Tiny Dolphins

We just got back from a week-long cruise to Bermuda. There were 20 of us, all together, all close family. We took a bus to Manhattan and left from there. We had a fantastic time, but it was kind of overwhelming. I mean, how can it not be? But we survived, and the cruise happened to include the very day of Mike's and my tenth wedding anniversary, so, you know. Bonus.

Some highlights:

Josie gets frustrated pretty easily these days, and being the youngest she gets teased a little - her brother and sister like to rile her up. She started threatening people this way: "Me gonna hit you! Very gently!" And then she slow-motion swings at whomever is irritating her, and ends up barely touching them with her fingertips. This always ends in hugging. Always.

Gage was running me ragged on our second day at sea, wanting me to do everything with and for him all day long. I finally said, "BUDDY. This is not 'Entertain Gage Day.'" He waited a beat, smiled sweetly, and asked, "Can tomorrow be 'Entertain Gage Day'?"

To celebrate our anniversary Mike ordered surprise room service: a bottle of champagne, a red rose, and a BLT. I picked the right man, for sure. I was all, "Oh, honey! You thought of everything!" And then we ate bacon.

There are feral chickens in Bermuda and the kids kept getting distracted by them, and half-heartedly running after them. Josie ordered, at one point, "You chicken! Stop! COME HERE."

And my personal favorite: We were walking along one of the decks of the cruise ship and we heard someone say "Oh! You can see fish down there!" So, naturally, Mike and I took the kids over to a window and we peeked out. I'm looking down at the water, and I can see movement. I focus on the individual shapes and I see the fish. I'm looking, and they are becoming more clear, and this is my brain: "Those fish look kind of like dolphins. That's wild. Wow, they jump out of the water like dolphins, too. But they're so small. And they have fins like dolphins. It's like some new species of fish, like a mini-dolphin fish.  We're going to be famous for discovering a new species of miniature dolphins.  Who do we call?  Get someone on the phone."

My mouth: "They're like...tiny dolphins."

There's a woman standing nearby, I feel her look at me and I hear her sigh.

"They're not tiny dolphins," she said, loudly. "You're on the twelfth floor!"

Oooooh.  Riiiight.