Pearl River Dinner Cruise

(recap of the evening of Monday, March 1)

I know that it isn't as fun to "follow" someone in China after they get home, but having a sick child and then getting sick myself at the end of our trip kept me from wrapping up before we headed home.  So there will be several more posts to finish documenting our journey to Darcy, both for my memories, and the fact that I'll be publishing her trip into book form as soon as I find the time to create a book for all three and the extra cash to pay for them. 

After our family afternoon at Liuhuia Park, picking Ronald's nose as we waited for Ian to grab our lunch, watching our kids SCARF down some McDonald's chicken nuggets, and a much needed nap, we headed down to the lobby to meet up with our group for the Pearl River Dinner Cruise.  We had considered not going and just ordering from Danny's Bagel (didn't end up getting my pasta from them again this trip) but when we found out that the money we had wired ahead of time paid for the cruise, we figured that the kids would at least enjoy the lights on the river and decided to join the group.

While I was a bit disappointed as we pulled up that it was the same place we had gone in 2007 on Kylie's trip, it was good news to hear that we were in the VIP section this time.  That meant that we got to sit in a special smoke free waiting room before we got on the ship and that provided a great opportunity for us to get some family pictures of the other folks we were traveling with.

Janie (in the very center), three of her sisters, and her parents.  Her other NINE sisters are back in Idaho.

 Lyla with her brother, parents, and grandmother.

Emma snoozing hard with Mommy and Daddy.  Her new big brother is back in Alabama.

Maylin with Mommy and Daddy.  Her big sister is back home in Alabama too.

Kevin with two of his sisters and his Mommy and Daddy.  His other five siblings are also back in Alabama.

Then we got to board and I was happy to see that we were going up a level from the previous time we had done this cruise.  I'm liking that VIP status.  While it wasn't my favorite meal on the trip, I am happy to say that the food was much better than the last time we took this cruise. 

One funny thing about the meal, kids under 110 cm were free.  But that meant that you only were supposed to get chairs for the people you paid for.  Luckily the window ledge proved to be a great seat for Kylie and Caleb and the ship was relatively empty that night.

Just when Darcy started to get squirmy Rebecca came to our rescue and taught her a patty cake game.  I wish that I could remember the words so I could play it with her again myself.  At first Darcy didn't quite get the different moves, but after running through it a few times she really caught on.

When our slow eaters (we thought Caleb was slow until we met Darcy...) FINALLY finished eating we headed upstairs to enjoy the breeze on the water and take in the lights.  Another chance for a family picture ~ could someone please teach that kid the imp on the right to smile?

All three kids danced the evening away to the music (can't believe we didn't have the video camera) and didn't want to disembark when we got back to our dock.  I'm pretty sure that I saw the heads of all three "a bobbin' " on the bus on the way back to the hotel, but you're never too tired for a "pile on Daddy party!"

He's gonna be in trouble when they all weigh in the 50s!

Oh, and I'm trying to work on a "Keeping it Real" post about our adjustment into life as the M family of five, but right now keeping it real means that if I sit still for five more minutes I'm gonna be out...