Cruising with Ellie to Mexico

Ellie and I took a cruise to Mexico. During Ellie's spring break we embarked on a 3-day Carnival cruise. Just the two of us. It was so much fun and we both learned quite a bit about ourselves and each other.

On a Thursday afternoon, we boarded a ship docked in Long Beach. I turned off my cell phone. And within 30 minutes Ellie had her bathing suit on, had eaten some ice cream, and we were on the water slides. Yep, water slides. We were in the pool and water slides for a couple hours before we changed clothes to get ready for the emergency drill/practice. During which, Ellie was given a bright green bracelet that she had to wear at all times; the bracelet had our muster station on it so in case of an emergency and we were separated she would get to the right location. After the drill we played a round of mini-golf and then headed to dinner as the ship disembarked from Long Beach. After dinner, we headed to the first show of the cruise. Ellie was so excited about all the singing and dancing.

We both went to bed exhausted having been running around the ship for the entire afternoon and staying up past our bedtimes. Ellie was fascinated by our cabin. She thought it was fantastic and so big. We definitely did not splurge and we had an interior stateroom. I told Ellie to pull back the curtain and check out the view...she laughed at my joke. We had enough room both both of us and she quickly took control of the remote. She was also very excited to take a shower on a moving ship, she thought that it would be funny.

The next day we docked in Ensenada, Mexico. The boat was scheduled to dock around 9am. Neither of us slept in, but we did have breakfast delivered bright and early. After we ate we got dressed and headed up for second breakfast. Then we took in a round of mini-golf and watched the boat dock in Ensenada. We actually never watched the boat disembark from Long Beach or Ensenada as we were at dinner, but watching the boat dock was pretty exciting. We watched from the very top deck right at the front of the boat.

I had never been to Ensenada and Ellie had never been to Mexico (first foreign country!). Neither of us knew what to expect and Ellie really wasn't excited to get off the ship (being separated from the water slides was tough). In total, we spent about an hour in Ensenada. The part of town that was walking distance from the ship was definitely not interesting to either of us. Of course we walked to Papas and Beers, because that was what everyone else was doing, and what seems to be pretty famous in Ensenada and we both got a couple little trinkets. But yeah, it wasn't that interesting. Ellie really was uncomfortable with the attention she was getting from shop keepers and didn't find walking and shopping interesting. Also, the fact that I kept having her pose in front of stop signs (because it really was the only landmark that was obvious that we were in Mexico) was a bit frustrating for her. And then we spotted a 7-11. And all she wanted was an Icee (or Frozt as it is known in Mexico). Of course, the only shop keep in Ensenada that didn't speak English was working at the 7-11 and I had to break out my HS Spanish to communicate how much we had to pay for the Icee, and then convert it from pesos to US dollars...it was a debacle. But in the end Ellie was impressed with my Spanish and she was happy. She said that the Icee/Frozt was better in Mexico than the ones in the US, and it definitely was (maybe it was real sugar versus corn syrup that they use at home). Of course, after we had drank more than half did I think about the fact that it may be made with water containing organisms that our stomachs weren't used to...but we both were okay. And we made it back to the ship and quickly changed into bathing suits and found ourselves at a barely crowded pool and water slide area.

That second day of the cruise, despite the adventure into Mexico in the morning, was pretty relaxing. A few hours together in the pool was a lot of fun. After lunch Ellie and I separated for about 90 minutes. Carnival has a kids program on board the ship. Ellie was grouped into a group for kids ages 6-8. We had the schedule of activities for the kids program and we spied a time when the kids were going to go play mini-golf together (she really got into mini-golf on the cruise) and I took the opportunity to grab a lounge chair, a daquari, and read.

 However, after about 90 minutes, I couldn't stop thinking about Ellie and whether she was having fun and so I went to pick her up. We then changed into our formal attire for a formal evening at dinner. As we were all dressed up, we also went and got some pre-dinner drinks (of course, Ellie's was off of the children's menu) and took some formal pictures which turned out pretty well. The dinner was great, escargot, lobster, cheeseburgers, chocolate lava cake, chocolate ice cream...quite the indulgent evening. And yes, Ellie ate that all, even the escargot. The evening concluded with some dancing and singing by the serving staff. It was fantastic. When we eventually made it back to our room, Ellie was so excited to see an elephant towel animal. Of course we got on our bathing suits for a late evening hot tub sit, followed by a late show (as the show started at 10:15pm, she didn't last too long and we had to sneak out early and were in bed by 11pm).

