Goofin' Off With Projects and Disney Cruise Trip Report Day 3

I keep plugging away on my projects.  Sometimes they seem to move slow as molasses depending on what all I've got going on.  At the moment, each one of them continues to bring me smiles as I work on them.  Captain America is bringing me the biggest smiles.  I have begun laying out the blocks to see what they will look like - and I really, really like it - but I'm not sharing just yet.

During the latter part of the week, I finished these little sub-units...

Step III - D Units

...which came from these sub-units.

Step III - C Units

And for a stitching update, I am beginning to see a little of the actual picture begin to show on Mickey and Pirate Friends cross stitch.  Goofy's pirate hat is emerging...it's the oranges that you are seeing.  It's always fun to see the details emerge when working on such a large project.

Mickey and Pirate Friends Cross Stitch - As of 06/04/2017

Thanks for all the nice comments and e-mails I have been receiving about my trip report.  Always feel free to leave comments or questions below or e-mail them to me.  I love to talk quilting, cross stitching, and Disney...especially when I know someone else is planning a trip.  Now let's see...where did I leave off with the cruise trip report?  Oh, yes, we're beginning Day 3.

Day 3 was our first full day at sea as well as "pirate" day on the ship.  All of the character meet and greets were with the various characters dressed up in pirate attire...very similar, actually, to my the attire that will appear in my cross stitch picture.

We began our morning with breakfast at Cabanas buffet.  From there we decided we would participate in "Anna's Chocolate Scavenger Hunt"...Anna being the Anna from the movie "Frozen." It was actually an odd day for them to hold the scavenger hunt because there was a "Frozen" day later in the cruise, and it would have made more sense to do it on that day.  There were symbols from the movie "Frozen" hidden all over the ship.  There were clues as to where you could find them.  If you found them, you could add them to your "Chocolate Chase" paper and leave your paper on your bed...and then, voila, this little baby would magically appear in its place while you were out.

Prize for Anna's Chocolate Chase Scavenger Hunt

I mean, seriously, it was like the chocolate fairy was coming to our cabin all the time and would leave us chocolate...all...the...time.

After the scavenger hunt, we headed to the movie theater for a movie.  One of the unique things about a Disney cruise is that they show first-run Disney movies in their movie theaters.  Every movie that Disney had released during the past year (including Marvel movies and Star Wars) was shown in the theater.  It was a nice way to catch up on the movies I had missed.  The movie we watched this day was "Born in China".  I absolutely loved it despite the fact that I didn't follow my own rule of not getting too attached to the animals in a Disneynature movie.  Well, the circle of life, you know...I won't give away any spoilers in case you haven't seen it yet...but don't get too attached to the animals no matter how adorable they are.  Here is the official trailer:




When the movie was over, it was time for lunch already.  It felt like we just ate.  We hurried to the buffet for a light lunch then went and watched "The Great Dubois".  It was a live show featuring magic and a few aerial acrobatics.  In case you're thinking, Wow, they sure were inside a lot for a cruise...yes, we were.  Our days at sea were all overcast, gray, windy, and chilly, so we did a lot indoors.

After the show, Mr. Goofin' Off and I walked some laps on the track outside.  We had to work off breakfast and lunch because it wasn't going to be too long before it was dinner time.  At dinner, everyone was encouraged to dress up like pirates...even the waiters and assistant waiters were dressed up.  Here is a picture of our nephew dressed up in his pirate attire for the night.

Pirate Night in the Dining Room

Mr. Goofin' Off even noticed the menus were printed specially for the night.  

Pirates in the Caribbean Dinner Menu

After dinner, it was time to head to the show for the evening.  Tonight's show was "The Golden Mickeys".  It's a take on the The Oscars awards show.  Various Disney Broadway-style musical numbers are performed as Mickey receives awards in different categories for the various Disney movies.  It's fun to enjoy listening to some of my favorite music from the Disney movies while watching them being performed live.  

After dinner was the "Pirates in the Caribbean" party up on the top decks of the ship.  There is a dance party with the crew all dressed up as pirates.  The dance party is followed by fireworks off the ship accompanied by various pirate music.  It was very chilly outside that night, so everyone was bundled up in blankets on deck.  It didn't stop me from enjoying the fireworks, though.  The fireworks off the ship are one of my favorite things about a Disney cruise.  

After the pirate party ended, we returned to our room where we found this on our bed:  

Pirate Night Towel Folding by Cabin Steward

It looks to be some sort of sea monster and/or pirate.  Did you notice the chocolate gold coins for the eyes and embellishment?  Yes.  More chocolate...always more chocolate waiting for us in the cabin.  It's a good thing I love chocolate.  

Thanks for following along with my adventures.  And as my friend Tigger always says:  "TTFN...ta ta for now."

