Spring Break Shore Excursions

Even though I’m sure I’ll blog about them as we do them, I figured it might be worthwhile to blog about them before we do it since SOMEBODY might find something interesting in what I say as they plan their trip.

To be clear, Suzanne-the-travel-overlord has made all of these arrangements.  It’s been a little bit more of a challenge since we are going with other people, but, that actually turned out easier than we thought because

a) the one family did not like the idea of booking shore excursions from outside vendors.  They wanted the security of the guarantee that the ship won’t leave without them, and, we think, by our research, they will pay double for their shore excursions and do less than we will.   And…

b)  the other family has basically said “Suzanne, we are more than happy to do whatever you have chosen and are overjoyed that you are making all the plans.  We wouldn’t be making the plans until we were on board!”

So, four ports.  Two we’ve been to before.  Presented in no particular order; clicking on any of the pictures takes you to the website of the operator.

Roatan – We were supposed to be here last time, but, the Dream couldn’t park it’s fat butt at the dock during high winds.  So……we will be doing what we wanted to do last time.  Zip lining and some capuchin monkeys with Victor Bodden tours.

I’m sure there will be some beach time here as well with snorkeling.  At least I hope so.

Belize – The last time was a big-time excursion, hop on a plane over to San Pedro for two stops for snorkeling at some of the best places to see turtles and sharks and stingrays in the Caribbean.  This time is much less ambitious, just going to do some cave tubing and Suzanne picked the one company that provided tubes with head rests (others make you link up and you are new people’s feet…what fun is that?)

A search through this blog for the word ‘Belize’ will certainly find you the post from the last time we went…..

Cozumel:  The second of the repeat stops.  We will have a similar kind of day; get off the ship and go to a beach club before doing some shopping it and calling it a day.  But it has become more difficult than it sounds.

a)  We arrive at 8 am ship time, which is EDT.  We think, and are trying to confirm, that that will be 2 hours ahead of local Cozumel time.  If that is true, we are docking at 6 am(!), and we won’t be doing our usual first-off-the-boat deal.  That will affect what we do here.

Last time we went to Mr. Sancho’s.  It was fun, it was not overly expensive, but one of the big takeaways we remember from the trip was that the inflatables, while a lot of fun, were a pain in the butt for the boys to access…very hard to climb up and Dad spent an inordinate amount of time helping them up. 

So, we are looking at two different beach clubs this time. 

Playa Mia

Playa Mia has what we think are better inflatables BUT they also require you to pay more; Suzanne, who won’t be doing any of this, will still have to pay full freight to get into the park even though she won’t do anything.   If we were spending more time there, this might not be so much of an issue.  If, because of the time change, we will spend less time than we think, we may not go this route.  Instead, we may end up going to….

Paradise Beach

The inflatables look to have some of the same issues as Mr. Sancho’s, but, you only have to pay for them if you are going to do them.  I think this beach club has a nicer pool too….

Of course both places have snorkeling (it’s not as good here in Cozumel as it is at our other stops) and I’m sure there will be parasailing or something similar like that as well.

Grand Cayman:  Went round and round with the tour operator here about what time it would be when we arrive and if we would be able to make the tour we want to go on because of that.  We dock at 9; the tour we want leaves at 9:50….I think we will make it their in plenty o’ time, especially since we always are one of the first off the ship (and we’ve puchased a pass this go round to make sure we are one of the first off the ship….and first on when we board too!)

(ugh.)

This is what we are trying to avoid….the first tour of the day that Capt. Marvin’s runs gets you out here to Stingray City before the other boats.  We are big fans of doing what we can to getting places first before the other tours (especially the hordes who book through the ship!) show up.  The other bonus of this tour is you get three stops, not two, for not much more in cost.  Assuming we can make it there on time.

Arizona State

Dear Sun Devils – I would like to thank you for letting my son and I come out here in the middle of the coldest damn winter I can remember and reminding us both of what the sun in the sky looks like.

1) In the end, what are the chances that Kevin goes here?

33%?  Since I think we are down to 3 schools I guess that’s about right.  More on what those three schools are later.

2) What did Kevin think?

This visit was different; dropped him off Sunday at 5 pm to spend the night with a current student and then he did the tour thing Monday.   Had a really positive and great experience throughout almost all of the 24 hours he spent on campus.  Definitely liked the feel of the school and came away just raving about his 40 minute talk with a Global Studies professor

(I joked with Kevin that this stay-over could be a disaster; he knew he was staying with a student with one other kid who was touring…they could be sports-types and he’d be left out.  Turns out, well, he fit right in!  As I joked with Kevin today how Lorde was really channeling Cyndi-Lauper-Elmer-Fudd last night at the Grammys (W-oyals!) I realized…I’m going to miss this nerd!.  Ah, he’s only a text away…)

3) Most impressive thing?

