friends – Bless Your Heart

Ghosts

June 6, 2019 Shannon

Being ghosted is no fun. Being ghosted by a BFF, dear, or close friend is even worse. I am a good friend. I’m kind and thoughtful and keep in touch. But over the last 3 years I’ve been ghosted by 2 close girlfriends. It hurts. Especially when you don’t know why.

Friend 1 and I texted almost daily and met for lunch monthly, then every 2 weeks, then once a week as our friendship grew. We met about 8 years ago when we were both working on the same team. We hit it off immediately. I even went to her husband’s milestone birthday party. Then she and her family moved about 2 hours away about 2 years ago. There were promises of meeting up in the middle and visits to both cities. But that never happened. She moved and then I just never heard from her again. It was so odd to me. How can you go from talking (via text) almost daily and seeing each other once a week to nothing? We didn’t have a falling out or argument or anything. Trust me I overanalyzed everything trying to figure out if I had done something wrong, something to offend, anything. Last December, when I posted on social media the end of our adoption effort she commented out of the blue her condolences. But nothing since then.

Friend 2 and I met just over 12 years ago at a Bunco party. We also hit it off right away. We became fast friends. She lived just around the corner from us and we started hanging out to watch movies, and tv together. We went out to eat, shopping, and even went on a couple girls trips together. She was my best friend. We talked all the time. Then she and her family moved 1200 miles away about 4 (?? I’m so bad with time) years ago. We still talked on the phone regularly and texted daily and even wrote old fashioned letters to each other. We sent care packages on birthdays. Then about a year ago she went through a divorce. It was really traumatic for her, but we stayed in touch. Until about 6 months ago. Again, nothing happened. No argument or event occurred that would end our friendship. She just stopped answering my texts, or would answer weeks later. A month or so ago I finally asked via text why are you ignoring my texts. She wrote back immediately and swore she wasn’t. That she was just busy and would forget to reply or would think she did reply when she didn’t. So I texted her back and caught her up on all the goings on in my life. I haven’t heard back.

It’s awful. I loved these women like sisters. Especially friend 2. I knew and cared about their families. It’s funny, I still keep up with an ex family member of Friend 2 on social. I miss these ladies. Especially Friend 2. I miss my best friend. I have other girlfriends, but not a BEST friend and that stings.

So if you’re reading this and are currently ghosting a girlfriend, please don’t. Please just be a grown up and tell her what’s going on. No one likes to be left hanging.

adoption, family, friends, holidays

Mother’s Day

May 12, 2019May 11, 2019 Shannon

I received this card the other day, just in time for Mother’s Day. For most people Mother’s Day means brunch and flowers and merriment. And that plays into my day too as I celebrate my mom and my sister (who’s a mom). But Mother’s Day is also bittersweet for me. Because I’ve always, always, as long as I can remember, wanted to be a mom. Every year since I turned 30 and the Clomid didn’t work for us I’ve sort of dreaded this day. But there was always a glimmer of hope for us to become parents so each Mother’s Day I get up and get dressed up and join my mom and my sisters and we spend the day together.

But today is different. Today my mom is out of town helping my youngest sister move. So Mother’s Day has a different sort of feel. But mostly today is different because my glimmer of hope is almost faded out. I’m 45 now and still childless. But not because we didn’t try, that’s for sure. We tried international adoption (2 different countries) and that didn’t work out for various reasons. Then we were matched up by a friend with a birthmother who, after a few months, changed her mind. We took a year off after that, to heal. Then we joined a domestic foster to adopt program. Our social worker told us “Give me a year and I’ll have you matched with a child.” EIGHT years later we still didn’t have a match. We came close a few times. Last year we even drove 8 hours to Northern Virginia to be interviewed for a child who ultimately went to another family. Then in December of last year our home study expired again and would require more money, more time, more paperwork, more effort. And by then CSP was worn out. He was over it. I was tired too, but I always finish what I start so I was willing to go through it all again. But I can’t be a married single parent. I can’t do it alone. So we let our home study expire. And my heart broke into a thousand little pieces.

