Hurricane Spin Art

What you see here is not another doppler image of the hurricane.  This is spin-art, something we decided to have some fun with this afternoon, as the weather outside is somewhat scary.  This is the moment we were anticipating, when a spinning tropical storm named Irma would strike North Georgia.

A perfect distraction to the outside weather was this Tinker Crate project we made using the supplies given.

Madison and Daddy put together the electronics and the structure of the thing, and then we got it spinning.  Madison tried the first one, and it turned out pretty good!  Here's her first attempt now:

Inspired, she tried several more, creating different styles and images using the ink dropped onto the spinning surface.  Here's one of her efforts here:

This actually looks like the doppler radar of Georgia today.  Literally the entire state is covered by Irma, which used to be a hurricane, but is now a tropical storm.  

Nana got into the act as well, giving it a try.  She and Ba-Ba came here to escape the wrath of Irma, but I suspect we got the worst part of it actually here in North Georgia.  The trees bent and the wind howled - it was the strongest sort of storm we've ever seen here.  Meanwhile, here was Nana's accomplishment, something you'll soon see at a museum of art:

But Nana wasn't the only artist on hand!  Ba-Ba was there to give it a try as well.

Carefully, he was dropping the ink in, joining Madison at the spin-art table.  We stayed together indoors today, ready for the power to go out (although the spin art machine ran on battery power - no worries there!).  We played the Ratatouille themed Uno game, and made the best of a fairly tumultuous day of weather.  Here's Ba-Ba's creation:

Hurricane Irma has been on everyone's radar for some time now, this nation collectively watching it with a wary eye, even while Hurricane Harvey was dealing its damage to Texas and Louisiana.  By this time in a few days, the hurricane will be completely gone, outside of the tremendous rainfall these things tend to bring.  Currently, the storm here is very violent.  Listening to social media, there are many friends and family here in the area without power.  Ours has flickered from time to time, but never really completely gone out.  Here's Daddy's creation with the spin-art, something you'll see soon at the High Museum.

If you'd like to buy this, it'll cost you $400,000.  It's somewhat of a period piece, something you'd see from the late 60's or early 70's.  I love how the top half didn't get paint on it, and yet the bottom did.  It's because Daddy was using very tiny drops of paint that didn't last that long.  It just so happened that they all fell to the same side, I guess.

And here's Mommy's, which sort of reminds us of the sun, something we'll hopefully see again soon.

The spin-art helped pass the time today.  Madison had off of school, as did most kids in Georgia.  We're all waiting it out to see what will happen, to see what is safe and not so much.  In fact, the determination for Forsyth is that we're out of school tomorrow too.  Colleges and universities were out, as were some businesses.  It's that serious.  Even ballet was cancelled tonight.  That's when you know it's real.

So we stayed home.  Madison and Daddy watched "Kiki's Delivery Service," another notch in the Miyazaki belt, and one themed with this time of year.  Madison enjoyed this one, although not as much as "Totoro" or "Spirited Away."

Afterwards, we had a really good proper tea party.  With the Brits in the house, that being Nana at the moment, it was essential to do the tea right.  We accomplished this mission, and the five of us enjoyed a spot of tea today, a real tempest and teapot sort of scenario.

It was a memorable day.  It was Madison's first tropical storm, and obviously that isn't necessarily something to celebrate so much.  But we had fun today, riding the storm out together.

Eye of the Storm

Madison had no idea. In fact, I suspect a lot of the children in Hall and Forsyth Counties probably had no idea, that is, unless they spotted their nervous parents watching the news and doppler radars. Last night, more tornadoes tore through Georgia than Daddy has ever experienced in his lifetime. You could hear it outside, and see the horizon glowing with the steady and constant barrage of lightning streaking across the sky and downward.  We were in the midst of the 2011 Super Outbreak, the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded.

To the north of us, we tracked on the radar as storm after storm devastated the counties above us. To the south, things weren't much better. The storms of April 27, 2011, will be difficult for many to forget.

Yet look at that gap in the radar above. Right in the middle of all the madness, right there without a drop of rain, is us. What are the odds of that? Whatever they are, we are certainly grateful this morning: there are awful pictures from towns such as Ringold, Trenton, Cartersville, and of course Tuscaloosa.

This picture below shows all the tornado warning areas, presently confirmed tornado hits (the orange spots), and where our house is: the white star.

See how it goes completely around us like that? As you can see, we're very grateful this morning. Like I said, Madison had no idea. And that's just the way we'd hope it would be.

________________________

Today was our last day of the music class semester, which Madison has enjoyed quite a bit. We've made new friends, and of course learned some notes on the keyboard and symbols on paper. We've learned rhythm - sort of, and we've had a whole lot of fun. It's been a great class, and we'll be back just in time for the summer camp. Should be really fun.

Another camp we're looking forward to this June is Summer Xtreme. At least, we're looking forward to it for Madison. This is the day camp that our children's church does for the kids - her age group has a lot of different activities, certainly much different than the ones the older kids do. Madison will do gymnastics one day, see a puppet show the next, be a part of a dance studio the next, and do karate another day. All this and more. She'll have a ball, while Daddy desperately tries to keep his sanity as usually (it's his most dreaded week of the year).

Tonight's ballet class went well: Madison has one more before vacation, and after that, it's the big recital! What fun! Daddy's going to bring a video camera or something. What a big moment. I'm probably more excited about it than Madison is!

Pirates of Nassau

This morning we arose to look out the veranda at the beautiful ocean view before us.  I can't imagine getting used to this sort of view.  The vast expanse of ocean there, without a trace of humanity, and here we are in our pajamas overlooking it all.  As an extra touch of beauty, can you see the rainbow in the picture above.  All from our room, no less.

As we approached the Bahamas, Madison took advantage of the quiet and the view, seated and reading from her book.  She's reading "The Westing Game," something that really has her hooked.  Daddy sneaks upstairs as is the tradition, and gets Mommy a tea, and Madison a little something to drink as well.  As we get ready for our day, we rise at a leisurely pace.  We watched as Nassau grew closer, and saw the whole process where the cruise ship goes into the harbor, slowly turning around and backing up into the dock.  

We weren't due at any place at any time whatsoever, so we went back to the Enchanted Garden for a nice breakfast this morning.  We all got Mickey-shaped waffles, including Mommy, who got a whole bunch of gluten-free options for breakfast - and tea, of course.  

After the nice breakfast, we got off the boat - and it was pretty humid there in Nassau.  Here's Mommy and Madison in back of the Dream, ready to embark on a small adventure, also wearing their identical hats.

It's always a nice moment getting off the boat at some distant port, looking back at this massive cruise ship that towers over many of the buildings there in Nassau.  The Dream is a beautiful boat.

But we did have a goal in mind on the island.  Nothing huge like Atlantis, or even a return to Ardastra Gardens, or even a trip to dolphins or a beach.  Instead, our destination today was... PIRATES!

