Cruise Part 1

I am so far behind on my blog (sorry, Grandma)! The boys got out of school the beginning of June. Less than a week after they started their summer, we went on a cruise with Bob's parents. I am having Glenn work on a paper about our vacation so he will have his memories down on paper like I have my blog. So far, he has the whole paper outlined and the introduction written. When he completes it, I will put it on here.

We started our vacation perfectly. No traffic to the port and practically no lines in the terminal. We dropped our things off in our rooms and then ate lunch. The boys were ready to swim, and even though we didn't have our luggage, I brought suits in our carry on. We swam until the Muster drill. If you have never cruised, you may not know about the muster drill. Within a certain amount of time after leaving the port, the ship is required to do an emergency drill where everyone has to find their muster station, where they line up shoulder to shoulder. Thankfully, they no longer require you to go to get your life jacket first for the drill, which makes it much quicker. Glenn was happy to know where we needed to go in case of an emergency. Alexander could not see anything because he is so short.

Our first dinner was delicious! I should have written down what I ate every night so I would remember it. But none of our dinners disappointed us. After dinner, we brought Bob's mom and the boys to our room to get ready for bed. She enjoyed reading and singing with them each evening, and especially cuddling with them. After Bob and I were done in the evening, we would come back to our room and Bob's mom would then go up to her room.

The second day, we were at sea. I had planned on exercising in the gym each morning we were at sea. I brought the clothes I usually wear to work out, but forgot one minor detail... my sneakers. So, this first morning, I was on the elliptical machine in my sandals. After 15 minutes, my arches hurt. Not a good idea! We spent the day either swimming, eating or snoozing. The boys spent time in the kids club called Adventure Ocean. They played games, made crafts and did science projects. Alexander made snow (a polymer you add water to that looks like snow) and Glenn made a jar with clay around a cup. We had formal wear this second evening. I had suits the boys wore at our niece's wedding last fall. They looked very handsome.

The third day, we were in Charleston, SC. After eating breakfast, we ventured out to explore the coastline and the historical architecture. We found a children's museum, which is exactly what the boys needed. They climbed through a castle, pirate ship, on a rock wall, and played in water tables and a pretend supermarket complete with a scanner at the register. I found some sneakers, which gave me no excuse to exercise the rest of the trip.

The cabin steward would make towel animals for us each night. The boys loved them. They they started beheading them and Glenn would pose for the camera as if he was in disbelief.

Alexander tried to put it back together, but Glenn was already in dismay!

The forth and most of the fifth days were at sea. I settled into a routine of waking up, bringing the boys with me to breakfast, and then having Bob's parents watch the boys or send them to the kids club while I exercised. After that, I would spend time with the boys and hopefully Bob would be awake, too! I got a little too much sun on my exposed tummy. Note to self, let the sunscreen absorb before going out in the sun. On the forth day, they had a 70's theme evening complete with a disco and the Village People in the center of the ship. On the evening of the fifth day, we arrived in Bermuda at the Royal Navy Dockyard. After the boys were settled into bed with Kathy (Bob's mom), Bob and I went out to explore. Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed. We found the beach there and walked around. It was beautiful and we got to stick our feet in the very clear water. They also had pipes in the sand on the beach for umbrellas. Keep in mind this was in the evening and the sun had already set. Well, wouldn't you guess that my toe would find one of those pipes in the sand. It was not a pleasant meeting. I knew right away I had broken my middle toe. But we hobbled on and explored a bit more. Upon returning to the ship, I got a better look at my now swollen toe and it had a bruise in a nice straight line across the toe. That confirmed it... broken. There isn't much you can do with a broken toe but tape it to the one next to it.

We woke up early the next morning for a full day in Bermuda. We went straight to the scene of the broken toe incident after breakfast. We were the first ones on the beach. After getting used to the chilly but beautifully teal water, we did some snorkeling. I bought Bob a HD video underwater camera for Father's Day. We can't wait to see the video of snorkeling. The coral ranged from yellow Bermuda (or brain) coral to deep purple feathery coral. At first, we saw schools of tiny fish, then white and blue fish bigger than my hand. Around the coral were fish of many colors, including fish about 18 inches long in all colors of the rainbow. Alexander loved snorkeling. Glenn was a bit nervous of the fish and especially the coral moving with the current.