I was watching a tv show the other day where a lady (we’ll call Susie) was having twins via surrogate after 8 miscarriages and 13 failed IVF trials. She was talking with another lady (we’ll call Karen) who was 35 and unmarried with no prospects and was considering freezing her eggs. Susie told Karen “If you want to be a mom, you’ll be a mom, whether it’s through biology or adoption, you’ll find a way.” That really hit home because I thought when my body failed me and I had to have a hysterectomy, that I’d found my way- through adoption. But now I don’t know anymore. I don’t know if I’ll ever be a mom. I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what God’s plan is for me. I do know that my heart hurts. That some days I feel useless, like my life doesn’t have much purpose or direction if I can’t be a mom. That I’ll end up all alone, forgotten in some nursing home somewhere when I’m old. So when my dear friend sent that thoughtful and sweet card that reminds me that I AM strong, brave, beautiful, cared about, and loved, it was just what I needed! I have faith and friends and family who love me and my story isn’t over.

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Day 9

February 6, 2016February 19, 2016 Shannon

Today we woke up extra early to get ready, pack last minute items and disembark. There are 2 ways you can disembark on Disney Cruise Line. You can meet early in the lobby, tote your own luggage, and leave the ship on your own. That’s Express Walk Off. Or you can go to breakfast at an assigned time and have the ship handle your luggage. Then you’d pick up your luggage in the terminal on your way out. We chose to do the Express Walk Off because we like to hit the road early so we can get home at a reasonable time. Because we have late dinner we would have late breakfast so we wouldn’t even sit down to eat until 8 am. Because of the mechanical troubles, we were still moving when we woke up! We weren’t able to leave the ship, even with express walk off, until 8 am because of being late to the port. Even still, there were NO lines in customs so we breezed right through and were out to our car within 20 minutes of leaving our room! Love how organized Disney is!

I forgot to tell you something! When your ship is sailing away, your loved ones at home can watch via the Port Canaveral web cam! Mom of CSP watched us sail away and took some screen shots of the Fantasy.

Back to our last day of vacation… the drive home was uneventful except for Blanca (my trusty RAV 4) turned 100,000 miles!

Now the Fantasy was scheduled to leave today for a Western Caribbean cruise at 5 pm. But because of the mechanical troubles she had on our cruise she didn’t leave until 7:15 pm!!!

Even with mechanical troubles we still had a magical vacation and we can’t wait for next time!!!

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Day 8

February 5, 2016February 19, 2016 Shannon

Today was our last sea day. We were bummed we weren’t going to be able to go to Castaway Cay, but we decided to make the most of it! First we went to breakfast at Cabanas. Then we went to the spa to use our Rainforest Room day pass. The Rainforest Room is really lots of rooms and awesome amenities available for use. There are aromatherapy showers, saunas, hot tubs with views of the sea, and heated tile loungers. Ahhh the heated tile loungers! The best place on the ship to read your book. We made great use of the Rainforest Room all morning until we had grumblings for lunch.

We dried off as best we could then went to Royal Court for lunch. Afterward we decided to put our free $200 to good use and stopped by the gift shops. All week we’d been eyeing BB8. And now we could get him guilt free! Plus we were able to use our 10% discount for being Gold Castaway Club members! We dropped BB8 off in our room and CSP went to play another round of the golf simulator with Kevin. I took a nap while they golfed then got up and started organizing and packing since today was our last day on the ship. CSP came back to the room and we went up to Satellite Falls. It was closed due to extremely high winds so we went back down to the Quiet Cove adult pool for a while. We hung out in the pool until I got too cold then we went back to the Rainforest Room for a couple hours until it was time to get dressed for dinner.

Dinner tonight was at the Enchanted Garden. We had a great dinner and said our goodbyes to our serving team of Diartha and Yami. Then back to our room to pack where we found a rhino! We watched Lilo and Stitch (Stitch is my favorite) while we packed and filled out our comment card. It was time for bed. We have to get up early tomorrow!