This was just a fun balance for the day, to be honest.  We wanted to do something on the island that didn't have too much of a commitment to it.  A lot of the other island excursions involved timed trips to beaches, casinos and waterslides.  These would be affected by the rain, it turned out.  We were just in the mood to head out for a bit to the island in the morning... and then come right back.  We looked up online and found out the pirate museum was still open, and remember that Madison hasn't been there yet, we made a quick trip to the Age of Piracy.

Again, this wasn't a Disney-backed excursion.  We just thought we'd check out the museum and learn a little bit about the history of pirates before heading back to the ship - tomorrow night is pirate night, after all.

Check out this guy here.  This pirate is on board the ship, looking at the eclipse!  That was a fun subtle nod to our recent adventure with the eclipse, although this was probably painted on the wall a long time before that.  Regardless, the museum itself is a nice, quick trip.  It's certainly a lot cheaper than the other excursions, and fairly easy to walk to on foot.  In fact, we walked past some of the stores we wanted to visit on the way back.  So it's all on the way, safe to get to, and not too far away. 

The information is interesting, with background stories on various pirates that are famous - and some perhaps a bit obscure.  As with any museum, you'll learn something if you spend enough time in there.  Which we did.  The indoors happened to be a good place for us to be as well, mainly because Mommy and Daddy aren't doing so well with extended stays in sunlight as it is.  And beyond that, it was starting to look overcast outside.  We had the museum to ourselves, largely, with just a few other visitors there.  Madison, Mommy and Daddy enjoyed it, taking pictures, reading, and saying things like "Arrr, ye scurvy rat!"

But next came the place that Madison was really wanting to return to.  It's called Del Sol, and she was looking forward to this store.  It features items that change colors in the sun, and she used some of her birthday money from her grandparents to get a necklace and a few other items, like fingernail polish.  Daddy still has a t-shirt from this place, which was doing pretty well.  A lot of other folks were here!

We left there, and the weather was much cooler and breezier outside.  There was a storm coming.  It's a good thing we were heading back to the boat, because as soon as we got there, the rain came!  We timed that just right.  Or, at least our Heavenly Father did.  It was perfectly planned, as we went back to our cabin for a bit, and then up to the top deck for grilled chicken at Luigi's.  Madison got pizza at Ramone's up there, and afterwards, we even spent a few moments in the jacuzzi.  And yes, after that, it was back to the Aqueduct again, and even more pool time for Madison, while Mommy and Daddy sat at a table just looking out over the ocean or the Nassau cityscape.

The rain didn't affect us at all.  We had plans to go to Disney Tunes Trivia, which we went to down at at the District, which was a place downstairs that we hadn't been to yet.  There was a big group of folks down there, and we had a lot of fun with that, almost winning it.  We were just one question away from winning, but the three of us had the greatest time.  

Right after that, we stuck around to do some family crafts.  The three of us were making masks, coloring in large cutouts of Minnie, Mickey, Pluto and Goofy.  There were plenty of other families with us, and it was neat doing something like this as a family.  We love going out to the water, and of course there was that already and plenty more time for that in the coming days.  But sitting together and being creative was a lot of fun.  By the end of the session, we had created our masks with the others.  They turned out great, and just in time for Mickey's Mousequerade Party.

Here are a few others with some great costuming ideas at the party.  They were the seagulls from "Finding Nemo!"  We didn't carry around the sticks with masks on them, but we did have some costumes on, and of course Madison had her Uma costume to wear.  Here she is, with someone dressed as Mal, and another dressed as Evie.  And yeah, there's a Cinderella in there for good measure!

The girls had a good time, squeezing around the overcrowded lobby, waiting in lines for candy at the various stations.  By the time we got through each station - and keep in mind we got there in time - there was no time for the other games.  That's how many people are there in this tiny area.  Daddy and Mommy had candy bags too, and we saw some people get there late - we gave them some of our candy, knowing some of the candy stations were already closed up.

It's not Disney's finest event.  Both times we've done this, you have this huge crowd of people compressed into this tiny area with long lines squeezing by other long lines waiting for candy stations.  There are games and music, but these are overcrowded too, and if you have any degree of claustrophobia, as I must have, it's not exactly the most fun you can have.  But it's not like were completely miserable or mad or anything - it's just not our first preference, to be so compressed like that.  STILL, Madison enjoyed it, particularly because she got to wear her Uma costume and get free candy.  We all did, taking it back to the room afterwards, and just in time to see a double rainbow outside our veranda.  

Soon we were off saying goodbye to Nassau, the three of us quite content with our day already.  Once more, we sailed away from this island.  I think Mommy and Daddy have been here about six times or so.  It's nice, but there's so much to do on the boat too.  The lighthouse you pass by is so small compared to the boat we're on.  But it looks nice, a glimpse into history.

In all our visits here, we have yet to visit Atlantis, which you can see in the background there.  I think part of this is because we've been to a lot of aquariums, and as far as water parks go, there's an Aqueduck and a pool on the boat, and slides at Castaway Cay, and beaches there too.  We just never got around to doing the Atlantis thing.  It's not a historical sort of thing, and doesn't really lend to the atmosphere of the islands so much.  And... of course... it costs more.

So we were sailing off, and getting ready for dinner too.  While Mommy took a quick nap, Daddy and Madison embraced the upcoming mystery theme at KidPak, and did the Midship Detective Agency hunt.  We did this twice during the cruise, this first time with the Muppets, as you can see below.

This was a lot of fun, and gave us all kinds of ideas for a future event at KidPak, which you might see here soon enough.  As it stands, in this particular mystery, it was Sam the Eagle that did it, although that answer changes from game to game.

The sun was slowly setting, and it was getting closer to time for dinner.  We were getting hungry too, believe it or not.  We went back to see Mommy, and the three of us took a leisurely stroll down, and walked about because we were just a little bit early, we played a game of shuffleboard together on the deck, while watching the sun set.

The decorations on the boat are fun, and festive.  This picture is nice, showing a bit of sparkle as the descending sunlight catches the drops on the web.  Madison and Mommy were on some of those deck chairs, and tonight we caught a glimpse of something we hadn't seen before.

We've seen the sun set before, but we've never seen THE GREEN FLASH.  Tonight, we did.  I can confirm to you that it is real.  Just before the sun sets over the horizon of water, right between being visible and disappearing over the end of the earth, you can see only for a blink of an eye... a GREEN FLASH.  Of course, this was only brought to our attention because of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.  And ever since then, whenever we're in a situation where we can see the sun set over the horizon, we've been looking for that GREEN FLASH.  We've never seen it.  Until now, of course.  It wasn't a brilliant flash like you see in the movies, there was a change of color, and it was in fact a GREEN FLASH.  Pretty cool stuff.  Madison can now say she saw the GREEN FLASH.

Moving on.  Dinner time had arrived, and tonight, we went to the Royal Palace for another fantastic meal.  Mommy can eat whatever she desires with no repercussions, as Daddy can too.  So many great meals!

