When I woke up this morning, I decided on a new strategy to tackle my sea sickness. Dramamine got to a point where it wasn't really working, and it was making me really drowsy. Before you all chime in with things that worked for you, (thanks for the help, but it's a little to late now anyway)Dramamine is usually my friend. I think in the consecutive doses I was taking, its effects just started to change a bit. Anyway, I decided to treat the worst part of sea sickness: the upset queasy stomach. I opted for some Pepto, and it really seemed to help. I still felt a bit dizzy and weird, but at least I didn't feel like I was going to vomit. Oh, and I did discover I could take the stairs once Cort came up with the figure 8 pattern.
It was super crowded at breakfast this morning, so when my family spotted mom, Cort, Holly, Gwen and Garrett they all sat down. Except it got to a point where pulling up another chair just seems ridiculous, when the 10 were just not fitting around the person table. I went out to the back of the ship to eat by myself, and it really was rather peaceful. I noticed it was also a lot warmer out there than it had been before. I can certainly tell we're headed south.
After breakfast, they had the waterslide open. Now, when I say it was warmer, I mean it was like mid 50s. So, not really outside waterslide kind of weather. But, it was only open two days from 11-2, so the kids had to take advantage of it while they could. Gwen went up and down it just fine, then for some reason they told me Hayden had to have an adult. I didn't quite get it, it couldn't have been a height difference because Gwen is only the slightest bit taller than Hayden (and there was no measurement), or and age thing since Gwen is two months younger. But, since Cort offered to take Hayden down, I didn't want to ask why, because I didn't want them to say Gwen also needed an adult. 55 may seem warmer to me, but it's still not put on my bathing suit and go down a water slide weather. Also, disclaimer: I am going to die when I go back home if I'm thinking 55 seems warm. It's going to be like that time I went to Florida in the winter, and when I came back to Ohio I never warmed up until summertime. You'll all forgive me for not leaving the house till November, right?The rock climbing wall was also opened for advanced climb. Peyton has been all about the rock wall since we got on board. It's funny though, the line was so long today, and before today we hardly had to wait. Guess everyone was trying to get in all the activities on the ship, and had previously been neglecting the rock climbing wall. Clint and Asa climbed the middle, which was really hard. Clint, the expert climber, made it all the way up and rang the bell. Asa, the intermediate climber, only made it half way.
After the rock climbing and the slide, the not so smart people (you can guess who that would be) went in the outside pool, which has been getting significantly colder every day we've been on board. Holly's theory is they turn off the heat to get people out of there. My theory is it just seems colder, because the air is getting warmer. Either way all the boys minus Garrett plus Gwen went in, cannonballing and all (even though you totally aren't supposed to jump in). They warmed up in the hot tub and we headed to lunch.
We ate lunch in the main dining room, but I gotta say the service at lunch just isn't as good. You don't get to eat at your normal table, or have your waiter. I suspect these are waiters in training to see if they're awesome enough to be promoted to dinner. However, none of them are. Everton, our dinner waiter, was at the salad bar. The salad bar is awfully fancy and upscale. You go and point to everything you want, they dish it up for you, mix it all together, and put it on a nice plate. Cort was disappoint there was no hard boiled egg left, so when some arrived, Everton ran it over to our table. Best waiter ever. But, then again, the extent of my going out to eat is like Five Guys. Some random person calling out a number and throwing a bag of food your way just doesn't compare to the guy who puts your napkin on your lap, and brushes the crumbs off the table before desert.