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Day 7

February 4, 2016February 17, 2016 Shannon

Today was another sea day! I like sea days because they give you time to enjoy the ship. Today we woke up and showered and got ready for brunch at Palo. Palo is on the back end of the ship with gorgeous views of the sea. We went up to Palo and Luca, our server, met us in the Meridian Lounge. The chandelier at the entrance of Palo. There is a big debate amongst Disney Cruisers as to which is better at Palo- brunch or dinner? I love them both! Brunch is amazing. First your server gets your drink order then walks you through the brunch buffet,explaining each section and giving recommendations. Then you are on your own to explore the buffet. Your server will check in on you from time to time and will place orders for the larger entrees and pizzas. Today CSP got the orecchiette with salmon, salmon and risotto (he loves seafood!), and lasagne. Luca brought us both lasagnes even though I said I didn’t want one. He told me trust me, you want this lasagne. The portions are on the smaller side compared to dinner so you can try many things. Luca said he wanted us to try everything! I ordered a goat cheese and sun dried tomato pizza, chicken parmesan, strawberry soup, and of course, the lasagne. CSP picked the sun dried tomatoes off the pizza and tried some of it too. I don’t order chicken parmesan anywhere else- it’s incredible! And Luca was right about the lasagne. It melted in your mouth. It was made with a béchamel sauce instead of cheese and the meat sauce had carrots in it, so it was quite different from the lasagne I make at home! I wish I could make lasagne like that! One of the touches that makes Palo special is how they present their iced tea. Instead of frozen water ice cubes they use frozen tea! So your tea never gets diluted. Arguably the best part of brunch though, is the dessert. They offer an array of tiny little sweet masterpieces and they always remind you that on vacation calories don’t count! They even give you the tiniest of spoons to taste everything with. Love.

After brunch we waddled back to our room to relax for a bit until it was time to meet up with Amy and Kevin. On the way we heard bits and pieces of an announcement from the captain, but we didn’t know the full story. We found out more about that later.

Kevin and CSP went up to the sports deck to play in the golf simulator while Amy, Ellen and I went to the Royal Court Royal Tea Party. We were seated at a table with Ruby (age 4), Ruby’s mom, and Ruby’s Godmother, all from Dublin, Ireland. They were fun to talk to. The event was too cute. Each girl was deemed a Princess and was announced to the room upon entering. At the table there were gifts waiting for each princess. They received a Cinderella doll, a jewelry box with a charm bracelet and necklace inside, a gorgeous autograph/memory book, a fancy pen for getting autographs, and a cookie with their name on it. Once we were all seated Lady Chamomile came out and welcomed us. Then Chef Brule (pronounced like creme brule) came out and the two of them sang songs and worked the room. Next it was time for the princesses to arrive. First came Belle, then Tiana, then Cinderella. Each princess stopped by the table twice. The first time to chat with each girl, then the second time to sign autographs and take pictures and chat a little more. They were all so beautiful and sweet to the girls. And each princess brought the girls a gift- a charm for their charm bracelets. We were served teas of our choosing (the girls received apple juice), and they brought out a serving platter full of tiny finger sandwiches and sweets. Then the adults were brought warm scones with clotted cream and jam while the little girls each got a cupcake in a tea cup. It was all just lovely and I’m sure any little girl’s dream!

After the tea I went down to O’Gills Pub to meet up with the boys. I visited with them for a while then went to the Future Cruise Desk. By this time Amy had filled me in on that captain’s announcement. One of the ship’s motors was out and it meant we would not be able to stop at Castaway Cay tomorrow! Boo! This is the second cruise in a row where we’ve missed Castaway Cay! In October it was because of Hurricane Joaquin, and now this. Because of missing Castaway Cay and it was technically Disney Cruise Line’s fault, they offered us compensation. Each stateroom received a $200 onboard credit and 20% off a future cruise. Normally when you book a future cruise on board you get a 10% discount. So you can imagine the line was pretty long. I found Amy in line ahead of me, and got in line behind a couple we’d met during the cruise. Chatting with them made the wait more bearable. I booked our cruise and went back to the room to meet up with CSP and get ready for dinner.