We got back to the cabin, and there was our folded towel, hanging from the curtain like a monkey with a pair of sunglasses on it.  The room was prepared for bed, but we weren't quite ready for that yet.

After dinner, we actually had time to do a few things.  First, a game show.  Yes, Daddy wanted us to go to something called Mirror, Mirror.  This was a game show for a family, and it was so much fun.  Madison talked about this a lot afterwards.  She was one of the team captains, and got to help collect jewels from the mine, as well as answer trivia questions with the rest of the team.  There were seven teams, because there were seven dwarves of course.  And Dopey made an appearance as well.  From time to time, the Magic Mirror would announce results or talk about what would happen next, and throughout the entire occasion there were lots of laughs and fun.  It was a great game.  We may not have won that one, but it was a game where everyone had a great time.  

The last thing of the night was funny because we thought we were done.  Mommy and Daddy were done, of course.  But at dinner tonight, Madison's new friend Sophia invited her to the Oceaneer's Club to do some Wacky Science.  Daddy dropped her off for the play date, and immediately went upstairs with Mommy for a few moments of quiet in the room - we plugged in a movie, "Oz the Great and Powerful."

Madison had a great time there tonight, ultimately making some Flubber.  It glows in the dark, and it's in a bag now in the refrigerator here in the cabin.  She had a great time there.  But that's been the whole day, pretty much.  It's been so much fun, and so full and yet at times very relaxing and laid back.  We've made some happy memories today, and still have a few days to go on this cruise.

Tonight we said our grateful prayers, watching over the dark expanse of ocean as our ship cruised northward towards our quiet uninhabited destination, Castaway Cay.

100 Days, 10 Years

Today was Madison's 100th day of 1st Grade.  Nowadays, the 100th day is a big deal, usually celebrated by counting 100 of something.  Last year, Madison made a 100-eye monster, which was pretty fun to make.  This year, we opted for 100 mini-marshmallows to bring in.  Madison hand-counted them to make sure.

She did a few dot-to-dots with 100 points on them, and a few other 100-related things as well, which is all kind of fun.  Tomorrow, we'll celebrate 101, right?

Probably not.  I think the number everyone will be thinking about tomorrow is 7.  That's the temperature in the morning, and the windchill will make it 0.  This is clearly the coldest winter we've been a part of, and still yet no snow.  I ask again, what's the deal with that?

The other number to throw around today is 10.  As in, "10 Years."  Today is my ten-year anniversary of working at the church.  It does seem a long time ago - a lot has happened in ten years.  Obviously, there's Madison.  But a lot of other things have happened too, such as the move from one building to this larger glorious edifice.  Sorry, channeling a little "Bishop's Wife" there.  Anyway, we moved to this new building about ten years ago.  Since then, we've had a shifting cast at KidPak, and even a shift in children's pastors.  The children Mommy and Daddy taught in the third grade Sunday school have all grown up - these are the ones we saw before Daddy was even hired here.  One we keep in touch with:  she's getting married!  This of course makes us feel ancient of days.

Daddy has been writing sermons and skits, and acting and doing so much more for ten years now, at least as a part of the staff.  We were volunteers long before that, starting out with the food ministry and then going to the nursery.  The idea was to prepare ourselves - or at least prepare Daddy - for what it's like to have a toddler around.  That didn't happen until 2008, of course, but for around two years we worked with the nursery.  Then, at one point we shifted gears to help out with the older kids, taking on the responsibility of the third graders.  We were never happy with the curriculum we were given - at least the creative ideas behind it.  We stuck to the bottom line, always, but took things a step further with the class ideas.  Mommy and Daddy were a perfect team, and still are.  This is what God made us to do, and for the past ten years we've been doing it for more kids than just a select group of third graders.  We've been writing skits and curriculum for the thousand or so kids here, and even for a children's church in California.  Soon another one in Gwinnett.

It was a choice to make, working for the church.  Daddy had what he needed from graduate school to teach (we're still so close to that graduate's degree!), and was about to launch out to find a school to teach at, having passed the PRAXIS and taken all required classes and steps to become a teacher.   And yet, there was this job here to take.

Obviously, the right decision was made.  For one obvious reason, the insurance was much better.  We had no idea how this would affect us at the time, but within a few years, Mommy got the diagnosis of cancer that had our world spinning.

The economy dropped out, and a lot of teachers lost their jobs, something unthinkable to begin with.  The prevailing thought was that if you work for the government, you're the last to lose your job, right?  Not so much.  And the teachers with the shortest work history were the first to be let go, regardless of performance.  So many of my classmates were let go, or lost jobs.  And yet Daddy was able to keep his job through that storm.  The storm is still out there - the economy is uncertain, and most Americans have a bleak outlook currently.  We rely on God as always, as he's brought us through the storm and not just into it.

This is somewhat the basis for our upcoming series, "Storm Chasers."  This will be a March-April series, one that will be a lot of fun and excitement.  You'll see stuff for it here, although not quite yet.  Daddy has written about three messages so far for it, some right after watching "Twister" and other storm chaser documentaries.  We got some great ideas - God has always been good to turn that creative fountain on, giving us all kinds of inspiring directions to go in.

When Madison got home today, our direction to go in was ballet.  It's Thursday, so that's where we go. Daddy did some chores while waiting for her, but also was able to finish "The Carpet People," a great old book about a race of people that live... in a carpet.  They're very tiny.

We got home and did our piano, and did our fasting devotional.  Madison is almost done with that one - just a few more days until the fast is over with!  We managed to get all that done, and had ourselves some free time.  The theme of the week on Disney Infinity was "Tangled," so Daddy downloaded the new Rapunzel-themed toy boxes, and we explored a few.  Madison enjoyed it, and is looking forward to getting Rapunzel as a playable character.  That's coming, but not until Valentine's Day, when Daddy wants to do a Rapunzel-theme with gifts.  She'll get that character, a few related power discs, and we're going to go and get a Rapunzel doll from the Disney Store to go with the doll clothing we got her for Christmas.  So all in all, it's Rapunzel for Valentine's Day.  And in case you are wondering, yes, I really just wanted to type out the word Rapunzel over and over again for fun.

Mommy and Daddy did a lot of cleaning today.  One epic project that Daddy was doing was taking off the lights on the new tree we got.  This has taken - and I'm not exaggerating - six hours to do.  There are tiny clips all over, and winding knots of lights on a seven-foot tree.  It's been an ordeal.  To help with that, we watched a few shows while doing laundry and so forth.  We watched "Toys," which I'd never seen before, and a movie based on the story of Ruth from the Bible.  It wasn't that bad, really - and it inspired us to actually use some of the clips when we do our "Walk through the Bible" series on Wednesday nights with the kids.

