Disney Adventure Day 5, December 25, 2012 (Costa Maya, Mexico)

Pictures and blah, blah, blah after the jump. ;)

I woke up to another sunrise, another coffee and chat with Mom, and an exchange of Merry Christmaseseses.  While Mom and I were having coffee, I got out the one piece of Disney stationery and the envelope, and wrote a note to my nieces, inviting them to join me at the 3:45 showing of Brave.  I stuck it in the clip by their door, and when Mom knocked to see if they were ready for breakfast, Cc saw it and  read it to the girls, and from behind the closed door, I heard Princess Mathscience say, “We accept.” In a very decided tone.  Then she came out of the room and ran up to me and said, “My sister and I accept your invitation.” Jeeves, Margo and the boys were not around so Mom and I went to breakfast with Captain Crossword, Bookworm Mathgeek and the girls.  Mom said she was a little uncomfortable with the staff saying Merry Christmas and us saying it back when she didn’t know if they even celebrated it.  My take on it is that if saying it is part of their job, then they should at least get a courteous response, so I either said it back or just said thank you.

Mom and Dad were doing a Jeep excursion when the ship docked at Costa Maya, and  Jeeves, Margo and the boys were doing a dune buggy excursion, so  Captain Crossword, Bookworm Mathgeek and the girls and I were the only ones staying on the ship.  Captain Crossword was going to take the girls shopping onboard before the shops closed when we came into port, and we made tentative plans for an early lunch, then some swimming, then the girls were going to come with me to see Brave.  I went back to my room, and all of a sudden was exhausted.  I lay down at 8:30, and the next thing I knew it was 11 and the steward was knocking at my door and asking if he should come back later.  I said yes and then it was 12:04, so I put on my bathing suit and coverup and went up to the pool. 

The Crossword-Mathgeek family were having lunch at the little fast-food café, so I joined them and had what Bookworm Mathgeek  tells me is a “Texas burger”—one with cheese, mustard and pickles.  I said I’d liked my burgers like that before I even knew anyone from Texas, but Captain Crossword reminded me of one family we knew when we were growing up and then I remembered another.  I also remembered, but didn’t say, that I’d started eating my burgers with mustard and pickles in junior high, when I decided that if I wasn’t going to be accepted, I was going to be completely different from everyone else.

After lunch, Bookworm Mathgeek and I found some unoccupied lounge chairs and the girls went swimming.  Captain Crossword took Princess Mathscience on the AquaDuck, and she went at least once with a little girl she’d made friends with.  Then Princess Minnie asked us to join her in the pool, so we “swam” with her for a while.  Then she wanted to go down the Mickey slide, so she did that and I got out and toweled off and headed down to my room.  The movie started at 3:45, so we had to be ready for dinner at 5:45 before we went to the movie.  I took a shower, washed the chlorine out of my hair, and did my makeup.  I was almost ready to get dressed when Bookworm Mathgeek knocked at my door, because the girls were worried I would be late. :)  I put on my skirt and top and knocked at their door, and we all went down to the theater. 

Brave was excellent.  I loved the whole thing, even the scary bits.  Even though the girls had seen it before, they clutched me when the bad guy attacked, and I have to admit, he was a very scary bad guy.  When the movie was done, they asked to use the restroom without any prompting, and both of them washed their hands.  Of course, they then spent a few minutes examining the stall doors and playing with the locks, so that sort of undid the handwashing, but hey, we all have to sanitize our hands before every meal anyway.

The girls and I were early for dinner, so we sat on a pretty couch in the atrium and looked at the tree right next to us.  We talked about Princess Mathscience s detective work, about Princess Minnie's experience with the detective game, which she had done for the first time today, and about the plush toys they’d gotten on the morning shopping spree.  Just before the restaurant opened, family started showing up, beginning with Captain Crossword and Bookworm Mathgeek  who both looked spectacular, then the rest of the family, who all looked spectacular.  It was our first Christmas ever with the entire family in one place, and man, it felt great.

We had a great dinner, which only deviated from the ship norm of not giving diners grotesquely oversized portions with the standing rib.  Seriously, if I’d been at home and been able to take a doggie bag, that would have been two days’ worth of sandwiches.  We toasted each other with a glass of Prosecco, ate wonderful food and laughed and talked about everything.   Dad ordered the chocolate cake dessert and a Mickey Bar, and I called down the table to Princess Mathscience and said “See?  I told you you’re never too old for a Mickey Bar!”

When we got back to our rooms, there was a gold box next to the towel animal of the day.  Inside the box was a Mickey Mouse face in milk chocolate with six truffles nested below.  The towel animal was a brontosaurus, and so cute that not only did Mom and I take pictures, we got everyone’s brontos together and my snowman from the day before and took a herd of herd pictures. 

I had hoped to see The Muppet Christmas Carol up on deck, but it didn’t start until 10:15 ship’s time, which was 11:15 my time, and I just couldn’t stay up.  So I read in my room for a bit, then Jeeves came over to chat.  My younger brother can be a pain, but he can also be incredibly funny, which he was as he described his family’s experience on the dune buggy ride.  He and I sat on the balcony while he drank two beers and I had my water and talked about everything and nothing.  When he’d finished his second beer and I’d nagged him into taking the empties and putting them in the trash, he said good night and I read a bit, then had one last cigarette looking at the full moon and all the stars, then I went to bed.