Dinner tonight was back at Animator’s Palate. Tonight everyone drew a cartoon person on a paper we were given. They were collected by the waitstaff and animated on the big screens around the room. It’s really cute how they do it.

After dinner it was back to the room for bed, where we were greeted by a towel frog!

Tomorrow… ~~Castaway Cay!~~ Nope, another sea day!

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Day 6

February 3, 2016February 17, 2016 Shannon

This morning we are in St. Thomas US Virgin Islands! We woke up early again today as we had another excursion. We ate a quick breakfast in Cabanas then met up with our group in The Tube. My foot had been hurting and when I sat down at the Tube I inspected it to find out why. Well yesterday we did a lot of walking and I was wearing new flip flops. I rubbed a HUGE blister in between my big and 2nd toe that stretched all down the ball of my foot by a good 2 inches! HUGE I tell ya! So I was not thrilled when we had to walk another eleventy hundred miles to the boat for today’s excursion! We were on the Caribbean Sea Snorkel and Beach Tour. Our boat took us out to this spot where lots of other boats went for snorkeling where we were supposed to be able to see lots of cool fish and turtles. Our group snorkeled there for a good hour then back on the boat and off to Honeymoon Beach for another hour.

On the way back to the ship we passed by the Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, one of the largest cruise ships in the world! I’ve seen it on tv and the internet but it is a sight to behold in real life! ENORMOUS! It dwarfed the Carnival cruise ship docked next to it! CSP said he’d like to go on it, but I think I’ll stick with Disney. The Allure is just too big for me. Too many people. We docked back at the pier, which was quite busy. They said there were 10 cruise ships at St. Thomas today! Even if each ship only held 2,000 people that’s an additional 20,000 people on this tiny island in one day! We saw more yachts too.
We had to pass by a Princess ship to get to the Fantasy (see Dumbo painting the ship?) on our walk back. Security checks you for your ship’s card (Key to the World Card) and your photo ID if you’re over 18. Disney Cruise Line tells you this a million times. Maybe it’s different on Princess, I don’t know. But there was a couple fighting quite loudly with the security guard because she didn’t have her ID and “no one has asked for it before”. Some swear words were exchanged and the security guard said “If you want to give me attitude you can just wait out here in the hot sun!”. I wish we could have seen how that ended up! But back to the ship for us at about noon.

We took a nap then grabbed a quick bite at Flo’s then headed up to Satellite Falls– our favorite feature on the Fantasy. We read and hung out up there for a good while until it was time to go back to our room to get ready for dinner. CSP watched The Incredibles on demand while I primped.
Dinner tonight was at Royal Court. Colin and Ellen fell asleep at dinner again. Poor things. Dinner is at 8:15 so they can barely keep their eyes open long enough to eat then it’s lights out right at the table!

We came back to our room to find a cool gorilla wearing my ‘Ohana sunglasses! Every night they also leave on your bed a copy of the next day’s Navigator (the daily newsletter with all the ship’s activities) and any other information they need to communicate with you.

Time for bed. Tomorrow is a sea day filled with activities!!!

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Day 5

February 2, 2016February 16, 2016 Shannon

We woke up super early today and got up to Cabana’s right as they opened for breakfast. We even beat the sun up! I haven’t seen a sunrise in a long time! Our breakfast view: Breakfast in Cabana’s is my favorite meal there. I love how themed it all is. Like the seagulls at the drink station. So cute.

