The McSparklesons are BACK and they are CRUISIN! COMPLETE 10/4

[MAGICFOR2]

Well I just spent the last hour and a half on an update and stupid AT&T decided to flicker on me (like they do at least a dozen times a day!) and I lost it all! I usually copy and save a few times but for some stupid reason I didn't this time....

Be glad this is a family forum...... If I posted what I really felt right now my post would look like this....

"**** *** ******** *** **** ***** ** *** ******"

Oh that stinks! I had to say it after looking at Jen's link.

 

[Beth D]

What rotten luck!

 

[CRdisMom]

As ole and Sven would say---gosh darn it!!!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Since we share birthdays, I wanted to be the first to say Happy Birthday! I will be celebrating with friends & a great steak dinner! Hope that your day will be as great as mine!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I love your beach videos! Absolutely gorgeous! The whole public bathroom ordeal had me laughing - and scared for your lives!

Great costumes for pirate night! You all looked fantastic! I haven't quite figured out what we will do for ours in June yet...

 

[Beth D]

Since we share birthdays, I wanted to be the first to say Happy Birthday! I will be celebrating with friends & a great steak dinner! Hope that your day will be as great as mine!!

Happy Birthday both of you!

You just reminded me that now I need to find something for DH's birthday next week. Oh well, more shopping!

 

[kid-at-heart]

Happy birthday Kara and Wicket's Mom!

 

[jenseib]

Happy Birthday girls!

 

[karajeboo]

Since we share birthdays, I wanted to be the first to say Happy Birthday! I will be celebrating with friends & a great steak dinner! Hope that your day will be as great as mine!!

Happy Belated Birthday to you, oh Mother of Wicket! Sorry I did not get on here to wish you proper birthday greetings on Saturday.....

And thank you to all for the birthday wishes! I got a new elliptical so I will be one hot mama by the time our next cruise rolls around!

 

[kid-at-heart]

I got a new elliptical so I will be one hot mama by the time our next cruise rolls around!

Hmmm, is that a trip with DH or with the DISmoms?

 

[karajeboo]

Hmmm, is that a trip with DH or with the DISmoms?

Well now that you mention it..... BOTH! We've already threatened Ally with promises of bikinis, for me AND Jeff! lol And of course I told her mine would be a thong!!!!!

I'm down 12 lbs since last cruise so I'm on my way!!!!!

 

[karajeboo]

So I'm gonna try again to post about them thar pirate vittles we had.....

OK, you're right, enough with the pirate talk, I never claimed to be bilingual anyway!

We were lucky enough (ok, no luck involved, because I ASKED for the PLA dining rotation) to be dining in Parrot Cay on pirate night. I mean, the only other awesome dining in Parrot Cay would be on Jimmy Buffet night, but I'm guessing that's on another cruise.......

We also had Lumiere's on Formal Night, and it's by far the most formal of the dining rooms. Even though DCL is the only cruise line I've ever experienced, I love that they have 3 separate dining rooms for rotational dining, as opposed to just one massive dining room on other lines.

So back to pirate night dining. The menu.....

But who needs a menu when I have Dobo? "Dobo, what will I be having tonight?" And as usual, I took his advice and went with whatever he recommended.

I, of course, began with a Rusty Anchor, which was a rum drink - duh!

Or as Jeff liked to call all the drinks on the ship, "....another $8....."

For appetizers, Jeff and I both got the Blackbeard’s Jumbo Crab Cake
With a fruit Salsa and Honey-Lime Tropical Coleslaw. It was an okay crab cake, I mean, I don't think we were in Maryland anymore, Toto, but still an okay appy......

From there, Jeff and I both ordered the Caribbean-style Conch Chowder
with sherry, sweet peppers, onions, tomatoes, thyme, and garnished with diced potatoes and crispy bacon bits. Um, yeah. Me like.

For his entree, Jeff ordered the Jack Sparrow’s Barbecue Marinated Beef Short Ribs, Rubbed beef short ribs with tamarind-barbecue sauce served with onion red bliss mashed potatoes and plantain chip

But I scored big. I took the Dobo's advice, and then when I got back I started hearing from others that this was one of the best entrees of the cruise. I concur. And I agree. And yup, them's right!!!!