Goofin' Off With Disney Cruise Trip Report Day 2 and Project Updates

In my last blog post, I left you at the end of Day 1 on our Disney cruise, poor measuring skills requiring the need of more Captain America fabric, and a lot of dark browns with the Mickey and friends cross stitch project.  So let's get this Disney-related saga started again.

Disney Wonder - Photo from Wikipedia

First of all, I got as far with my quilt pieces as I could while I waited for the fabric to arrive.  I managed to do this...

Step II - Units B

...and this...

Step III - A Units

...and this...and then I needed to stop until the new fabric arrived.

Step III - B Units

When Mr. Goofin' Off got home from work last night, he brought the mail in with him.  He had this baby in his hands.  Yep.  Captain America has been been arrived and is awaiting me to cut into it. Hopefully, I'll cut it right this time...measure a bazillion times, cut once. Right?  I'm not sure I could find any more of this precious fabric if I don't get it right this time.

Yay!  My New Fabric Arrived from Etsy - So Quick!

I was able to make a little more progress on the Mickey and Pirate Friends stitching.  There is a little more color emerging...even if it is more variations of browns, reds, and oranges.  I hope we'll be seeing Goofy's eye appearing before the end of June.

Micky and Pirate Friends as of 05/31/2017

Now for the update on Day 2 of our Disney cruise. Day 2 is actually the day we boarded the ship. I'll blame the fact that I didn't take many pictures that day due to an injury...yeah...it was the injury's fault. Mr. Goofin' Off had headed down to tour the USS Midway during the morning. He had anticipated being back to the hotel room before checkout...well, best intentions can go awry when you're traveling with a big group.

Unfortunately, he didn't quite make it back, and the maids were knocking on the door, and I didn't want to pay for another night so I foolishly decided to haul three stuffed suitcases and two stuffed backpacks down to the lobby and wait for the rest of the crew there. In the process, I tweaked something in my back. It was quite painful for the first 24 to 48 hours but a boatload (do you see the pun there?) of ibuprofen helped dull the pain as I worked out the kinks for a couple of days.

After we all gathered in the lobby, we headed out to the ship. Some of our crew took taxis, and some of us walked. Mr. Goofin' Off and I walked. It was a beautiful day, and it wasn't but four or five blocks to the ship. The walk was nice, and I hoped it would work out some of the kinks.

After arriving at the terminal, we waited in line to drop off our bags...and waited in line to check in...and waited in line to board the ship. If you've ever been on any trip to Disney, you know Disney has line waiting down to a science.

Just Like at Disneyland - Disney Cruise Has the Line System Down to a Science

We all boarded the ship at different times, but somehow we all managed to run into each other at the buffet. Yep. We did a lot of that...running into each other...and eating.

After lunch was the muster drill.  I always get a chuckle because they always say to put the short ones in front of the line at the muster drill.  I was definitely the shortest person in our line, but after saying they wanted us ordered shortest to tallest, they stuck me second from the back. I was glad when they finally had what they needed and released us from the muster drill because I was getting a bit claustrophobic.

Shortly after the muster drill, it was time for the ship to leave port.  And not long after that, it was time for dinner because we had the early seating for dinner.  Truth be told, I don't think many of us were that hungry that night because we'd just finished stuffing our faces at the buffet less than two hours before.

Our dinner that first night was in the Tiana's Place restaurant. I think that was the best food we had the entire trip, and we had a lot of wonderful food.  I just wish we'd had more time between meals. Here are a few pictures of the restaurant.

Tiana's Place Restaurant - New Orleans Decor

Tiana Singing Along With the Jazz Band

There was a jazz band playing during dinner and Tiana and Louis the alligator from the movie "Princess and the Frog" came around to the tables to visit and for picture opportunities. This is one area where Disney really excels if you've got little ones. There are so many photo ops and meet and greets with the characters.

After we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant, we hustled down to our room for a quick refresh and then on to the show that night. The show for the evening in the big theater was titled "Be Our Guest". The show was really a preview of the shows that would be available the rest of the cruise. It had musical numbers from the three Broadway-style shows as well as a quick preview of the magician and physical comedy duo that would be performing.

Quite frankly, after the show we went back to our room and collapsed into a deep, deep sleep. Mr. Goofin' Off had said he was going to stay up and read for a little while...but was out after about one page into his book. The next day was "Pirates in the Caribbean" day on the ship. Stay tuned to hear more about that.  

Goofin' Off With Project Updates and Disney Cruise Trip Report Day 1

So summer has finally reached us here in the Pacific Northwest.  This Memorial Day weekend has seen us with some really beautiful weather.  A typical Pacific Northwest Memorial Day usually comes with rain...lots or rain and drizzle and more rain.  So we are venturing out to some of the beaches to celebrate this weekend.