I spent a little time after lunch cleaning up our room, and packing things away. I'm sad the Alaskan part of my vacation is over. But, I also feel like it's time. When I think back to my first day in Alaska (I try and block the travel day out of mind-- with the exception of seeing everyone in Phoenix, of course), it seems like it was light years ago. I think Clint and Jess and Mom would all stay longer if they could. Cort and Holly would have gone home last week, if they had been given the option. It's hard to vacation with little kids. Hopefully (and I think most likely) everyone is going to just remember the great time we had, and not the melt downs, tantrums, and whinny kids. Oh, and not that night where the boat was rocking so bad I thought my room was going to be covered in vomit by the morning. We did happen upon Holly at the pool, she was sound asleep, not a care in the world, so we just laughed took a picture and kept on our way.We also utilized the kids club for Hayden today, so he went there and Asa and I went off to play penny slots. (I think we lost $5 in there- I think I have a problem), and Asa competed in the adult dodge ball tournament. The good news- his team got second. The bad news- there was only two teams competing. He had fun though. We met up with Peyton for the usual afternoon ice cream, and we spotted a seal (or sealion) in the water by the boat playing around. It was the first wild animal I saw the whole time on the boat. I was so excited about it, and was all ready to tell mom because animals are always spotted on the opposite side of the boat than our room (as was the seal), but when I came back she was talking about a whole bunch of seals she had seen off of her balcony. I think wildlife just hates me. I did see that moose though. It just wouldn't let me take a picture. I also sat and watched Asa compete in the onboard adult dodge ball tournament. His team came in second- but then, there was only two teams competing. He got a medal anyway. He was pretty excited about it.
We all met up to take a group picture on deck and in the solarium at 5:30. You should all be looking for this picture in your mailbox at Christmas time, as I suspect it will be mom's Christmas post card. As we were standing on deck Peyton swore he saw a dolphin, but nobody else had, so then there was all kinds of kid arguing over whether or not there was one. This is the main problem, the kids getting snippy with each other. Our solution: at dinner we sat adult, kid, adult, kid, adult, kid.
It was lobster night in the dining room. The kids all had their usuals, they didn't even have to order again, Everton just double checked with them. While sitting at dinner, Peyton spotted some dolphins out the window, which caused a stir in the dining room, and before I knew it there were people up at every window looking out. There were quite a few of them out the window, jumping out of the water next to the ship. Peyton was especially proud of himself for spotting them. It was sad to get our last night time speech from Everton. He really was a nice guy, awesome waiter, and made dinner enjoyable every night. We were taking pictures, Asa told him we'd tag him on facebook, he found that rather amusing.After dinner I wanted to play pool with Asa, but all that was available was the one table that wasn't self leveling. We decided to try and play anyway, but it had gotten worse between when Cort and Asa played, and when we tried to. Asa broke, and all the balls rolled down to one end. Mom thought it was hilarious to try and watch us play that way, but it wasn't very much fun. Although, for the record, I won.
We spent a little more time wasting money in the penny slots, but we figured the half an hour of entertainment was worth the dollar. Then we went out to the helipad for some really good views from the front of the ship, before heading to the farewell show. Thank God it was the comedian again. He was really funny, I laughed harder than I have in a long while. Before the show they played video they had taken all over the ship over the last week. My kids were on it a couple of times, being in the pirate parade and climbing the rock wall. Good memories.We got back to the room we had to put our luggage out. (our cruise director had told us a funny story of people forgetting to save themselves clothes for the next morning and just putting all their luggage out- and I find myself wondering if any of those are true, regardless the visuals were hilarious) Hayden was crying because kids club was over. I wanted to cry to. Free babysitters all day, that's living the dream right there. I'm sadder to see them go than he is. Of course, Asa had to order his room service one more time. Although, I have to say, I wish I had learned I could get sweet potato fries earlier than yesterday. Those were yum-me!
Once everyone was ready for bed, Asa and I decided we really wanted to go in the hot tub one last time. So either out of craziness or desperation, we left Calib in charge, and went up to the hot tub. Except, I had now become one of those people who had packed almost everything away, so we ended up in our bathing suits, bath robes, and tennis shoes walking up to the solarium. We got a few weird looks.
Tomorrow we get off the ship, and while there's things to look forward to like visiting everyone in Seattle, and the fact I can use the internet and know whats going on in the world again, it's going to be hard to adjust back to non-cruise ship life. How will I know what day it is, without the elevator telling me?
Final Count for the cruise ship:
Asa's dinner entrees: 13
Corinne getting sea sick: 3
Animal Sightings: 4
Towel Animal Sightings: 6
Everton Concerts: 3 (4 if you include the impromptu I just called to say I love you)
Super fun days on a cruise ship (minus that whole sea sick thing):7
Next Up: Vancouver Canada- whats the deal with going through customs to go to Canada? That's lame- en route to Seattle Washington.
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