Volcanoes and the high seas

Blog? What blog?

I guess I shouldn't entirely blame our vacation for my two week absence from writing since as it was a just 3 day cruise. But, I'll blame the trip anyway....

First let me say that we had a lot fun on the Disney Cruise. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, we went on the cruise compliments of my Father-in-law, who has begun the rather awesome tradition of completely planning and paying for a big family vacation every February. Thank you Poppa Crackers! These trips have been a wonderful way for the whole Cracker clan to get together and have some family fun.

Here we are - the Cracker clan in our best tropical attire.

Before I tell you about the trip, I should probably give you a little background information about my 3 year old daughter K. I think I have mentioned before that K is a lot of things: funny, sweet, loving, imaginative, creative. One thing she is not, however, is low maintenance. The combination of a stubborn personality and a flair for the dramatic can make travel a somewhat stressful experience when K is involved - especially when her afternoon nap is thrown off schedule. You just never know what will happen, but you know there's a pretty good chance that when something does happen, it's going to be bad. It's like living right next to a volcano on a Hawaiian island. There's a lot of beauty there, but when an unexpected eruption starts, the screams can be deafening.

So, before going on a trip I get myself as prepared as possible by reading all the available information & then plotting out a strategy that will allow us time to have fun, relax, see the sights & (most importantly) get Katie down for a nap! This usually works out pretty well. Our trip last year to Disney World is a perfect example. We had a great time - we got to see everything we wanted to & still managed to get Katie a good 2-3 hour nap everyday.



In fact she didn't have a single temper tantrum until the trip home when (no surprise here) our flights were delayed by a winter storm & she missed her afternoon nap. We knew we were in trouble, but nothing (& I mean NOTHING) could have prepared us for the complete and total meltdown that occurred for over an hour on the flight home. I have never witnessed a temper tantrum of that magnitude from her since then & was hoping to avoid the same thing from happening on this trip.


With this in mind, I packed our carry-on bags with the supplies I deemed necessary to fend off any attacks of bad temper. I'm telling you, I had so many activities, snacks and chocolate (an essential for emergency situations) with me that I probably could have entertained every child on the flight for at least 4 hours. But, if all those years of Girl Scouts taught me nothing else, I can say that I try to always be prepared. I am very happy to report that both the plane ride down to Florida and the trip home were completely uneventful. Both K and C were the models of good flight behavior. Whew!


The only issue we had started during the boat evacuation drill which is mandatory. We had prepared the kids for the drill & told them that we'd be wearing life jackets for a little while. But, here's the thing... the drill happened at 4:00 pm right during what would normally be K's nap time, and while she started out really calm, the 15 or so minutes spent in the life jacket proved to be more than a tired 3 year old could take. We were not the only ones battling a tired toddler in a bright orange vest. I heard many, many tears from the pre-school set as the drill approached the 15 minute mark. And we, like those other parents, rushed upstairs to our stateroom once the drill ended. Our goal was simple. We wanted to try & get K down for a quick nap. At this point we were tight on time. We knew we had to get her to sleep fast since our dinner seating was at 5:45. We figured a 45 minute nap is better than no nap at all, right?

A tired K is a dangerous K. This was the somewhat vacant stare that she had every evening of our trip.

Well, who can say for sure? All I know is that when we woke her up from the nap she was even more unhappy and cranky than she was when she fell asleep. And let me tell you, trying to wrangle an unhappy toddler to a sit down meal in a restaurant is not for the weak of heart. To say the least, it was not a relaxing dinner. There were many, many tears and many trips made by Mr. Crackers (thank you!) out of restaurant with a screaming child in tow so that we didn't disturb the other passengers who were trying to have a nice and peaceful dinner.

Thankfully, that was our only real meltdown of the trip. But, to be honest, the shadow of that tantrum colored the rest of our time on the ship. Even though we tried to take it easy, we felt like we were constantly bouncing from once activity to another and we were all tired. Mr. Crackers and I were also keenly aware that the key element in any eruption of Mount K was exhaustion, and so we were constantly on edge trying to prevent the next one from happening.


Despite the this little bit of added stress, I must say that the trip was a blast.

We got to go swimming at the Atlantis resort in Nassau.

We danced the night away at the ship's Pirate Party.

Then we headed to Castaway Cay for more swimming and playing in the sand.

These two hooligans just love the water!

And Mickey Mouse...

And of course, Momma & Poppa Crackers!

Despite the stress you would expect when traveling with small children, we had a terrific time! We are very lucky to be on the receiving end of such generosity. We can't say enough to thank Momma & Poppa Crackers for such a wonderful trip! We loved it!

I just hope that next year's trip will be in a volcano-free zone!