After breakfast we met in the D Lounge at 7:45. Disney Cruise Line is VERY organized when it comes to port adventures. I checked us in and we waited for the next step. Our tour was Tortola by Land and Sea! Our ship and another ship in port at Tortola’s new pier. This was our first time in Tortola and we wanted to see as much of it as we could. Well we picked the right tour for that! We walked down the pier and boarded a boat that took us out all around the island and to nearby islands. The tour guide was great- full of info! We went to Treasure Island (Norman Island), where pirates would hide their booty in caves. And we saw tons of yachts. Who knew there were so many giant yachts cruising around the Caribbean?!? That’s how the other half lives! We were on the boat for about 2 hours. Then the boat let us off at Pusser’s Landing– a small shopping/dining/marina area. We had about 30 minutes to relax and shop. Then a man came into the area where we were all gathered and herded us onto these bizarre open air taxi bus thingies. They were like safari jeeps on a truck chassis. Next started the terrifying part of the tour. The shocks on these bus/jeeps had seen better days. We were bouncing all over the place, barreling up and down these windy, mountain roads, chickens and goats running for their lives trying to get out of our way! We would come to these turns in the road and our driver would just lay on the horn and go. Never mind that you couldn’t see around the corner if there was traffic coming. The roads were BARELY wide enough for one car, so passing traffic was interesting! Our tour guide’s name was Lyndon and he drove us around for about an hour and a half telling us all about the island. Tortola is the capital of the British Virgin Islands. Road Town is their main town and that’s where our ship was docked. Lyndon stopped periodically to let us off the bus to take pictures. There were some really stunning views. Our ship, the Disney Fantasy from atop the mountain: It was a really fun and interesting way to see the island! We made our way back down to the pier and Lyndon dropped us off where we had to walk through a shopping area (smart) to get to the ship. We were back on board by about 12 noon.

We needed lunch so we headed back up to Cabanas so CSP could get some shrimp. I had a hard time finding anything appetizing. I’m just not a buffet girl unless it’s a breakfast buffet. So we stopped at Eye Scream for ice cream on our way back to our room. We took a nap then got ready to see Star Wars The Force Awakens at 5 in the Walt Disney Theatre in 3D! CSP had been looking forward to this almost more than any other part of the cruise! We met up with the Family and caught up before the movie started. It was a great movie. Afterward we raced back to our room to get ready for dinner at Palo at 8. On the way to Palo we passed Pepe the Prawn’s room. SO cute, I always have to snap a picture.
Palo is the adults only Italian inspired restaurant on the ship. Oh man is it good. We look forward to our meal there all year! CSP gets the same thing each time- cippino (a seafood stew) for his appetizer and osso bucco for his entree. And each time he is amazed by how good it is! I mix it up and try something different each time. We met up with Amy & Kevin in the Meridian lounge and waited a moment until they took us to our table. Our server was Luca from Italy. So classically Italian too, with the accent and everything. He was great! I had the butternut squash ravioli for my appetizer. My entree was the rosemary chicken. CSP and I also shared the pan seared sea scallops. We all had the incredible chocolate souffle for dessert as well as a couple other desserts Luca insisted on bringing out. He wanted us to try a little of everything!

We finished dinner just in time to see the pirate party fireworks. Photos don’t do them justice. Then it was back to our room for bed. Discovered a cool Aztec looking sun god on our bed! Another early morning tomorrow…in St. Thomas!!!

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Day 4

February 1, 2016February 16, 2016 Shannon

Another sea day! We slept in a bit- right through breakfast! So we got up and got dressed and went to Royal Court for lunch. After lunch we went to the Walt Disney Theatre to see The Good Dinosaur. It was so sweet! Too sweet for CSP. It was funny, but didn’t have enough funny parts for CSP, and I sobbed through the whole thing!
After the movie I checked my face (thank goodness for waterproof eyeliner!) and we made our way back to the Skyline Lounge for Mixology part 2! Today Ashley showed us how to make a Brazilian mojito, Pomegranate Passion, the Chocolate Martini again (which I didn’t mind at all because it is delicious!), a RumChata and Fireball Whiskey shot called Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and a classic Midori Sour.

