As Life Continues

Sam jumped into basketball for a very short season. He missed the first week of practice due to our trip, and came back just in time for one practice before his first game. Considering he was learning as he was playing, he did pretty well. He learned to play offense pretty quickly, where he used his size to his great advantage. 

He is now onto baseball, which is also a brand new sport for him. He's learning all the new skills.

He also won the story stumper at the library. "Gravity Falls: Journal 3"

Some creative writing, 

And some creative pinewood derby car building. His car did well.

Just not as well as Ethan's. Ethan managed to win first place, thanks to some quick tape repairs. The car managed to hold on to all four of its wheels, until the very last second. Ethan went for speed, not quality. (In the background he is preparing a blanket for me to crochet an edge onto, for his pregnant Student Council teacher).

Ethan participated in the Borah Lionettes/Spirit Squad Spring Event. In the last dance each dancer needed a partner, there weren't enough guys and Ethan was recruited. After two weeks of practice, he joined the people who had been dancing for years. He made quite the impression.

We got a great aunt/uncle upgrade. Now instead of watching one monkey on Saturdays, we get two. It's a lovely upgrade.

Grace signed up for volleyball, and is showing true dedication to her new endeavor. Her team lost their first game, but it was very close. We sat through a lot of overtime (or whatever it is called in volleyball). She's hoping to start track soon. After two years of COVID restrictions, my kids have decided to try every new thing they can possibly find. 

Libby has been driving for several months now. But she has been terrified of the truck's manual transmission. After stalling out several times on her way to school a few months back, she threw in the towel. She informed me she had PTSD, and could not drive the truck anywhere, ever again.

I forced her into the truck last week and had her drive. She was crying and shaking, but I persisted. Eventually I looked down at her feet and commented, "You shouldn't have your foot all the way off the clutch before the truck is moving."

The heavens opened, the sun shone down, angelic choruses could be heard. She drove around the neighborhood without stalling a single time.

Two days later and she is an excited, enthusiastic stick shift driving master. Or at least mostly competent, and her stalling out is virtually non-existent. 

I am crazy proud of these kids. They are constantly growing in new and unexpected ways. 

Day 9 - Homeward Bound

We packed our bags, left the ship, went through customs, counted our children, and climbed aboard the bus for the airport.

Unfortunately, our bus took us to the airport at 10am and our flight didn't leave until after 5pm EST. We had too much luggage to haul around Miami, and storing it somewhere would have cost over $100, plus we didn't have transportation. So we just sat and waited. The kids caught up on social media, I read a book, Michael caught up on emails, and we just stared at each other with exhausted eyes.

We finally made it onto the plane and flew through a lot of turbulence to the Denver airport, where we had a two hour layover. Even buying a pizza didn't make it more bearable. But we survived. The kids did enjoy the people conveyors and Ethan commented they should install them in high schools to eliminate hallway congestion.

We finally made it to Boise at 11:45 pm, and were completely exhausted from all of our sitting around. Kristal gave us all, except Michael, a ride home. Ethan went back in the van for his father and our piles of luggage. As previously mentioned, we couldn't fit everyone and everything in one vehicle. By 1:30am MST, everyone was home, everyone was safe, and everyone was in bed. Our own beds. Our own, comfortable, snuggly, warm, welcoming beds. It was good to be home.

Unexpected expenses:

• Zero! Third day in a row! Woohoo! Although Grace did leave her phone in the airport. Thankfully she remembered while we were boarding, and the flight attendant let me out to search for it. Sure enough, she had left it on the chair, and I was able to quickly grab it and get back on the plane, right behind the last people boarding.
• Total: $1,109 + 0 = $1,109

Day 8 - Beneath the Pale Moonlight

Our ship turned toward Miami, and we spent a day at sea.

Grace, Ethan, and I were finally able to try the rock wall. Grace and Ethan ran up the walls like the spider monkeys they are. I managed to hoist myself up the easiest wall, and halfway up the hard one. The wall was so much taller than the ones we have climbed before, so that was actually really fun.

The girls and I played a round of mini golf. I think I played with each member of my family, just not all together. It was a tiny little course, so it worked out pretty well.

Michael made sure to grab one last ice cream cone. The unending ice cream is sorely missed by many members of my family. I'm pretty sure our blood sugar and cholesterol are thankful, though. We don't seem to have a lot of self control when it comes to constant food.

And of course, we made time to eat one last family meal in the dining room. This was a really enjoyable part of our cruise. Each night we were able to gather for dinner and no one had work, or homework, or events to rush off to. Instead we were able to just sit and enjoy dinner together for an hour each evening. It didn't hurt we ordered dessert, every single night, and sometimes more than one. 

