Ah, our wonderful family vacation! I left off with movie night on Tuesday.
Wednesday morning, we got up and went to Roatan, Honduras. I had hired a car in advance to take us to the beach there, which was good, because the vendors at the port were a little overwhelming. He drove us to a very private beach area and for a small cover charge, we had beach chairs and umbrella's with almost no one on our stretch of beach. This worried me at first, but we settled in and had a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying the sand and surf. I think William and Robert would have been content to never leave. As we were leaving, we found out why our area was so untraveled: the tour groups had not yet arrived! Apparently our spot was a stop on one of the major excursions. Our guide just brought us hours before they arrived. We couldn't have been happier at our timing. As we were packing up our last thing, I looked up and every chair on the beach was taken. Crazy how fast things change! Driving back to the boat, our driver gave us some history of the area and told us about the local culture. It was interesting, especially how they have school set up...but maybe that's just the teacher in me speaking. We got back to the boat in time for a late lunch (keep in mind we left the boat at 7 or 8 am each of these mornings so we had plenty of time off ship), and then the boys and I had our much needed nap! We swam that afternoon (as if swimming all morning wasn't enough), and William and Robert spent most of that time going down the huge water slide over and over again. I think they would have never stopped if we hadn't offered them and ice cream "snack". Before dinner we changed and had a couple professional pictures taken as we did every night. In the main area on the ship each night, they would set up photography stations and you could walk by and they would do a few shots at each place, linking the photos back to your room. Then I could go to the photo gallery later and look at the shots. By the end of the cruise, we had done more than a full photo shoot's worth of pictures, and since it was over the course of a week, everyone was happy and there was low stress. Plus we were in multiple outfits without the "outfit change" problem. I highly recommend it! We ordered a bunch of the photos and got to take them home with us. So, we got 2 family photos with everyone happy and did Robert's 18 month photos. WIN! The show Wednesday night was a couple of acrobats that hung from the ceiling from all manner of objects and spun in death-defying feats. William and Robert watched in stunned amazement. It was pretty cool, especially considering the boat was moving and could rock at any moment. William decided that night he wanted to be an acrobat that night. In fact, William had a new occupation aspiration everyday. He loved the captain's viewing room that was on our level and each time we went, he would claim he wants to be a captain. Then when we passed the chefs in their hats and ate delicious food, he wanted to be a chef. He wanted nearly every job on board and off. He finally settled on being a daddy when he grows up. Francis would agree that it's the best job of all.
Thursday and Friday were at Sea days. We did family activities on board and ate and swan and ate some more.Thursday evening we got dressed up for our "special dinner" at the Italian specialty restaurant on board. This was the one night the boys (Robert particularly) decided to act a fool. Everyone was so gracious (a man came up to me the next day to tell me he though my boys were sweet at dinner the night before. He was being serious), but dinner was not calm of relaxing. Poor Francis had reached the end of his patience by the end of dinner. He was so flustered that he blurted out, "Melissa, you have a really tough job. I amazed how you do it day in and out so well." He's never said anything like that, but it made my night. A little recognition goes a long way. Thursday night's show was Le Cirque Bijou and was a sort of Cirque du Soleil style show with acrobats, singers, dancers and people hanging from the ceiling everywhere. It was the best show of the trip and made for a perfect end for our day. That night I put Robert to sleep by sitting on the balcony and listening to the waves. I prayed over him and William for a long time, sang worship songs quietly and then prayed for my grandmother who is going through Alzheimer's. It seemed random at the time, but it turns out God was bringing her to my mind for a reason.
Friday William really wanted to be in the Kid's club circus so we dropped him off to let him perform. They did their show on the main stage, and they had made it over adorably into a circus tent. When William came out, I nearly could not recognize him. They had painted his face over as a tiger. I'm talking full muti-layer makeup job. It was awesome. He was so into character, he roared at strangers as he went down the aisle to the stage (which is what he was supposed to do). He performed perfetly and after the show, we picked him up. He would not wash off his face paint though, and for the rest of the afternoon/evening, he would roar at anyone who mentioned his tiger face. It was so cute! After our last dinner of the trip, the ship held a Nickelodeon kids dance party in the ball room area. The disco ball spun as kids songs played and Dora and friends mingled and danced with the kids. It was a fun way to finish our trip. Robert's vocabulary is rapidly expanding, and afterward he kept saying "dan dan" and dancing about on the empty dance floor. He also knows, "jump, stop, run, sit," and a number of other action words that he is now using to direct the actions of those around him as well as narrate his own. Smart kid!
Saturday morning did not being as expected. We were in port in Houston by 6, which meant I had cell service for the first time all week. I found out quickly that my grandmother had had a stroke Thursday night, and fallen at the table Friday morning when they rushed her to the hospital to find a brain bleed on both sides of her brain. We left the ship as soon as we were able and headed to Austin, with a short potty break detour to see William's friend Ranger in Houston and see their new house. I was only home for a little less than an hour (enough time to dump a suitcase and repack) before my mom picked me up to go to Abilene (she was in town already for a political event). We saw Jamama that night, and she was in rough shape. She wasn't speaking much and most of it was nonsense, but she did tell me she loved me and ask about Robert and William (which is miraculous considering the Alzheimer's). I stayed with my mom that night in a hotel and we went back the following morning. I made sure to get a picture with Jamama and me for the baby to have and we told her all about the baby while there. I'm so glad my grandfather told her what we were having and all before this happened. She didn't move almost at all when I was there and didn't eat or drink anything except a little water from a sponge. The doctors and hospice workers gave her 24 hours to a week to live. The last thing she said to me as I was leaving was barely audible, "I'm going to tell you something that will change your life. Before anything else, you gotta come to the cross. You gotta come to Christ. Be Saved." Wise words, indeed. I came home Sunday thanks to my father-in-law picking me up (which was nearly a full day of driving for him), and got back home in time to put the boys to bed.
Angel and Ranger came by on Monday as they dropped off their apartment key and officially became Houston residents. I am so sad to see them move. William randomly cried last night because he missed his friend. It was good to see them on Monday though, and I hope we will at least be able to plan occasional trips to meet up.
Well, I do have an update on my grandmother, and it was not the update I was expecting to give. Jamama is actually improving. She sat up in a wheelchair yesterday, passed a swallow test drinking water and eating a graham cracker. She's talking more and communicating her wishes and desires. Her mind is still effected by the Alzheimer's, and the left side of her body is still relatively unresponsive, but eating and moving are a vast improvement over when I saw her. They moved her out of hospice care into a 24 hour monitored facility for rehabilitation. It's been a week since the stroke, and her body seems to he miraculously healing. Not sure what God is doing in the situation, but we are all waiting to see. Please continue to pray for my family as we travel this uncertain road. I still pray for absolute healing of her. His will be done, and for now it seems she's not quite ready to go home.
Overall a great trip, and one I would not trade for anything! The boys have visited more countries than states at this point, so we may have to do a continental road trip on of these days. Who knows??
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