Disney Cruise Day Two - NASSAU BAHAMAS

Catamaran
in
the
Bahamas

Day two began overcast, rainy, and oh so cold. We disembarked the Wonder and headed for the chartered Catamaran sailing. We were freezing the four mile ride out to sea, that is until we loaded on our snorkeling gear and hit the water! It was so warm and wonderful! It was difficult to get the kids situated and moving together with their fins, masks, and snorkels. Nathan is typically slow as molasses, and so Jason and I were overwhelmed getting them all in the water. After a few minutes of wondering why did we even bother paying for this excursion, I remembered why we were there, and I actually put my mask toward the water. As I looked toward the ocean floor, instantly, it all fell away. The coral reef below us with all the amazing fish and beautiful colors melted away every ounce of frustration.

As I was floating along enjoying the creativity of God, it occurred to me that we do that in life all the time. We get so distracted by all the nonsense going on above the surface. We're stressed and flustered by the problems associated with where we are in life at the moment, when God is saying the whole time, "Your missing the point, look for what you've come here for, the point, the reason, the beauty I created for you for this moment is just below the surface of all this other junk you're focused on instead."

The boys quickly settled in and enjoyed floating around with me, while Brooklyn and Jason flipped off further around the reef. Corban especially loved the coral that literally looked like brains sitting on the ocean floor. The boys would point and giggle in their snorkels. I enjoyed holding their hands and exploring the sights.

Soon enough though, we realized Nathan wasn't around anymore, and found him securely back on the boat, done with the excursion's excitement! One by one Corban, and then Brooklyn headed back to the boat as well, which gave Jason and I a chance to swim around and take things in even closer. We enjoyed Rum Punch on the way back toward Nassau and did our best to dry out our rain soaked clothes.
Once on land again, we grabbed lunch at Senior Frogs, and tried to keep the kids' backs to the events going on at the bar behind them. :( Those guys were really enjoying their vacation! :) We watched the catamaran take off with the next group of snorkelers aboard, and laughed and rested over our cokes and quesadillas.
We decided to stroll through the Straw Market on the pier. Corban bought a walking coconut turtle which quickly broke, "That's a total rip off!" he exclaimed loudly. One woman tried to get me to pay to hold her adorable little baby who I oohed over, I seem to have a new affinity for little black babes, and Nathan and Brooklyn bought necklaces. We then headed to the nicer district where diamond boutiques, Rolex, and other fine retailers set up beautiful shops for duty free bargain hunters.
The kids decided they had enough of Nassau quickly, so we headed back to the ship. After a refreshing shower, Corban and Jason headed up to Deck 9 for some one on one Ping Pong play, while the rest of us got dressed for our show and rested.

The show for the night was Toy Story, and once again the stage and talent was impeccable. After the show, we had an hour before dinner and decided to go play Bingo. In true Jason Root Family style, we sat in the front row, and our loud crazy antics won us a lot of attention and joking from the emcee for the game. We were named the Rollercoaster Roots for the way all of us raised our hands, jumped up, and screamed every time we got an important ball to pop up! The evening paid out well for us! We won the four corners game and pocketed $98! Tonight's dinner was at the fine French restaurant, Triton's. Brooklyn loved her breaded Turkey and Marinara plate, and Jason and I once again had steak. We were joined by our table mates this evening, a wonderful couple from Canada, and their precious daughter.

Instead of leaving for the OceanEar's Club tonight, we all went as a family to the Pirates in The Caribbean Party on Deck 9. The dessert spread was unbelievable, and the characters put on a great show. The kids loved the pirate villains! The party ended late and we headed back to the room.A quick picture of our towel animal for the night, a few minutes of staring at the night sky from our deck, and everyone was ready for bed.

Disney Cruise Day One - ALL ABOARD!

Day One was a hectic day of getting up early, not having time to eat breakfast, then the plane was delayed so there was no time for lunch, and so I can not tell you how huge the mounds of cookies and cheese cubes the kids bowls had when we finally made it to the welcome buffet on the cruise! Then, in complete un-Disney fashion, a once in an unheard of lifetime for all Crew members, the computer glitched and locked everyone out of their rooms. We couldn't change into our "cruise wear" so the kids had to stand in the sun for the safety drill in their jeans and hot clothes. Between the lack of food, the inappropriate attire, not having access to our carry on bags which had our swimsuits ,so they couldn't swim, and the HOT HOT HOT deck drill, the kids attitudes, (and mom and dad's), were showing signs of being anywhere but the happiest place on earth. But, then, we got keys to our rooms that actually opened the door and the kids were ecstatic, and we got dressed for Dinner and a Show and vacation officially started!We paused for a photo on the deck of our Stateroom before heading to the show. The kids loved going out on the deck and watching the boat come and go into port, as well as starting and ending each day just watching the water flow by. We loved this picture God painted for us in the sky. Even the clouds were cruising this night. The clouds were low and there was rain on either side of this clearing, which formed the shape of a cruise ship.We have indoctrinated our kids to love live performances, and especially Musicals. Once we were seated at the show, The Golden Mickeys, we truly let go and began to enjoy! The kids were laughing, giggling, and chatting about their favorite characters as they danced and sang across the amazing stage! The talent was absolutely top notch, and especially the girl who sang Pocahontas, she sounded exactly like the movie track! We then headed to dinner at Parrot Cay. One of our favorite parts was that they offer this great program called Dine and Play aboard Disney Cruise Line. They serve your kids their meals as quickly as possible, so that they can be whisked away to the OceanEar's Club by the staff who come to the restaurant and pick them up for you, and mom and dad can enjoy the rest of their dinner and dessert alone! It was wonderful! Afterward Jason and I went to the movies and saw, The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. They were also showing G-Force and Up in Disney 3-D. As they said, "Yes, we show movies that are still in the theaters, uh, because we own them!" We picked the kids up at midnight and headed back to our cabin for some z's. We took the customary picture of the towel animals, hung out on our cabin deck for a bit, and then rocked to sleep with the ocean. It was a beautiful day.