The neat thing about this was that the part of Boaz was played by Carman.  That was a surprise - we didn't see his name listed in the credits.  But there he was, and he wasn't a bad actor either.  We've always enjoyed his music - back in the day.  Lots of creativity there, always making Christian music fun.  Lately, he's been battling cancer on an epic scale.  Our prayers have been with him since last summer's diagnosis, hoping he can start that concert series he wants to do after he recovers.

It was a good day today, nice and sunny - and bitterly cold.  We stayed indoors when we could, and took Madison to ballet, which she enjoyed as always.  She's getting more and more graceful each day.  Before class, she was practicing a bit in the halls, and Daddy was just enjoying the show.  She's also doing great on her spelling tests - she's already mastered her words for the tomorrow, and we didn't even quiz her that much.  The words are getting longer, but she's also spelling them out quicker.

And that's it for now.  100 days, and 10 years, and it was a day much like many others.  But that's not a bad thing at all!

DAY NINETEEN
Psalm 106:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!” You have almost reached the end of your fast! Look back at the last few weeks, because it is time to reflect. Write down below any special moments you’ve had, and use these warm memories to help you endure until the end!

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Elijah fasted and prayed for direction and to hear God’s voice. Moses fasted to receive God’s law and the Ten Commandments. Daniel fasted and got a revelation. Ezra fasted for protection. Jesus fasted to begin His ministry. Ask others you know why they have fasted, and write down a few of their answers below.

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Read today’s Bible story in Matthew 20:20-28. Jesus told everyone that He did not come to be served. According to His own words, why did He come?

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

First Saturday of 2025

The DeSantafication Process continued in earnest today as we took the ornaments off of the piano room tree, and even the lights too.  Bittersweet sort of times when you take down these trees, leaving just this darkened pine tree in your living room, a shadow of things that used to be.  We've still got a three more trees to do, although I suspect that will wait until Monday.  Maddie was helping me get the ornaments off the tree as we listened to some music on the laptop here.  Oh yeah, the music was part of my "Psalms" collection that I've just started to pick up again - I'm setting all of the Psalms to music from artificial intelligence.  In some cases it is pretty challenging because of the length or way the words in the psalms are organized.  Nevertheless, I have about a hundred of them done so far, and it's been a fun project.  It helps you remember scriptures, setting them to music.  This is why we were also working on a "Fruit of the Spirit" song too.  I just write out the lyrics and see what AI can come up with.  I used the terms "acoustic guitar, finger style, folk, upbeat, bass guitar, male singer lead" for prompts, and plugged in these lyrics:

[instrumental intro]

[verse 1]

You know Jesus set us free, 

so we can run the race.

So don’t look like sour grapes, 

or make that lemon face!

You know what I'm talkin' about -

just listen to His Spirit.

Galatians chapter five says it all, 

so now sit back and hear it!

[CHORUS]

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

gentleness and self-control.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

gentleness and self-control.

[verse 2]

Keep workin’ at your garden.

Show Him and others love.

You have strong roots, and lots of fruits:

A harvest from above!

See we are all the branches, 

and Jesus is the vine

So don’t you sin, just follow Him, 

and all will be just fine!

[CHORUS]

Yes that fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

gentleness and self-control.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

gentleness and self-control.

[verse 3]

Sin is like a rotten fruit

and it's bad for you and me.

Check out Galatians, chapter five

Twenty-two and twenty-three.

You judge a tree by it’s fruit,

so make your fruit the best.

Remember Paul's fruity list

You’ll see your life so blessed.

[CHORUS]

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

gentleness and self-control.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

gentleness and self-control.

It's interesting the different results that came out, but one was good enough for us to use in the service as kids come pouring in to the auditorium.  

So it's cold outside, and that's about right because it is winter.  It'll be miserable a few states north of us soon, as there's a tremendous ice and snow storm crashing through.  It's going to be a big deal.  Down here in Georgia, not so much, although we could see some ice and maybe a little snow by the end of next week.  We'll see.  But right now:  cold.  We need to go out and get wood and get the ol' fireplace going for some ambience.

In the meantime, we're keeping the bird feeders stocked, and that brings great joy to all the birds out there.  "His eye is on the sparrow" has become a favorite scripture of mine, just because it brings to mind the Lord looking out as we do, and of course we see the wonderful variety of birds that come in and are well fed, all sharing the seeds - except for that robin, who acts like a total jerk.  But we even let him eat as well.  The blue birds are looking healthy, as are the others:  sparrows, phoebes, finches, blue jays, cardinals, tufted titmouse, chickadees, nuthatches, mourning doves, mockingbirds, and about four different kinds of woodpecker for the suet feeder.  We have a few grackles from time to time too.

Some time ago, we determined that Maddie needed to see "High School Musical" before the end of her high school experience.  And of course there are only four months to go, so tonight we watched the first "High School Musical" movie together, and yeah, now we're singing all the songs all over again.  I nearly forgot how well done these movies were, with great choreography, a talented cast, and some memorable songs.  Yes, we enjoyed it - again - it's hard to believe this, but this movie is as old as Maddie is.  Yeah.  Anyway, she's seen these before too.  The first time I saw this movie I had the bar really low, thinking this would be just a fun little made-for-tv thing, but in fact it was pretty awesome!  So anyway, fast forward to tonight, and it was amazing having our high schooler here watching the movie with us.  It goes without saying that we'll be watching the other movies next.

We had our last meal today, or at least the last meal with meat in it.  That's for me, at least.  Tomorrow is the start of the fast, which meant up until midnight we were doing a sort of "Fat Tuesday" thing, eating up all the sweets in the pantry and dining on a rotisserie chicken we picked up at the grocery store.  Maddie picked up a Mardi Gras flavor one, but the bag actually ripped open right there in the grocery store, and ... SPLAT!  The chicken hit the floor.  The five-second rule was long past by the time we got an employee over there to clean it up.  We're ready for soups and so forth during the fast, but more importantly, we're also ready for the additional Bible time.  

We'll be watching "The Chosen" again, and simultaneously reading some study guides for season one and season two.  It'll be a good time, and of course we'll be also reading other devotional material too.

Speaking of reading, tonight we read some more from "Hogfather," as we discovered the true identity of the Tooth Fairy and also dealt with Mr. Teatime, at least for the time being.  The story is winding down, certainly.  Every trip to the Discworld is special.  Mom got me this book of artwork from the Discworld, and it's just wonderful.  

This is a must-have for any Discworld fanatic like me.  No doubt Maddie and I will continue on with our Discworld reading for a good bit.  Maddie is enjoying it, and so am I.

We closed out the day with prayer, and getting under those blankets.  The Plush Entourage is keeping her company still, and I'm marching along on that treadmill still, trying to stay healthy.  Mom is feeling under the weather still, but it's gradually getting better.  It's a predictable sort of illness, only because I just had it, and I know she just needs about a week to go through the roughest patches of it.  Still, we take good care of Mom.  

SeaWorld

This is one of those days just soaking with favor.  Firstly, the food situation:  as posted here, Mommy has a gluten allergy that is so severe, we can get a bad reaction if there is even cross contamination from the kitchen.  As SeaWorld is not quite there yet with their gluten-free options, what else could we do?