Petting Zoo

We went to a birthday party this weekend for one of Alexander's friend's sister. She was turning four. The only thing she wanted at her party was to ride a pony. That's no small order. They decided to have it at a farm that allows you to pet and feed the animals and have a cute pony to ride. The boys loved it (The best day ever!). Feeding the animals was fun, but riding the pony was definitely the highlight of the day. Glenn was very serious riding the pony. When he got off, you couldn't wipe the smile off his face. He said, "I liked it! I want to do it again!" Unfortunately, he only got one ride. Alexander loved it, too. He said it was bumpy.

This cow kept following Glenn around.

 The pygmy goats were so cute!

 Watch out! Here come the bigger goats. Then tended to stick with you for a while until you stopped feeding them.

This is the pony they rode later.

 Glenn was so excited, he didn't even notice the zebra saddle.

 They had more donkeys, miniature horses, emus, goats and sheep in the back. They had a trampoline in with the sheep and goats, but we didn't see any animals jump on it. It did look a bit out of place.

Here are a couple unrelated pictures. The boys have been taking swimming lessons since the beginning of March. It's actually a mini-swim team meant to prepare kids for regular swim team. They really enjoy it. Here is Alexander waiting to start with some of his teammates:

Cubby catching some rays!

Spring Break in St. Augustine

We went to St. Augustine during the boys' spring break. And lucky for me, my break between terms teaching coincided with part of their spring break. We camped not far from the beach. The day we got there, we met my dad and Uncle Jim at the beach. Then we had a nice dinner. When we got back to the camper, we had s'mores.

It was Sophie's first camping trip. We were hoping she and Cubby would sleep on this bed. But they both ended up in our beds. Sophie snores just like London did.

Alexander getting ready for bed.

We spent my birthday in the historic downtown area. We went shopping and of course the boys had to get candy (okay, me, too... what? It was my birthday!)

We went for a walk to see the sights. Alexander loved the canons.

Bridge of the Lions- those lions are scary!

Alexander and his pirate gear.

We went to the beach that evening. It started raining when we got there, but didn't last long. The rain was worth seeing this:

Alexander got a hold of the camera.

Cubby getting comfortable.

It got a bit cooler the next day (hence the sweatshirts). We did some more sight-seeing. We went to the St. Augustine lighthouse. This first picture is of Alexander and I at the top. It was windy and he was scared. We didn't stay at the top long. 

This is another reason why Alexander was scared; you could see through the step of the lighthouse, and he was afraid they were going to break.

There was a museum in the keeper's house. Here's Glenn posing for a picture. He said he was pretending that it was hard to turn the wheel.

We wanted to go on a chocolate factory tour. But when we got there, they were full unless you had a reservation. So, we walked down the street and dropped in a toy shop. We found a very cool bike. Glenn has refused to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels. This one is low to the ground and has three wheels. So, he feels safe. And you have to lean your body to the side to steer it. So, he will strengthen his core while riding the bike. A recent evaluation showed he has a weak core and that strengthening it would help him greatly. The lady that owned the shop was trying to get rid of it because it was taking up too much space in her little shop, so we got it for a great price. Glenn absolutely loves it. We have been enjoying going on little bike rides, getting longer each time to build his stamina. 

Then we walked in the art district looking for a coffee shop (because it was cold). The boys had ice cream and Bob had a smoothie (crazy boys) while I had a tall warm coffee.

We brought our smoker and had some delicious chicken smoked for dinner. We left the next morning. It was a fun and relaxing long weekend.

Our Newest Furbaby

We have missed having London in the house since he passed last summer. But we all needed to be ready for another pug. Just before Christmas, Bob told me he was ready. So, he filled out an application to the Pug Rescue of Florida. We didn't hear anything until after Christmas. They wanted to make sure we were "fit" to have a pug. We passed. :) We then got a call last week about a little girl in Vero Beach. She was abandoned in a foreclosure home with her mate in September. The neighbors called the police because they heard the barking but couldn't get to them. The police rescued them and brought them to a shelter, which gave them to the pug rescue group. She was pretty sick when she was found and no hair on her back. She was down to 13 lbs, which is really low for a pug. But after a few months of proper care and diet, she's doing well. They called her Tiny because she is small for a pug even with more meat on her bones.