After Mixology we went back to our room for a nap and to get ready for dinner. Tonight’s dinner was special because it was Ellen’s 9th birthday! Family even decorated their door for the occasion! You can decorate your stateroom doors with magnets. Even the walls and ceilings in the room are magnetic! On the way to dinner we spotted Chip and Dale! Dinner tonight was in Animator’s Palate. Crush the sea turtle from Finding Nemo came out onto the big video screens around the room and interacted with diners. It was really cute.
Here are a couple of pics of CSP and his little buddy Colin. Colin just LOVES CSP! Colin follows him around, always wants to sit by him, defends him if we pick on CSP- Hey! He’s my friend!, and even snuck in a kiss on the cheek one night at dinner. SO CUTE!
Amy ordered a gorgeous and DELICIOUS cake for Ellen’s birthday. I swear I could have eaten half that thing on my own! The waitstaff came around and everyone sang for Ellen. I think she had a pretty magical birthday! Oh, and she loved the shirt we got her.

After dinner…back to the room for bed and found a jackalope! Maybe it’s just a regular rabbit but we like to think it’s a magical Disney jackalope! We have to get up extra early tomorrow because we’ll be in Tortola!!!

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Day 3

January 31, 2016February 15, 2016 Shannon

Today was a sea day so CSP & I slept in a bit. We had breakfast at Royal Court then went to the Tube for the Castaway Club Gold & Platinum reception. This was our first time attending the reception.They said they sent out about 400 invitations, and about 100 or so people attended. Darren, the cruise director spoke and then came around and spent some time with each table. Captain Thor spoke as well. You could have your picture taken with each of them. No, Captain Thor did not carry a hammer, much to CSP’s disappointment. Wait staff passed around drinks, hors d’oeuvres, fruit and cookies. CSP downed 4 mimosas! He said next year we’re getting there early for the drinks! Mind you this was 10:30 in the morning! Ha! There was a special guest at the reception- Minnie Mouse! Do you know how special it is to be able to walk right up to a character for a photo without a long line?? It was awesome! And she was too cute too- I’m so used to giving hugs with a kiss on the cheek and she “kissed” me back, complete with smoochy noises!

After the reception CSP & I did a little shopping at the gifts shops on board. We drooled over BB8 then picked up our magnet (we get a dated Disney Cruise Line magnet each year), a Stitch pin for my lanyard, a sparkly Ariel shirt for Ellen’s birthday tomorrow, and a cute anchor shirt for MOM of CSP for taking care of the pugs and the house while we’re gone.

We went back to the room to drop off our goodies and met up with the Family (Amy, Kevin, Ellen & Colin). They needed lunch too so we all went off to Royal Court for lunch. We went back to the room afterward to find the stateroom host had opened and linked our balconies together to make one huge balcony! CSP started watching Thor 2 for a little while on demand (so cool, you can start and stop movies by bookmarking them).

Next it was time for our first Mixology class! We went to the Skyline Lounge and for the next hour or so we learned about making fun drinks from Ashley the bartender. Kevin even got in on the action! We had 5 drinks: a champagne drink, a mojito, a rum drink, a chocolate martini, and a shot called the Big Elephant. Forgive me for not knowing all the drink names. They can’t print off recipes for us anymore and I had both mine and CSP’s chocolate martinis and shots! I was lucky I remembered how to get back to our room!

After Mixology CSP wanted a coffee so we went to the Cove Cafe in the adults only section on the pool deck. CSP asked for a 4 shot cafe latte. The barista could not believe CSP actually wanted 4 shots of espresso in his latte! We were walking around and realized that all of deck 11 ( the pool deck) was deserted because of early dinner (our dinner is at 8:15). I mean, NO ONE around. Perfect time to ride the AquaDuck! So we ran down to the room and CSP got changed, then we ran back up to the entrance of the AquaDuck. They wouldn’t let him ride!!! They said he needed a partner and there was no one around to ride with him. I couldn’t do it because of my vertigo + mixology = I was already dizzy! So we went back to the room to get ready for Formal Night and dinner.

