Keepers of the Stories

If I wait to post all about the cruise before I write about anything else, I'm going to get too far behind on our monthly happenings.  So I'm skipping ahead with the promise to blog about the cruise when I can.  

We were so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa visit us last weekend.  It has been three and a half years since they were last here together, and we were delighted to have them here again!

Grandpa loves to tell silly stories and jokes, 

take selfies, 

and indoctrinate the kids in the ways of silly cats versus cucumber videos.

Grandma loves to insist that we have some big girl time (without the kids!), 

enjoy a slightly frustrating craft or two, 

and plays the best songs on the piano for all of us to belt out.

Which some of us enjoyed more than others.... poor Noah, he's just annoyed by the world.  

Has been since day one.  See how he was plugging his ears to drown out the noise of the family the first time Grandma came to meet him?  ;) 

The night they got here Jason and I went on a date to a strengthening marriage evening at church while the kids enjoyed fudge and popcorn and That Thing You Do! with Grandma and Grandpa as the babysitters.  We only had four days together, but in addition to our shopping, other outings included two delicious meals out, the new Peter Rabbit movie, the big boys went to check out Jason's new work and catch another movie, and we all wandered through Outdoor World and talked about renting a houseboat on Lake Powell.  It was really cold while they were here and fun to dream about a summer vacation!

(Yes, Leah really is that much taller than Grandma.  Adam isn't far behind.)

  And they even had quarters, so the kids got to actually play in the shooting range.  Something boring old Mom and Dad never do with them.

But the best part of our visit was the nights that we spent around the table.  Jason and I put a lot of emphasis on table time in our family- having polite and meaningful conversation, sharing stories, playing games and making memories around the table is a highlight of every day, and we were so excited to have Grandpa and Grandma here to tell us a story or two.  

First we listened to stories about their parents.  Grandma and Grandpa Gardner (on the bottom) married in the 30s, so we talked about the Great Depression and Grandma and Grandpa Henscheid raised their family in the 50s.  They told us about when they were little kids growing up in rural Idaho in the 50s.  Grandma was a farm girl through and through- catching frogs in the wading pool and running through the irrigation ditches.  Grandpa lived in town- nine siblings in a three bedroom house- but had lots of stories to tell about the time on his Grandpa's farm, too, including the story of he and his brothers chasing the calves into the pigs house and getting whipped with a belt.  And I've never seen Adam laugh so hard as he did when he realized what happens when a dumb young boy pees on an electric fence.  And we all laughed so hard at his laughter.

Then they told us about how they met in high school, how Grandma "borrowed" Grandpa's special watch from the Macy's Parade and he took her on a double date with his sister Angelen and her husband Gene to see American Grafitti on their first date.  My uncle Gene looks exactly like Paul Bunyan- 7 feet tall and as burly as a lumberjack, and Grandma is exactly 5 feet tall.  What a funny first meeting that must have been!  They told us about their wedding and about their early years as parents, and in a later conversation, my mom and I reminisced about all of the houses we lived in growing up.  This house is my 13th, so there are lots of memories to keep straight!

And we played games- Farkle is one of their favorites and we stayed up past bedtime trying to beat each other.  And just like that, it was time for them to get up way too early to head back home.  The kids were praying for a cancelled flight, but thankfully they got out, despite the ice storm that cancelled school for the day.  

We don't know exactly when we'll see them again, but we were all so grateful that Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us here in Iowa!

Day of Love

Valentine Celebrations started a week early with class parties!  Each of the kids had very distinct ideas about what they wanted their bags and books to look like.  

 I wrote the kids Valentines cards on the day of.  Leah's was my favorite.

Late start gave us time for heart-shaped hairstyles, 

 and Noah and I drove out to have lunch with Daddy at a tiny hole in the wall called the Twisted Cornstalk... I think. The food was good and the company was even better!

 And all of the girls got flowers from Daddy.  

It was a simple day full of love, just the way I like it.  And since we're participating in the Henscheid family weight loss challenge, I was okay with seeing the holiday come to an end- less chocolate temptations all around! 

Little Piano Man

 

Noah sat down at the piano one day and played a lovely, soft melody, then proudly came looking for an applause afterward.  We've definitely got another musician in our midst! 

