Misc. cruise thoughts

I tried to share the highlights of our cruise with you, obviously there were tons more photos and many more stories.

One of the things I loved the best was meeting other families just like mine. There were many families with LGBT parents. I enjoyed playing with lots of new friends and just being me! Here is an article from the NY Times telling all about the cruise too. I'm not so good with links so you might have to copy this into your browser to read it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/arts/19rosie.html?ex=1217131200&en=d6c840b2ede745bc&ei=5070&emc=eta1

While there certainly were many more things to do and see, we enjoyed our time together as a family. I even made sure that both Mama and Mommy got a bit of time in the spa too.

It was sad to have to say good bye and I'm already talking about going back sometime soon. I am happy to be back in PA and ready to start moving into our house soon.

MA and RI

Day 6: Provincetown, MA. Boy was it hot today! On the little boat into the dock, I played with a little friend. I taught him some new songs to keep him entertained too. We walked around town a bit then had a picnic lunch on the beach. I enjoyed playing in the sand, but if you got too far away from the water the sand was too hot to even stand on! I didn't go into the waves, I was saving my water time for the pool! Mommy and Mama have been here a few times and love the town. But they learned it is a bit harder to get around with a stroller in tow. I managed to find a cool toy store to entertain me for awhile. If only they had chairs for Mommy to sit in I might have been able to stay longer.

When we went back to the big, big, ship, we went to the kids pool for a good while, the theme was dinosaurs -- and this water was nice and warm. I had a great time and of course met more friends there. I really enjoy meeting all the new friends.

Day 7: Newport, RI. This was a busy busy place. We ate lunch and walked around the town for a bit before taking a bus ride out to the Cliff Walk. Where we walked by many huge houses and saw lots of interesting coast line. It turned out to be great fun, especially when I wanted to walk instead of being in the stroller. I think I might have held up our tour group a little, oh well.

Tonight was the farewell show which was "Chicago." I enjoyed it for a little bit, but then got board, so Mama and I went to play some bingo while Mommy watched the rest of the show. Then it was back to the room to pack up and get ready to go home tomorrow.

Back in the USA

Day 5: Today we docked in Bar Harbor, Maine. This is a cute town, with lots of nice shops - but the first order of business was finding Mommy some good Maine lobster. I was fascinated by the whole process and really worried that Mommy was planning to eat the eyes. She didn't! So we walked around a bit and then went on a bus ride to Arcadia National Park, where we enjoyed some spectacular views. See the little tiny cruise ship over Mommy's shoulder - that's ours. I also enjoyed picking some wild blue berries. I'm not a big blue berry fan, but Mommy and Mama ate them up.

Tonight the show started with a Hero costume parade. I was a bit shy about walking across the stage by myself, so Mama went with me. We were Super Princesses and I loved every second of it! As we did most nights, after the show we enjoyed a little dessert before heading to bed. I could get used to this vacation thing.

More Canada

I forgot to mention in my last post that Canada was the 13th country I've visited. Pretty impressive for only being 2 1/2 years old! Mommy worked hard to make sure I got a stamp in my passport too. I also forgot to put some pictures of the kids show in yesterday. I got down front and danced with my peeps during all the songs. When the show was over we all took over the stage! What a blast.

Day 4: Today we docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Again, the people here are so friendly. Today there was a tiny gaggle of people waiting for the ship to dock. I thought they were here for me ... then I realized they were really waiting to see my good friend, Rosie! Oh well -- I guess I'll have to work on becoming more famous!

Today we took a double Decker bus ride. It was pretty cool to see the city from the top deck. We got off at a place called the Citadel. I was waiting to see everyone in baby blue like Uncle John's Citadel, but it wasn't exactly like that. We got there just in time for the Noon Canon (see the photo with me holding my ears!). We ate lunch and explored the fort for a while before heading back down to the port. We walked along the board walk as I took a little snooze. Then before getting back on the big, big ship. I got to pick out a special toy, I picked a Canada moose, since I had so much fun with the one yesterday.

Tonight I got dinner and then went back to the kids only area. I had a better time this time, but I was still waiting for my Mommies to come get me. They tell me they enjoyed a quite steak dinner together while I was getting my face painted and playing with the other kids.

Sea Day and New Brunswick

Day 2: This was a day at sea. It was quite fun to explore the ship and find all the things to do. I went to the kids only area for a short while, but was very worried about my Mommies, so I was thrilled when they came back to pick me up. We played some games, met new friends, and tried to start the relaxation.

Day 3: Today we docked in St. John, New Brunswick. We got off the boat to a throng of people welcoming the ship and the LGBT families to St. John. Everyone was very friendly! We went on a horse drawn trolley ride through the city. It was pretty interesting, although I thought that it might be a good place to take a nap too. I enjoyed playing with more new friends on the ride as well. We stopped at a wonderful tea shop for a tea and scone. I enjoyed smelling all the different kinds of tea. On our walk back to the ship we meandered through an interesting market and then ran into a walking lobster and a moose that didn't seem to move much.

Here is a link to a news article from the St. John paper. http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/355598

On the way back to the ship, Mama went shopping, while Mommy and I started to head to the gang plank. Mommy and I ran into Rosie O'Donnell. I gave her a high five as Rosie was off to tour the river. Rosie said that I was a really cute kid (which of course I knew already). I had wished Mama and the camera were around, but at least I got to give her a high five!

rFamily Cruise

Wow what a wonderful adventure. I'll try and capture some of the magic with a few stories and pictures from our trip.

Day 1: Of course we had to do the mandatory boat drill. It was actually fun to get dressed up in the cool vests. I enjoyed testing the whistles to make sure they really worked. Then finally we were underway, sailing through NYC. We sailed by this lady dressed all in green and holding a torch over her head. I thought it was pretty cool, so I tried to look just like her, only I was wearing a bathing suit.

We had a nice room with a balcony and the coolest part was that the sofa turned into my bed every night! And every night they left something special on our beds. It was fun to come back to the room and find the treats!

I checked out the adult pool today and I have to say it was pretty cold! I'm not sure how those adults want to go swimming in that cold pool. So I just hung out and got my feet wet. The show tonight was awesome. It had a bunch of Broadway singers and Rosie was the MC. She was really funny and made me laugh.

Since it was the first cruise for all of us today was a bit overwhelming, but I loved the start on the big, big ship.

In case you want to know

I will be off line for a week as I take Mommy and Mama on their first cruise. We are going on a big, big ship. It looks like a lot of fun. There are kid activities and a kids pool and all kinds of things to explore. We leave on Sunday the 13th of July and return on the 20th. We sail out of New York City, so we will be sailing right by the Statue of Liberty! We will be making stops in Saint John, New Brunswick; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Bar Harbor, Maine; Provincetown, Massachusetts; and Newport Rhode Island. Canada will be a new country for my passport. It will actually be my 13th country. I'm excited about everything, but mostly I'm excited about being able to spend some relaxing time with Mommy and Mama. No dishes, laundry, or other such responsibilities to distract them from play time! I'll write again when we return.

Reading is fun

Here I am reading my books!

July 4th celebrations

We spent today at Grandmum and Gramp's house. When we got there Jacob, Jill, and Josh were already there. What an exciting day. Our planned picnic in the park had to be changed because of the rainy morning. So we had a picnic in Grandmum's living room. It was fun. After we tried to take some naps -- we all went to the playground. It was lots of fun. Here are some photos from the park. We were the fun bunch there.