After dinner, we caught one last show. We attended "Flight" as a family. The children were getting a little tired of shows by this point, and a musical about the history of flight sounded boring to them. We made them come with us anyway.

It was actually amazing. The singing was really good, the dancing was great, and the special effects were mesmerizing. The play started in the future and ended with the Wright brothers' flight.

Aboard a space station.

The moon landing.

Breaking the sound barrier.

And the grand finale. Orville Wright climbed into this plane and it flew out over the audience, just a few feet above our heads. The whole show was pretty spectacular.

After the show, it was getting late, and we thought about heading to bed. We at least thought about it. 

I took the younger kids to play shuffleboard. This was Grace's first time playing, while Sam was well on his way to mastering the game. We were never quite sure if we were playing correctly, but we felt we couldn't go on a cruise and not play at least a few games of this sport. Sam was quick to point out that I always beat him because I was old, and being old is a prerequisite for shuffleboard.

Our last night aboard ship. We were tired and ready to go home. We also enjoyed a gorgeous night, and one last pristine ocean view.

Unexpected expenses:

• Zero! Two days running!
• Total: $1,109 + 0 = $1,109

Day 7 - Put the Lime in the Coconut

Day seven found us docked in Roatán, Honduras. We did not have an excursion planned. We were hoping to head into town, play on one of their fabled beaches, and pick up some lunch. 

We started off bright and early, with hope in our hearts.

There were tiny little lizards everywhere.

More plants that I have potted in my house, just growing in the wild.

And walls of people wanting to walk us to tourist destinations, get us a taxi, book us a trip, and be our best friend forever. We kept politely declining the invitations and headed into town to see what we could see. Unfortunately, those trying to sell us their services did not take the hint. They fell into step with us, chatting the whole time, giving us information on the island, and suggesting places where we might want to stop.

I was in front of our group and Michael was pulling up the rear. We both had our own personal tour guide, whether we wanted one or not. Michael was enjoying chatting with his unofficial guide, but my guy was stressing the kids out. He was nice, but the kids and myself just wanted to be left alone to walk around. After I explained my children were getting stressed, he happily made his way off. He just suggested that if we wanted to buy any souvenirs, to please purchase them in town and not at the port. The money spent in town stayed in the community, while they saw very little return from the port stores.

We walked a little further, but did not find any beaches. We learned from our guides they were all on the other side of the island and would require a taxi ride. By then we were all hot and sweaty and discombobulated. We didn't have the time or energy to cross the island.

Instead we stopped at a little roadside restaurant to grab some cold drinks. The menu was in Spanish, as expected, and Michael and I combined our limited Duolingo Spanish to order a few drinks. They had large orange coolers with different flavors of juices, so we ordered one of everything. We got fresh piña, tamarindo, naranja, melón, and límon. We expected they would use the spouts at the bottom of each jug to serve. We were wrong. We watched as they opened the top of each cooler, scooped out a large cup of juice and ice, and served it to us, with the juice still dripping down her hand back into the cooler.

They also had empanadas for a dollar each! So we ordered a few of those as well. 

We sat under the fan, ate some food, drank some drinks, and felt much better. And it only cost $19 to feed the whole family! Some of the drinks were really good and some tasted like fruit juice mixed with a couple pounds of sugar. Too sweet, even for us Americans.

Roatán was beautiful, but the poverty was also evident. There were skinny dogs wandering the streets, and Grace was distraught we couldn't adopt them and bring them home. The open trash bins perfumed the town, and each alley was covered in waste and filth, smelling of sewage. But the houses were brightly painted, the people were friendly, and there were fantastic murals everywhere. It was a study in opposites.

We only had time to see a little bit of the city before we started back to the ship. It was so incredibly hot and sticky that us Idaho folks could barely breathe.

On the way back, we did heed my guide's advice and stopped in one or two, or sixteen shops. It was a bit of a shopping blitz. We got conch shells and wall hangings and Christmas decorations and clothes and musical instruments and mahogany bowls and maybe some more vanilla. The people in the shops were lovely and much less pushy than what we had experienced in Mexico. 

We weren't able to swim in Honduras, so we cooled off on the ship.

Grace was even brave enough to attempt the body boarding!

Unexpected expenses:

• Zero! - We had budgeted for food and souvenirs, so today we didn't go deeper into the hole.
• Total: $1,109 + 0 = $1,109

Day 6 - Joy to the Fishes in the Deep Blue Sea

Day six found us tired but we couldn't sleep in. During the night we had reached Cozumel, and we had a snorkeling trip planned. I was the only one up to catch the sun rising over the city.

