Sydney's Celebration Cruise {Key West}

 I thought I'd finish up our cruise pictures in one post but I realized that all of our Cozumel pictures and then some are on Dave's phone.  So I'll get to those soon, maybe.  With the rate I'm going, I'll finish up our cruise posts by Christmas. But by then we'll need to see some pictures of the Caribbean right?

The safety meeting put both my boys to sleep.  It was pretty awful.  Our group spot was outside on the deck and we got stuck in the smoking section (smoking was prohibited during the meeting but we could still smell it), there was no breeze, it was hot and boring. I think the rest of our group was all inside sitting in the cool AC somewhere.  And of course after the meeting was over we noticed a window near us that we could have opened up.

Our group filled 3 whole tables at dinner time.  Our kiddos loved sitting by the window and getting to eat with Papa and Nana and Aunt Barb and Uncle Jim (who all claimed we got stuck at the "old people" table). 

 There was always a little break towards the end of dinner that the wait staff all broke out into dance and crazy-dance-lovin people joined them. I was not one of them. The kids had a blast!  Dinner was one of the main differences from this cruise and the last one that Dave and I went on.  Our first cruise we ate whenever we wanted, wherever we wanted.  This cruise we ate at the early 6pm time slot, at the same table with the same waiter every night. There are things I liked about both.  But it was definitely fun getting to know our servers and they did awesome calling the kids by name all the time.

We were always looking for the kid-friendly activities to keep all these kids entertained, so of course, we hit up the Karaoke lounge one night. 

And the boys somehow got their uncle up there with them.

Our first stop was Key West.  This was Dave's favorite. He's a sightseer and loves all the interesting things that I sometimes don't appreciate.

We started on foot and then did a train tour of the island. 

Later in the day we met up with Uncle Jason and Jeremy and decided to do some of our own touring.

We knew nothing about Key West before getting there.  We thought we'd find a beach until we learned that it's not really the place to do a beach.  We drove by what we had been told was the best beach there, and it was rocky and not your typical picture of a Caribbean beach (if Key West is really part of the Caribbean).  So we were dressed in swim suits all day for no reason.

 

Key West had 2 pretty interesting sights - but they were quick ones. 

The first was the Southern Most Tip of the United States, complete with the house that is the soutern most house in the US.  And a 2nd house that was built just a tad further south to be the southern most, southern most house.

Key West is also where US Highway 1 starts, and mile marker 0. Highway 1 goes all the way up to Maine. I didn't know highways could continue through the water (from an island) but I guess it can!

 I took this picture to remind of us the skies...the entire. time. 

They were cloudy and gray, and showered on us a tad off and on.  There was hardly any sun.  In the end, it was pretty perfect for a cruise with kids, seeing as laying by the pool to get my tan on was pretty far from possible when kids jumped around from activity to activity.

 Key West had some CRAZY trees.  This isn't even a good representation of how crazy some of them were.

The adults spent a lot of time on the slide deck.  That slide LOOKS super fun.  But from what I hear, you pretty much have to push yourself down it the entire way. I decided not to try it. But the kids loved it regardless!

I'm guessing if you asked Mason his favorite part of the cruise it was the ice cream that he could have pretty much any time of the day.  

   

The only small disappointment was that there wasn't really a 4th of July celebration.  We were hoping we'd get to see fireworks off the boat.  Instead, they did a 4th of July party on July 3rd starting at 11pm.  So maybe they DID do fireworks, but there was no way our kiddos were going to make it that late to find out.  So we took some festive accessories to dinner that we had brought along with us and celebrated on our own.   The wait staff, who were 100% from other countries, serenading us with a patriotic song (I can't remember which one) was as celebratory as it got.

This is the entire group of kids that were all there to celebrate Sydney. 7 of them are related and 3 others were friends from Michigan.  I'm pretty sure these kids don't realize how lucky they are to have been on a cruise already, with a big group of kids to party with the whole time.  That's way better than Mom and Dad the entire time.

 Next stop, Cozumel.

off to first grade

Well, it's here.  Today we sent our first kiddo off to school all day. 

How thankful I am for a half day Kindergarten last year that eased us in to this all day long gig.

She's been excited but nervous.  Lots of questions, and needing to talk through things over and over.  Very unlike her.  She was worried about lunch, and getting tired, and who'd she play with at recess.

What comfort in knowing that the Lord goes before her, and is by her side when we cannot be.

 

We kicked off last night with our 2nd annual back to school dinner celebration.

 

 We love this idea I found online last year, and I think it's one that will stick and be a tradition for as long as the kids enjoy it.  It is so fun making them feel so special on this night and taking delight in their promotion to a new grade.  She got to pick what I made for dinner, and we picked up an ice cream cake as a treat. 

