Week 187 motherhood – first 8-hour road trip to New Jersey, cruise time!!!

Child looking out the cruise windows towards Port Canaveral

Week 187 motherhood with 3.5 year old and 15 month old.

April 11 to 17, 2024:

April 11: We had the fourth session of the JTK program at the Thornhill location today and it was another great, successful, and fun session. The 3 year old showed some hesitation in attending yet again but once she knew that it was going to be the same as yesterday’s Playful Math class and that DH was going to be with her, she was fine and didn’t put up a fight.
I absolutely love that the facilitators at this site put in so much thought and care into designing the lessons for the parents. They also let DH stay in the room with our daughter with the other children because they know how anxious she is about separating from him and it’s no good for her to be in the room with us parents anyway; she will be bored. Thus, she spent the entire session with DH with the other kids and drew on chalkboards, did circle time, and other fun kid things.
This week’s theme was about structure play and outdoor play. We did the “hello” song and then the facilitators handed out pieces of paper to us. Some of us got blank sheets of paper while others got a piece of paper that was a colouring page with an ice cream stack. For those who got the colouring page, they were supposed to copy and fill in the colours that was on the template to the best of their ability. I got the blank sheet of paper. We could draw whatever we wanted. There was a basket of pencil crayons in the middle of the room and we were given time to do the task.
At first, I stared at the page not knowing what to draw and half-hoping that I had received the page with the colouring page. It seemed so much more easy and simple to do than think of what to draw on the page. I commiserated with the parent next to me and she also didn’t know what to draw either. I looked at the ice cream page and thought how random it was and of course didn’t want to draw something just random and with no context. It was raining heavily outside… And then suddenly, I thought of our upcoming trip and how we had to drive 8 to 9 hours to the cruise port in order to board our cruise. Ah, I was going to draw a scene of us driving to the port! I grabbed random assorted colours from the basket and then started drawing. I started with the cruise ship first, then the port, water, a parking lot with enough parking spaces (this was going to be a manifestation of the trip), a road, our vehicle, and our house that we were leaving from. It was also a big yellow sun and clouds and basically beautiful weather. I wanted to manifest an easy smooth traffic-free drive into our destination and get a parking spot easily too. Haha.
When we were asked if we needed more time, I was ready to be done as I was just using the coloured pencils to draw what I had on the page. The mom next to me said she needed 5 more minutes, so I decided to colour in my drawings. This worked nicely for me because I could stop any time I wanted or add in more details if I had more time. I started adding in the food that I would be eating on the cruise too. It started to feel really fun to me and I was glad that I received a blank sheet of paper after all.
Then “time was up” and we started our discussion. We were asked, “What skills does it take to do the page with the ice cream cone?” Answers: hand-eye coordination, knowing your colours (to be able to match them), focus. And for the free-drawing one, all of the same skills were needed PLUS thinking, planning, creativity, imagination. Thus, the core concept for kindergarten nowadays is we want children to not have structured art and to allow them to free draw or free play. They develop more critical thinking skills and are more empowered to do work that is their own.
When it came time for the free drawers to share their piece, I definitely shared mine. The facilitators said that they learned a lot from what I told them, connected with me, and could comment on a lot of things from what I drew. On the other hand, you can’t really say the same for the ice cream cone page because it’s kind of all there is on the page.
This was such a valuable and eye-opening activity! I love the Thornhill staff. They are just so good at communicating these concepts to us.
We went through the PowerPoint slides about this week’s themes. When it came to the outdoor play component, they asked us how many of us play outdoors. Honestly, my answer is “not enough” and I want to do more of it. I grew up as an indoors girl and didn’t really play outdoors much or enough. I want my kids to play more outdoors. They said there’s so much importance in playing outdoors because it develops physical skills, knowing what you’re capable of, being “stewards of the earth” (I loved this), caring for our natural environment, and really importantly: Mental health. The more we spend time outdoors, the better our mental health and immunity is.
We did one more “experience” activity (I love how they called it that) where we were given blank sheets of paper and the three primary paint colours (red, blue, and yellow) and told to paint a rainbow. We were given palettes to mix the colours to our liking as well.
