Back in Bogotá and Happy Birthday Elena

The week after our Disney cruise, we were back at school.  It was tough to go from a month of vacation into our early wake up, long commute school routine.  The girls and I tried to make the best of it though.

Jeff and I also got a chance to catch up with friends by going to Osaka Peru, which is one of the best restaurants I've ever been to.  We were having so much fun, I only got a picture of the dessert sampler, but everything we ate was fantastic and the service was almost OCD level of attentive.

We've been keeping busy on the weekend too.  My Christmas and New Year's pancakes were such a hit that Jeff got me a special pancake skillet.  I can make four at a time, and they come out perfectly round.  The family was thrilled, but I thought their sameness was a bit disturbing.  Oh well, so long as my customers are happy.

They finally finished renovating the playground on 81, so we went with some friends to enjoy the brand new playground.

They had a lot of fun, but Elena especially was worn out by the end of it.

I can't believe my baby is five!  Two days before her birthday, she was wearing her Minnie ears and making a happy face in her reversible sequins shirt.

She refuses to have her hair cut or put in a ponytail.  I really don't want to have to pin her down in the hair salon, so I'm biding my time, but it will have to be cut eventually.

On Elena's actual birthday, Vivian was on her week long camp and Jeff had a work trip, so Elena and I celebrated just the two of us.  I started by proclaiming her Birthday Queen at breakfast.

Then we had a cupcake party with her class in the afternoon.  They have their own special birthday crown which she wanted to wear for the party.

Her teacher presented her with a birthday certificate.

We sang her happy birthday in English and Spanish, and she blew out her candle.

The "celebration" was me reading two books to the class which Elena had picked, Green Eggs and Ham and I Really Like Slop.  It was a hit, and she was super happy.

On Friday, Vivian came home from camp, and that was the best present Elena could have asked for.

Elena REALLY missed her.  I love that they're not only sisters, but also friends.  I'm so glad they have each other.

Farewell Florida

The last morning on a Disney cruise is always rough.  You get up early, you eat breakfast in a bit of a hurry, and then you shuffle off the ship and through customs.  Sadness.  We almost had a catastrophe too.  We were getting our luggage and getting in line for customs, when one of the Disney people came walking along the line holding up a blankie and asking if anyone had dropped it.  It was Elena's stripey blankie.  Whew, thank you diligent Disney people!

We said goodbye to the Goerss grandparents, and then got on the Hertz shuttle with my parents to pick up a van.  Our plan was to go check out the Wonderworks museum that a friend of my mom's had recommended.  Our flight wasn't until 8 that night, and my parents' wasn't until 6, so we had plenty of time to kill.  The place was pretty easy to find, and we were impressed right from the start by their dedication to the theme.

The fun continued inside, where you bought tickets on "the third floor".

Even the bathrooms couldn't resist a joke.  This was the inside door of the ladies room.

To enter the museum you had to go through a special tunnel.

The walkway was stable, but the tunnel around it was spinning which was really disconcerting.  Viv loved it, but Elena freaked out and had to be carried.  She recovered once we got into the main museum though.  She especially loved the giant bubbles.

Viv stayed on the wild side, going into the hurricane simulator,

and trying out the astronaut equipment.

My parents got in on the action too.

The family favorite though was the sand table with a depth responsive digital overlay.

For a finishing touch, Vivian and Jeff went on the ropes course.

Elena found other ways to have fun while we were waiting for them.

After a couple hours, we had tried everything we wanted to try, and done the things we liked twice.  It was also starting to get crowded, so we decided it was time to go to lunch.  There was a shopping area across the street, and the first restaurant we saw was a Maggiano's.  We figured pasta would be kid friendly, and so that's where we had lunch.  Vivian ordered the spaghetti with one giant meatball.  They weren't kidding.

We ate as much as we could, and then walked around to look at the stores.  There weren't many there, but we did find one that was selling Minnie ears for a reasonable price.  I hadn't wanted to buy them on the ship because they cost $30, but I figured $10 was okay.  Elena wore them with pride, and she also found a dried out palm frond to sweep the sidewalk with, so she was happy as a clam.

Viv had a lot of fun shopping too.  Her most exciting purchase was a package of bath bombs.  Finally, we had to admit it was time to head to the airport and say goodbye.  It was tough.  After we said goodbye to Mom and Dad, we still had a couple hours to kill before our flight.  We found a Mexican restaurant in the airport and waited about ten minutes for a table.  When we sat down the waitress told us that unfortunately they didn't have any guacamole and the blender was broken, so they didn't have any frozen drinks.  What???  What is the point of a Mexican restaurant without guacamole and frozen drinks?  We made the best of it, and luckily the flight home was smooth.  We got home quite late, and the girls ended up just sleeping in their clothes.  Elena didn't even wake up when we carried her from the taxi to her bed.  It was an absolutely wonderful vacation, and it's always sad when a wonderful vacation ends.

Castaway Cay with Good Weather

We were a little nervous about our stop in Castaway Cay, because when we had been there the year before it was cold and rainy, but this year we were in luck! The sun was out, and it was a beautiful day for the beach.

We got to the island early enough to get a wagon, and Jeff the super dad pulled the girls along.

Definitely much better beach weather than the year before.  Vivian asked if we could get one of the big inner tubes, and I figured, why not?

The popcorn bucket turned out to be a great beach toy too.

Elena mostly stuck to the beach, while Viv and Jeff took full advantage of the inner tube.

It was a bit crowded, but so beautiful that I really didn't care.

We also learned a cool trick from watching the families around us.  You could take the low beach chairs and put them right along the water.  That way you could see the kids, have your feet in the water, but not have to sit in the sand.  Brilliant!

We left Mom and Dad with the girls, and Jeff and I went to check out the adults only part of the island called Serenity Bay.  Our timing was perfect, because we ran into Jim and Kitty, and had a lovely lunch together.

By then we had been on the beach for several hours, and we figured it was probably time to start heading back, especially since none of the lunch food they were serving on the island really appealed to Elena.  The girls snuggled back in the wagon for the ride home to the ship.

When we got closer to the ship, we gave the wagon to another family, and then the girls and I got on the trolley while Jeff walked.  I got one last picture of them on the island before getting back on the ship.

Cabanas was closed by the time we got back on the ship, but Mater's Grill had yummy chicken strips, so the girls gobbled those up and then played on the slides for a while longer.  Eventually, even they agreed it was time for a break from the sun, and they spent the rest of the afternoon in the kids club.  The sky as we were sailing away from the island was lovely.

It was especially sad to sail away this time, because we have no idea when or if we'll be back.  The last dinner was bittersweet.  We tried to focus on the positive though with an early celebration of Elena's birthday which is at the end of January.  She and I had just run into Minne on the way to dinner,

and then she got chocolate cake and a chorus of Happy Birthday, so she was very pleased.

We let the girls spend some more time in the kids club after dinner, but eventually it was time to bring them back to the room for our last night on our Disney cruise.