I had been a little worried about the dining arrangements and asked once we got on board if there were any tables for 2 available. I was afraid of being seated with a set of retirees, or a bachlorette party or some other group that wouldn't be too keen on having a 6-year-old at their table. However, apparently Carnival arranges tables by the age of the children in the party and so we ended up at a table with an extended family (there was 7 of them...we definitely were crashing their party) that was travelling with a 5 and 1 year old. Ellie and the other little girl hit it off right away. and dinners were enjoyable. We even met up after dinner to take the kids dancing to a cover band one night. Ellie doted on the baby and made me realize how much she really loves (and missed) Calvin. The mother complimented me on Ellie's behavior and thanked me for her ability to entertain both of her children so that they could enjoy dinner.

The next day was a day at sea. As much as I wanted to sleep in, and thought Ellie would, the lure of the water slides was too much. I was able to put off jumping into the pool until about 11am as it was a little chilly and overcast. We again had two breakfasts. We played a couple rounds of mini-golf (where we actually tied...she's pretty good and even got a couple hold in ones). We also were greeted by a herd of towel animals and attended a show that was towel animal puppets, and even took a class on how to make towel animals.

And yet, the allure of the pool was too much and Ellie and I spent about 4 hours at the pool and water slides. She would bounce between the water slides and the hot tub, then the pool and the hot tub. However, around 2:30pm it started to get pretty crowded with the passengers who were on the cruise to party and had awoken and recovered from the night before. This was a booze cruise and the number of party people definitely outnumbered me and Ellie and the other handful of families on the ship. It got too crazy at the pool and I didn't think it was fun anymore (not to mention unsafe for Ellie). And so I convinced her it was time to go and we could go watch TV and have room service (cake and cookies). However, once we got the room service, I noticed in the daily schedule that they had a high tea. And so we headed up to go to tea! If you ask Ellie what her favorite thing was besides the pool/spa/water slides, she will say the tea. Of course that may be because of the giant piece of chocolate they gave her when she asked for chocolate cake from the trolley.

The day ended with more mini-golf, dinner, more selfies, another evening sit in the hot tub, and watching a movie back in our room (at 11pm she woke me up to tell me the movie was over).

Overall we had a great time and I will definitely go on another vacation with just her (although it would have been nice to have Nick and Calvin around). She said she would go on another cruise, as long as the ship had water slides and I convinced her not to judge all of Mexico based on her experience in Ensenada. I was reminded again and again how bright, funny, and engaging Ellie really is. Nick and I are so lucky to have her as a daughter, and me to have her as a travelling companion.

The theatre! Newsies!

On Friday night, March 27, Nick and I took Ellie out for a night on the town, including seeing a performance of Newsies! at the Pantages. The tickets were a Christmas present from Nick.

We started the evening at a fancy Italian restaurant in Hollywood on Melrose. Ellie was very well behaved and are her dinner. It was fantastic. Not knowing timing with traffic on Friday nights we had a relatively early dinner and had some time before the show. So of course we found the nearest Yogurtland.

We made it to the Pantages about 20 minutes before the show. It was enough time to enjoy the lobby and find out seats. And then a quick trip to the bathroom.






In preparation for the show we had exposed Ellie to the soundtrack. She quickly learned the words and was singing along. Listening to the soundtrack also gave me a heads up that the lyrics and portions of the subplot of the show are different than the original movie.







Ellie was fantastic. She was so well behaved and engaged with the show. I did have to ask her not to sing out loud during the show, but that was it. She asked to see the orchestra pit. We also were able to get some snacks during intermission. Although the show started at 8:00pm, she stayed up and didn't fall asleep. She said she loves the dancing and singing. I'm sure she didn't follow the plot, but there was more than enough dancing to keep her excited.

We all had a blast. Ellie definitely had fun and can't wait for her next musical theatre show.



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Grandpa Van 1920-2015

Grandpa Van, Ellie and Cal's great-grandfather, my grandpa, and my dad's dad passed away on March 13, 2015. He was 94 years old. 

My dad wrote an fantastic obituary, with fantastic photos, that he posted on his blog: http://doggeddoggerel.blogspot.com/2015/03/glenn-franklin-vanblaricum.html

The following is the obituary that was published in the Bureau County Republican, the newspaper of Princeton, Illinois where my grandpa spent a good part of his adult life. 

