Cruise Day 3: Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

The next stop on our cruise was a small island owned by the cruise line that offered a one day beach vacation. We had to take a tender boat which was kind of fun

The  program offered everything from snorkeling to jet ski but we just headed to the beach while Christian explored the island

Then Mia had to try a big inflatable water slide

and we had some nice lunch and a beer before heading back to the ship for an afternoon nap

Before dinner Mia tried some climbing, jumping a a trampoline with bungee cords and some shuffle board

The night concluded with another fancy dinner at the Manhattan Room 

Cruise Day 2: Port Canveral, Florida

The second day of the cruise was even warmer and we watched how the ship pulled into port Canaveral from where the space center was visible in the north:

Since we had been there before we stayed on the ship and Mia checked out the water slides and the pool after she had gone to the kids club

The evening Christian played some basketball and we enjoyed the some mini golf and the sunset

 Then Ma had to try some basket ball as well

Afterwards it was coktail time on the top aft deck

Cruise Day 1: At Sea

We had started our cruise from New York City on a late Sunday afternoon when it was snowing and woke up on the morning of our first full day on the ship on a sunny dayand much warmer day. It was also Mia's 5'th birthday.
From the balcony of our cabin we had a great view

After a nice breakfast it was time to check out the ship. Ma tried some mini golf

Then it was time for a short salsa dance lesson with mama

and some games in the card room. Dominoes was kind of fun

After her nap Mia wanted to do wanted to do some rock climbing. She made it all ythe way to the bell on the top and the supervisor was pretyy impressed

We enjoyed the a evening sun set on the top deck

Then it was time for dinner and Mia's birthday cake: It was Mia's 5'th birthday

 Then it was time for a little bit of ping pong

 We ended the evening with a really nice blues concert in the "Fat Cats Club" on board

Turkey Run Park

On our way back from the Thanksgiving party we stopped at the Turkey run park just off the George Washington parkway. After the big dinner the night before a little hike it the woods on a sunny cool winter day was really fun.

From the parking lot the path zigzagged  down to the Potomac

We didn't cross the little creek - of course Mia was a bit disappointed about that

But then she had some other nice climbing opportunities

There were also some cool icicles

On the way back up we took a little break

Back in the car Mia was asleep within 10 minutes and didn't wake up for two hours

Thanksgiving at Yilei's

On Thanksgiving Ji's cousin Yilei had invited us to come over to her place and celebrate with her family. The food was not very traditional but still very good with everything from quiche Lorraine, to duck, ribs and sushi.

The kids had their own table

After dinner cousin Ben Ben did a small piano recital

 The audience was captivated

Then it was time to bring out the ice cream turky for desert

No thanksgiving party is complete of course without some relaxing time in a nice recliner in fron of the TV

Or some TV time in PJs on a sofa