was my Christmas card this year?

Finally our tour had concluded and we were dropped off at the beautiful Orient Beach! This was the first time my boys had ever been in the ocean. We live in the Midwest. We are busy, work a lot, my dude was sick, the other was a baby, I don’t travel well… make up any excuse you want, I don’t have a good reason. I do believe all things happen in their own time and I think this was the exact right time for my little guys to dip their toes in the ocean for the first time.

 

The water was perfect temperature, a little rougher waves than my dudes liked, but all in all beautiful. 

My lover and I enjoyed a local beer and got our retinas burned out by some topless oldies. The boys? Obliviously played. Got sand everywhere. My tiny dude tells me “the water is so pretty but it tastes terrible” “don’t drink it buddy” “ok mom”. It was an amazing experience.

I only took like 78 pictures on this island. The toe pictures seem really popular right now so I’ll add this one:

 

I need to point out though that this is not just a “toes on vacation” picture, it is a family photo. See? My big dudes out in the water together and my little man hovers a little closer to Mom. See out on the horizon? Anguilla Island. Stunning. Bet I could swim there.

After some ineffective showering and a stern lecture on the importance of punctuality and togetherness while in a foreign country, we are all on the same bus and headed back to the boat. I’m sorry, babe. Still.

We rearranged our plans with Raewyn this evening because the boys caught wind of a Pirate Party in the kids club. So after dinner we set sail and sent the kids off.

This is going to feel a little off task but follow me. K?

There is a section at the back of the boat, way up on top, that is an adults only “club” complete with pool, bar, and amphitheater style lounge chairs. After 8pm they open it to all ages. The first night while exploring the ship we happened back there to find it full of adults watching a movie on this giant, two story, screen. What were they watching? Disney’s Tangled. The only kids in sight were my two. Odd.

Tonight after dropping the kids at the party we were at a loss for something to do. Afraid if we take a nap we would never get up, and not in any mood to dress up we wander to the back of the boat. Today carried a pirate theme throughout and to my delight what is playing on the jumbo screen? Goonies! I have landed. Beer, popcorn, and my hunny.    

 

We picked up our pirates and headed back to the cabins. The towel elephant was promptly decapitated and we ordered room service around midnight.

  

Arrrr!!!

Epic Experience Pt. 4

What happens in the span of a day feels like several days. Must be some sort of mid-sea time warp. We did experience a time zone and some daylight savings, maybe that’s it.

Day 2!

We got up early and went to the Nickelodeon character breakfast.

 

We got great seats and got to see all of our favorite cartoon dudes:

After breakfast we did nothing. For like five hours. Well, not nothing. The boys swam and played and the hubbs and I worked on our tans horrid tan lines. This is the view from where we laid in the sun:

My main squeeze and I took turns playing, napping, and eating with our children. The entire day was effortless and full of free cookies.

 

We eventually pried our bodies out of their chairs and cleaned up for dinner. After we ate we were able to catch the sunset. Gorgeous. 

 

Then we off to enjoy one hour complimentary arcade time. Party on!

 

What was that? Yes, of course I was there! I am super good at killing imaginary bad guys and I can drive a pretend car like a bat outta hell, but that all requires me to put down my camera. Sheesh.

Day 2 was a success (no one was hurt) and we were beat and ready for bed early.

Epic Experience Pt. 3

I know three posts in one day is pretty excessive but I gotta get it down before I forget. Or blow up. Whichever.

So with Miami, FL behind us and two days of open sea ahead let the fun begin. Wait! Not yet. We don’t have a clue what to do so we start at the Guest Services desk. I originally went to just check in, sort of. I actually forget my original reason for being there. Huh. But as soon as I gave them our last name we were shuffled off to speak with Raewyn, from South Africa, our Group Service Coordinator. Boy were we in for a surprise! Where the Make-A-Wish jurisdiction ended (they sent ideas of what little dude what might want to do) the folks at Norwegian picked right up. She had a printed schedule of events for us. Something major every day. We got an hour arcade time and internet service on the house, souvenirs, and tours that were exclusively ours. I cried like an idiot the entire time she explained what we would be doing and that she would be accompanying us to each event to secure VIP seats and arrange things along the way. I was overwhelmed, the hubbs was overjoyed, and the boys were clueless. They will get it here in a day or two.

Side note: There were two Group Service Coordinators on the ship and these ladies were really hoppin’! We were hardly a group, the four of us. They did have several large groups on the ship with us though. The was a Bingo group, a lesbian group, and a bunch of folks from Jersey who were hell bent on drinking the ship dry. So in addition to all of the families with small children, we had an expanded version of the Jersey Shore cast, loads of ladies in shirts that simple read “Sweet”, and more walkers and scooters that I think was safe for our vessel. WoW! 