Everyone looked so lovely for formal night! We saw Daisy Duck on the way to dinner in her sparkly dress! I love her little tail sticking out! Some people really go all out with floor length gowns and tuxedos! Disney sets up backdrops all over the main atrium for professional photographs. So we had some taken before dinner, but we totally forgot about them the rest of the week so we never saw them! Who knows if they even turned out! Doh! We were back in Royal Court for dinner, which is a gorgeous restaurant. Dinner was a French theme tonight so CSP was happy with his escargot!

When we got back to our room after dinner there was a little sign to set our clocks forward an hour upon retiring for the evening. Plus a cool dinosaur!

Next up….Day 4- Sea Day and Ellen’s birthday!!!

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Day 2

January 30, 2016February 15, 2016 Shannon

We woke up, gathered our things and hit the road for Port Canaveral! It takes about an hour to get from Orlando to the port. Not too bad! We ate a light breakfast on the road. We got to the port, turned our luggage and case of water over to the porters, and went upstairs in the terminal to check in. Check in was quick and painless and we were given our very first set of GOLD lanyards! This is our 6th Disney cruise (my 14th cruise total) and that makes us Gold Castaway Club Members! Fun! We waited in the terminal for a bit then they started letting us board, but first we stopped for our Welcome Aboard photo. Note our custom shirts! We were announced then we went to deck 2 to the Enchanted Garden restaurant for lunch. We were a little early so there was some waiting around for the restaurant to open. We took our time with lunch (CSP loves the shrimp and crab claws so much) and next thing we knew it was time to go to our room to drop off our carry on bags! //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js We have room 5546 on Deck 5 with the extended veranda.//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js Upon entering our room we noticed our Castaway Club gift! //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js A gold (yellow) tote bag and a really nice photo album! We also noticed our Bon Voyage decorations! Amy & family surprised us by decorating our room! //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.jsWe freshened up a bit and dropped off our carry on bags (and unpacked them). Then it was time to head to the Tube for the Facebook group Meet & Greet!//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js Every cruise has a Facebook group. It just so happened that I was an admin for our group, along with Amy, and a third person. Our group was big! Over 150 people. The point of the group is to share advice and answer questions for newbies and just get excited about the cruise! Plus Amy organized Mixology classes (more on that later) and the Fish Extender Gift Exchange. It’s a lot of fun! Now, let me quickly reintroduce Amy & Kevin & family. We all met on the Disney Magic in February 2015 and became fast friends. They came to visit in June 2015 and in October 2015 Amy, Kevin, CSP & I all went on a 4 night cruise. They live in Ohio. Ok, so we’re caught up, back to the story! At the meet and greet lots of our members came for a big group photo and to meet each other. It was a lot of fun. One member, Ray, was so nice- he called us admins up to the front of the room and presented us with Disney pins for our work! //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js How sweet!!! The hour went by quickly then it was time for the lifeboat/muster drill. Praise the Lord our muster station was the Walt Disney Theatre! No standing in the hot sun for a half hour! After the drill we went back to our room where our luggage was waiting for us.//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js So we unpacked and made final phone/facetime calls to our family as we sailed away!//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.jsI switched our phones to Airplane mode and we were all set to text each other via Disney’s Cruise app.//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js CSP quickly discovered the on demand menu and watched Pixels while I got ready for dinner. Dinner tonight was back in Enchanted Garden. I didn’t take pictures of our food this go round but I did take screen shots of the menu for one night so you can see some of the offerings. //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js The menus are varied and all the food is fantastic! At dinner poor Ellen (age almost 9 today) fell asleep with her mouth open. //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js They gave us hummus with our bread tonight so Amy put some in Ellen’s mouth. OMG!- her face when she woke up and tasted something awful (to her) in her mouth! HILARIOUS! Fun with kids! After dinner we went back to our rooms for bed and found the first towel animal.//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js Let me tell you, our room steward totally set the bar for towel animals! //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js He’s a pro! Just wait till you see what he created this week!