Cruise ship - Food

Everyone knows that when you go on a cruise that there is going to be a lot of food. Eat Free and Often is the line we heard used. You can find food anytime of the day and it was always in plentiful supply and with lots of choices. And it almost all tastes great. Which of course means you eat way more than you should.

The Buffet was always a favorite. Breakfast, lunch and dinner with little to no waiting and lots of choices. And of course there was ice cream. I think my kids had ice cream for every meal because it was always available.

The kids also got to have all the fun cereals like Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms that I don't allow at home.

Getting dressed up for dinner was fun. Having a waiter take our order and serve us isn't something we do often with kids. But they behaved pretty well and were experts by the end of the trip.

Every night there were a number of choices for appetizers, entrees and of course desserts. It is so hard to decide sometimes. Everything sounds good. And some of us often ordered two dinners or multiple appetizers. I personally loved all the soups. I think I had a soup every night. Mango, asparagus, navy bean, cream of broccoli and many more.  I also tended to order the vegetarian or fish entrees.

Lucky for me I had Molly sitting next to me and I often ordered her a meal as well so I could sample one of the other items on the menu too.

Henry got tired of all the things on the kid's menu. He didn't want pizza, hot dogs or chicken nuggets so I told him he could order from the adult menu. He was very excited that he could have some salmon. He got a smoked salmon appetizer, a cesaer salad and then a baked salmon entree. He ate every bit of salmon on the plate and much of the salad but left all the other fancy stuff. I am glad he has such refined tastes

Julie doesn't like pictures but we sneaked this one in somehow.

We even tried to have a sit down breakfast one morning. It didn't go so well. The kids couldn't decide what to get and then when they saw something that someone else ordered then they suddenly wanted that also. So we kept that poor waiter very busy. I guess we should just stick to the buffet for breakfast and lunch.  They all did great at dinner.


At one point my Dad leaned over to me, as we watched some of the kids pile food onto their buffet plates, and said "can you believe there are starving people out there in the world? ".

We were far from starving on this trip.
Food is just part of the fun.

Cruise Ship - Fun in Catalina

Last week we spent a week on a cruise ship with every member of my side of the family. My parents, brothers, sisters, in-laws, and all the kids that go along with them. There were 26 of us. It was a really fun way to have everyone together.

The Cruise ship only had two stops. The first was Santa Catalina which is an island off the coast of California.  We took a little boat from the ship to the shore so we could walk around.

What do my kids do the moment we walk off the pier? Head for the water!

I wasn't prepared for beach play. I didn't pack any swim suits or towels but the kids were having so much fun we just let them play. Some of the cousins had never even been to the beach before so wading in the Pacific Ocean was a treat.



All the kids had such a fun time playing in the water and the sand that the adults just hung out and let them play. There were some performers dancing in the square nearby and some went to watch that but mostly we sat and talked or took turns wandering around while the kids played.



I did let Molly play in the waves a little. She loved it and I had trouble getting her out. She screamed and wanted to go back to play some more.

My sister and her husband had fun introducing their daughter to the sand and water. First time parents are so fun to watch. Every new thing is so exciting.

I can't say we did much on the island. We did enjoy getting off the cruise ship for a bit. But were rather soggy when we headed back.

Mission San Juan Capistrano

We went to Southern California for a family vacation so decided to visit another mission while we were in the area. It was a little out of the way but we had a few hours to spare so headed down to see yet another mission. I am so glad we did.

 It was totally worth the trip, this mission was beautiful! The weather couldn't have been nicer either. Sunny but not hot or humid. Perfect for a stroll through these lovely gardens and buildings.

San Juan Capistrano looks like what I always pictured in my head a mission would have looked like. It has the Spanish villa feel with all the buildings built around a courtyard. Shaded walk ways all around.

The kids loved all the fountains in the gardens. Some even had fish swimming around in them.

We walked through the ruins of the old stone church that was destroyed by an earthquake almost 2 centuries ago

Here is a little model of what the mission looked like long ago when the stone church was still standing.

The bells of the mission still ring.


Molly and Sophie enjoyed relaxing in the gardens. Molly especially loved the purple flowers, from the jacaranda trees that were in bloom throughout the grounds, that were littered all over the grounds.

We didn't see the famous swallows of San Juan Capistrano. It wasn't the right time of year for them to visit. I guess you have to be here in March to see them when they come. 



In the old cemetery there were a bunch of olive trees.



Father Serra's chapel in one of the buildings.

Not the most flattering picture of us but we don't often get a picture of all of us at once. So I guess we have to take what we can get.

It was a great way to spend a few hours. And a wonderful place to visit especially after reading so much about the Missions and Father Serra and learning some of the history.

Salt Dough Map of Cali.

In order to reinforce some of the geography we have studied recently, and because I needed to be a "fun Mom" with a hands on activity I decided to make a salt dough map of California. I remember doing this when I was younger. I think I made the whole USA for a school project one of those elementary years. I got the recipe and basic directions from Jimmie's Squido lens about the project they did. I think the recipe she gives makes a lot more dough than we needed (unless your map is going to be really big!) so I would half it next time.

Salt Dough Recipe

4 cups of flour
2 cups of salt
2 cups of water
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar

Mix with your hands (that's the fun part) until the consistency of playdough. Add more water or flour as necessary.

The kids had fun making the dough all by themselves. When else are you ever going to use almost a whole box/cylinder of Salt?!

I drew the outline of California onto the cardboard and then the kids filled it in with the dough.

Then the kids got busy putting in the mountains and the long central valley by pushing and poking the dough around. I am sure they aren't that accurate but they certainly look pretty good. Henry put in a very tall Mt. Whitney and Sophie pressed the dough very thin  for Death Valley.

We had to wait a day before painting. I can't believe it but they waited two days. We finally got around to painting it today. 

 We used a lot of blue, brown, green and some yellow. The kids really loved it when I gave them some gold paint too so they added in a few dots of gold all around the state to show where you can/could find gold.

We haven't put the cities in yet. I think we are going to label a number of important places once it dries completely. My boys especially noticed that we didn't put in the Channel Islands, off the coast of our map of California. I guess we are going to have to draw them in. I am so surprised that they really loved the Island of the Blue Dolphin book so much. They talk about it all the time. I guess it also helps that we are going to be going to the Island of Catalina soon. These kids are so excited for the cruise.

I don't know how we are ever going to part with it. My kids are under the impression that this piece of artwork is going to be on display for years to come.

I am glad they had a good time.