Happy Anniversary! Can you believe Dallas and I have been married EIGHT years? And moreover, can you believe we have been blessed with the most precious, wonderful, amazing child?
As we slowly cruise down the East Coast today, it is beautiful, sunny, mild. Really perfect, perfect weather.
Right on time, Austin woke us up at 6:30. Doesn’t vacation mean anything to him? After breakfast, where Austin decided to spit out anything that wasn’t a Cheerio, we toured the ship a little before putting him down for a nap.
Austin is teaching us the meaning of baby proof. Dallas put his earplugs on the table this morning. As I pushed the stroller into the room, Austin somehow swiped them in under a second. He got one of them to his mouth. Dallas had to turn him over, force his little mouth open, and swipe the earplug out. It was scary for us and maddening for Austin, but we have all recovered. And Mommy and Daddy learned a very important lesson. NOTHING at his height is safe! We all slept a little, then back out for more touring. We strolled around the outside decks, and Austin LOVED the wind in his face. He squealed and laughed. Austin seems to have taken it upon himself to charm every person on this ship. So far, he is doing a great job!
Good news. The maitre’d promised to have pureed steamed veggies for us every night at dinner. And they found us a table for 2, so we don’t have to worry about Austin ruining other’s dining experiences. Last night, we were at a table with two other families. Austin made conversation a little difficult by trying to talk over all of us!
Right now, I’m sitting in a hallway called the Sunset Garden. It is a hallway designed to look like an arboretum with lighted arches, terra cotta tiles with suns on them, fake trees, and lemon vines painted on the ceiling. There are cute little tables and chairs set up next to huge port holes all the way down the hall. The blue ocean is stretching endlessly outside the window. The Captain says we are sailing along the coast of North Carolina, but I can’t see it. Every time I get out here in the ocean like this, I feel so small and am reminded of God’s bigness and greatness. There is an entire world living below this ship that we can’t see that God created. I am humbled and grateful and so very blessed.
The boys are napping. Tonight is our first formal night. It is fitting for our anniversary that we get to dress up and go to dinner. Of course, I’ll probably end up with pureed veggies or soggy Cheeries on me before dinner is finished! Not that I mind a bit.
After naps, Dallas began his habit of beating everyone in trivia. They have three or four trivia games a day – sports, music, general – and Dallas won 3 of the 4 today. He only lost the last game because someone cheated and wrote all the answers in at the end. Good news: he gets bragging rights. Bad news: that is all he gets. They don’t give out T-shirts, hats, fleeces, water bottles on Carnival. They give out “ships on a stick,” a super cheap little trophy (think little league).
Austin got his first experience in a swimming pool. He really wasn’t sure why Daddy would put him in a bath with cold water, but he got used to it after a bit. He enjoyed watching the other kids play. He did not enjoy wearing a hat.
Dinner was very good , and Austin enjoyed his pureed veggies. We took a few “elegant photos” since we were dressed and it is our anniversary. Unfortunately, there is no one close to Rita on the ship taking pictures.
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