The Honors College; that’s the draw here….it is ranked #2 in the country.  It’s a great counterbalance to the rest of the University….which accepts 95% of applicants! 

    

(Barrett.  They go out of the way to emphasize that it’s pretty separate from the rest of the university)

    

(holy crap are there a  lot of kids on skateboards and long boards!  Enough that they have racks for the boards…)

4) Least impressive thing?

The Barrett presentations were not-so-good according to Kevin.  I was there for the last one of these; it was just a reiteration of things he had already heard that day.  A waste of time.

    

(amphitheater and walkway at Barrett…)

5) Food?

Ate dorm food for dinner on Sunday and lunch on Monday….said he had pizza and a burger and described it as a-whole-lot-of-unhealthy-choices.

He didn’t mention, and I overheard when I got there, that it was meatless-Monday!  So the specials at the cafeteria for lunch were vegan….and included Sloppy Joes.  The discussion in the office was about what exactly they used to make the Sloppy Joes with…no one was quite sure but said they weren’t half bad.  Of course, Kevin didn’t get within a country mile of them.

6) Biggest reason to go here?

Today’s temperature as-I-type-this at home?  -5 degrees (feels like –18)

Today’s temperature here right now? 63 (feels like 63).  The high was 75.

    

(some serious racquetball courts here….wish I could play Kevin on one of these…would be good for videotaping!  Not surprisingly, the pool is a pretty big deal too (and yes, they did brag about Intramural Battleship)

7) Biggest reason not to go here?

The Honors College is great, but, that high acceptance rate is laudable and discouraging.  Oklahoma offers more merit awards; Kevin’s major here would be political science with a global studies focus, not the international relations he has been heading towards. 

    

(The Stadium and Palm Walk…the walkway that bisects the campus running north-south)

8) What’s next?

Mom and Kevin go to Boston to see Northeastern and then fly to Norman to see Oklahoma in two weeks.

9) Any Other Updates?

Pitt officially eliminated; offered 10K/year in merit aid, but, that’s not enough for Kevin to make it less than Michigan, which is the benchmark in these matters. 

Think Michigan is on its last legs too; Northeastern will be cheaper and Kevin has indicated that he would prefer to be there than at UofM.  Agree with this choice as well.   So I think it is down to ASU, Oklahoma, and Northeastern. 

Speaking of Northeastern, Kevin had to submit a video audition for a music scholarship there (open to non-music majors, 2K to 5K a year, renewable each year).  If you want to watch it, click on the embed below.

From The Sports Desk – Missed A Game Edition

Matthew:  For the first time, ever, Mom and Dad both missed a soccer game.  To be fair, I think the last time we both missed an event was a Cpher baseball game many moons ago; I was out of town and Matthew had a game at exactly the same time as well.  Of course, Cpher hit a home run in that game to show us!

No such heroics from Matthew, but, the team did win 3-1 against a DA team, so, that’s a good result.  Took me a while to get the game story from Matthew and others, but, the highlights are a)   almost everyone says we should have scored more and they never really threatened.  b))  We were missing 4 starters....3 on the backline.  Matthew is again at center back and the one new kid (we have one kid from the 'B' team practicing with us and playing with us in the winter) is the other center back.  Apparently the new kid, instead of clearing the ball, played it ill-advisedly back into the middle to Matthew very early in the game; Force picked it off, the kid tripped him, pk, down 1-0.  I understand as the game went on Matthew was more and more telling the new kid what to do and where to go.  c)  ( T ) never did it, but ( C ) does....they name captains.  Matthew is named a captain for this game.  To my knowledge, it is the first time anyone other than the two who have been captains for the last two years have been named one.  and d)  The Coach told Matthew at the end of the game that in our next game he won't play a moment of center back (should have our normal kids back).  He’s been a stalwart back there; has played every minute of our first 3 games.

Kevin/Dad:  Kevin lost his racquetball match –4, –8, and –2.  Still having problems with serves; did have a lead for a while in that middle game.

Dad lost –10, 15-14, –8 or something like that.  I think I could take him if we played again….my shots are still coming together and he had all of his down.

This week brings Dad –vs- Kevin, Match #2.

Cpher:  Beat Grand Ledge 31-24, Lost to Grand Ledge (a different GL team) 53-29.

The formula in these back to back games seems to be consistent.  A) we play the better team second and B) they know we are tired and press and run and end up winning comfortably.

All pictures below are from the second game; I’ve taken to video for the first game and pictures for the second.  The first game is notable because Cpher scored the first four points of the game for our team…..will have to go and see if that video is worth condensing into something useable.

