Project 365, Week 24 & 25

A Thursday to Thursday vacation means I'm doing two weeks in one., which also means there's quite a bit here. We front-loaded our summer time away so the kids could be freed up to work and do camps and summer league and all the other commitments they have.

June 10

My dad was set to bring me to treatment but wasn't feeling well, so with 20 minutes notice, Avery jumped at the chance to take me. Such a kind, brave thing to do! It was a nice day to hang outside, so we did.

June 11

This dog sticks pretty close to this boy.

June 12

Dakota's mom sent me this picture of the kindergarten graduate. He just turned SIX!!

I've never seen so many blooms, and this early in the season!

June 13

Aiden took an aviation class in school this year and he is enthralled with it all. Shaun booked an introductory flight for him at a local airport and I got to be the one to take him! The instructor took care of the take off and landing, other than that, Aiden was at the controls. From spending so much time with the simulator at school, it was all quite familiar to him.

He flew us over our house, the office, the high school, the lake. It was such a clear, calm day.

A couple hours later, we were at a different airport to head out on our family's summer vacation. In an effort to experience something new and accomodate our varied interests and limitations, we booked a 4-night cruise out of Florida. And since we were going to be in Florida anyway, we added a couple days at a resort near-ish to Disney.

June 14

We were treated to a beautiful sunrise each morning off our balcony and Shaun was the hunter and gatherer of coffee each morning.

We dropped the kids off at Universal for the day, which was strange because it feels like a short time ago that they were too little to do rides without an adult. Strange, but in a good way.

Shaun and I drove a couple hours to the west coast to visit Nana and John. Nana had a fall and bruised her hip, which landed her in the hospital and then rehab. Along with Shaun's dad who had flown down, we met with some administrators, trying to get a handle on their affairs. It was delightful to get some time with her and also it was a lot to process.

We picked the kids up just as it started to downpour and then stopped for dinner. 

When we got back, Shaun and the girls hit the pool/hot tub.

June 15

The resort was enormous...three golf courses, 11 pools, a water park, mini-golf, etc...really larger than we could fully tackle in just a couple days so we dabbled.

Week 25

June 16

A quiet morning at the resort...

We had a morning swim and then packed up and headed to the port.

Happy Father's Day to Shaun. He's one of the good ones and he's ours.

June 17

What a treat to watch the sunrise while in the middle of the ocean! It was still early when we pulled up to the cruise line's private island, where we stayed for a day and a half.

Family workout in the middle of the afternoon.

We voted to skip the formal dinner and do the buffet instead so we could see the sunset. After dark, they put on a light show set to music.

June 18

Another beautiful day. We had the entire morning at the island and then headed out.

June 19

We pulled in to the Bahamas at dawn and Shaun and I were fascinated to watch our mamouth ship pull right up to the dock with precision.

I wasn't up for extra walking this day, so once they got to the gate, Shaun took the kids and I went back to the boat. They did a small part to support the locals and Aiden got to experience his first time in a different country. It was eye-opening.

By mid-afternoon, we were pulling out, headed back to Florida.

June 20

Back at Port Canaveral. My brief thoughts on cruising...its ok. I know some people really enjoy it, for our family, it was ok. Highlights: pizza available almost around the clock, sunrises on a quiet ship, playing cards, swimming in the green/blue Caribbean, sharing meals around the table.

I don't take it for granted for a minute that our teenagers willingly spend time with us. What I most wanted was time together and memories made and we did lots of that. What a gift!

Disembarkation was a thing so we were quite relieved to be on the shuttle, headed to our car.

June 21

I was happy to be reunited with my plants and flowers.

June 22

When Jack and Avery returned from their date, there was lots of camp talk amongst the kids and Aiden tried on a costume. I didn't ask too many questions.

June 23

More signs of camp.