Treasure-of-the-Seas Grilled Shrimp and Seared Scallops
served on strings of pasta and fresh creamy tomato sauce

And who says that kids are the only ones who get assistance with their food???

Or maybe it's just cause Dobo liked me......

Silly pirates coming over to interrupt our meal.... Godwin, our head server, was just as great as Dobo and Willy, but he's also the one who told me "no." I don't like to be told "no." That was when Willy had promised me all week that he would get me copies of all the menus. Then mean ole Godwin said, "no."

And of course Ally, who couldn't order an entree off the adult menu, but she sure as heck wouldn't be limited to an ice cream sundae or a Mickey bar off the kids dessert menu!

Walk the Triple Layered Chocolate Gangplank Cake, And fall into a rich Chocolate Sauce

I had the Shiver-me-timbers White Chocolate Cheesecake, On a Macadamia barnacle bottom.

I may have ordered it just because I've never seen "barnacle bottom" in a sentence together! <insert Beevis and Butthead laugh here>

After dinner the servers each grabbed a child and paraded around the dining room in what must surely be their most miserable time each cruise. Seriously, it's great photo ops for families, but even Ally was like, "what?"

.

Soon it was time to get ready to head up to Goofy's stage for the Pirates IN the Caribbean party. But Dobo had other ideas.

We loved him, truly we did, but bless his heart (I'm from the south, I can say this!!!!) he was just burning out I think , and he needed an ear.

He found mine.

So while we sipped after dinner drinks ($8), and coffee, we watched as the dining room slowly cleared out, and Dobo just hung out with us, telling us his life story.

Neat guy! 39 years old, with a Masters Degree in Hotel/Restaurant Mgmt. But working on a cruise ship because he could make more money there than at home in Bulgaria. He really wanted to come to the US and get his citizenship, but his mother in Bulgaria does not speak English and is too old and set in her ways. So he continues to make money to send to her, by working 9 months on a ship.

I think this is a great life for college kids and those right out of college, unless it is a career. But for those like Dobo, I feel bad.

He was nearing the end of his 9 month contract, and heading home to Bulgaria to figure out his next career move, and I truly wish him well.

But a few fun facts I learned.....

Servers work all three shifts (breakfast, lunch, dinner) 6 days a week. On the 7th day they only work 2 shifts. When they are not working in a dining room, they may be cleaning up the decks, like we saw Willy one day out by the pool picking up cups and plates that people just toss aside.

It's a very tough life, I'm sure, but if my math is correct, they are compensated pretty well......

Anyway, by the time we were released by the Dobo, we were late to the party. I mean, there were pirates IN the Caribbean, and they were ON OUR SHIP!!!!

More next post.....

 

[karajeboo]

I did not bring my good camera to this, so please forgive these shots.....

It was right about this time that my, um, er, "plumbing" got my attention. I guess the dungeon from St Maarten scared it right outta me!

So I missed the following, but suffice it to say,

Mickey saved the day!

And I made it up in time for the end of this......

I hate that I missed it! But we have early rotation on our next cruise so we will be sure to get there early!!!!

The funny thing is that as we looked off into the short distance, we could see 3 different ships all about as close as they dared, to see the fireworks. Those leacherous scaliwags!!!!

So I felt kind of special knowing that I was on THE ship where the fireworks came from!!!! Or maybe that makes me a fool for paying for the fireworks that the others saw free?????

This was a late night for us, as we kind of hung out on deck for awhile after the fireworks. The buffet was going strong but having just eaten (another reason we are doing early dining next cruise!), we couldn't even look at all the food!

Up next, St Thomas.......

 

[wilma-bride]

Awesome! Oh, and just in case DCL is reading this, a Jimmy Buffet night would be superb

 

[kid-at-heart]

Soon it was time to get ready to head up to Goofy's stage for the Pirates IN the Caribbean party. But Dobo had other ideas.

We loved him, truly we did, but bless his heart (I'm from the south, I can say this!!!!) he was just burning out I think , and he needed an ear.