It was all of 2pm after meeting Raewyn and we had to get a bite to eat. Off to the buffet! I don’t know if I was just starving or if it really was the best freakin’ burger and fries ever. We got into our rooms and all bags were accounted for so we grabbed our beach towels and headed to the lido deck.  Even though the water was freezing the boys insisted we were evil fun squashers if we did not allow them to swim until they just couldn’t take it any more. We dried off and headed out for some ship exploring.

It was such a long day that this is really the only picture I got of our ship exploration that first night. This sport court was on the 18th deck, pretty dang high up. See the ship’s stacks in the background? Super windy. We played a little basketball, a little soccer then suffered two injuries before declaring the night over. Grady and I were dribbling a basketball which hit him in the face busting his upper lip and spewing blood. Total accident. Then Doug decides to take one last shot with his soccer ball and Henry just happened to be standing like 5 foot away and caught it in the temple sending him to the ground. Also an accident. No stitches needed and only a minor concussion. Sheesh. We actually get parents of the year nominations for tandem injuries on the first day of vacation though. Go us!

We slept like the dead got up early and had some breakfast. Yum! Then off to meet Raewyn for our tour of the bridge!!! I was so excited and so was my posse. To the left you see the bridge observation area, which anyone who wants to wander up to 13 is privy to see. Then she let us in…

To meet the Master, Captain Sverre Sovdsnes (still can not pronounce his name)  and his 1st officer, Julia who is from the Ukraine and gave us our tour. It was fascinating!

 

My boys in the Captains’ chairs.

Let’s take a look at this one shall we? The red line is our charted course. The white is the actual path of the ship. Notice the loop-di-loop we did a little while back? Barf! We were doing this tight circle in a massive ship while we were trying to eat breakfast. It was a shipwreck they stopped to investigate, standard safety procedure I believe. Turns out it was an old wreck that had not yet sunk completely, but super cool none the less.

 

The dudes were very interested in the instrument panels.

 

This window in the floor is used when docking in port. It is so you can see how close the ship is to the dock.

My buddy is steering the ship! No big pirate wheel here, that little dial is how the ship is steered. There is a little stool and holes in the floor so the person steering is lower than the control station.

     The lovely Raewyn!!!

That was just the first thing on our agenda. Next we went to the galley!

 

We had a guided tour of the galley. I have been in the restaurant biz for a very long time and I have never seen so much stainless steel in my life! We met the Executive Chef, saw where every item for the 4000+ guests is prepared, and even got to make our own lunch. Incredible!

Would you believe that was just our morning on day one?!?!?

Not a minute to rest. Not today. We saw the Nickelodeon Slime Time game show hit the water slides for an hour then had dinner in one of the many restaurants. Then… 

The Blue Man Group!!!

 

This was the first time we have seen them and the show was so fun. The music was great and the Blue Men were really funny. We were marked, each with a blue spot on our cheeks. Then they gave my dude the spit picture from the show! The best part about that was instead of signing the canvas one of the guys “face printed” it. 

After such a whirlwind day at sea the boys were ready to get rid of us. So… off they went to the kids club! Sorry no pictures allowed. In fact no parents allowed. They thought that was the sh*t! The Hubby and I were left to our own devices and decided to entertain ourselves with a trip to the Svedka Ice Bar.

No messing around in there! The glasses are made of ice, the chairs, the bar… well everything! They give you the down feather ponchos and the gloves before you go in to the 50°F in the entrance then only 17°F in the actual bar. This dummy wore flip-flops. The drinks were strong so that kind of made up for it and the entrance fee bought you two. Whooo!!!!

What a day!

Epic Experience Pt. 2

Lord only knows how many parts this will take!

We planned as much as we were allowed. Making arrangements for the dog and house, calling the school, requesting time off work. When talking about our upcoming trip I heard a lot of “ooohh, I’m so jealous”. I can see in the foreground where this would seem like winning the lottery. Let me tell you, in broad spectrum, it is not. Yes, we were offered a fantastic vacation but before you consider us “lucky” think what had to happen in order to qualify. Ask anyone with a loved one who has any sort of medical issues, especially a child, and I mean anything from chronic ear infections to debilitating issues like heart disease, MD, autism, diabetes, this list could go on for years… anyway, ask them how lucky we are and they will tell you how blessed we are to still have our baby but not lucky at all. They will also probably tell you the same thing I will and that is I would trade it all for him never to have been sick in the first damn place. That being said lets celebrate life!

All arrangements made and our little guy’s journey began at 4:15 in the dang morning!

We were picked up in a freakin’ limo! The boys went wild. It really made waking up at 3am sting a little less just watching their reaction. Funny side note: our limo driver is currently building a house in our neighborhood. Howdy neighbor!

Those little freaks touched EVERYTHING in that car. Sorry neighbor. 

