Evenings on the Ship

Our kids made it through five-course dinners that lasted 1.5 to 2.0 hours every night. I carried a large bag of toys with me every night and we bribed Wesley with dessert. Why did we do this? Because we love it! Chris and I both enjoy delicious meals where we can sometimes try new things and it is fun to sit down at the end of the day and talk while someone else cooks, serves, and cleans up. Yes, it was a lot more work with two toddlers than when we cruised by ourselves but it was also good to share the experience with them.

On the first formal night, Wesley loved the sorbet. When he had gotten all of it out that he could with the little spoon, he just turned it up. Doesn't he look like a little prince with a goblet?

Our wonderful waiter made a puppet out of dinner napkin. When Wesly touched it, the waiter made the puppet slide forward. Wesley loved this trick and wanted to try it. He was unable to figure out how to make it work and he kept asking, "Where is the button?" Clearly the boy has too many electronic toys.
Chris' parents and my parents.
Lydia loves menus. Here she is condsidering her next drink order.
A few nights, we took the kids to hear a band before dinner. Wesley loved to dance and Lydia loved to run around the dance floor. This is the only time he was able to get her to dance with him.
This little girl seem to want to dance with Wesley. They ended up just looking at each other for a minute and then walking their seperate ways.

Of course I don't have any good photos of the kids in their formal wear. Wesley really enjoyed wearing a tie the first formal night so the night before the second formal night I asked him, "Guess what you get to wear tomorrow night?" He promptly replied, "A pretty dress?" I think he was thinking of all the nice compliments Lydia received.

We had an in-cabin-babysitter the first six nights. She came at 8:30. One time the kids were already asleep and the other five nights they were ready for bed but awake when she got there. We liked her and so did the kids. The babysitting was $8 an hour for a minimum of three hours which was a great deal for us. So instead of getting a hot stone massage on the cruise, I got six nights of babysitting! We were typically out from about 8:30 to 11:15. We went to all of the shows with our parents and then we enjoyed some time talking and listening to music just the two of us. Here is a picture of Wesley and Lenie.

Cruise to Alaska

We had a great cruise on the Celebrity Infinity. Lydia got a lot of attention during the muster drill because she had to wear a life vest that didn’t have holes for her arms. Her legs went out the holes in the bottom but her arms were zipped up on the inside. Amazingly she didn’t seem to mind the baby straight jacket.

Our balcony cabin was a little tight with four people, but we were comfortable. We put Wesley in the overhead bunk. He did great! Lydia slept in a pack-n-play placed in front of the sliding glass door. My parents were on one side and my in-laws were on the other side.

We had beautiful weather in Alaska. It was sunny and in the low 60s in all three ports. The day viewing Hubbard Glacier was colder but I was fine in a sweater and pullover fleece out on our balcony for a few hours. The mountains were still covered in snow and they looked absolutely beautiful. We also enjoyed the long hours of daylight. The sun went down near 11 PM and came up around 4:00.

In Sitka, we walked to the National Park and then to the Raptor Center. This was actually my favorite port. The Infinity

These are my parents.

After the Raptor Center, Wesley fell asleep on Chris' shoulders!

Seattle

We flew to Seattle on May 21. This was my mom's first flight! She was nervous, but Lydia provided a good distraction. Wesley was thrilled that we were taking two airplanes to Seattle. Have you ever flown through Kansas City airport on Midwest Airlines? If you ever do, make sure you eat before your get there. Inside security there was a cart selling drinks and outside of security there are a couple of stores selling snacks but there are no nearby restaurants. Fortunately, Midwest sells very good food on their flights and they have the yummy chocolate chip cookies. Both kids did geat. Lydia has a strong preference for my dad and napped easily in his arms.

Once in Seattle, we took the Downtown Airporter to the Sheraton. Wesley was thrilled to be on the bus. The Sheraton was great - very nice hotel with beautiful modern rooms, delicious in-room coffee, and convient location.

My parents did the Underground Tour and we went to the aquarium. The octopus is one of the main attractions.

Lydia really just wanted to play in the water.

Chris' parents arrived in Seattle later that night. We were too tired to stay awake for the Idol final because of our early morning flight and the time change but I was thrilled when I heard the results the next morning!

On Thursday, Chris' parents relaxed at the Hotel while the rest of went to the zoo via the public bus system. It was very easy to take the bus from downtown to the zoo. My Fonz membership paid for itself because all us, including my parents, got into the zoo for free!

Look at this proud peacock.


For a dollar a piece, we bought popcicle sticks with bird feed on them.

The zoo in Seattle is very nice and well worth the visit. We only saw about two thirds of it before leaving to head for the Space Needle. The bus driver let us know which stop to get off at for the shortest walk to the Needle. I was pleasantly surprised with how much Wesley liked being up there in the Needle.

Here is the Millennium. It is a sister ship to the Infinity, the one we would be on the next day.

At first, Lydia just slept instead of enjoying the view.

We took the monorail back downtown and met up with Chris' parents to go to dinner at Ivars. I loved eating there because the food was great and the place is right on the water.