Indulgence

We leave the basketball court and descend an open-deck stairwell to Deck 9. I find on the way down that the wind, while strong on deck, is whipping through the stairwell pretty ferociously. I take my hat in one hand and hold onto my glasses with the other, only to have my lanyard start to fly up and over my head! I catch it in time, but I could really use another hand.

We duck inside and take the forward stairs down a deck and then walk back to the Walt Disney Suite. Becky and Linda are up, and we head back out to breakfast at 7:45. Breakfast at the Beach Blanket Buffet is always wonderful. It feels like it’s been a while since dinner, and I’m pretty hungry, so I indulge myself: biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon, fresh pineapple, a chocolate Mickey waffle with strawberries and whipped cream, and a chocolate croissant, with apple juice and chocolate milk to drink – you know, the kind of breakfast cardiologists serve. At least when they’re trying to drum up business.

Conversation is light and relaxed as we enjoy our breakfast, and the view of the ocean as the ship nears Nassau. I remind Benjamin of our 2003 trip where, at one of our large shipboard breakfasts, Becky set out to admonish him and Brandon that future breakfasts would be back to normal by asking, “Do you know what you’ll be having for breakfast when you get home?” Then-six-year-old Benjamin quickly responded, with a mischievous smile, “Pastries???”

We compare notes on our enjoyment of our Suite so far – Benjamin marvels, “I watched Finding Nemo in the bathtub!” And I watched Monsters, Inc. That, sadly, is a shipboard luxury only, but we’re enjoying it while we can.

The passage of time and the aging of our children are brought home to Becky and me once more when Brandon finishes breakfast and announces that he’s leaving. Now on our first trip, we took the boys everywhere, checking them in and out of clubs ourselves. On the 2005 trip, we gave them permission to explore a bit on their own, as long as we knew where they were and when they’d be back.

But now, Brandon is departing, and we ask him where he’s going. He just shrugs.

“Check in sometime,” is my only instruction to him. And then Becky helpfully adds, “Don’t fall off the ship.”

My, how things change.