Our flight took off around 6:30 so there was plenty of time for check in, which went super smooth. I was surprised. This was our first flight with the kids. Actually, there were a ton of firsts on this trip. I don’t prefer to fly so this was all new.

A little Starbucks, a little waiting and we are outta here! 

  

Sunrise!

 

Hello Miami!

Two airports and a bus transfer to the port of call and look who is still all smiles. I won’t show you the other kid. We had a hurry up and wait kind of day. This makes for two whiney kids, one grumpy dad, and an over anxious mom who is camera happy.

After an eternity we got all checked in, our group was called and we were bound for the sea! First thing is first… potty break and immediate game of air hockey.

The staterooms wouldn’t be ready for a couple hours so we ditched our bags in temporary storage and went to explore our home for the next week. We were aboard the Norwegian Epic, the largest in their fleet, and we were headed out for two days at sea before reaching St. Maarten (not sure why, I prefer the Dutch spelling), then to St. Thomas U.S.V.I., then one more day at sea and finally Nassau, Bahamas. Shall we take a look at the ship?

  

Tiny. Smaller than tiny. Thank goodness they gave us two. Honestly though the bed was dreamy and that is the only time we were even in our rooms.  

Those were all the little guys cared about.

Who am I kidding? Us big kids flung our bodies down those suckers a few dozen times too.

Has he been smiling so long it hurts? It looks like it hurts. Maybe its just sunny?

Spongebob dance party then…

  Adios Miami!!!

Epic Experience Pt. 1

I have titled this post part one in hopes of it not taking all year to finish this story, though it is definitely worthy of that sort of time devotion.

As I have mentioned before, the older of my two boys is a Leukemia survivor. Wow, its hard to say and seeing it typed makes me hold my breath. Survivor. Shit.

In the beginning, like day two in the hospital, they sent us a social worker to manage all the needs our family may have while their medical professionals were caring for our angel. This wonderful person gave us list after list of support groups, sibling info, charity contacts, and such and it was so overwhelming that most of it got shoved to the back burner. Then as an add on she tells us that little dude qualified for a “wish” from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I freaked! I lost it. All composure flew out the window. I started blubbering nonsense like “Is he going to die?! Is it worse than they are telling us?! Why didn’t a doctor drop this bomb?!”. After some patting and soothing voice talking to bring me back off the ledge it was explained to us that any child with a life threatening condition qualifies and we still had to apply to be accepted. Whew. After that it kind of got pushed aside with the other things. I had a super sick buddy and was still nursing a baby so whatever time I had to sleep I was surely not going to waste filling out papers.

The Make-A-Wish people are very persistent though. They asked if we wanted to hold off until he was a little older since he had just turned three. Of course we said yes. He was little, full of poison, with no energy, and came complete with tubes hanging out all over. If I would have asked him what he wished for most at that moment he would have said “to go to Maw Maw’s house” or a baloney sandwich or something.

Years go by and the point to this rambling is they finally caught up to us at a time when little man could fully understand. He was being granted one wish. Almost anything. A pool, a pony, brunch with Lady Gaga, really almost anything. At the same time the kids TV station Nickelodeon is blowing up the tube with ads for their new cruise line. He got together with the coordinators to which we were assigned (Love you Jeff and Cindy!) and he told them what he wanted. Beach vacation, with his family, on a boat in the middle of the sea, Nickelodeon… and the wheels were set in motion.

The parents are not supposed to interfere and that is why the coordinators help out the kids. This is their wish. After hearing what he wanted and doing a little research, I couldn’t help it. He had asked for a kid vacation in grown-up land. I asked if he would be happier doing something Disney, or something just for kids since there are tons of options. Nope. He would not be swayed. So they put his adventure together for him and we were lucky enough to get to go along.

Anyone who knows me, knows I am a freak about planning and all of this was taken care of for me. It was unnerving to say the least. I was super anxiety chick the entire time. Like six months! I know my kid best, I prefer to make the decisions but I had nothing to do with it. Let the process begin!

Our outstanding coordinators met with us several times and with the help of this giant organization spanning two states and countless volunteers they were set on making my guy’s wish come true. We were blessed by our local junior high school and their generous hearts, who did crazy amounts of fundraising all for my little guy. The kindness of strangers is staggering. These kids were given the incentive of making their principals camp out on the roof of the school if they met their goal of $5000 and they pulled together and passed it so far that we were told two wishes were granted with this money.

 

Do any of you know a middle-schooler?! They went so far beyond an act of selflessness. They had an assembly to celebrate, they wore tee shirts, chanted my dude’s name and then were surprised by meeting him. I cried all day. I sob as I type this. Unbelievable.  

Make-A-Wish hammered out even the smallest details for us and the package was dropped off. Our two angels, one of them being a Wish family as well, came to us with the final arrangements and all we had left was to pack. Oh geez!

Away we go!!!