Deal number one was a reduced price for a season ticket for SeaWorld, good until the end of the year.  That means we could eat somewhere else, then go to SeaWorld, and not have to worry about squeezing in everything in one day.  Deal number two was the B Resort, which was paying off again in this way: breakfast.  We had such a massive breakfast, and Mommy spoke with the chef beforehand about the entire thing - we were safe.  And full too!

Nana and Ba-Ba met us just after breakfast, and so did something else rather ominous: a massive front.  It was a dark storm filling the horizon, and it was clearly heading our way.  Lightning and thunder came with it, and was clear that everything in Orlando was going to have to be put on hold a moment.

But what a blessing it was.  We drove through it to the parking lot there at SeaWorld, and they let us right in without paying for parking.  After all, no one was standing out there, directing traffic.  And everyone was leaving SeaWorld because of the threat of weather.  It rained lightly the rest of the day, in fact - which reduced the population there greatly.  And additionally, it was overcast the entire day, which made for cooler weather.  It was an idea day all across the board - seriously, we weren't affected one bit by the weather.  We did everything we set out to do, and a few extra things as well in fact.

We started the day out with the Clyde & Seamore show, the one thing that we did not see a few years ago when getting to SeaWorld.  This was a lot of fun for Madison, who was giggling at the antics throughout, when the sneaky seals would be stealing food, or pushing pirates into the water.

Next, the five of us made a really big trip:  to the continent of Antarctica!  Yeah, it wasn't really Antarctica, but there's apparently an embassy right there in the middle of SeaWorld.  We rode on a unique ride, following the adventure of one particular penguin, and then got off the ride to see a whole bunch of other penguins - it was quite cold in there, actually!  It was so cold that Madison was anxious to step out of the room!  But we stayed long enough for photos, and watching the penguins jump in the water.  One almost jumped out of the water and into the area where the people are, believe it or not.  I'd be surprised if this didn't happen more often - it looked like he was going to make it.  He swam with such speed and jumped straight up, landing on the edge of the glass barrier and teetering there before falling back into the water.

The Antarctica exhibit was pretty neat though - Madison loves penguins this year, that's one of her favorite animals currently.  Here she is in the Antarctica Gift Shop, having fun in some penguin gear:

We got a pressed penny with a penguin on it, and at home, she still has the pink penguin from the Georgia Aquarium visit recently.  Speaking of which, the next thing we went to see was the dolphin show, "Blue Horizon."

I hate to say this, but it put the show at the Georgia Aquarium to shame.  Now, that show was decent.  But the one at SeaWorld was completely overboard with trained exotic birds, cliff divers, aerial acrobats, and of course a whole bunch of dolphins doing plenty of amazing things.  Oh, and not that much talking either.  It was all action, and a bit overwhelming at the end with so much visual stimulus that you couldn't possibly take it all in.  But that's where we're heading with a lot of these shows - gone are the days when you could be impressed at watching one parrot fly from point A to point B.  Now, we have to see eight parrots flying across the stage as nine dolphins did double flips and divers plummeted a few stories into the water, and streamers and fireworks shot off into the air.  Yeah, it was that sort of show, the kind that the word "extravaganza" sort of fits.

Our next destinations were multiple - we went to get a bite to eat for Madison, and visited the manta rays, where Daddy went to buy some fish to feed them.  Yes, Madison fed a manta today, but so did Mommy, Nana, Ba-Ba and Daddy too.  We had enough food to reach down into the water and feed the guys.  Madison was reaching in to pet them as well, as they gracefully glided by for more fish to eat.

We washed our hands of course.

And then we came upon Dolphin Cove, which offered an opportunity to feed dolphins - we may do that later when Madison's a little older.  Right now we were content to go underground to see watch the dolphins under the water.

Madison saw them playing around with a rock, picking it up with their mouths, swimming around and chasing each other over it.  She called the came "roccer!"

And then we went off to see "Turtle Trek," a 360 movie that follows the adventure of this one sea turtle that has a whole lot of danger to face in his journey.  But don't worry - he makes it through.  So did we, barely.  That kind of ride just doesn't work for Daddy as much, as his equilibrium gets thrown off pretty easily!  But seeing the turtles in the water beforehand was really nice - one in particular came right up to Madison to say hi.  And next door, there were manatees, which always have a strange attraction for us - and everyone else.  Everyone loves manatees.  Madison was happy to watch for a while, and then happy to play a video game right next to these exhibits:  she and Mommy and Daddy were sea turtles racing across the Pacific, eating the right foods and staying away from danger.

We saw a bunch of alligators afterwards, and then went over towards the Manta, which was that "extra" thing not on the schedule to begin with.  Daddy loves roller coasters, but sort of wrote this ride off as everyone else in our group wasn't up for a coaster ride.  HOWEVER, they were up for ice cream, and there was literally no wait for Manta whatsoever.  SO, Daddy did get to ride his roller coaster after all.  Again, no wait.  We just walked up, and walked on, and off we went on an exhilarating ride, hanging down like you are on a hang glider, and zooming forward through twists and turns and loops, of course.  The best parts are the weavings through rocks and towards a lake that splashes up water as you speed by.

We had our ice cream break there - it was hard to resist a Shamu bar.  That's an ice cream shaped like Shamu, sort of the equivalent to the Mickey Bar we always have to have at Disney.  We also saw the impressive new aquarium by the roller coaster - it was filled with mantas, of course.  But there were plenty of other tropical reef fish there as well, along with one of those tanks you can stick your head up in the middle of.

Our full day was still going on though - we had other things to see after this, starting with the dolphin nursery, which was right next door.  Madison got to see young dolphins with their mothers swim around a large pool area, which was pretty sweet.

Even sweeter to Madison was our next destination, Shamu's Happy Harbor.  This is where it's at for kids:  there is this massive three-story (or higher) climbing area with nets and tunnels and slides and all sorts of fun.  This alone could have kept Madison busy for a long time.  But there were also rides there, ones catered to the whole family.  Daddy and Madison rode on one, which was the equivalent of the tea cups at the Magic Kingdom.

Yes, Madison made Daddy very, very dizzy.  But why is it that no matter the shape of these things, they are always called tea cups. The influence of Disney there!  Anyway, these were little water spouts that spun like crazy, nauseating parents.  Madison loved it.

She also loved the crab ride.  We rode one of these at LEGOland earlier this year - it goes up, and then down.  Up... and down.  The down part is the fun part, where there are all kinds of sudden drops.  Mommy and Madison rode this one together - it was oddly enough the longest line of the entire day, if you can believe that.  But it was worth it to Madison, who laughed all the way up... and down!

Next we hopped on Shamu's Express - this is a mini-roller coaster that all the kids were riding on with their parents.  Daddy and Madison went on this ride, which was a fun little coaster for younger ones.  Madison still isn't that crazy about roller coasters though, admitting she was a little scared on it.  But we told her she was very brave for trying it out.