Everyone started painting the same thing with the red curvature of the rainbow first. I did the yellow next because I didn’t want my paintbrush to have orange in it (the mom next to me thought this was a good idea and copied me lol). One mom said she didn’t even remember what all the colours in the rainbow were. The mom next to me said, “I know the rainbow song” and that’s how the other mom kind of knew what colours to use. I said to her, “It’s your own rainbow. Just do whatever you want.”
In the end, the other moms did red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. I stuck one colour between green and blue which was indigo lol. Because for me, I remembered the Cantonese phrase of rainbow order as “hong, chan, won, luk, chen, lam, zee” (red, orange, yellow, green, “light blue?”/indigo, blue, purple). The facilitators nicknamed me “Rob Ross” because of my “talents” lol. Too funny.
At the end, we had a quick summary saying that they simply asked us to draw a rainbow with the provided paints but yet 99% of our rainbows were exactly the same. One mom added clouds to the ends of hers which was really pretty. The facilitators said if we had used hot pink in our rainbows, it wouldn’t have been a problem but because we have been so used to doing structured art that it feels like we’re doing something “wrong” when we don’t paint a rainbow the “right” way. There’s a lot to speak about this topic, but this was essentially the concept.
Somehow we launched into a very fruitful discussion about kids having sleepovers, cell phones, and social media. One of the moms had a 10 year old daughter who was not allowed to attend a sleepover and also could not have a cell phone despite her social pressures from friends saying they all have cell phones. I learned about how 11 year old girls could be lured into trafficking by a 18 year old at the mall or how some moms open all the stalls at the washrooms because they’re afraid of someone hiding in the stalls. This is really scary stuff that I wasn’t aware of. I have heard recently about how dangerous and harmful social media apps and cell phone usage can be at early ages, but this other stuff is new to me. It’s made the world a much scarier place than I thought it is.
The 3 year old didn’t want to go outdoors for recess with the other kids despite initially seeming to want to and even went towards the door with DH. She was much happier today and even when we went home, she was in good spirits throughout. She now knows this is our “last EarlyON session” before the trip and we will be staying home tomorrow. I think that must be why she is so happy.
Also, I woke up this morning feeling much lighter and like a weight off my shoulders. I had been talking with more friends about what we experienced at the JTK Markham location and I know that I need to release this from myself so that my daughter won’t be continually affected too and so that she can heal as well. I also had a good cry at night and it’s helped.
I took the drawing I made home for the child so that it’s like a literal “roadmap” for what we will be doing the coming day: driving to the states to board the cruise ship! It’s a good visual for her to know what’s coming up. I hope she is ready! I still have to finish packing. Why do I always procrastinate?!
Also, the 15 month old slept from 10:40 p.m. to 3 a.m. straight before she cried and needed a feeding. Yay! She hasn’t slept by herself for that long in ages. I wonder why? She didn’t even have a huge dinner either. But we are proud of her.
These days, the 3 year old will sometimes want to sit on her own in the chair and sometimes want to sit in someone’s lap. For the most part though, I love that she is independent now and we don’t have to watch her every move — unlike the 15 month old where we have to be hawks because she can get herself into trouble if we don’t watch her lol. I’m excited for the younger one to get to this more independent stage but also don’t want things to be THAT fast either.
Both of them like using the cups with straws to drink their water these days. It’s great.
April 12: Mom took the older one to her final gardening class where she harvested some sprouts. It was nice because it gave me a break while DH was working in the office to just only have to look after the younger one. I’m glad the older one was willing to go to grandma too.
April 13: Last-minute packing and haircuts! I gave DH a haircut and he gave me one too. Grandma had a haircut from me this week too. So did the 3 year old lol. The only one without hair in the garbage bin was the youngest one. I procrastinated as usual on my packing. So glad we got new packing cubes to put everyone’s clothes in and stay organized.
(I also had a phone call that night with a journalist who wanted to interview me about food-rescue apps like Flashfood and TGTG. It was so clutch that I happened to get a nice Flashfood haul too — 6 packs of strawberries for $5 — and then DH wanted to get a surprise bag from Tim Hortons too lol.)