(he’s going to lose this jump…I am sure that kid across from him will be playing varsity Bball for Grand Ledge for a few years.  He was easily the best kid on the court)

(moving to set a pick on an inbounds play)

(really really really wish he would shoot in these situations.  I can tell just by looking at how he is holding this ball that he is going to pass)

(not guarding the big kid here; our coach realizes that’s a huge mismatch in GL’s favor; Cpher just doesn’t have the ‘quicks’ to stay with him)

Cpher Bonus Entry:  Since it was the only sports event from last weekend might as well put it here; beat Laingsburg 51-36.  Had an hour off between games for the only time all year, still lost to Dewitt 49-29.

Only saw the first half of the L game before Kevin and I had to go to the airport…know he scored a basket and had 2 fouls.  Apparently picked up 3 more in the third quarter and Mom thought he fouled out…they must have given one of them to someone else because he made a reappearance in the game in the 4th quarter.

L had 3 big guys; was explaining to Kevin how Cpher would do against them.  One was tall, slim, and agile…Cpher would have a tough time with him on defense (and he did….played well though).  The second guy was a lot like Cpher….and had no success against Cpher.  The third guy didn’t see the court in the first half…I think Cpher would have eaten him alive on offense and am sorry that he didn’t have that opportunity.

The Blue Screen O' Death

(yeah, my work computer has this going on.  I think I'm getting it back Thursday.  I think I will probably get most of my data back.  But I wouldn't expect any blog posts of any substance until the weekend at the earliest)

 

 

Coming Attractions (not in any particular order):

 

1)  From the Sports Desk:  Soccer, basketball, racquetball

2)  NFC Championship:  Kevin finally gets his turn in the Pacific Northwest

3)  Cracker Barrel:  A long overdue ode to breakfasts and boys

4)  Arizona State:  We will be there on this coming Monday.

5)  Shore Excursions:  We're cruising for Spring Break; a discussion of what we are doing and why we are doing it.

6)  All-State Orchestra, Part One:  

Iphone Photo Dump – Selfie Edition

After Christmas; Batman pants, Scooby hat.

The tree at Destin Commons….

The Gulf…I think this was the first morning after we arrived.  Was very windy with some bouts of rain.

Kevin plunked a quarter in a Galaga machine; clearly, he did not inherit the Galaga skills his father has.  No Ms. Pac-Man in sight, so, didn’t get to play Mom in the ritual faceoff.  Instead, we played Dig-Dug….and Suzanne walked away with the ‘L’.

A Kevin birthday and Christmas present…..viola skills have allowed him to have some quick success at the guitar but I don’t think he has mastered any one song yet (he played part of a ‘Yes’ song for me the other day though).  Went with a classical guitar instead of steel stringed…

The keyboard is a lot better than the one we own right now…he can do a lot more things on it.  I have made a request; I would like him to get this compositions input into this marvel and then output into a format I can listen to. 

One of my better ideas…I grabbed the pieces for some puzzles to take down to Florida with us.  While the pictures were supposed to be color coded with the pieces it didn’t work out that way….so we had this puzzle but didn’t know what it looked like as we did it.  All of the boys took a turn at doing some of it….and Aunt Melissa and Kevin stayed up late one night to finish it off (Kevin texted me this picture at 1;45 am).  Melissa and Kevin didn’t know what it was when they were done….but both Fric and Frac immediately knew it was Trevi Fountain in Rome.

Taken before we left….again, this dog is desperate to go on car rides…and as I was packing up the van he parked himself in the back seat and sat there for almost an hour just enjoying the car and the sun.

The Imagine Dragons concert turned into the night of the selfies….I’ve only grabbed the best of them for here.  Don’t often find these two smiling together…..

A good night….

18 inches of snow…that branch you see on the ground is the only damage we had from the Ice Storm of 2013….there are branches down everywhere you go around here!

Skippy Songs – Part Two

(edit…posted this on June 11, 2013. Today, with Kevin, we heard this song on three of the Top Forty stations that are preset on the van stereo AT THE SAME TIME. The band is on SNL in the next week or two…the song is one of the Top 10 downloads this week. Still like it, but, this is the way to make me grow tired of it.)

Sent this song to Melanie; told her it might be the very definition of a Skippy Song. Found it on a compilation disk I downloaded and about the second time I heard it I realized I really liked it…..like everything else I’ve heard by the band too…

Melanie responds “Oh geez. that was a skippy song in the first 20 seconds…..it's a good song. good band name too.”

The tipping point that made me decide to throw this information up here happened yesterday; the song is playing while I’m working and Kevin walks up and goes “Hey, I like this…who is this?”

E-e-o-e-o E-e-o-e-o!

From The Sports Desk – Dad(!) in sports!?!

