melmar02

Oh no! I cut DS's ear once, and we are still both a little gun shy around them. DH does his own. It's about 5 hours - we're between Dallas and the Oklahoma border and we stay south of Houston in Clear Lake/Webster. Typically we stay at the Homewood Suites in Clear Lake because they have two bedroom suites for us, but the last couple times they seemed really overdue for a remodel. This time we are staying in the Hilton family but trying the Hampton Inn, just down the road in a 1 bedroom suite. Bedroom has 2 queens, and there is a separate living room and kitchenette for DH in the morning. Yep, #31 comes out in November I think. It is a tad annoying, especially when they threw in Diesel from some other series Evanovich writes. Now she's trying to pick from 3 guys, but only when he's in town? When I grow up, I want to be like Grandma Mazur! Living off my kids and a give no sh!%s attitude. I got the kids 90% packed this afternoon and had to stop because DH and I had a dance lesson. We just got home and threw the last load of laundry in the wash. We're probably 50-60% there. We don't really need to leave until around noon tomorrow, so I'm not stressing. Since we just did the mini vacation at Great Wolf, we're not going to do anything in Houston this time. We'll just check into the hotel and then go to dinner. There is a mall close to the hotel with a Cheesecake Factory. Right now the plan is to eat there - I have a few gift cards and everyone can just get what they want. Time for a glass of wine - we're on vacation!

I have always cut the kids' hair - you can learn anything on you tube! DD always just wants one length, and like go go months between cuts. DS has a weird wavy hair pattern, and the few times I have taken him somewhere to have it done, they mess it up. I can turn on a sewing machine, fill a bobbin, and make a straight stitch, but I really can't sew well. The last time I used my machine was to make a Halloween costume for DD when she was 6 or 7. It's been collecting dust in my closet ever since. No, when I say I'm going to hem a pair of pants I mean I'm going go just tack them in several places, or in this case, cheat and use heat bond and just iron it. I do too, the last couple trips down to Galveston we have really run into traffic or bad weather. We even had snow on the trip down a few years ago.

DS came downstairs this morning and DH was working on his laptop. He said, "You know it's the day before vacation when I start my packing list!" He's the perfect combination of engineer and procrastinator. That list won't be done until this afternoon, but it's going to be an organized and color coded masterpiece! I added a couple books to my kindle - Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum #30 and Maui Murder. I like fluffy, don't have to think about it kinds of books on a cruise. I'm also 2/3 of the way through the 8th book in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I think I've been working on this one for a year. I just can't seem to get more than two or three pages read at a time without falling asleep. At 800+ pages each, I feel committed to finish all 14 books though. I'll probably go ahead and take that one too since we're driving, and I don't need to conserve the space that a paperback takes in the suitcase. Maybe if I read it in a lounger by the pool instead of at bedtime I'll get further? Today I need to hem a pair of pants (I've been putting that one off for about 6 weeks), give DS a haircut, and drag out the suitcases. Our doggos are not going to be happy about that, and I waited as long as I could to not stress out our older pup. He is 14 and has gone deaf, can barely see, and is starting to have hip problems. Fortunately, he still does well at the kennel and in doggy day care when we travel. The other one is about 6 and has enough energy for both of them.

We loved Alaska (even with the kids). I think it would be magical without them though, and you are in for a treat!

It was pretty much a foregone conclusion! It feels like vacation in the house this morning. I usually have the kids up by 7am so we can start school by 8. They are both still in bed though, so it's me and the dogs snuggled up on the couch with a cup of coffee, enjoying the quiet. I'm all caught up on emails to clients. I have some icing I need to package and freeze for future samples, but otherwise, I can turn on my out of office. DH originally requested tomorrow off in addition to all of next week. He toyed with the idea of going into the office anyway, but only briefly. It should be a relaxed pace for him to pack tomorrow instead of trying to get it all done Saturday morning. Today's to-do list includes a stop by Ulta, the bank, and my mother in law's place to pick up some goodies - she gives me all her Estee Lauder free gifts, and I just ran out of mascara. The kids have piano lessons this afternoon and those errands are all conveniently around area of their studio. Pick up the dry cleaning tonight, then one last taekwondo class for the kids. We plan on starting the drive about noon on Saturday. Right now it looks like we may have rain both during the drive and possibly for sail away on Sunday. The flowrider may have to wait until day 2.

Thanks. It's very "resting bitch face" while doing everything in your power to NOT look at your partner. Right! I loved my Capezios. That was exactly my thought. These are designed for west coast swing, so the toe box isn't blocked for stands and the soles and heels are thinner. Other than than that, they feel just like my old Capezio pair. So we met up at the dance shoe store and we both bought a pair of shoes. I'm not sure what happened, but somehow a new practice skirt made it into my car as well. They had a cute tank top, but it wasn't meant to be. We have a west coast swing class tonight, so we'll try to break the shoes in. DH will have to get used to the different feel of the more plastic-y soles for sure. Keeping this a cruise live blog and not a dance journal...I also dropped off a little bit of dry cleaning. The at home laundry saga continues as well. We can ALL officially start packing now too.