The next thing we rode on was much safer for all of us:  a carousel.  Of course, being at SeaWorld, there were no standard horses on this one.  These were all sorts of sea creatures, case in point:  Mommy is riding an angler fish, and Madison is on a manatee.  Daddy stood nearby to keep an eye on Madison, as we went round and round and round and round and round and... yes, Daddy needed a little medication by this point - his head was spinning!

So Mommy took Madison on the next ride, a nice little train through an aquatic-looking area.  This was a nice little ride, and the last thing we did before leaving Shamu's Happy Harbor.  There were other rides there, including one that looked amazingly sickening.  Just watching it operate, Daddy was getting nauseous!  But fortunately, we were out of time because we all wanted to get to Shamu Stadium!

This was our last stop of the day, the grand finale to our first visit to SeaWorld together.  It was a special show to celebrate the 50th anniversary of SeaWorld, and they pulled out all the stops.  As an added bonus, Madison and Daddy sat in the SOAK ZONE, nice and close!

The show was fantastic, and there was actually much to learn.  This was Madison's first time seeing a killer whale, and these were quite big.  And we were really close too!  They leaped in the air, and did a whole lot of splashing too - sending hundreds and hundreds of gallons out over the soak zone.  This is the reason Madison and Daddy wore our ponchos!

The show concluded with plenty of fireworks, and thus our first day at SeaWorld drew to a close.  It was a great one though, with so much favor it was amazing.  We were tired, but the great news is that we don't have to get up too early tomorrow for day two.  In fact, we don't have to get there until after noon, if we want.

But we got back to the B Resort later, and there we went to bed pretty quickly.  It was a long day, but a great one!

Disney Dream

We've been dreaming about a cruise with Madison for quite some time - back in January of last year, we saw the christening of the Disney Dream and began planning our big trip.  On August 1st, the dream came true!

MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2012

Tour de Rest Areas

What a long day!  We left pretty late from Nana and Ba-Ba's house, after a very big breakfast.  Daddy did his best to sleep in, but had a rough night just waking up periodically for no apparent reason.  It didn't help that we were up a little later watching the Olympics. Still, we assumed we'd be sleeping in and that we'd get enough rest.  No such luck, really.

Because of Daddy's fatigue, the trip home took a little longer than usual.  It was a big more relaxed, where we stopped more frequently at many rest areas.  One stop was amusing:  we hit the vending machines big time.  Daddy actually got an energy drink and all of us were munching on snacks inside the car.  Madison watched "Bolt" and "Cinderella 3," and then played with her Leapster Explorer for a while, napping only once really.

The drive was uneventful, in regards to weather.  We did go through some spots of rain, but it was nothing like the drives we had in Florida late last week.  I think there were storms racing from west to east just north of us, and we'd keep arriving just after the downpour.  That was fine with us.

We did stop at Chick-Fil-A in Valdosta, along with a traditional stop at our bookstore there.  We didn't find much for ourselves, though we did find a few books for Madison.  She picked them out for herself to add to her personal library.

I think we stopped at three rest areas on the way back - and three on the way down.  That would be the most leisurely journey to and from that we've ever made.  Frequently, Daddy tries to get there pretty quickly.  But not these trips:  in this case, we arrived at home just after 8:00 pm.  We missed out on Atlanta traffic, which was good, and came home sweet home without any problem whatsoever.  By the way, the energy drink seemed to work!  

Sleeping in our bed once more - what a feeling!  

SUNDAY, AUGUST 5, 2012

All Ashore

Talk about getting kicked off the boat!  We were literally off the boat today at 8:30 am.  That's when I looked at my watch, which is really when we were back at the hotel, actually.  This morning we rose very early, and left our rooms for good - heading towards the Animator's Palette one more time for breakfast.  We met the other families there one last time and shared our goodbyes.  It was a lovely cruise, and it was certainly neat to see the children together.

We left very early though - and had ourselves a lot of time to spend!  Our rule about that is simple:  if there's enough time, and you're anywhere near Orlando, it's time to go to Ghirardelli's at the Disney Village.  Or Disney Marketplace.  What's it called now?  I forget!

Anyway, we of course stopped there and did some shopping - we found a Minnie Mouse gnome to go with the Mickey one!  We also got some pins, a DVD, and a great big lollipop for Madison.  For later.  

Yes, we stopped a Ghirardelli's and had our ice cream.  And yes, it was completely awesome.  We also stopped by the TrenD shop, which Mommy enjoys quite a bit.  Right next door, Madison and Daddy found a big collection of Wenlock dolls.  Up until now, we couldn't find hardly any online.  Now we're seeing a bunch!

After ice cream, we visited the gallery as well.  This is a tradition of ours too - we spend some time looking at the art there, wishing we had a lot more money to buy much of it.  It's still neat to look at.  Madison enjoyed it too!

As soon as we were done though, it was time to leave and head north.  We said a fond goodbye to Mickey and friends once more, vowing to come back sooner next time.  Then we were off to Summerfield, home of Ba-Ba and Nana.

They were waiting for us with a great big dinner, and a recliner to plop down on and watch more Olympics!  Seriously, it was nice to be with them again, although our visit was way too short this time.  We stayed up late watching a few different events, and then it was off to bed to get a good night's rest before the big journey home.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012

Castaway Cay

We started today with breakfast from Cabanas, as Daddy brought everyone a little something to eat in the cabin.  Outside our virtual porthole, we could see the Dream had arrived at Castaway Cay already.  Yet our meeting time with friends on the island wasn't until 11:00.  That's why we decided to do a little more swimming at the pool!

It turned out to be an ideal time to do it!  Everyone was getting off the boat and going to the island, so we had the pool and the Aquaduck to ourselves essentially.  What a pleasant morning - "Bolt" was playing on the big screen as Madison was having a lot of fun in the pool, and we hopped on the Aquaduck with no problem at all.  Madison even enjoyed the big yellow slide.  It was a very relaxing morning at the pool!

Soon after, we got off the ship, where we met Lilo & Stitch at the Castaway Cay Post Office. Stitch was hilarious, stealing Madison's autograph book and running off with it behind the building.  Lilo got on to him, but then she herself started fooling around as well.  Madison loved it!  Of course, she got their autographs as well - and then we were off on the shuttle to Mt. Rustmore.

It was there that we eventually met our friends, and together we got several good shots of the kids all lined up at the beach, each wearing white (before Labor Day).  Here the girls were, four years later.  Yes, you can get ready for it:  another sentence about time flying by. Can you believe it?  Four years have glided by so quickly!