“Bless his heart”, my spouse is from Tennessee and told me Southern folks can say anything bad about someone as long as somewhere in the sentence is “bless his/her heart”, so here I am in my first teaching gig at a small University in Louisiana and was talking with a group of students who taught K-12. I was sharing this bit of “spouse wisdom” during class one day and everyone laughed but poo-pooed his “wisdom”. A couple of hours later (this was a three week graduate class, six hours a day, four days a week), one of the teachers was sharing her frustration regarding one of her students. She said he was a problem child but bless his heart he …” The entire class died laughing when they realized what she had said and how my spouse’s wisdom was true.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Well now that you mention it..... BOTH! We've already threatened Ally with promises of bikinis, for me AND Jeff! lol And of course I told her mine would be a thong!!!!!

I'm down 12 lbs since last cruise so I'm on my way!!!!!

Congrats on the weight loss, it is such a difficult thing to do. I always have the opposite problem, I cannot gain weight (I know, poor me). At the moment, everyone in my house is trying to lose a few pounds so I cannot bake goodies or cook fried foods for dinner. Which is working because everyone is losing weight, sadly, I am losing also so now look like an anorexic scarecrow.

During our mother-daughter trip in June, Sarah (age 13) and I visited Typhoon Lagoon for the first time. I was surprised (not offended, just surprised) when I saw several ladies in thongs and a male in a speedo. I mentioned to Sarah that he must be a very brave young man to wear a speedo but luckily she did not have a clue what I meant.

 

[Beth D]

Awesome update! I think I'm going to ask for the same rotation on our cruise. You've got it all figured out!

Congrats on the skinny minnie efforts! Keep it up!

 

[KristiMc]

Congrats on the weight loss! I started Weight Watchers last August when the boys went back to school and have lost 53 pounds. Now, I hit 50 pounds the week we left for the cruise and since then I have been up a few, down a few but have been able to stay within 50-53 lbs. lost. I am hoping that when the boys start back to school next week that I can get back on track and take 20 more off.

 

[karajeboo]

Awesome! Oh, and just in case DCL is reading this, a Jimmy Buffet night would be superb

WEll, on the Western next March, I do plan to "waste away in Margaritaville" if only for a quick stop in to say I've been there......

“Bless his heart”, my spouse is from Tennessee and told me Southern folks can say anything bad about someone as long as somewhere in the sentence is “bless his/her heart”, so here I am in my first teaching gig at a small University in Louisiana and was talking with a group of students who taught K-12. I was sharing this bit of “spouse wisdom” during class one day and everyone laughed but poo-pooed his “wisdom”. A couple of hours later (this was a three week graduate class, six hours a day, four days a week), one of the teachers was sharing her frustration regarding one of her students. She said he was a problem child but bless his heart he …” The entire class died laughing when they realized what she had said and how my spouse’s wisdom was true.

It's a great phrase and really does sum it up sometimes!!! But you know that when you hear "bless his heart" that basically he is being called stupid/lazy/incompetent/etc......

Congrats on the weight loss, it is such a difficult thing to do. I always have the opposite problem, I cannot gain weight (I know, poor me). At the moment, everyone in my house is trying to lose a few pounds so I cannot bake goodies or cook fried foods for dinner. Which is working because everyone is losing weight, sadly, I am losing also so now look like an anorexic scarecrow.

During our mother-daughter trip in June, Sarah (age 13) and I visited Typhoon Lagoon for the first time. I was surprised (not offended, just surprised) when I saw several ladies in thongs and a male in a speedo. I mentioned to Sarah that he must be a very brave young man to wear a speedo but luckily she did not have a clue what I meant.

Thongs? Really? Now I know that speedos are very European and part of me says good for them for not caring about body image - I think we Americans are so swayed by TV and movies and think we all need to look like movie stars (and I don't mean Kathy Bates, bless her heart..... ), but for WDW to allow thongs? Nope, that's just not right. But it sure is fun to torment Ally with visions of her parents dressed that way!!!!

Awesome update! I think I'm going to ask for the same rotation on our cruise. You've got it all figured out!

Congrats on the skinny minnie efforts! Keep it up!

You had to mention Minnie? That husband stealer? And for the record, she had cankles..... just sayin.....

Congrats on the weight loss! I started Weight Watchers last August when the boys went back to school and have lost 53 pounds. Now, I hit 50 pounds the week we left for the cruise and since then I have been up a few, down a few but have been able to stay within 50-53 lbs. lost. I am hoping that when the boys start back to school next week that I can get back on track and take 20 more off.