Thoughts on Cruising

I have a lot of feelings about this trip that I still haven't entirely sorted out, but that bear mentioning.  I am not trying to complain one bit about being on a cruise, but I do have a few reflections that have keep swirling around in my head since we got back.  

 First up- it was COLD!  Well, not really cold, but not warm.  It was a steady room temperature the whole trip, except when it was raining.  We took our trip to Disney World this same week last year, and it was much warmer then.  I didn't pack enough sweaters and pants for everyone on the cruise, which meant everyone was wearing basically the same thing every day in an effort to stay warm, and dirty clothes that got wet with ocean water or sand were a bigger inconvenience than then should have been.  The wind and clouds and lack of sunshine were something we knew was a possibility but were really not hoping for.  It didn't rain much, but the weather was not as ideal as it could have been, and that affected my attitude more than it should have.

Next up, the cruise was a completely different experience from the parks last year.  All things Disney are magical, but the feel was so different I can hardly compare the two except to say they were both amazing trips.  And we were so over the top thrilled for both of them and felt very blessed and spoiled to get to go on either one.  But there were some things that I actually really enjoyed so much more at Disney World than on the cruise, and vice versa.  That surprised me, but also made me happy.  Taking two major Disney trips in two years undoubtedly led to a lot of comparisons but both trips had their own distinct benefits that really left us wanting to do either one again.

Along those lines, we opted to take the same cruise with the same ports of call that my parents took us on six years ago.  That was probably a mistake.  Over time our memories of that fabulous first trip have swelled and grown into the most perfect vacation ever.  Even if it really actually wasn't, there was little chance for this trip to rise to the comparison.  We probably should have left those perfect memories alone and opted for a slightly altered cruise itinerary.  Instead we spent a lot of time comparing the two (weather, rooms, entertainment, service, company, other people on the ship, even seasickness).  In some ways they were exactly, almost shockingly, the same, in other ways not so much and there is no way that this trip could have come out on top because we forgot all of those less than perfect details from last time.  So instead, this trip seemed not as perfect, when really it just came out as different.  In another six years I'm sure we'll only remember the highlights of this trip, too.

Next up, going on vacation doesn't suddenly turn you into perfect people.  There were still tense moments, tempers lost, frustrations when things weren't going as planned, missed naps that were sorely needed, and needs for apologies along the way.  But there was also holding hands, snuffling up, laughing together, experiencing things together, making memories!  We may not be perfect people, even in paradise, but we will never forget the memories we made on this trip.

Fact- being the mom/travel agent for vacations is hard.  I knew this last year, but this trip felt especially hard for some reason.  Maybe because we had been planning and preparing for so so so SO long, I just wanted everything to be just perfect (spoiler alert- it wasn't).  I was stressed out and grumpier than I anticipated, and that made for some hard moments on a trip that should have been relaxing and non-stop fun.  And I didn't want it to be like that.  Just being honest though.  Moms aren't perfect either.

Lastly, I can't count the number of times we opted out of doing something in favor saving up to go on this trip.  And if I had a dollar for every time someone said, "Oh, we could never afford a trip like that" we probably could have gone even sooner.  We have had so many conversations as a family about the choices that people make and that the things that are important to us that may not be important to other people and vice versa.  So I was surprised to feel inaccurately judged in ways by people who firmly planted themselves in the "never could afford that" camp, yet make choices with their money that I don't necessarily agree with but wouldn't have the lack of etiquette to say as much.  Everyone makes their own choices, and our family was thrilled to make this one!

Oh, one more, since  I've actually backdated this post to fit in with the other ones.  Even three months after we got back, when I actually wrote it, I still feel these feelings.  The last thought would be- this trip was not the end-all-be-all of our family's history.  This trip was amazing.  It was so fun. I would do it again tomorrow if I could.  But it wasn't life changing, because no luxury vacation probably is.  It was just another exciting chapter in our life, which was surprising to realize after the years of build up that went into the planning and preparing for it.  Eventually the trip was over, we got off the boat, and got back to the business of living life and thinking about what's next.  And, after so many years of build up for this trip, that has been kind of a letdown.

But it also makes me all the more excited to think about what's next!

Cruise Videos

Before we got on the boat, when a big wave knocked Noah over!

Leah's dolphin push!

Mommy's dolphin push!

Adam's dolphin push!

