Let The Cruising Begin - At Sea, Days 1 & 2

It's difficult to know where to start with recounting the glory days of the cruise, if only because something very startling and scary happened the first night, and I just have to get it out of the way here.

GrandDad Mike had a diabetic sugar crash.

Without going into the details we all witnessed, because that's Mike's story, I'll say that the first night all 23 of us gathered for dinner in the center of the ship's restaurant, we witnessed what we thought was Mike having a stroke or a heart attack. Really, it was that dangerous-looking and it's what we thought could be the end to Mike.

Medics came and aided him; Kai and Mick and Mike's brothers knelt round him, calm and solemn and brave, providing information; the children and Mimi cried.

When it was assessed an hour later that indeed he'd had a diabetic seizure, it was a tremendous relief that Mike was still with us, and it was an enormous reality check as to the fragility of life. It may not have been stroke or heart attack, but it was just as dangerous.

That said, the rest of the cruise we (or just I?) spent some thought hoping all the diabetics kept sugar levels under control (there are 4 in the family at various stages), and keeping track of family in subtle ways. Keep in mind, we kept Jan, Grammy/Mike's wife, in our thoughts, too, as she'd had to remain home in Washington due to her own health challenges.

But we got that big scare out of the way the first night, and, sign of the cross, nothing else happened the rest of the cruise. So, here's a little of what the first two days at sea held for us:

Aubrey and Indi loved dressing up for dinner. Here they are the first night.

Aubs and Dub Dub.

Danielle and Cindy in the forefront; Danielle's friend Jenny with Mike in the background.

Big Boy Jude got all snazzied up: dress shirt, tie, and sweatpants "For Mimi."

Kai holds up family t-shirts from Tom.

Mick, in honor of Mimi's 95th birthday.

Mimi and her love bug, Jude.

Kai, Mimi, and Jude.

After the crash and the positive word from the infirmary some of us regained a little of our appetites and headed up to the Lido deck to decompress.

It may not have been warm (it was snowing in Baltimore when we left), but on day 2 (near North Carolina?) the kids hit the sea water pool.

Indi and Aubs playing slap-hands.

Jude, Aubs and Dane.

Mick with the newest little Reynolds (well, his last name is actually Clark!), Nathan.

Kai with Dub-Dub, who, the next day was stung by a jellyfish in that seawater pool! It was closed and drained after his screams and welts alerted the crew.

Waiting for kids' camp, which was a little bit of a bust -- but that's okay, the kids just roamed the ship like unruly pirates in search of soft-serve the rest of the trip.

Dana, Rod, Mimi, Mick and Kai.

Rod, Mimi, Kai, me, and Dana.

Dane gussied up.

Doing the girls' hair.

GrandDad. Woops, it's fuzzy.

My growing kids.

Mimi and her greats. (Where's Nathan?)

Kai and Jude.

With my fabulous sister-in-law.

The traditional matching Christmas Jammies from Auntie Dana.

Other than this, we explored the ship's various lounges, cafes, and decks, looking forward to our first day on land: for us, that meant the Orlando Watersports Complex and Harry Potter World. (Stay tuned...)

Of National Icons, Cruise Ships, and Legos

It's been a busy three months. I taught 9 credits of writing at Rogue Community College this Fall, which made my life full, complex and wonderful. Not only did I meet students with stories that astounded, troubled, and inspired me as I graded their 66 papers every other week, but I earned enough money to pay for our upcoming family vacation! (That last part is important, only because we hadn't anticipated a big vacation this year.)

But that's right, we're going on a vacation. And that's the point of this post.

Last summer, Mick's Mimi (grandmother) invited her entire extended family to join her on a cruise to the Bahamas at Christmas. She generously offered us passage on the cruise if we could get ourselves there and enjoy it.

We said Yes! (We've done this before, two other times: once to The Caribbean, another to Alaska.)

Here's what we're hoping to do:

We'll head east several days before the cruise to explore on our own before we meet up with everybody. We'll land in Philadelphia and start there, seeing the Liberty Bell and eating Philly cheese steaks.

Dane surprised us yesterday with a few Lego renditions of American Symbols.
Here's the Liberty Bell, of course.

Then we'll spend some time at the magnificent Mimi's, where she'll whoop us once again at cards.

We'll also head to DC to spend a day at the Smithsonian, and another day on the Trolley Tour, visiting the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial.

The White House. He hasn't figured out how to make the top rounded part yet.

We can hardly wait!

He threw in the Statue of Liberty for his cousin Indi who'll go to New York before the cruise.

But it doesn't end there, which is so hard to believe...

From there, we head on a cruise ship to The Bahamas with 23 other members of Mimi's/Mick's family, four generations of Reynolds. That alone is special.

What's also special is that in Orlando, the kids and I will hit up Harry Potter World while Mick will fulfill a dream of wakeboarding at a water park all day. I think his cousin Andrew will join him. (We would've joined him on that, but the kids' ages aren't quite right yet, and I have a feeling Harry Potter World might have won out anyway, since that's where their cousins will be!)

We'll also snorkel and play at the beach at two stops in The Bahamas.

*sigh*

I'm in the middle of packing right now. Now that we have to pay $25 a checked suitcase each way, complete with size and weight restrictions, I need to be efficient!

I've done it before and I can do it again, but if you have ANY suggestions or tips for me, leave a comment, please.

• Any tips on how to pack most efficiently?
• Any items I'll absolutely need to bring?
• Any places in that itinerary that I should bust a rump to get to?
• Any things I should look for?
• Any ways to prep my kids other than reading books about the Revolution and American Symbols, or watching Night at the Museum? 

Fire Away!