New Car Seat Law in Texas

SB 61 amends the existing statute regarding child passenger safety seats. The bill requires that any child younger than 8 years of age be restrained in an approved child passenger safety seat unless the child is at least 4 feet, 9 inches in height. The fine is no more than $25 for a first offense and $250 for a second offense. The law also creates a new court cost for conviction of an offense under this section to be collected and used by TxDOT to buy safety seats for low income families. The law becomes effective on Sept. 1, 2009, but tickets for this offense cannot be issued until June 1, 2010. Police officers are allowed to issue a warning before that date.

I would just like to put all police officers on notice in my area that you may ticket me anytime. I may be the worst mother on the planet but my sons weigh more than their 11 year old sister, and sit more securely in their seats than her tiny little frame, and there is no way I'm putting them in any type of booster seat. I can no longer find shoes that fit Nathan, but you expect to have a car seat that's comfortable for him. 8 years?? 57 inches, are you kidding me! I don't think my 11 year old is 57 inches! They can ride roller coasters at Six Flags but have to have a booster seat in my vehicle. Garbage. Nope. God's just going to have to provide protection for them, and I better get my emergency fund increased to pay for all the tickets I'm about to start getting on June 1, 2010...

First Day of School

Today was the first day of School and the kids had fabulous days!

Brooklyn started a new school, 5th Grade at the Intermediate Campus. She said she was super duper excited because her Language Arts teacher was cool and he had a whole library of books she could check out! Also, this year is suppose to rock because the emphasis is more on reading than writing. They're suppose to read 25 books this year, and she said, "I read over 35 books in 2 months, and we have like 9 months for school."

After dropping off Brooklyn, Nathan said, "Lone Star won't be as good this year because Brooklyn's not there." It was so sweet!

The boys said both their teachers were still "cool and fun." Nathan's class is exactly the same as last year, it's a program called Looping. He loves Mrs. Chatham and said the best part of the whole day was seeing all of his friends again.

Corban had his first full day of school today, and he loved Mrs. Carter. She was Brooklyn's looping teacher for 1st/2nd as well, and Corban agreed she's the best teacher. His two best friends from Kindergarten are in his class, so he's excited they'll be in his class three years in a row. (K,1st, and 2nd. . .looping as well) His favorite part of the day was making a piggie in Art class. Because of half day Kindergarten, this is his first experience with the Co-Curr classes, art, music, computers etc.

Despite a little mix up with Brooklyn's pick up, today was a blast for all. I enjoyed getting my haircut, and having a quiet day to work. I think I'll start missing them soon, but for now, it's really nice that they're back in school!

Boys Boys Boys

Fighting from the living room while the boys are trying to pick a movie to watch.

Corban: "Mom, Nathan's being a hypocrit and a liar. He said we both have to agree on a movie, and He's not agreeing with ME! UUUGGGHHHH"
Mom: "And do you agree with him?"
Corban: Silence followed by realization followed by "No."
Mom: "You need to keep looking through the movies until you find one you both are ok to watch."
Corban: "Oh, o.k. But mom, this is not going to be easy."
It never is son, it never is! Can school start soon please?

Computer Windows

So today around lunch the boys were both switching back and forth playing their Club Penguin accounts. I was busy working in the kitchen, and Nathan comes down the hall asking for my help. . .

Nathan: "Can you come help?"
Mom: "What?"
Nathan: "There's an error message on the screen."
Mom: Walking into the office "What's it say?"
Nathan: "It says there are too many Windows open, but the window is closed and so are the blinds. We even turned off the fan, but it still won't let us play our game."
Mom: "You turned off the what?"
Nathan: Pointing up to the ceiling "The fan."

Mom: Trying not to laugh calmly explains to him about Tabs on the browser as the red in his cheeks gets brighter and brighter.

Obsolete in 10 Short Years

So I drug an old Coach purse out of my closet today to use for a day trip downtown, and I discovered a treasure trove of stuff inside. An old wallet filled with obsolete items to make me smile. 10 years isn't really old, it's not supposed to be at least, but in these crazy times life changes so dramatically that 10 years seems like 100 in human evolution.

Here's things from my past that are no more. . . .

Remember Bank One, gone! My childhood home on Harlee, sold. Y2K scare warnings on your ATM receipts! We really thought the world was coming to an end!

I had like 7 of these coupons in my wallet. I remember going to have pictures developed every other week! It was a fortune! Never any more! Thank the Lord for digital. And poor Eckerd's. Over run by Walgreens and the stupidest name in stores, CVS.O.k. Not sure if these guys are obsolete, but I sure hope they are. Three of the biggest travesties in my life. . . our Expedition, my wedding photos, and this horrible excuse for a crown in my mouth! Oh, the Gold Crown card. Essential for any Beanie Baby Hunter. I was a professional, never left home without my cardboard, dot matrix printed membership card.Oh, these cutie pies. Can I just say their childhood is obsolete practically, they're BOTH in COLLEGE now! OMG!

Thank goodness Amy's teacher dresses are now obsolete! But can we just pause to remember how adorable Emily and Brooklyn were as babies, those days are certainly over, big girls that they are now. And the fact that we even carried around all these wallet sized photos in the first place. A bygone era. Now we just click on safari so we can pull up our blog on our iPhones to show off the latest greatest pics of our families.

But the most amazing transformation and most obsolete item of the last 10 years. . .

Jason's hair!

What will the next 10 years do away with? We can only imagine, and look forward to the laughs it will bring. . .