After Mt. Rustmore, it was time for a little fun at the beach.  Madison and Daddy plunged right in, although the water was surprisingly cool!  Still, we had fun immersing ourselves into the beach atmosphere, and having a good time in the sun and sand.  Speaking of "sun," there was a bit much of it today - all of us got fried.  Mommy got the worse end of the deal, wanting to head back to the ship for a bit.  We walked her to the room, where she spent a little time napping while Madison and Daddy went back to the island to visit an area called "Spring a Leak," a water playground that Madison enjoyed thoroughly.  She ran around with the other kids and had a splendid time running around with the herd from one water formation to the next.  It was great fun!

We got back just in time for dinner.  Tonight, it was dinner at the Animator's Palette, the best restaurant of them all.  Here, Crush the turtle swam from table to table, interacting with guests as we continued our incredible meals.  This was our final dinner of the cruise, and it was a great one to finish with.  All sorts of characters from "Finding Nemo" would swim by and watch us, and the girls at the table were having a lot of fun guessing what shape the moonfish were making.

The ship pulled away from Castaway Cay, and we hardly noticed!

After dinner, it was time for yet another show.  The shows on the Dream were all very, very good - and this one was probably the best.  It was called "Believe," and it featured Mary Poppins, the Genie from Aladdin, Merlin, and a whole lot of other characters - including a tiny Tinkerbell.  It was a spectacular end to the evening.  Madison sat next to one of her friends, just as she did every other show this cruise.  They both were loving every minute of this show, as they did all of them.  

The show pretty much wrapped up our cruise.  We were quite tired, although we did do a few things afterwards, like go down to collect photos - and grab a cup of tea from upstairs on deck.  

While Daddy was up there, the boat was on it's way back home already - and the rain was pouring down in sheets, buckets, cats and dogs.  It was raining hard!  It was just amazing that today we encountered none of the wet stuff on the island.  Can you believe there was an 80% chance we were going to have rain on the island?  There was even a back-up contingency plan in place for us to have a day at sea.  And yet, there was a lot of grace over our trip, and we had a rain-free day on the island.

Only once did the boat rock in such a way that we all noticed it.  That was actually during tonight's big show.  It was a very big rocking motion, back and forth - and it created quite a stir in the audience.  But things moved on, as did the show, which continued to capture everyone's imagination.  Bottom line:  we hardly noticed it moving - although for a few days afterwards, Daddy still felt like he was rocking back and forth on the sea.

Everyone fell asleep easily again tonight - but tomorrow we'll be up very early.  We have to be off the boat rather quickly after breakfast.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2012

Day at Sea

So you'd think that we'd be nice and relaxed in the morning, sleeping in.  Right?  Wrong!  We were all up on our own rather early - it was either the bed or the fact that we were all excited.  The beds are nice, by the way.  We all slept rather soundly, actually.  Part of that may have been exhaustion - but even when you're tired, a good bed makes all the difference.

Today was a day to spend at the pool, which we did quite capably!  Also, a bit of time on deck just resting in deck chairs or playing shuffleboard.  It was really nice, relaxing day - and it started out with an awesome breakfast!

We had our breakfast at Cabanas upstairs, which simply has the most food - and quite a bit of it too.  One thing that Daddy has to have each time:  a Mickey-shaped waffle.  And Mommy has to have tea.  There were all sorts of tea bags to sample on this trip, and yes, we brought some home with us as well!

This afternoon, we met a whole bunch of characters in the lobby:  Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Daisy, Donald, Chip and Dale.  We even met Tinkerbell!  Finally, we have a picture to put inside our Tinkerbell frame back at home.  We loved that frame so much, but have been waiting for a picture with Tinkerbell to slide in it.  One thing about the cruise is this:  it's easiest to meet some characters that there are long lines for at the parks.  You'll read about one of those characters in just a moment, actually.

But first, dinner time.  It was pirate day, as all the characters listed above (except Tink) were dressed up like pirates!  This may not have looked that good for the character we met just before dinner, Peter Pan.  He let us slide just this once though.

Tonight's dinner was great, and all the waiters were dressed up as pirates as well.  It was a scurvy good time.  But we weren't done with the pirate theme yet.  In fact, we had to get out of dinner to go meet the one person Madison wanted to meet the most.

It was Jack Sparrow!  We were second on line for this one, and it was the highlight of the trip for Madison.  She thought he was so cool, and the neat thing about the characters on these cruises is that they have more time to spend with kids.  The two of them had a bit of a conversation, and Jack was surprised to see that Madison was dressed up like Angelica the pirate.  Madison said that Jack had scared her initially, but didn't mean to.  She repeated this story over and over again afterwards.  We posed for a family picture together and then walked away, proud pirate parents.  And we walked by a huge line too - we timed that just right!

After dinner there was a serious pirate party upstairs, which we had to go to - you see, we were pirates.  Mickey and all his friends were there, and it was a great time on deck.  There were a lot of "arrrs" and a visit from Captain Hook and Mr. Smee as well.  After the party, we'd "hook" up with these two as well for autographs.  Madison has a few autograph books now, and it's all part of the routine:  hug the character (sometimes with a kiss on the nose), and then see about getting an autograph, and then pose for a picture (sometimes looking at the camera).  Then there's time for a high-five or something else altogether different. 

The party was a lot of fun for everyone, but there was an even better party a bit later that we were going to take Madison to.  It was a late one, so we had to come up with something for her to do.  Fortunately, we were there with some friends, so we went together to drop the kids off at the Oceaneer Lab, which Madison enjoyed quite a bit.  In retrospect, I wish we had taken her there more often, just because she enjoyed it so much.  Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy talked with their friends nearby (Daddy even snuck away to get Mommy a special tea from the coffee bar).

When it was time for the show, we went upstairs and joined the crowd for the Buccaneer Blast.  We were in the Caribbean, with no land in sight:  pirate waters!  Jack Sparrow returned again, to Madison's delight.  There was a big fight scene on stage, all over a special gauntlet that would emit sparks and light and power.  Of course, when Jack went to give a demonstration of the power it had, he wasn't fooling around.  He aimed it to one side of the ship, and for the next few minutes there was an impressive fireworks show right there in the middle of the sea.  I wonder what this must look like from afar - a big ship in the middle of nowhere shooting off all these fireworks.  From on deck, it was incredible.  As with most Disney fireworks displays, this was set to and timed with music:  the soundtracks of all four Pirates of the Caribbean films.

There was a pirate buffet after this, and a pirate dance party - but it was pretty late.  We were very tired pirates, and it was time for some shut eye.  Tomorrow's a bit day at Castaway Cay!

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2012

Nassau

We woke up in the Bahamas today, although our first destination wasn’t the islands:  instead, it was the Disney Princesses.  Daddy and Madison got up early to go to the Princess Gathering, an assembly of legendary Princesses. It was like “The Avengers” for girls.  Lined up were Tiana, Aurora, Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White and Belle – all signing autographs and posing for pictures.  Madison couldn’t resist!

For good measure, we also met Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio too!  All before breakfast!

By the way, breakfast was really good too.  We returned to the Enchanted Garden, and although the wait was a little longer, the food was rather good.  We enjoyed a big breakfast together, the three of us, as everyone got ready to disembark at Nassau.