Noah on Mister Ray's slide.

Adam on the yellow slide.

Adam and Daddy on the AquaDuck.

Emma's magic disappearing trick at dinner!

Day 5- Off the Boat and Home Again

The final morning came way too soon.  We enjoyed one last ridiculously decadent breakfast then got into the line that took us off the boat and back to reality. 

Side story- Adam must have set his Mickey Tsum Tsum down somewhere in the long line to get off the boat, which wasn't exactly chaotic but was very busy.  Once he realized it wasn't in his hand anymore we tried to go back and find it, with no luck and a boy who left the boat in tears.  I called the cruise line when we got home, and about a week later, Mickey was in our mailbox!  True Disney magic like that is what keeps us going back again!

 Goodbye boat!

Heather and I went back and forth and back and forth about whether to add a day or even a few hours in Disney World, but eventually our family decided that we were going to go straight from the boat back to Iowa.  So we killed a few hours in Cocoa Beach,

at the pier 

and in the Exploration Tower.  The Kennedy Space Center was right there too, but a visit there requires more time than we had.

 So sad to be leaving the boat behind.

 Surfin' on the waves!

Then off to the airport we went.  And we found a Harry Potter store in the airport!  Wrong trip, but still so exciting!

And a little more Disney. 

 We said a quick and sad good-bye to our cousins,  

the promptly fell asleep on the plane.

Our layover in Chicago was awesome because we got to grab some Garrett's Chicago style popcorn!  More enjoyed by some than others... apparently.

 Then back to sleep we went on the quick and final flight home.

Some time after the cruise ended Noah realized that everyone else had just enjoyed their second cruise, while he was only on his first.  And he's got plans to change that some day soon!  But for now, I think it's safe to say that our days on the Disney Dream were very happy ones, and the only ones for the foreseeable future!

Day 4- Day At Sea

Our last day was the day at sea, meaning we stayed on the boat all day.  We kicked the day off with lots of Mickey films,

and breakfast in the too tight quarters of Cabanas.  Everyone loves a buffet!

 The details on the ship were amazing- everywhere you looked you could spot something fun.

 We met Anna and Elsa first thing in the morning, 

and waved as Minnie hurried past. 

 Enjoyed the view of the amazing atrium, 

 then headed over to meet a few more princesses.

At one point we split up into girls and boys teams to try out the detective game on the ship. 

 And we looked at all of the professional pictures that we didn't purchase.  This might be the only whole group shot we got.

 Cute little beach bums.

  The diaper dash was hilarious.

And eventually we headed outside again, 

climbed all the way to the top of the ship,  

 to play some miniature golf!  Boy it was windy!

 Really windy!

 And really beautiful.

 Silly Donald Duck!  This is where he lands after he gets shot out of the AquaDuck.

And back inside we went. It's never too cold to visit 'the ice cream hall'!

  We spent some time in the pools and slides, but it was so cold and windy up there that most of the kids ended up squishing into the hot tubs.  Yuck!

 N-n-n-nemo's reef!  Brrrr!

Emma and Noah gave up first.

 We grabbed some food on our way back to the rooms, and ran into Kurt!  Our server from our last cruise.  He was very happy to pose for the camera.

Another fun elevator shot.  

 And these two were all smiles once they were warm and full again.

And before long it was time to get dressed up and head to dinner.

 Adam finally decided on a BB8 souvenir cup.

 Our last tableside view of the ocean.

Learning origami. 

Cold and tired and snuggly! 

 Whee!

 Details everywhere!  That is Cinderella's slipper.

 The kids never really wanted to wait in line to visit Mickey Mouse!  But Jason and I stopped for a quick selfie with him, and of course after we got off the boat Noah was sad to realize that he didn't get to see Mickey.  In hindsight I should have insisted on it, but there was SO much to choose from every day, it was hard to make it all happen.

The final show was Beauty and the Beast.  My expectations were low, having seen it on Broadway, but this was a new version based on the movie, and it was incredible! 

It was truly enchanting. 

 And back to the room we went, for crab towels, chocolates, 

 and the traditional cookies, donuts and milk!

 All donuts equals all smiles.

 Then into bed everyone went, with newfound stuffed animals by their sides.

It was another magical day, and we definitely weren't ready to get off the boat.