This is part of our tango routine the day we learned it. It's not polished in this video - just recorded so we could remember the steps at home. VID-20240127-WA0000.mp4

My purse arrived, and I was a little disappointed, but not surprised, that the pattern was not aligned as in the photo. However, when I opened the flap, she was waiting for me! I have no idea why I find this so amusing, but I'm taking votes on names. I mentioned to DH last night that I want some dance sneakers for the ship, and he jumped onboard. I know this may seem weird, but cruising is actually our second obsession. Our biggest concern wearing our usual dance shoes is water or spilled drinks on the floor because they have suede soles. Getting them wet would break down the glue, or cause long term sticking or slipping issues in the case of a spilled drink. Because of that, we leave the cabin in our everyday shoes and carry our dance shoes with us to change into when we want to dance on the ship. It's a little inconvenient to carry them around when we want to also do other things like go to a show or hit the casino without dropping them off at the room first. Plus we still have to worry about someone spilling a drink on the dance floor. I rationalized that I could wear a hard sole dance sneaker around the the ship, and I can use them to teach in this fall - I'm teaching dance at our co-op next semester. Anyway, we're meeting up to buy some for both of us this morning when our local(ish) dance store opens at 11. I'm sure this seems nuts to most of you, but we all have that one thing, right? This also happened yesterday! One more to go!

I love that your mom is going to be able to join you guys! Hopefully it's not nearly as stressful without the multitude of vintages this time.

I think we go to DR on our southern itinerary out of Miami next year. DD would love this excursion! Guess I better start saving now!

We all have passports, but the kids' will expire in a few months. Just in case, I'm bringing birth certificates for them too. I don't think we are visiting a country that requires expiration to be 6 month beyond the trip, but I would rather be prepared. Anyway, I went to add them to the case we use to carry our passports, and I was very excited to find our C&A cards from 15 uears ago! Do they still mail physical cards out anymore? I guess we can use them as the card to keep the lights on in the cabin.

I wasn't quite as done with pre-cruise purchases as I thought. I bought two new formal night shirts and a polo for DS. One day, he'll stop growing, right? DD got a new pair of athletic shorts that she will use as a swim suit cover up. She's been using a pair of shorts from a soccer team she was on when she was 10 for almost 5 years... it was time for an upgrade. My trusty black Travelon mini travel purse has been used everyday for the last 6 years, and the strap finally came unstitched from the body of the purse. I'm not sure how to fix it and it look right because of the anti-theft cable that runs through the strap. So I bought a new, slightly bigger version and deviated from my usual black with a paisley pattern. I really hope the pattern placement is the same at the picture - I see a dragon looking back at me. Amazon should deliver it today. I've been silently stalking the current live blogs, and thanks to the tip from @WAAAYTOOO I guess I need to run out an grab some red undies as well. I'm also contemplating purchasing some new dance shoes, but I'm on the fence. I don't know if I mentioned in previous blogs that DH and I met 20 years ago as competitive dancers. We competed pro/am, both being the am (amateur) with our respective instructors. When we got married and had kids, we stopped dancing. Last year for Christmas we started dancing again. We decided to start competing again, and our first competition actually dancing together is next month. After buying practice shoes, ballroom shoes, latin shoes, plus costumes...do I really need another pair of dance shoes? Um, probably! I'll make that decision later today, but the little devil on my shoulder is pretty loud on this one. We're also going to have to find a space to run through our routines on the ship - I'm thinking Dazzles early in the mornings or maybe the gym has an open aerobics floor? We'll scope that out day one. DH is checking his clothes tonight, but is pretty sure he won't need anything. Paradise Beach sent me a confirmation email this morning. I don't remember getting one in the past, but we haven't been there in a couple years. I haven't heard anything from Roatan Getaway Tours beyond our initial communications, but I did not expect to. No headliners have been posted in app yet, and night 5 MDR is still not showing. Pre-pack is in full force now. All the miscellaneous cruise essential type stuff (towel clips, hooks, etc.) gets unpacked from the cruise box and packed today along with our travel pharmacy. Pre-cruise laundry has started, and the ironing board is about to make it's semi annual appearance in my living room. 5 days to go!

How about just water, again with a regular cup.

Can you get ice from the Freestyle machines without a paid cup?

Last night DH asked if we wanted a to go to a specialty restaurant one night. We checked MDR menus and decided to reserve 150 Central Park on night 5. He's calling it our third formal night. Right now the night 5 MDR menu is not listed in the app, but the current sailing shows the Taste of Asia. I also went ahead and booked flowrider lessons for me and the kids. There is an indoor flowrider about 45 minutes to an hour away from us at a community center's pool, and we have been to go a handful of times since our fall cruise. DD is almost able to self load for surfing, and once she's in the current, she can stay up for quite a while. DS has gotten really good at boogie boarding and has learned a few tricks that I don't think areRoyal Caribbean approved (there's a YouTube video out there by one of Royal's sports staff explaining what they will and won't allow. I'll see if I can find it again). DS says he wants to try stand up again. I really like the lessons because the wait time between runs is minimal.