It was crazy because even DH packed right up to 1 a.m. I was surprised because I thought we had most things ready already, but all the little things really added up and took a lot of time. I thought we would have slept by 11 p.m., our usual-ish bedtime, but since he was still up at 1 a.m., I pushed our original 3 a.m. driving time pack. It was already raining heavily and my friend told me that she had just got home (11 p.m.) and the road conditions were not great. Thus, even though I originally wanted to start driving to the border at 3 a.m. (so that the kids would still be in deep sleep), I pushed it to 5 a.m. We woke up, got the luggage in the car, and then took the sleeping kids to the car seats and started driving at 6 a.m. It was still raining heavily. It was my turn to drive because I wanted to drive the first bit (as I was familiar with Canadian highways).
It was raining so hard and because it was dusk, it was actually really hard to see the highway lines on the road. So tough. When the rain started to break and the sun rose, it was easier. We got to close to the border, stopped at a Tim’s where DH had a coffee and we had a pee break, and then we crossed the border.
DH drove the U.S. roads with no problem. We stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s because that was the only choice at that point. Earlier, we had seen other things like Arby’s, Wendy’s, Subway, Chick-fil-A, and even White Castle but missed the chance. The McDonald’s in this Pennsylvania was not that special.
Both kids (and grandma) slept in the car very, very well. I was really happy and impressed that they barely woke up. When the older one did wake up, she snacked and was content. It helped a lot that the weather outside was so gloomy. Sleepy vibes. It was good to drive in too because there was a lot of cloud cover and not sunny at all.
DH drove all of the the 6-hour journey in the states to the hotel because he said he was more comfortable driving than being the navigator (I freak out too when I don’t know where to turn and some of the U.S. roads have short turns/directions). We made it to the hotel just before 5 p.m. Yay! Good time.
We went out for dinner at the Chili’s that was across from our hotel in the Jersey Mills mall. So American — large portions, big chain mall. There was a TGTG bag available for pickup but because it was 5 broken macarons for $5.99 USD, I didn’t think it was worth it and skipped out on it. That was the only bag I could have gotten all trip long lol.
After the younger one was full, she wanted to get out of the seat and walk in the mall. It was INSANE how long she walked for in the mall. She was so excited and eager to walk. She didn’t even want to hold my hand at times. Finally when we reached one end of the mall, I had to pick up and turn her around physically so that we could walk back to the restaurant. She was so happy to walk and explore.
Later, the 3 year old also wanted to go out and walk the same route as her sister did lol.
We slept that night in the hotel. It reminded me of the one we stayed in Niagara Falls last last year (our first trip back then).
April 14: All aboard the Anthem of the Seas! Woke up at the hotel and we ate their continental breakfast before it closed at 10 a.m. I didn’t want to eat much because we were going on the cruise soon and they would have lunch ready for us. Checked out of the hotel, drove 30 minutes to the port. Our embarkation time was 1:30 p.m. We started driving at 11:30 a.m. because we wanted to check out the parking situation. Having not ever parked our car at a cruise port parking structure before, we wanted to get there early to get a spot and make sure our car was safely parked before we got on the cruise.
Fortunately, the whole process was actually quite easy. We followed the line-up of cars and they led us to drop off our luggage first and then park our car. By the time we got there, the parking structure was full so we parked outside in the overflow lot. I mean it wasn’t bad. Getting to park in the parking structure would mean our car was protected from the elements for a week, but having it in the overflow lot meant it was easier to get in and out too.
We went through the security checks (completely forgot about this or I would have told the 3 year old so she could have been mentally prepared); it’s like going through the airport where we had to unload and put our stuff on the belt to be scanned.
We boarded the ship and were directed to find our muster station (A1 at the theatre) and then went to our staterooms (rooms 8542 and 8536) where we got our key cards. This was different than other cruises before where we would receive our key cards upon checking in at the port (and how muster stations would be performed later in the day — but it meant that a lot of people liked to skip out on them too). I like how they had the keys ready right at our doors. We also saw our luggage delivered to the next door room and got the rest of it.
