April Part 2: Cruise Day 2-At Sea and Elegant Night

April 2nd dawned sunny, and we were so happy. We headed down to breakfast, lost each other a bit, and then decided on a designated breakfast spot. While we were eating, I was thinking about General Conference and how I was a bit sad to be missing it. In preparing for our cruise, we gave a lot of thought as to how we could keep the Sabbath Day holy while still enjoying our cruise. We discussed it with the kids and asked for their suggestions. It helped that we were studying the New Testament this year, and we found so teachings from Jesus about the Sabbath Day. We decided that we would observe the Sabbath on Saturday this time, due to General Conference, and we tried to do most things together as a family, but I still couldn't help thinking that it was, in fact, Sunday. So, when we were eating our breakfast, there was another family eating their breakfast two tables down. We were in a quieter part of the ship, away from the crazy buffets, so there wasn't another family in between us. They were listening to something, and we heard "Jesus Christ" and our heads immediately turned to look at the family and tune better into what they were listening to. "Is that Conference?" we asked. They replied that it was, and we were sad that right after they took conference away with them to go somewhere else, well, the one who was listening to it did. We couldn't wait to get to Mexico to get highlights. 

After breakfast, we went back to our room to finish preparing for the day, and we found this cute towel animal waiting for us. 

We played some mini golf with the kids, and then sent them to their clubs. While they were in their clubs, we took advantage of being kidless and headed to the Serenity Area, where nobody under 21 was allowed to enter. It took us a minute to find some chairs as it was pretty popular, but it was so nice sitting in the sun and reading without worrying about our kids. 

We grabbed Gabe and Rachel for lunch at one point, and they opted to swim after lunch, so we sent them together to our rooms to go change and get sunscreen. Rachel was so cute to help Gabe with his sunscreen application. 

They swam together, and then soaked up some some. I think Gabe lasted longer in the water than Rachel. 

Brian and I were reading on the lido when they started an outdoor movie, "Lyle Lyle Crocodile." We decided to watch it. My mom had too much sun so she either headed back to the room or sought shade elsewhere. 

Gabe enjoyed the movie, and also the water slides. 

After the movie, we all got ready for our first elegant night. We had decided to give everyone their Easter outfits early so we could all wear them on the cruise. 

Brian and I needed better profile picture for the Carnival App (which we all used to communicate with each other while on ship), so we took advantage of the golden sunlight and our elegant outfits to take a profile picture. 

And I made sure to get a picture with everyone. 

Michael taught me how to take a proper selfie. 

We didn't want to spend lots of money on the cruise photographers' photos, so we tried to take our own wherever possible. We found a quiet place on deck near the restaurant, and my mom took a picture of us. 

And Brian took one of just the girls. 

And I took one of just the boys. 

Mom took one of Brian and I. 

And then it was time for dinner, so we figured headed down there, but not without messing around a little in the revolving door. 

Michael opted to take the stairs. He got a little frustrated with the elevators after the first day. 

We sat closer to the back this time, and Gabe took full advantage. 

After dinner, Michael dashed off to hang with his new friends, and we got a selfie with the rest of us on the Promenade deck. 

We looked through some of the shops and headed to the room to get Gabe in bed. Or to change and get Gabe to Camp Ocean for an hour? Not sure. I took this picture at the girl's door while Brian was unlocking the boys door. This is how far apart we were. Brian was such a good sport to stay in a room with the boys without me, and I really appreciated it, and so did my mom. 

 Here are our bests and worsts for Day 2:

Day 2: Day at Sea April 2

Best: 

Gabe: going down the slides with Rachel

Rachel: going on the slide, and the movie was a cute movie

Michael: I hit a three and the crowd went “oooh!”

Grandma: lounging 

Brian: *tacos

Devri: lounging in the sun, reading a book

Worst

Gabe: when the water got cold at the pool

Rachel: lunch line & waiting for dinner & Gabe accidentally bumping me in the head with the golf putter

Michael: no worst 

Grandma: no worst

Brian: tops off my feet getting sunburned

Devri: sea sickness, which was actually pretty mild, when **Rachel didn’t want to go to Camp Ocean

*There is a restaurant called Blue Iguana on board that closes at 2 or 3 everyday. When we went on our cruise last year, we never made it in time to try their lunch tacos, only their breakfast stuff, so on Day 2, we finally got to try the tacos. 

**While Gabe loved Camp Ocean (the camp for kids under twelve), Rachel hated it. She didn't have the best experience last year, so she went into it this year with a bad attitude. She's not a vocally obstinately rebellious child like her brothers tend to be (they dig in and yell, "No! I'm not doing that!" when they don't want to do something), but she definitely has a stubborn streak in her and quietly digs her heels in when she doesn't want to do something. She gets pretty mopey, and looks at you with sad eyes and generally makes you feel like a terrible person for even asking this hard thing from her. (Her brothers should really follow her example because it is much more effective). She busted out all her reluctance anytime Camp Ocean was involved. This was a big bummer because one of the benefits of cruising with kids is the kid camps so you can get some kid-free time.