Halloween Week Update
November 1, 2009
The kids had a fun week of Halloween Celebrations starting with a school dance on the 23rd. The school’s “Fall Costume Dance” was fun for them. Savannah went as Paris Hilton complete with blond wig and purse with a stuffed Chihuahua. Sean went as a Bank Robber, in all black sweats and a ski mask.
The next day we had another football game against Benson. The team did not play as well this week as they did the week before and lost 8 to 6. However the game did give me a chance to test out my new video camera/digital camera. I was very please with the quality of the video (HD) and also the still camera abilities. It certainly makes life simple for me in that I only have to carry around the one camera and I can do both video and stills. It will be great to take with me on the Rome trip/Cruise.
Monday, I decided to take the kids to Tucson to get the H1N1 vaccination. I had read up on it and decided with our overseas trip coming up, I didn’t want to take a chance of them getting seriously ill with a virus while traveling overseas. The only place to get the vaccine was at the Pima County Health department clinic at the baseball park in Tucson. We arrived around 2:00 and the line was quite long, but it looked to be moving pretty quickly. We waited about an hour to get to the screening station where they asked questions about asthma and other health conditions to determine whether which version of the vaccine we’d get. They had quite a bit of the nasal, but were in short supply of the injection so they were only giving that pregnant women, asthma patients and very young children (Under two?). I was able to get the vaccine as my volunteer work at the VA Hospital qualified me as a health care worker with direct patient contact. We were glad we went on Monday because they ran out of vaccine later in the week and had to cancel vaccinations until they get more. The rest of the week went smoothly with no side effects from the vaccines.
Friday, Sean was supposed to have football practice and Savannah was supposed to have a dance lessons, but both ended up being canceled. Sean’s football game for the weekend was canceled too due to scheduling problems. Savannah and I were able to got to the community Halloween party, and Sean and Steve didn’t find out about the practice cancellation until they were already in town, so they ended up having a boys night and went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Savannah went as a Hippie and I went as Liza Minnelli. The kids at the party enjoyed activities like a cake walk and haunted house. I had a nice time chatting with some of my friends.
Saturday, Sean went Trick-r-Treating with one of his friends in the neighboring town. Our area is too spread out to go door to door so we had the Friday night party instead. Savannah and I stayed home for a really challenging game of Trivial Pursuit. The kids are really quite good at the game, and though I was the eventual winner Savannah played a good game having all of her pie pieces when I answered the final questions correctly. The kids are really working on Geography trivia as they have both been selected to compete in the school’s upcoming geography bee.
Barcelona and Transatlantic Cruise 2008 – Day 15 – Atlantic Crossing
December 10, 2008
Today was third sea day as part of the Atlantic. The seas have continued to remain very calm with swells of only 2 to 3 feet. This may be the most gentile cruise I have been on yet. Who would have thought that for a December Atlantic Crossing? It has also just dawned on me, but this is actually my first cruise in the Atlantic Ocean. All of my other cruises have been in the Pacific.
I awoke before 8 this morning and stepped out on the balcony to find us in the middle of a rain storm. It was rainy quite heavily but there was almost no wind and the seas were still very gentile. It was kind of a neat little storm. How have no idea how long it had been raining for but I figure that must have been the storm the Captain had been trailing and that he must have taken us through it during the night.
By 8:30 the rain had stopped and the clouds were clearing. By 9 it was sunny and warm once again and would remain so for the remainder of the day. The temperature hovered in the low 80’s and the wind was pretty calm. The Captain still had us on a 256 course at about 20 knots. The ocean floor is still the closest land to us at over 20,000 feet. At 8:15 am we reached the halfway point of our Atlantic crossing and I was on the balcony watching the rain and the ocean, though I didn’t know it at the time.
The day was a great one for my favorite cruise time – staring at the ocean. I must have visited every public spot on the ship where you could view the ocean. I am mesmerized by the beauty, the awe, and the peacefulness of the ocean. I could, and do, stare at it for hours on end. I am still amazed at the gentle state of the seas on this crossing. White caps have been few and far between. Let’s hope the last two sea days remain the same.
Suzanne again played a bunch of trivia games around the ship and actually played some ping pong with Sean. He was the victor in all three games. Sean has been looking to play ping pong everyday on the cruise. He seems to forget that at home as we have a table but it rarely gets used these days. Savannah was once again in the Kid’s Club Fun Factory for a bunch of time enjoying more video and board games.
After lunch, I hightailed it to one of my lookout spots while Suzanne and the kids went on the Cruise Critic cabin crawl. The group gets members to offer viewing of each type of room to the other members. We have a unique cabin with our family ocean veranda cabin, so we were on the list. Savannah again played hostess having some tea and biscuits available for folks that visited our cabin. Everyone really liked our huge balcony. With 20 feet of railing on one side and 15 feet in the back, it’s quite large and allows for wonderful viewing of the ocean and scenery when close to land.
In the mid-afternoon, I moved to the Mast bar to enjoy a couple of beers and the sights. Suzanne and the kids went for swim. After a bit, Suzanne went back to the cabin for one of her patented naps so I had kid watching detail at the pool. It was a bit warmer down there than it was at the Mast bar since there is no breeze at the pool. The kids really enjoyed the time in the pool. There was a 3 or 4 year old boy that was intrigued by the kids and tried playing with them in the wading area. They were really gentile and friendly with him and he was happy. His mother and grandfather were really thankful for the kids taking time to play with their kid.
As sunset approached, we moved to our balcony to watch the beautiful display. When I get the photo album uploaded upon return, you will see very inspiring pictures from every day. In fact, I have probably taken too many, but the time is just a moving time while at sea.
For the first time at dinner, nothing on the menu resonated with me or sounded particularly enticing. So, I simply ordered a NY Strip Steak and a baked potato. The steak was fine but nothing special. Sean enjoyed a shrimp dish while Savannah had the baked cod dish. Suzanne gave the Churrasco steak a whirl and was happy with it.
After dinner, we had planned to go see the Dancing with the Stars style competition but Suzanne and the kids were tired and wanted to go to bed. I decided to go back to the cabin and sit on the balcony again for a bit before I decided to turn in too. The lights went out just after 11:00 pm.
Tomorrow will be our 4th sea day of the crossing and will also be the third and final formal night. We have also received an invitation from the Captain for a navigational bridge tour tomorrow so that will be fun.
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