Can You Feel The Love Tonight?

I'm not ignoring you; I have been sick.  My throat started hurting on Thursday, but I didn't think much of it.  When I got up on Friday, I felt like death.  Seriously.  I had to call in sick (which I do very rarely, because I like to save up my PTO and I usually feel better once I get moving).  I just couldn't do it.  I have spent most of the past couple of days asleep, either on the couch or in bed.  The congestion seems to drain a bit better with my head elevated, so I think I may sleep out here again tonight.

I'm feeling somewhat better now.  I had to teach in church today, which was okay.  I didn't have much voice, but luckily there were people willing to participate so I didn't have to speak the whole time.  As soon as I was finished and sat down at the piano to play the closing hymn, my throat started burning.  It was nice that I could forget about it during the lesson, but it sure didn't let me forget afterward.  Gah.

I have been meaning to write more about the Cruise.  I did spend a few hours editing the family photo from Monday, 2/27.  I'm still not very satisfied with it; the quality isn't great, and if I had made a few more adjustments (ISO probably would have made a big difference) before I handed over my camera to a complete stranger, it would have been nicer. Grrr!  I have such a long way to go before I'm actually satisfied with my indoor photography skills!  In any case, here it is.

I had to do some "head swaps" (which I'm not very good at), and some other color adjusting, so don't look too closely.  I just couldn't get one of Sabrina looking good; she was in total meltdown mode.  And I wasn't a huge fan of my being placed on the front row.  That's usually Lexy's place, and I probably should have made the switch, but someone had to hold onto Benji.  He was pretty excited watching the glass elevators, so we got a decent smile, even if he isn't looking at the camera.  Oh well.  That is everyone, and it may be one of the few times we get everybody together (dressed formally, no less!).

Since I'm here, I should probably do a recap of Monday.  It was a day "At Sea," so it was pretty low-key after all the drama on Sunday.  We started out with the character breakfast.

Tumi made some fun napkin hats for our peeps; I think Zekey was Robin Hood, Allen was Pluto, Seuao was Mickey, Lex was Pocahontas, and Papa was Rapunzel.  Mia got a little jealous over that one.  I'm not sure what Rebecca was, though I'm pretty sure Lance was Captain Jack.

We got a few good pictures; I had a hard time alternating between flash and no-flash, so a lot of the pictures didn't turn out very well.  But between everybody's cameras, I thing we got most everything.

In the bottom right corner is Mickey making a little heart sign for Lily.  For some reason, she wasn't to fond of him, and he knelt down and did a little "heart you" sign for her.  It was pretty sweet.  They all did autographs, too.  I'll admit--I never had anyone sign for Benji.  He didn't care, and I couldn't be bothered to keep up with it, so I guess we missed out that way (or not).

And Sarah showed up (looking fabulous) just as we were finishing.  Well done, Sar. ;o)

Anyway, after breakfast, we took Benji up to the Oceaneer Club.  It was an open house, so I got to take some pictures.  This is where the boy spent most of the cruise (and he loved it!).

There's a cute little stage where some people and characters come, and there are computers and tv's and a slide and rope ladders and dress ups and places to color and stories and snacks and dancing and all kinds of fun stuff to spin.  It's pretty much kid heaven, and the counselors were fantastic.  We had to go check on him every so often, to make sure he wasn't stinky and such, but it was totally worth it.  Folks, if you have kids, this is why you want to go on a Disney Cruise.  Good times for everyone.

I don't remember what we did during the day; I wandered around a bit with Mom, but it was kinda cold on deck, so we didn't do much outside.  I did get a cool picture through Mom's window.  We saw some dolphins, but I never got a picture of them.  Oh well.

Then it was time to get ready for dinner and pictures.  You saw the end result at the beginning of this what-was-supposed-to-be-a-short-blog-post, but here's a few pics of the preliminaries.  It takes a lot of work to get that many people together!  Mach and Wow got their picture taken with the Captain, but I cropped him out.  He didn't look too happy, so I didn't feel too bad about it.

Then we went to dinner at Parrot's Cay again.  It was nice.  Ella is at the stage where she thinks that bunny ears in photos is the funniest thing ever.  Brina decided she was "not crying," and Dad decided he would smile only under coercion.

Doesn't that picture of Mia in the upper right corner just scream "Little Renee"?  Seriously.  That girl cracks me up.  We thought she was Mini-Beck for a long time, but she's actually Mini-Renee.  Love it.

After dinner, we took Benji back to the club, then we went to the "Golden Mickeys" show.  It was pretty good, though I don't remember much about it.  I'm pretty sure that's when they did "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," and I just fell in love with those two performers (the ones who were Nala and Simba).  They were fantastic.  I'd see them around on the boat, and I was totally star-struck.  I should have been the one getting autographs!  Geez!

Afterward, we went to see the Hypnotist show.  That was seriously funny.  Poor Lexy really wanted to do it, but she totally tripped on her way up to the stage!  Face plant!  She thinks everyone thought she was really drunk, but whatever.  It was pretty funny.  The funniest part was the hand-puppets to "Bohemian Rhapsody."  I was dying!  There was a little One-Hit Wonders dance party after that, and I rocked at it.  I knew most of them, but I didn't volunteer for many.  There was a "reward shot" for anyone who got the artist and the song correct.  When I got up there and told him I didn't want the shot, he gave me a non-alcoholic one.  Of course, the family didn't know it was virgin, so when I downed it, they were pretty shocked!  I wish I had seen their faces!  It took me a while to convince them that it was indeed fruit punch.  I guess I'm not very trustworthy, eh?

So that was it for Monday.  Busy, relaxing, formal, fun.  It was a good time.

I've gotta sleep.  You see, this is why I'm having a hard time blogging this thing!  I'm up way too late, and I have to work!  You're welcome! ;o)