A comparative dream

was the rest of December. Wasting 4000 dollars to go stir crazy on a boat, get no sleep and get fat on crap food was a bitter pill to swallow. So we've been busy in the last week or so.

I made a seasons calendar with Ruby that I'm extremely proud of. Best thing I've done since Mr Tabraham so accurately commented on my art report 'Paula doesn't seem to have any particular artistic talent however her drawing of a sewing machine was extraordinary'. It was extraordinary.

Hide and seek (with both kids).

We have done some cupcake decorating however, just to make sure Ruby's come-down from the week-long sugar high wasn't too tough.



Definitely not cruisers

When we mentioned to friends, colleagues etc that we were going on a cruise they'd look at me and say  'yeah you know I've never really fancied a cruise' which unquestionably translates into 'I had no idea you were that pikey'. Still, Al and I were not deterred. Simon and Jess swore by it - a cruise is THE answer to the dream family holiday. Sun, water, food, and endless entertainment for the kids. So with only a little trepidation, we ignored all the naysayers and did it.

A week long cruise around the caribbean in the Norwegian Jewel, leaving from New York so we could skip long car journeys, airport and airplane hell and start our holiday 40 blocks from our apartment. Bliss. Ruby was in her element - we told her it was a pirate ship so she got into it, even dressed up for the occasion.

Turns out (for us anyway) the naysayers were right. The weather was bad which was massively unfortunate, especially for the 1 hour per day when one of us had to go in the outdoor hot tub with Ruby anyway upon her insistence. The food was bad and depressingly non-stop, Ruby didn't love the kids club, they didn't do babysitting in the rooms, they fleeced you for as much extra money as they could on the boat and all in all just not our thing. Here's Ruby enjoying one of the activities - as many cupcakes as you can eat and decorate with crap. Says it all.

So Ruby and Eben had a good time.

And Al and I had one good day when we docked at Cape Canaveral and we went to Kennedy Space Centre. Really interesting. This was a simulation of Apollo 8 launch.

Without a doubt the highlight of the cruise was the turn-down service replete with towel AND nightdress oregami.

The weather was so bad that it was incredibly rocky and woke us up every night. We were also supposed to dock 3 out of the 7 days which turned into 2 as it was too windy to dock that day. Apart from Cape Canaveral the other day was at Nassau where 5 other cruise ships docked that morning - a total of 15,000 people. You can imagine how authentically we were able to enjoy the Bahamas that day :) I have never been so happy to walk through the door of our apartment.

NEVER EVER AGAIN.