We met her on Sunday. We drove the 2 and half hours to get her. Alexander fell in love instantly. He kept giving her hugs. Cubby didn't think too much of the situation, especially since there were five pugs in the house. We had to hold him the whole time. After signing some paper work and paying her vet bills, she became our. 

On our ride home we discussed her name. We wanted a real name, not just a size. Bob wanted to call her Princess Sophia, but Glenn was against calling her Princess. So, we compromised. Her full name is Princess Sophia, but we call her Sophie for short. Or, Alexander calls her Soph, because he likes to be different. 

She adjusted well to our house. At one point that first night, I was sitting on the couch with Cubby on one side and Sophie on the other. But when Bob sat in his chair, she got up to sit with him.

The next day, Bob set up a blanket for Sophie between our chairs in the office with a bone he got her. She curled up and was very happy. That night, she slept in the laundry room. She only cried a little bit, but slept the night. We were very happy that she wasn't scared.

The next day, I took Sophie to the vet to make sure she was healthy. She weighed in at 15.4 lbs. The vet would like to see her at 17 or 18 lbs. So, we're working on that. But she is small boned, so that will be enough. He said that she was very healthy. There was some question as to how old Sophie might be. Some paperwork said 6, and others said 3 to 4 years. The vet thinks she's more likely to be 3 to 4. So, we've decided that her adoption day will be her 4th birthday. Here are the boys with Sophie waiting to see the vet.

After leaving the vet, we went to PetSmart to get some "necessities." Man, those necessities really add up. They had sweaters 40% off, so Cubby made out with a couple, as well as Sophie (see the picture below with Cubby wearing his new sweater). Both dogs enjoy wearing sweaters. They come right up to me and stand there while I put them on. Then they leave them alone. 

We got Sophie a bed. It's huge and has fleece on one side and a more durable fabric on the other with blue flowers and birds. Well, she didn't want to sleep on it. Also, she didn't want to sleep in the laundry room anymore. After 1:00, we tried putting her in with Alexander. No dice! We tried putting her on the floor in our room. She paced for probably another half hour, but it felt like much longer. Eventually, we just put her in our bed because we needed to sleep. Where did she sleep? On my feet! Hmm... I ended up sleeping with Alexander. 

The next morning, she didn't want her new bed. As you can see below, Cubby took it over at first. 

But that didn't last. Sophie kept walking around or standing in the office. Eventually, she got tired and slowly inched up on the bed. I was proud of Cubby. His ears twitched and that was it. Usually if Sophie got too close, he would bark at her. Now, I think Sophie has claimed it completely because if Sophie is on it first, Cubby won't go on it. But he will let Sophie get on once he's on it. 

So, back to our sleeping arrangements. We thought that maybe Sophie would sleep with Glenn because it's a big bed. But she wouldn't stay in there without Bob or myself. So, Bob slept with Glenn and Sophie for a while. Then when he woke for his nightly snack, he of course woke the other two. Glenn decided if Bob wasn't in his bed, he was going to sleep on the couch in the living room. Amazingly, Sophie slept with him on the couch and Bob got to come back to our bed. They did the same thing last night. So, we are hoping that Sophie will go to bed with Glenn without Bob, but I think it's still going to be a while. 

Alexander loves the big dog bed's soft side. He came in tonight and cuddled with Sophie for a bit. 

We are very thankful for Sophie coming into our lives. I now have a girl to dress up and Bob has his princess, who follows him everywhere. Alexander is in love and Glenn is Glenn. He's a little skittish around the dogs, but since Sophie is calmer than Cubby, I think he will really enjoy her (she also doesn't nip at his ankles). Alexander was a little disappointed that she won't play fetch, but Cubby can't get enough of that game. He's always willing to play.

Bob has a new shadow now. London would always cuddle with Bob in the evenings. Now Sophie will. As long as we can figure out a suitable sleeping situation, we will all be perfectly happy!