 

 

She woke before her alarm, at 6am.  Partly thanks to the little baby next door who decided to bang on his door and think he wanted to be up for the day.  Luckily I got him back to sleep while Taylor and I got ourselves ready for the day.

 

I drove her out this first day, she'll ride the bus tomorrow. 

As we walked in, I snapped a few pictures with my phone.  I had no clue what I was really getting in my shot, trying to be discreet about it, I just snapped twice and didn't look at them till I got home.

It's moments like this captured forever that are the most precious gifts.

 

Her first real desk.

And then just like that, it was time to wave goodbye and walk out. It was a different feeling than Kindergarten, not as emotional, but yet still hard.  Maybe that's just how every year is...letting go a little bit more each time.

 

 

 

The boys and I picked her up and she was all smiles.  She loved the crispy chicken salad for lunch, she decided she did want milk for snack (after she told me she only wanted one milk at lunch, and then she'd do water at snack), she saw her Kindergarten teacher a whole three times, she learned to jump rope for a loooong time by just doing little jumps, not big ones, and she can't wait till her job is the "messenger" who gets to take messages to other teachers.

 

Bring on tomorrow.

 

For a look back, you can check out her Preschool and Kindergarten favorites.
I got the back to school printable signs here.



Sydney's Celebration Cruise

So how about now that we've been home for almost a month, I finally show you some cruise pictures?? 

In case you don't know the story behind our cruise (and really, in case you're wondering why on earth we took our kids to Disney World and then 2 weeks later flew back to Florida to go on a cruise), let me explain.

In September of 2010 our 7 year old (at the time) was diagnosed with Leukemia after her music teacher called home to express his concern with how tired and not herself she was seeming.  A routine doctor's appointment ended with the reality of cancer. It was a hard 2 years of chemo, losing her hair twice and more pins and needles and blood transfusions and feeling yucky that any 2nd and 3rd grader should ever have to experience.  Her parents said when it was all over we would all take a celebration trip together.  (It just so happened that Premier announced their trip for 2 weeks before our July 4th week cruise).  We prayed and prayed about whether we could do both trips.  Whether we SHOULD do both trips.  But in the end, the Lord provided and made it clear to us that these "once in a lifetime" trips with our kiddos were a GO!  It is just so amazing to know that not only does God take care of all the necessities in our lives, but so many times he takes care of even the little pleasures in life that he knows we desire. 

We left Gavin behind again.  And I was way more nervous this time, knowing that we were out of the country and not so easily accessed by phone.  But he did awesome again at home with his Mema.  He was spoiled and loved on and didn't even notice we were gone for 8 days.

We traveled with Dave's aunt & uncle, whom the kids adore.  It was nice for the kids to have someone besides mommy and daddy to sit by on the plane!  And we loved their company.

 

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale a day early and headed to the beach. 

 

This little guy has come a long ways since the beach in Destin.  He loved the waves, loved the ocean, and the yucky salt water didn't slow him down one bit.

 

 

Our entire group of 29 boarded the ship wearing orange, the color of Leukemia awareness.  22 of us were family of Syd, and 7 were friends.  This picture of all almost all the cousins together is precious.  Being with cousins is always the best of times.  But coming together like this, to celebrate the life of one of them, makes it all that much more special. It's a strong reminder of God's great goodness, mercy and healing.

 

 

We shuttled to the port in Miami, and the kids were throwing out guesses as to how big the boat was going to be.  Most of them really had NO clue and were in for a way bigger surprise than they were thinking.

 

Sitting through a safety meeting was pretty torturous on little kiddos who just boarded the ship an hour before and wanted to explore!  And who were already exhausted.

 

We found a very WINDY spot in the front of the boat to watch our departure.

 

We bought our unlimited pop cups, checked out our cozy little room and headed to the party!

 

Sydney's parents rented a lounge on the boat for a private party.  Dancing, drinks, ice cream sundae bar, chocolate covered strawberries and gifts!  Definitely an awesome way to kick off the cruise.

 

 

We have one child who could dance all night long and another who wouldn't be caught dead on the dance floor, even to dance with his mommy.  And yes, that is MY husband with the lawnmower moves.

 

 

But the party didn't come without tears.

 

Sydney read a letter and gave us all a copy of a book that she wrote and had printed as she journaled her way through cancer.  And then Stacy and Jason had a time of thanking everyone who walked beside them the last 2 year, and ended with a video looking back at pictures of Sydney's journey.

 

It was such a precious time celebrating our sweet niece and coming together as a family to look back with gratitude, at the storm that the Lord brought Sydney and her family through.

 

We are so so thankful for a healthy, strong, and beautiful 9 year old niece!