Cpher:  Two games last weekend; a win against Eaton Rapids, 39-34 to start the day.  Still not very enthused with Cpher’s effort during this game and my texts to Suzanne indicate that, well, I wasn’t very happy with what he was doing

“Losing 9-4 after 1.  Cpher with two points but still seems like he could be more active”

“Losing 19-18 at the half.  Still wish he were more active.  So does his coach; getting talked to about it”

“When you play like you don’t care what happens….sigh”

(I don’t know what exactly led up to this picture, but, I do know he has no shot at getting a rebound here….and that’s the way it went)

(we played in the Auxiliary Gym at Chippewa….really cramped, but, like this picture with him running with the mural in the background)

They play back to back and get leveled by Ionia in the second game 62-39.  We were tired, they were good….wasn’t very close.  Early in the first quarter the boy isn’t even really running down the court and I yell, very loudly, “RUNNNN!”…..and magically things are a lot better.  Holds his own on defense (he was up against a guy as big as Kevin….just huge) and scored 6 or 8 points overall).  Practice this week has been a wakeup call for him; a lot of drills and running and he’s been tired.  It is all good……

(sometimes it is not your day)

Kevin:  Has wanted to play racquetball and went, with me, on Sunday, to have his first chance at it before we begin play in the racquetball league we signed up for.  Talking to Kevin on the way inside, he says “I hope I can beat you by the end of the leagues”.  I say “I hope you don’t beat me tonight!”

I haven’t played racquetball in six years.  My 18-year old tennis guy is faster, taller, etc.   Genuinely concerned that this could be ugly.

Turns out I shouldn’t have been…..Kevin can’t return my serve at all (and I don’t have a fast serve, I just loft it back into the corner…but it can be tricky) and I win 15-4, 15-5, 15-4.   Post on facebook to crow about my victory, because, as I said out there, I have no idea how long it will last….

Dad:  Played my first league game tonight (Kevin is off in Grand Rapids for All-State Orchestra).  Won my first match 14-15, 15-10, 15-4.  I was just dying after the first game, cramped up, couldn’t catch my breath, but, steadily just put the other guy (I’m gong to guess he is maybe 6-10 years older than me….but he hadn’t played in a year either) away.

The Big Easy

Some great songs with or about New Orleans; The Animals, Arlo Guthrie….an easy place to like going to.  As long as you don’t stray too much from touristy-lands.

Jackson Square, New Year’s Eve.  We will be standing right around here later tonight, watching the Honey Island Swamp Band in the drizzling rain, waiting for the fleur-de-lis to drop and the fireworks to go off over the Mississippi.

 

Biggest unexpected highlight of the trip; the All-State Fan Fest that was set up just to the south of Jackson Square (in prime real estate I fondly remember from my Katrina days as being home to the Federal mess tents…had some good meals there!)

So the boys ran the shuttle drill (Matthew had the best time; Kevin couldn’t beat it).  And of course Matthew tried to make some 25 yd field goals.  Just missed on both attempts I filmed….click on the picture above for the video though.

Not overly enthused to be here….but had a good time walking around.  They noticed how NO is more like a European city than a lot of other American places they have been too….

With all of the Alabama/Oklahoma talk that we’ve had with Kevin, it was kind of funny for the Sugar Bowl matchup to be the Battle of Crimson.  We told Kevin he had to go to the school who won; he, even before he stated ‘Bama wasn’t really in the picture, said the game was an elimination match….loser is out!

Café Du Monde; home of beignets and hot chocolate that was so hot that you could barely sip it 30 minutes later.  Of course the lines were crazy….of course we went there.  Twice even!

NYE; Kevin watching the band waiting for the fireworks….

New Years Day.  Hey, when you’re almost 6’-2” you can walk around New Orleans drinking a hurricane (thoughtfully provided by the parents) and not have anyone bat an eye!   Lunch on NYD was at Pat O’Briens….was a pretty good hurricane-y lunch! 

After lunch, we wandered our way back over to the Fan Fest…they had said that they would be showing other bowl games, so, MSU-Stanford was on for the Rose Bowl and we stood around watching that awaiting the free Imagine Dragons concert.  We thought they would show the game during the concert, but, no, that didn’t happen.  That’s ok, the concert was plenty fun enough…it took a while to get to the three songs that anybody who listens to Top Forty type stuff in 2013 would know, but, it was cool when they got to them.  

We didn’t have the best seats (seats, hah!  stood the whole time) and we could have been a lot closer if we wanted to be but decided to hang back so we weren’t packed in so much for so long.  The concert was beamed out over the internet, so, I went and grabbed the three songs off of youtube and copied them down (and then copied them back up) for storage here and for all time.  So, if you are really really curious, you can click on either of the three pictures below for that song.

It’s Time – Imagine Dragons

Demons – Imagine Dragons

Radioactive – Imagine Dragons