Kristi, I thought you looked great!!!! I know WW is the best way to lose weight, but my doctor recommended ATkins (and before I had my annual, I decided to ask him and do whatever he recommended). It started out fast but has tapered off. So in 6 weeks I've lost a little over 12 lbs. I would like to lose another 19 ideally, but 14 would make me happy...... Not necessarily thong happy, but happy nonetheless......

 

[karajeboo]

OK, since I share so much on disboards, much to Jeff and Ally's dismay...... thought y'all would enjoy this little story.

About 2 months ago, Ally went on a "I want a guinea pig" kick. Jeff HATES small animals, from rodents to reptiles, and he firmly said, "NO."

But Ally is pretty resourceful, so she was biding her time before she came back to him and asked again. She offered to pay half but told him how much she wanted a little animal.

Again, "No." But he did manage to ask her a few questions, like why she wanted a guinea pig and did she know what taking care of a small animal entailed.

A couple more weeks and she came to me and asked me to help her convince him. See, my family had guinea pigs and hamsters when I was young, so it's no big deal to me. I do think they are great little pets for children. But I told her that it was up to Daddy since he was so against them.

She decided to research guinea pigs very thoroughly. Then she "practiced" her speech on me, in front of the mirror, in the backseat of the car, until finally, she approached him a couple weeks ago at dinner.

Now I knew she was going to do this so I warned Jeff about it. And I told him he needed to really listen to her and think about it.

So she asked again at dinner. He did not say no, but instead said, "I'll think about it." Then a little later the same night, Ally was talking about it again, and Jeff gave her some things to think about. He asked if she even knew what a guinea pig needed to care for it.

She whipped out her notepad and started reading off how often to feed it, change it's water, give it treats, clean cage, etc. She had been researching online.

Jeff kind of raised his eyebrows and realized he lost that round.

Ally 1, Jeff 0

Then he told Ally that with as much as we like to travel, she needed to find someone to take care of the pig. A few minutes later Ally emailed a friend of ours in the neighborhood to give her the dates of WDW trip and DCL trip and got the okay that she would pigsit.

Ally 2, Jeff 0

Jeff was scrambling to come up with reasons why Ally could not have the pig. But all he could say was, "I'll think about it."

A couple days later he boarded a plane for California. I texted him to say that since he was no longer 100% AGAINST the little critter, I was going to take Ally to get one. I felt she had been a huge help to me this summer and felt she had done her research and deserved it.

We picked out the cutest little black and white guinea pig that Ally named Oreo. The problem was that Oreo was sneezing when we bought her and the gal told us to watch it and bring her back if it didn't get better, and told us about their 14 day policy for bringing back live animals. This was PetSmart, btw.

After 5 days, Oreo was still sneezing, and had little crustys in her eyes. I googled it and realized she was definitely sick and would not get better on her own. In fact, I was worried that we waited too long to get her treated.

So I stopped into a different PetSmart while I was out and about and asked about the procedure for bringing back a guinea pig for treament. I was told in no uncertain terms that we had to bring her back, get our money back and pick out a new pig. WHAT? We wanted Oreo back but were told that it was too much hassle to do that and we just needed to get a new one.

Ally agreed to do it, until she came home and was cuddling with Oreo. So we cried all night, knowing we had to give up Oreo.... It was a TERRIBLE night.

The next morning I called our vet who insisted on an office visit ($60) and meds ($15) but I just couldn't justify paying for the office visit...... so I decided to call the Petsmart where we bought Oreo, just to confirm the policy. I got the same gal on the phone who sold us Oreo and she made it clear that the other Petsmart was WRONG! We COULD get Oreo back!!!!!

So we raced to that store, talked with them some more and they took Oreo from us and told us to call back later to check on her. Now, not only do we call every day to check on Oreo, they encourage us to come visit her!!!!!

So I am pleased to report that while Oreo will be at the PetSmart "hospital" for 14-17 days for treatment, we visit her every other day and she is steadily improving! In fact, the first time we visited, you could see that Oreo was so much more alert than she had ever been, and she really responded to Ally holding her. Just cooing and nuzzling Ally's neck. It almost made me cry to think that this little creature was so attached to Ally, and vice versa.

So that is why I didn't get an update until recently. We've been nursing a sick pig........