April Part 3: Cruise Day 2--At Sea

We discovered that they have Sea Day Brunch at the Vista Restaurant, and we decided (and by we, I mean my mom, Brian, and I) to try it out. The kids weren't really thrilled about it, as you can see. 

I did manage to coax a smile out of Gabe, eventually. 

Things improved once the food arrived. 

Rachel dug in her heels about Camp Ocean, and so in frustration, I told her that she didn't have to go, but she did need to stay in her room. Mom took pity on her and took her to the towel folding demonstration. Rachel liked getting to do something fun with Grandma. 

Later on, we hit up the deck for swimming, and even managed to find Michael! (He spends most of his time hanging with kids he met in Club C, the club for kids 12-15). We make him join us for dinner everyday though. 

The kids posed for pictures for the photographer, and they were so cute that we bought them. 

After showers, we did some exploring of the ship, 

Rachel, Gabe, my Mom, and I ended up meeting up near the restaurant and playing a new game Rachel got from a friend called "Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza". It was a pretty fun game, and we played right until the boys met us for dinner. 

The next day was going to be our first port day, so we went to bed a decent time to make sure we were refreshed and ready for adventures. 

 Here's our Best and Worsts:

Best

Michael - not losing at blackjack (instead of betting on money, they bet on embarrassment by having to ask a random girl for a phone number)

Rachel - playing Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza with Mom, Grandma, and Gabe

Gabe - playing Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza

Devri - sitting in a lounge chair in serenity reading

Brian - same as Devri since we could cuddle

Leta - winning! (At Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza). And napping.

Worst

Michael - when you made me go to brunch in the restaurant

Rachel - when I started to hate myself*

Gabe - fighting with Michael

Devri - kids fighting and Rachel wouldn't go to camp ocean

Brian - when Rachel thought she yelled at me and beat herself up a lot

Leta - when I was trying to sleep and people kept sending messages in the app but I wouldn't silence my phone in case I missed out on messages in the app

*Rachel is our most parent-pleaser child. She just wants to be good, and she feels so bad when she makes someone feel bad or gets chastised for doing something wrong, a trait she inherited from me and a little bit from Brian. (I have to admit to being a little happy when she shows some sass and stubbornness because I know she's not a total pushover like me and will actually stand up for herself.) She is usually the quickest to obey and the fastest to feel remorse. She is a really, really good girl and an easy child to parent.  The Camp Ocean thing blew up a bit when she said, "You never make sacrifices for me" and Brian told her a little bit about our sacrifices and left her alone to cool off. According to Rachel, she screamed at Brian. According to Brian, she was only a little huffy and dramatic. She spent several minutes loathing herself until Grandma saved her with the towel animals.