Because of the threat of afternoon showers, we decided to head off to the island earlier.  The plan was to find the pirate museum, but when we ran into some of our friends, we chose to hang out with them, doing a bit of shopping.  We visited a few stores, and Madison had a great time being with her new friends.  One store was Del Sol, which features merchandise that changes colors when exposed to the sun.  Madison got a few items, and Daddy even got a t-shirt.  We did go to the straw market as well, but were pretty ready to head back to the boat after that.

One reason for the early departure:  “Brave” was playing at the Buena Vista Theater on the boat, and it was in 3D!  A few of the families joined us at the theater – Daddy got popcorn for the kids, and collected drinks too.  We sat in the dark and enjoyed the movie once again, this time in 3D.

We ate lunch after that, a quick bite from Luigi’s upstairs.  Also, Tow-Mater’s grill and Fillmore’s as well.  There were three restaurants that served up pizza, burgers, hot dogs and a great roast beef sandwich.  Of course, there were the ice creams too!

It started to rain harder outside at this time, but we hadn’t made plans to do anything more on the island.  In fact, our next activity was entire inside the Disney Dream:  The Midship Detective Agency.

This was a blast!  One of the girls decided to join us as we went from picture to picture all over the ship.  There were about twenty different stops along the journey, where we had to uncover the real villain in our mystery.  Who stole the painting?  In our mission, we found out it was Maleficent.  But the answer is different every time, so it was something we could do again if we chose to.

But we did need to get back to the cabin to get ready for dinner, and a few more autographs!  We saw Minnie Mouse again, and some other characters as well.  Soon the ship’s horn sounded off – and it was time to leave Nassau once more.  This was Daddy and Mommy’s fourth visit here, and probably the shortest!  We spent more time on the boat!

Dinner was at the Royal Palace Restaurant, which was really good again.  The food was very good and very extensive:  tonight Daddy had a difficult time choosing between two main entries, so they gave him both!  Dinner has been a great time for everyone, as the families connected and got caught up.  Meanwhile, the girls had fun playing and coloring and having a good time together.

After dinner, it was time again for another show.  Tonight’s event:  “Villains Tonight.”  This was a great show – a really funny one too.  It wasn’t too scary for Madison, although that was an early thought as the show was pretty much made up of entirely villainous characters.  But the comedy was rich and the costumes were fun.  Hades, the main character, was a riot!

Once again, after the show it was time for an early night.  We had a very full day, one with lots of running around and even a first visit to another country.  That makes Madison’s tally up to three:  Bahamas, China and The United States. 

Tonight before bed, Daddy went up and got Mommy some tea and looked out over the ocean waves – far off in the distance, lightning illuminated the clouds.  The wind was blowing hard up on the higher portions of the deck.  We had no idea a tropical storm was brewing in the Caribbean – actually, there were two!

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

Disney Dream

This morning we slept in a bit, simply because we could – we didn’t have too much to do, although all of us still did get up earlier than we thought.  I think we were all a bit excited about the upcoming trip.

Daddy snuck out the door and got everyone some breakfast from the hotel room downstairs.  It’s been a good hotel – very friendly employees.  The pool looked nice, although this close to the beach, we chose the salt and sand.

Another feature is a shuttle bus that drove us and our luggage to the Disney Terminal.  There it was, towering high in the port - a beautiful sight!

We got there early, but the wait didn’t seem so bad with other things to do here:  one was find hidden Mickeys!

The other Mickey was not-so-hidden:  he was posing for pictures with families in front of a model of one of the cruise ships.  We did that as well, after which we got in various lines to check in.

Finally, our number was called and it was time to board the ship!  We walked on board and they announced our name to the lobby as we walked in and looked around.  What a magnificent boat, the Dream.  We remember watching it get christened a year ago, thinking to ourselves that someday we’d be aboard this ship – and here we are, exploring each deck.  It was there we met Pluto, who Madison loved meeting as well.  He put Madison’s autograph book on her head for fun, and she laughed a lot at this.

The rooms weren’t quite ready yet, but food was:  we went upstairs to a restaurant called Cabanas.  Already, Madison spotted the sculptures of seagulls inside:  “Mine!  Mine!  Mine!”

The food was so good there – lots of crab, fish, shrimp, and more.  All of the sudden you were face to face with a cruise buffet and the memories were coming back.  Daddy probably ate a bit too much this time! 

The next thing we did was get to our room.  For this cruise, we chose an indoor stateroom.  Our thinking was that we had Madison, and we were concerned about climbing overboard.  But beyond that, nobody spends that much time inside their stateroom (beyond the sleeping part).  Still, the room was nice – and it included one of those virtual portholes that had characters flying or floating by every so often. 

We got changed into our bathing suits and went upstairs after that – it was time to check out the pool!  Madison tried the big yellow slide once, and after that we tried out the Aquaduck, which was – to quote our friend Crush – totally gnarly!  We also visited Nemo’s Reef, which Madison really enjoyed as well!

We met up with some of the other families here, families with children from China.  In some cases, it has been four years since we last saw each other – and then it was in Hong Kong, leaving our adventure in China.  We talked for a bit in front of the ice cream station, which proved to be too much for us:  yes, we broke down and had ice cream quite a bit on the cruise.

We got changed at our room, and went back up to the send off party, a song and dance fiesta with Mickey and friends.  The big finish was the cruise ship’s horn, which sounded off “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.”  This was the signal:  it was time to leave Port Canaveral and head out into the big ol’ blue.

We headed upwards a deck or two, leaning over to wave goodbye to Florida and those on land, and even saw a few dolphins in the water.  But we were so close to the mini golf up there on deck:  Madison just had to play! 

So as the boat drifted down the channel and out into the ocean, we putted through nine holes of Goofy’s Mini Golf on board.  It was a fun course, in the spirit of Goofy’s old “How To” cartoons, which are classic!

When we were done, it was time to get ready for dinner.  We returned to our room downstairs, unpacked a bit and got ready for some more fun – and more food!

Our dinnertime was 5:45, and we met the other families at the Enchanted Garden for dinner.  This was where all the girls first met, and as you could imagine there was quite a bit of chaos here!  It was a magnificent meal and a very fine place to eat, where our servers Jason and Alex introduced themselves.  This was actually Daddy’s favorite meal of the cruise, a spectacular start to a week of some of the greatest food you can eat. 

After the meal, it was time for a show!  We went to the Walt Disney Theater next, where we saw the “Golden Mickeys.”  We’ve seen this show before, believe it or not.  Madison has too:  the last time we saw it was at Hong Kong Disney.  Although the show had new elements in it, the spirit of the production was the same.  It was really good, with lots of characters – some obscure and some legendary.  Mulan was in it, so you can’t go wrong there!  We had great seats, sitting next to some of our friends right there in the middle.

But afterwards, it was time to get some rest.  It was a pretty epic day, actually.