I had to drag everyone out of bed, as we were supposed to meet our snorkeling guide at 9am. We were running off the ship at 8:50am when I lost both of the girls. I eventually found them waiting for me at the gangplank on the other side of the ship. We quickly exited the ship, found the boys waiting on the dock, and speed walked through the port and onto the main street. We were late, we were stressed, and we weren't quite sure where we were going.

As we hit the main street, a random guy sitting on a ledge made eye contact with me. He said, "Michael?" I asked for the last name. He responded, "Group of six?" I paused, not sure if this was our guide, or a clever scam. He was dressed in a plain t-shirt, shorts and ball cap with no identifying logos, signs, or anything. He said again, "You guys, Michael, group of six, for snorkeling. Your guide is back here."

There were some definite kidnapping vibes, but he also seemed to be looking for us, and had the right information. The language barrier made it hard to get more details. He led us further into the shopping center, told us we needed to pay $5 per person, so $30. I vaguely remembered reading there was a fee to the city for snorkeling in the protected reef, but it was extraordinarily sketchy. We just gave him the money. I don't think we were scammed, but it is possible. He then introduced us to Felipe, who was wearing a SafeTours polo, who would take us to the boat. We were told to apply sunscreen here, as it wasn't allowed once we were on the water. Note there was no one around but Felipe and us.

By this point the girls were quietly shaking and crying. They were sure we were going to be kidnapped in Mexico. Michael tried to figure out some more details from Felipe, but he was brand new to the company and didn't have very many answers. What info he did have matched our reservation. So we carefully headed to the dock to meet our boat.

Our boat was running late, which wasn't a problem as we were running late as well. Libby was still in a state of panic. She was not reassured when a small boat missing large swatches of paint pulled up to the dock, nor when we realized we were the only people in our tour group. She was begging me not to get on the boat. I told her that we had reserved a glass-bottomed boat, and if this boat didn't have a glass bottom, then we were out. If it had a glass bottom then it was the one we reserved. 

The boat pulled all the way to the dock, and sure enough it had a small glass bottom in the middle. Our snorkeling guide introduced himself as Julian and his "paparazzi" guy as Miguel, and the captain of the Cubana was Carlos. We climbed into the boat and he pointed to the three locations we were visiting, all in view, all with a scattering of tourists already bobbing in the water. I think the girls finally started to breathe.

Julian explained how to snorkel and we were off. 

The girls were once again terrified. They had decided Miguel and Julian were probably okay, but they were horrified the fish might touch them. I had to spend several minutes coaching Grace on how to use her snorkel equipment. She would put her head under the water, jerk up at the sight of fish, inhale water, and start panicking. Once she calmed down a little and was breathing, she was a rock star.

I asked Sam to wear a life jacket when we first started. It was a big ocean, and he is a good swimmer, but doesn't have as much experience as his siblings. We quickly realized he didn't need one. Snorkeling is just floating, with style.

We did not get kidnapped. We did not get scammed. It was just a different experience than we expected. It was still amazing. As I snorkeled among the fish, I realized I was in a rare perfect moment. It was amazing, even though Michael lost the underwater camera we bought specifically for this trip at the first dive location. (Editor's note: the ocean took it from me.) So then we had to buy these photos from our "personal paparazzi" Miguel. He offered us all the photos for $100, but Michael bartered to $60. Yikes. The pictures are pretty great, though.

After our dive, we took the opportunity to do a little shopping in the Cozumel port. It was madness. Grace asked the price on an outfit, and the vendor told her the price, got the outfit down, and put it in a bag. Grace was horrified. Everywhere we turned people were pushing their wares at us. Asking a price was treated like a promise to buy. I lost Michael and the teens. Sam wanted to buy everything. Grace wanted to hide and the port was so loud. I was losing my mind. And buying real vanilla extract real cheap. 

I finally gave up on finding the rest of my family and headed to the ship with the younger children in tow. I met Ethan heading off the ship to find a tattoo parlor. No worries though, he was just looking for a new nose ring as he was having an allergic reaction to his current one. I found Libby already on the ship and no update on Michael. He eventually wandered back onto the ship, not realizing I had spent 45 minutes looking for him. Ethan came back shortly thereafter with a hypoallergenic nose ring. I felt like I was finally able to breathe. Losing people in Mexico, with no cell phones, is a harrowing experience.

We then spent the afternoon catching our breath. 

Sam spent a lot of time in the hot tub.

Michael and I played mini golf.

 

And I spent some time trying to body board. We do not need to discuss my wardrobe malfunction. (Editor's note: *snicker*)

Just another day in paradise.

Unexpected Expenses:

• Lost camera: $75
• Purchased photos: $60
• Total: $75 + 60 + 974 = $1,109