(In grandma’s room, they laid out the 3 year old’s wristband on the bed and had the kid’s safety video playing. The wristband was for the child to wear during the entire duration of the cruise so that if any emergency happened and we needed to congregate in the muster station and the child happened to be lost from her parents, someone could see her wearing the wristband which would show the A1 muster station. I explained to her that she would need to wear it during the entire cruise, 7 days, and that she would wear it during bath time too. I half expected her to not want to wear it but she was actually eager and willing. The safety video showed an animation where the characters were wearing the wristband too. I think she liked that. She even noticed that the character on the screen was wearing an orange band whereas hers was green! And she kept this band on the entire trip! So impressed. And during the cruise, she observed and notice other kids wearing theirs too!)
We went for food at the buffet! This place is so much bigger than the last cruise we went on which was Princess Cruises. I liked how they had their Caesar salad in cups. It looked so nice and fancy. I liked that the baby high chairs included a tray too! For the rest of the cruise, we didn’t have to bring our lug our portable tray table for the 15 month old. We just used the ones they had.
After lunch, we scoped out the ship including their many lounge areas, the pools, watching the bionic bartender at work, guessing the weight of the art piece in preparation for the art auction the next day. The 15 month old passed out in her stroller too during dinner time. Everything was a lot for her to see at once and I understand why she passed out.
I didn’t like that for dinner, our dinner time was set as “My Time Dining” but we didn’t know that it was a hard 6:45 p.m. time. We thought “my time” meant we could dine at any time! We ended up having to wait in line and then got a table close to 6 p.m. in the Silk dining room. The service was nice and the people tried to chat it up with the older one (which she wasn’t interested in). The younger one woke up later during dinner time to eat some food.
I was not very pleased with the menu selections for dinner and only chose one starter and one entree for dinner (and one dessert which was a cheese platter). I remember how on Princess Cruises, we would be so interested in all of the food options and have multiple starters and entrees to share. I only think my “AYCE cruise palate” hadn’t opened up yet at this point.
We visited the buffet afterwards for a second dinner.
When we got back to our room, the cruise staff had already set up the baby’s crib. However, because it was a pack and play, we realized it wasn’t actually useful for us (she doesn’t sleep in it anyway) and asked them to take it away. More space for the room. The kids bathed in their inflatable bath tub — so happy I got this for the previous trips and we can use it infinitely now. The older one slept with grandma in her room while the younger one slept with us in the king size bed. I liked how the room was absolutely pitch black and once the lights were off, she slept so well (I did too).
April 15: Day 2 of the cruise: At sea. First full day on the cruise! I was actually very shocked and disappointed that the breakfast/lunch on the second day was exactly the same as what we got on the first day… I couldn’t believe it. Why was Royal Caribbean touted as such an amazing ship with great food? Especially for friends who know me as a foodie. The food was basically the same. I didn’t think it was great that they reused the same cups for Caesar salads as for the next day’s salads. It was basically the same thing… Nothing novel?
After breakfast, we walked around the ship to check things out. The “pearl” like structure was really pretty. The two-70 cafe had a lot of sandwiches and things to eat. We enjoyed time sitting here and looking out on the waters. The kids enjoyed the comfy spinning chairs and space to walk around and play. There was snacks too.
It was “formal night” and we went back to our room at 4 p.m. to get ready. We saw our first towel animal! Later, the 3 year old would have lots of nice photoshoots in her room with grandma with these towel creations.
So glad that grandma was able to convince the 3 year old to wear a dress. She didn’t want to wear a dress at all but it seemed that she saw some other kids on the ship wear one and she was coaxed into and agreed to wear one too. Yay. Got some nice photos of us together all dressed up for a change. (She actually wore one in the daytime too and then changed into her more “formal” one at night.)
We ate at the downstairs dining room. The 3 year old was not comfortable with the closeness of the tables upon arriving and sat in my lap the whole time. She enjoyed her mac and cheese kid’s meal (last night’s server actually forgot to give us the kid’s menu!). She finished the entire thing! I asked her if I could try some too but she didn’t want me to have any.
