First, thank you all for your well wishes regarding la famalia. The stroke pretty much has left devastating effects on my uncle. It should have killed him- all the doctors said so..but it didn't. And he is now still alive. But a vegetable. It has been agonizing watching my aunt go through all she has had to go through to be left with what? A man who doesn't remember her, his previous life, can't walk, can't talk, can't read.... sigh! So, so tough.
Anyways, This was not meant to start Debbie downer. After all I named this post "Braids and Fish Eggs". That alone has much promise, right?
So formal night was 'over'. I managed to pi$$ off my mother. And it was only 8pm. Things were looking good. We saw the show earlier so that left a whole evening of spending time with a pi$$ed of mother. Woo.
Miss Sarah wanted to go back to the club (jee, what a huge surprise) and so we took her. The other two wanted to swim. So off we went to a relatively calm, empty Lido deck....except where they ended up-
The girls jumped into the infinity hot tub with 900 other small children and 2 brave dads (said dad of these children retired to his room to watch TV or something).
I sat down to watch the Jumbotron at night....
Can you guess what's playing? Hint: It's a Disney movie. (Hahahahaha!)
It was not long before the lure of the hair braiding station began to sing its siren song to my eldest daughter. You see, EVERY cruise we take she eventually decides she wants her hair braided. And while it's happening she cries and sobs because let's face it.. it IS torture. And she swears never again.... and then.. again happens.
And so she found herself in the chair o' pain. And her hair starting to get braided....
It is hard to tell but those eyes are red. She is death gripping that towel and randomly shoving it in her mouth to stop the screams.. and little tiny tears indeed did fall................
But, just like ear piercing, in the end... all smiles. One happy girl (and one happy mom because people- her hair- CRAZY curly and this makes it SO MUCH EASIER to do for me!)
Braiding typically stays for several weeks and for $28 total, this is a good investment.
By now it was 9pm. Little Miss Char who previously wanted braids and then saw what braids involved, no longer wanted braids. So I took her down and put her to bed. And Rebecca and I went to get Sarah.
Only Sarah wanted to stay- so we granted her another hour...and my girl and I set off to explore the ship. And maybe, get some ice-cream.
Because it was formal night.. and the tail end of late seating... photo opportunities were everywhere- and so what better way to celebrate formal night than a picture with Mickey in his fancy 'attire' and us in our PJ's. I mean if it were up to me, this is how I would have spent ALL of formal night... so...
One for the frames.
We then went to the shops. Bought nothing. Went back up and got more ice-cream. (What? I told you we had like 900 million of those delicious swirly things!) And eventually I yanked Sarah out of the clubs by 10:30 to go to bed. Another day at sea.. Done!!! Next up: Sea Day 2.
Which, since I'm not at my picture limit- I shall start. Lucky you.
Got up at 7:30 and went out and sat on the balcony-
Ahh. A wonderful way to wake up.
We eventually got dressed and took the girlies up for breakfast at the buffet and then the two youngest got deposited at the club.. because we had a 10:45 brunch date here:
We checked in and were directed to wait in the nicely appointed bar called The Merdian. In just a few short hours, my favorite event of the cruise would take place in this same place............
We passed time by taking a few pictures.
El Hub
La madre
(on speaking terms and no longer pi$$ed at me- in case you were all wondering!)
Eventually we were taken to our table, right by the window. Sweet! Introduced to our server of which I apparently forgot to write down his name but noted here that he was from Florence, Italy. So we'll call him Tony. You know, after Tony Soprano. Because that was the first Italian male that came to my mind. Not because our server was mob gangsta.
Anyways, Tony got us our one drink included in the price. We all opted for Mimosas.......
Then Tony gave us a tour of the buffet and said "forgettaboutit"
Cute little pastries and stuff..
Disgusting horrible seafood. I didn't think I took a picture of this but apparently I did...
Apparently failed to get the main dishes but captured the most important table of all. The sweets.
Then we sat down and Tony told us he'd take our order for appetizers, main dishes & pizza. He also told us we were getting mozzarella balls whether we liked it or not. He was very, very pushy with those balls. And come to find out via another fellow cruisers report- her server was also very pushy with those balls. Clearly the balls contain something other than cheese. Perhaps narcotics to induce to book another cruise onboard. That's my theory at least. Bwahahaha, jokes on you Disney. We ate those d#mn balls and STILL didn't rebook on board.
I give you crack balls.
Said balls were not even that great. I mean they were ok. But not great.
I ordered a cold strawberry soup. (Yum. No picture). And Chicken Parm. Then headed off to the tables to load up. First up. Cute little pastries...
Aww, cute little muffin. I love you. Aww, look- I even went 'healthy' and got fruit.
Also. On this plate. Is............. ta da............... fish eggs.
I have never tried caviar. I decided TODAY IS THE DAY!! My mother laughed hard at me. And demanded I hand over my camera.
I am so, so brave. Just like Merida.
Me. And some fish eggs.
Clearly I am still very unsure.
Here I go. I'm doing it. I am.......
Wait. Pause. It's gross. I'm gonna throw up. Make the horribleness stop.
Down Kurt's Mimosa. Chaser. Over. Done. Do not repeat.
Now I have officially tried caviar. I will continue hold fast to my rule of the only seafood I eat comes from a place that has golden arches and fries those fake fish parts together in perfect togetherness with that tiny overprocessed cheese slice and tarter sauce on a soft, squishy bun. Oh Filet o' Fish, you will always be my one and only true fish love. I will even pretend that you are real fish and not fake. Which is probably the reason I love you so in the first place....
Oh, I'm sorry. That was a tangent.
OK. So cavier over. Time for food.
Mom got Salmon.
She said it was fantastic.
Kurt got lasagna.
He is a simple man with simple tastes. And his lasagna needs to come out of a red box labeled Stouffers. This was much, much too fancy for him. (see what I have to work with people?!?!)
I got the chicken parm. I do not have a picture. But it was very good. So there. Also, my cold strawberry soup was very good.
And then dessert. Glorious dessert.
Overall, I was quite satisfied with this meal & the fact that I had to pay extra for it. I think brunch surcharge was $25 a person. I feel I got that money worth out of it. I mean the crack balls alone...........
I would do it again. With someone other than my husband. So, when George Clooney and I cruise Disney together.. we'll go ahead and do this. That will happen in the near future called 'in my dreams'.
We left Palo and headed to get the children and off to the pool for a few hours..
And eat some more ice-cream.
Back down in the room.. the girlies played on the bunk beds...
And I took this picture. Never mind Sarah's weird face in it... I was trying to highlight the constellations above her...where the stars make characters from Peter Pan. I think this is such a VERY neat detail of these staterooms...
And that is my 25 photo limit. And I'm done! You shall wait for the next part.. entitled " You are SO embarrassing Mom" (statement issued from my daughter to me).