One thing Roy and I both loved about the cruise was that it didn’t seem like the week flew by. Granted, while I would have LOVED to stay on the boat for another week, or 20, we felt that we were able to enjoy the week… to actually plan things and have time to experience some of these things.
Well, the late nights finally caught up with us.
“Can we wake up now?” Hayden’s voice cut through the absolute darkness. (Yes, the two younger boys ended up sleeping in our room a few nights.)
“What?” I whispered, “What time is it?”
We had an interior room, and the thing about them is… they are DARK! Not dark like your bedroom late at night, but pitch black. No dim glow from a clock, unless you bring your own. No sunlight being filtered in by blinds. So, we had no clue what time it was. I struggled up, pushing baby feet off my cheek and shoulder, and groped around in the dark for Roy’s phone.
12:04 PM.
WOW! I don’t know if I have EVER slept that late… like ever in my whole life! Oh well, we are on vacation!
“Mommy, I’m really hungry. Can we have breakfast?” The whine was starting to creep into Hayden’s voice.
“Ok, Ok! I’m up, I’m up!” I tried to work up some enthusiasm, so that I could get Roy and Dean up and moving.
“Honey?” I leaned over to whisper into Roy’s ear, “Time to get up!”
“What time is it?” He asked, sleep making his voice husky.
Hmm… can I just throw some clothes on and take the little boys up to camp? No, they aren’t serving lunch today. Got to get up!
“It’s noon. We missed breakfast.”
“Really?” He was more awake now, and I heard him turn over, probably looking for the little bedside lamp.
Light flooded the room, and the three of us groaned. Dean was still snoring soundly. I bounded up and hit the shower for a few minutes. I came out three minutes later and Roy was getting Dean dressed. I got dressed and then ran next door as Roy cleaned up to see what the older boys were up too. Three empty beds. I hope they ate something!
20 minutes later, we were in line at the burrito bar. My burrito was yummy - steak, black beans, lettuce, tomatoes, hot peppers, green sauce, and guacamole. Hayden seemed to enjoy the inner workings of his burrito, and Dean picked out all the chicken in his. The breakfast of champions!
Roy’s parents tracked us down, and asked if we wanted to go to the 60 in 60 with them. 60 works of art auctioned off in 60 minutes. I was curious to see what it was all about, so we decided to give it a shot. We took the younger boys up to camp, Hayden had breakdance rehearsal, so he didn’t want to miss that, and then Roy and I headed over to the art gallery.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. The auction was actually held in the night club, and there were tons of pictures to see. In the back of the gallery, we found three lovely pictures by James Coleman. He actually won an Oscar for his work on Beauty and the Beast - my favorite Disney movie along with Sleeping Beauty. Roy and I both loved a picture of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
“I think you should get it.” Roy whispered in my ear.
“Hmm… I don’t know. Do they have any Tinkerbell?” I looked around.
Tink and the female Disney villians are my favorite characters.
“I don’t think so.” Roy answered.
We stood there for a bit longer, and then decided to just check out the auction and play things by ear.
The auction was crazy! I was confused for the first ten minutes, and pictures came up and were gone before I even knew what happened. But it was fun. Roy had gotten us our ‘free’ champage, and I sipped it.
And then, Betty came up. It was a picture of Betty Boop with Elvis. I loved it, I bid on it, and won! Roy laughed and said I was silly, but I know he thinks it is cute, and he likes to make me happy. (I truly have one of the sweetest husbands I know!) I was excited and giggled at my win.
A few minutes later, Scooby popped up. It’s a picture of the Scooby gang in the Mystery Mobile with monsters coming at them.
“The kids would love that one.” Roy leaned over to tell me.
“I know! I like it too!” We bid on it and won that one too!
Roy and I are at an age where we can look into investing in some pieces we like. And truth be told, the Disney piece wasn’t that bad - a little over $700 for a matted and framed piece. But the fact that I was still 'deciding’ told me maybe I wasn’t that into the picture. I have so many fond memories of watching cartoons with the boys (or my dad), taking them to see the movies, playing games with them. I even dressed up like Betty Boop one Halloween! Those are my kinds of pictures, and you are supposed to buy what makes you happy, right?
We made an appointment to come back later that night to settle up with the art gallery (though at our appointment we decided to hold off on paying for everything until the final grand auction, just in case there was something else we wanted). Oh, we also won a piece of art, and we picked out something that will look very nice in Roy’s office. I know Roy was happy that I was happy, but he was still hunting for something special for me.
The auction was over about 4, and we wandered around the ship for a little while. Roy took some pictures, and then we decided to go get the younger boys and get ready for dinner. It was another formal night, and we told the older boys they didn’t have to come with us if they didn’t want too. The younger boys were going to eat lunch with their friends in Camp, and then have “Movie and Popcorn Night,” so, to be fair, we told the older boys they could do their own thing as well.
Well, they chose that option, so it was just Roy and I for dinner. We got dressed, dropped the younger boys off, and joined my in laws for dinner.
I love good food. Who doesn’t, right? And I love it even more when I don’t have to cook it, but nothing was speaking to me that night.
“Nothings really catching my attention.” Roy whispered to me, echoing exactly what I was thinking.
“Me neither.” But I settled on some escargot and Tiger Prawns in Romesco sauce. Both were amazing, though I just wasn’t that hungry. I think Roy had the steak again, which he enjoyed, but didn’t finish that night either.
After dinner and our gallery appointment, I dragged Roy back to the room to change. We played some more roulette, we lost some money playing roulette, and wound up at the night club.
The club played some great music that night - even played one of my favorite old school jams, “Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison. We danced, we laughed, and just had a great time.
We left about 2 and ran into Corey and a friend. We chatted with them for a bit and then headed out.
“Want an ice cream?” Roy asked me.
“You know it!” I hugged him and pushed 10 on the elevator panel.