We saw the nice sunset from our room after dinner. We changed out of our formal attire so we could go to the buffet to see what they were serving for dinner haha. Second dinner time!
We brought the Funny Faces travel game for the kids to play with. I was concerned with all the small pieces that the game has, but whatever… gotta live sometimes.
April 16: Day 3 of the cruise: Port day at Port Canaveral. After 2 days at sea, we arrived on land again. It’s not like we had any plans for excursions though so we took our sweet time as usual for breakfast and then used the time to go to the pool! The first time the 2 kids donned their new swimsuits/rashguards to try out the indoor pool on the ship. I liked that Anthem of the Seas has two pool areas for us; one that is outdoors and exposed and one that is indoors and slightly shaded from the sun. We used the kiddie pool. The 15 month old took to the water right away and wasn’t afraid. The older one needed us holding her hand often despite the water being shallow. There wasn’t too much to do though other than splashing around and people watching. (There is always people watching being done on the cruise lol.)
It was still nice to be in water and play for a bit. We had ice cream afterwards on the deck.
Then we got changed, washed the kids, and headed out to the port around 4 p.m. Considering that the gangway opened at noon and people had to get back at 7 p.m., we were one of the few getting off the ship at that time. Everyone we saw was going the opposite way — heading back to the ship.
There actually wasn’t anything to do on the port if you didn’t have an excursion planned already. You needed to have a car planned ahead of time because the area was pretty remote. We were near the pier though and walked around and saw these giant birds with huge beaks. It was interesting and the first time the kids saw these birds. After a look around, we turned back and returned back on the ship. We couldn’t even see the entire cruise ship without a fence in the way so we’ll have to get a photo of the cruise ship at the next port. The littlest one didn’t want to wear her sunglasses or hat. Gosh darn it. I had bought her sunglasses just for this trip!
We had dinner at the American Icon restaurant for the first time and it was not bad. Service was great. The little one fell asleep again and passed out in my arms. This is becoming her nap time.
After dinner, we visited the buffet where the older one ate the inside of a hamburger bun and brought back another bun with cheese to her room for a bedtime snack. I love seeing what they serve in the buffet after our dinners in the main dining room.
April 17: Day 4 of the cruise: Port day at Nassau, Bahamas. The gangway opened at 12 p.m., and we took our time as usual with eating breakfast before we got ready to leave the ship. It wasn’t like we had any excursions planned anyway (can’t really do excursions with 2 kids under 4). The view of the Bahamas islands were beautiful as we approached. We saw the islands in the huge windows during breakfast. They were so pretty that even the 3 year old wanted to sit next to the windows and look at them. She said that we should sit at the window seats the next day too.
We finally took a photo with the Anthem of the Seas cruise ship behind us. It’s a must-take photo when you are cruising — to take a photo of the cruise ship that you are on haha.
We took a photo all of us on the swing — photo op — and then walked around the shops in the Straw Market. Soon enough, the 3 year old said she was hungry. We didn’t bring any snacks from the ship with us so we looked in the shops for food. There was fried conch, chicken, and gelato, but none of which had vanilla ice cream which was what she wanted. Thus, there wasn’t much for us to see her do further anyway and we headed back towards the ship to feed her lol. The 3 year old was happy to get her daily dose of soft serve ice cream again on deck 15. Ice cream every day life.
It was sad but funny because she saw some conch and seashells at the souvenir shop and she thought the conch were ice cream cones. Ahh, felt my heart strings get tugged when she did that because she is so naive and innocent.
We toured the sports deck and discovered how much there is to do there. We played a little bit of foosball and puck hockey too. We enjoyed some hot dogs at the hot dog stand. So yummy in a simple and classic way.
For dinner, we were back at the Silk dining room with a very rigid server who had to do things his way. The service at Royal Caribbean has been such a hit and miss… The baby passed out during dinner time, so we were able to eat freely and without attending to her. After dinner, we headed up to the buffet as usual to check out what offerings they had.