GOLETA, Calif. — Glenn Franklin VanBlaricum of Goleta, Calif., died of pneumonia at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital on Friday, March 13, 2015. He was 94 years old.

Glenn was born on May 18, 1920, on a small farm in Decker Township south of Noble, Ill., to Mary Jane (Mollie) Long VanBlaricum and James VanBlaricum. He was the youngest of their eight children.

Glenn graduated from Noble High School on May 25, 1938. In the fall of 1938 he started college at Eastern Illinois State Teachers College (now Eastern Illinois University) in Charleston, Ill. He majored in physics with a minor in math and chemistry. However, after the first year he saw that he would not have enough money to finish college, so he borrowed $50 to take teaching classes at Eastern in the summer and passed the Illinois Teachers Credential exam in August 1939.

In the school year 1939-1940, he taught first and second grade at Thomas School south of Clay City, Ill., and in 1940-1941 he taught grades first, third, fifth and seventh at Gray School south of Noble, Ill.

In July 1941, he volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps and trained as a fighter pilot, receiving his wings and commission as a second lieutenant on July 3, 1942. While on leave, on July 16, 1942, he and Mary Ellen Shearer of Olney, Ill., eloped to St. Charles, Mo., where they were married. Lt. VanBlaricum flew a Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter plane in Tunisia during the North African campaign and served as a base operations officer in Florida later in the war. He earned an Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster. He was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in 1945 but stayed in the Air Force Reserve until 1956.

Glenn taught at Noble Grade School, Noble, Ill., from 1945 to 1948 and at Newton Consolidated School, Newton, Ill., from 1948 to 1951. He then received a Bachelor of Science in Education from Eastern in May of 1952. He later completed a Master of Science in Education in August of 1955, also from Eastern. He served as principal of elementary schools in Toledo, Ill., from 1952 to 1954 and Momence, Ill., from 1954 to 1961. In 1961 he and his family moved to Princeton, Ill. At that time, he took a hiatus from teaching to work for the textbook publisher D.C. Heath and Company. In 1967 he became superintendent and high school principal in Wyanet, Ill., retiring in 1972.

The longest-lived of his generation of the VanBlaricum family, he was predeceased by his parents; his sisters, Effie Mae VanBlaricum Schnell and Wanda Nadine VanBlaricum Patterson; his brothers, William, Edgar Lowell, James Otho, Verle Everett and Elbert Clendus VanBlaricum; and an infant son, Thomas Lynn VanBlaricum.

Glenn is survived by his wife of 72 years, Mary Ellen (Shearer) VanBlaricum of Goleta, Calif.; and his two sons and their families, Glenn F. VanBlaricum Jr. and his wife, Claire Bernadette VanBlaricum, and Michael L. VanBlaricum and his wife, Pamela Calvetti VanBlaricum, all of Santa Barbara, Calif. He was the proud grandfather of three grandchildren, James Robert VanBlaricum of Los Angeles, Calif., Ann Calvetti VanBlaricum Harrer and her husband, Nicholas James Harrer, of Pasadena, Calif., and Susan Michelle VanBlaricum of Cambridge, Mass. His great-grandchildren are Ellen Calvetti Harrer and Calvin Van Harrer of Pasadena, Calif. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Glenn was a 32nd degree Mason, a member of Olney Masonic Lodge No. 140 and a member of American Legion Post No. 30 of Olney, Ill.

Grandpa Van will be missed by all of us. I feel so fortunate that he was able to meet Calvin. It was amazing to watch him light up when he would see Calvin. And Ellie got to get to know him as a small kid. Susie, Jimmy, and I all were able to get to know him throughout our life and I think we all can honestly say we have learned from and been inspired by him. My memories of him all have a strong association to scents, fresh cut grass on a humid Illinois July afternoon, sawdust mixed with motor oil and stain in the garage, my grandma's cooking while he napped in the afternoons...He was strong willed and knew exactly what he wanted (what? no Western dressing at a restaurant in California...). He was a talented craftsmen with wood and made so many toys for his three grandkids as well as so many other kids in Southern Illinois. He even made me (and Susie) a doll house that Ellie uses now. When I told Ellie that Grandpa Van had died she said, "I'm happy that I have the doll house that he made. I will think of him when I play with it." He and my grandma were together since they were young and had some amazing adventures together; everyone could learn from their example. WWII has lost another hero. 

Thank you for everything Grandpa Van.