Savannah's "special" party was spent overnight at Great Wolf Lodge. She invited her friend Regan from primary and Haylie was able to bring Allison from the neighborhood. They spent the afternoon in the waterpark then we headed over to Famous Dave's for dinner. They all had ribs. Then it was back to the waterpark until they closed and again Friday morning for several hours.
They say things happen in threes so I should be good for a while. I made my normal trip to the pharmacy Wednesday afternoon for our normal ongoing prescriptions. That same day Haylie came down with a raging ear infection. So off to the ER we went that evening. When Mike got home I headed to the pharmacy again for her Tylenol w/ codeine, Amoxicillan, and ear drops. We came home today from Great Wolf Lodge and low and behold Haylie had caught pink eye! So again to the doctor for a look over. Trip number three to the pharmacy for her eye drops. I've got so many meds going on right now that I've got a chart on our kitchen counter so I make sure she gets the right Rx in the right dosage the correct number of times a day. I hope I'm done!
Sweet Savannah turned 10 this month. We did a swim party at our neighborhood pool and invited a few friends from church and school. We were a little concerned when we had a thunderstorm the night before and had a plan B of going to an indoor pool. It wasn't as warm as we would have liked it (76 degrees) but the girls had a good time. Needless to say they spent a fair amount of time in the nice warm shower in the clubhouse! A total 180 degree turn was made from absolutely hating Hannah Montana to wanting that for her party theme. Her "big" celebration will be staying overnight at Great Wolf Lodge and doing the waterpark this week with one special friend.
Mike and I have talked for several years about putting our queen size bed into our guest room (which previously just had a full size bed). We had stayed at the Hilton Hotel several times and fell in love with their Serenity Beds. So we finally took the plunge and used a little of our tax return this year and bought this king size bed from Hilton. It is so luxurious! It includes a feather bed topper, down pillows and a down duvet. One of our better investments. Am in the process now of getting new side tables, decor and finding the right shade of blue and brown to paint the walls.
Our previous rider mower finally got too much for us to tinker with and maintain. We were able to sell it on Craigs List for $300 and put the money towards Daddy's new Craftsman mower. Savannah got her Schwinn 26" mountain bike for her birthday. Her poor knees were hitting the handle bars on her old bike. We told her this was the last bike we were going to buy her.
Our flight back home was not leaving until Monday so when we got back into port we headed over to Knotts Berry Farm. We always like that place. Its not as crowded as Disneyland and its just a fun, quaint place to be. The bobsled is an official Olympic sled they have on display. Didn't see Snoopy around this time, but we got him at Worlds of Fun earlier in the month. Now its off to summer activities!
We had 3 total days of actual "cruising" which means we weren't docked anywhere. So pictures of things around the ship are what we got. The Royal Promanade is a great place to hang out. Mariner's highlights are: ice skating rink, rock-climbing wall, in-line skating, mini putt putt, Johnny Rockets restaurant, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and the casino. On the Promanade are the General Store, Jewelry & Gift Shop, Logo Souvenier Shop, a pub, Perfume Shop, Fashion Boutique and the Cafe Promenade. If you like people watching, this is the place to be. There were two formal nights on board in the dining room, the poolside calypso band was a hit and the towel animals are always fun.
Mariner of the Seas is not Royal Caribbeans largest ship by any means but there are a lot of fun activities. We took advantage of the one day that it was REALLY warm outside to do anything. The girls and Mike did the rock climbing wall. Haylie was filmed by the cruise line and ended up on the Cruise In Review DVD they were selling. The 9-hole mini putt putt is always fun and the girls had a blast ice skating. Whoever thought you could ice skate on a ship?! The pool is always a hit. The ship had the Solarium which had a pool and huge hot tub just for adults, but the general area included two pools and four hot tubs for everyone to enjoy.
This is my kind of city. We'd live here but for the status of the housing market which is out of control. Pike Place Market is THE place to see. I was hoping since it was a weekday that it wouldn't be so crowded. It was until the people off the ship disbursed to various places. You can get whatever you need in this place. They sell fish, meat, art, toys, flowers, fruit. Just a plethora of things. If you need it, most likely you can get it. Notice there is not a price listed on the HUGE lobster tails. Down the row we found out they are $40 per pound. The pic of the girls is on the Harbour Steps. This is a beautiful place of stairs (if stairs can be considered beautiful), with fountains, eateries, and places to sit and enjoy. They go from the waterfront, clear up to 2nd St. Always a great pic of Mt Ranier. As much as I love Seattle, I would hate to be there when that thing decides to blow. Everyone thought St Helen's was bad. Ranier is going to decimate the Seattle area.
For those of you who have not been to British Columbia, Victoria is a very sleepy town. One of the major attractions is the Parlament Building. We didn't take any shore excursions, but just bummed around. Had lunch at Sam's Deli, bought a great ornament at The Christmas Village and got ice cream at Rogers Chocolates (aptly named). Their local mall is called The Bay with 85 stores. The 2010 Olympics are going to be held in Vancouver so several things were purchased with the Olympic theme. We were in port that day until 11:30p.
Our first stop was in San Francisco. As you can see cruising into the area was a typical foggy morning. It was cold, windy, and I thought that we wouldn't be on shore for very long. An amazing thing to experience is going under the Golden Gate Bridge. According to the Captain, the ship cleared the bridge with only 13 FEET to spare! By the time we docked at 2p the sun was out but it was still windy. We got clam chowder in a bread bowl at Boudin and bought chocoate at Ghiradelli. Which is funny because we can get it at Wal-Mart! Haylie was playing funny with the skeleton pirate.