It's been a while since I've updated.  We were so lucky to go on a Disney repositioning cruise this past week.  I had intended to take a lot of pictures, but somehow I was enjoying family so much that I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I had planned.  So you just may be stuck with a more general summary over the next few posts of our fun time with family.

Quilt Update

I want to first do a quick update on my current quilt...the Captain America quilt.  I have completed the units II-A.  

Units II-A of Captain America Quilt

I finally cut into the Captain America fabric.  In a previous post, I had mentioned that as long as I was careful with my cutting, I should have just enough of the Captain America fabric for the quilt...despite what the pattern indicated.  Well, as Murphey's Law would have it, I didn't quite measure right, so I didn't quite have enough fabric for the quilt.  

I quickly jumped on the JoAnn's website, only to find out they didn't have any more of this fabric online, but they did have some at a store about 100 miles away.  I didn't want to particularly drive 100 miles for fabric, especially not knowing if they really had it in stock.  I went to eBay and had no luck. Then I visited Etsy and finally found a seller with the fabric.  It should be here late next week. Whew!  Crisis averted!  

Cross Stitch Update

I finished my first little section of the Mickey and Pirate Friends cross stitch.  Not a whole lot to show but a lot of brown and oranges.  

Mickey and Pirate Friends - Update 05/28/2017

All is going well on this one (knocking on wood).  

Disney Cruise Trip Report Day 1 - Pre-Cruise Day

Again, I apologize for not having a lot of pictures.  Hmmm...maybe I can talk my adorable nephew into letting me use some of his pictures.  He was having a blast taking pictures.  Anywhoo...back to the pre-cruise day.  

Mr. Goofin' Off worked from home that day.  We had an afternoon flight, so we headed out to the airport about lunchtime.  Getting to the parking lot and shuttling it over to the airport was a breeze. We enjoyed having our TSA Pre-Check again.  It saves so much time and hassle going through security.  I am not sure why we didn't do it before.  

We were both hungry, so once we made it through we grabbed some Qdoba's at the airport.  The food area was packed.  They had a live guitarist playing.  Oh, how I wish I had taken more pictures.  We couldn't find a table, so a nice couple from Houston invited us to sit at their table. They had just gotten off a cruise from Alaska that morning.  They were seasoned cruisers and had enjoyed their cruise very much.  Of course, talking about cruising only made us that more excited for our cruise. 

We boarded our uneventful flight, took a taxi to the hotel, and dropped our luggage off before exploring San Diego.  It was a beautiful day in San Diego, albeit unseasonably cool that day.  We were only two blocks from the water, so we walked along the bay.  Mr. Goofin' Off wanted to see the USS Midway, so we stopped there for a few pictures.  

 

USS Midway - San Diego

After walking for a while along the water, we decided to get some dinner.  We ate outside at an outside patio at Claim Jumpers.  It was chilly, but the view of the water was nice.  As I recall, we shared a plate of appetizers and then shared a dessert.  Afterwards, we rolled ourselves back to the hotel.  

We had only been back a few minutes when we ran into Mr. Goofin' Off's parents, brother, nephew, and a cousin he hadn't seen in decades. We spent a few moments together chatting before settling in for the night.  The next day was going to be a big day as we would be boarding the ship.  

Thanks for following along.  Do you have anything special planned with your family this summer? Feel free to comment below and let me know what you're up to.  

Goofin' Off on a Travel Day...05/13/2017 Project Updates

As hubby and I are preparing for an upcoming cruise vacation with his family, I began looking at our photos from our last trip.  I noticed that we have sort of a routine or ritual of sorts that we go through on travel days before we head off to somewhere fun...hopefully, involving something Disney.  Before I get into that, I want to give a few updates on projects over the past few days.

Quilt Update(s)

First up is the (very small) progress I've made on the quilt blocks for the Captain America quilt. There has not been a whole lot of progress due to the fact that I've been spending a lot of time winding bobbins for my new cross stitch project.  But here is what I did accomplish.  I was able to add a white strip to the bottom of the pieces that I had worked on last week.

Small Addition to the Quilt Block Units

Cross Stitching Update(s)

In addition to winding a bajillion bobbins of embroidery floss this week, I did manage to get some stitching done on the new project.  As you can see from the picture, it has mostly been browns, dark browns, medium browns, and a few dark red threads mixed in for variety.  This is so different from my the colors of my greens, lavenders and light blues of Tink.  But I can't always stitching those colors...can I?  

Update 05/13/2017 on Mickey and Friends Pirates

I have received a couple of requests to know what the final project will look like.  I have posted below a snapshot of approximately what the top quarter of the finished stitched piece is going to look like. Here is your sneak peek.

Sneak Peek of Top Quarter of Finished Piece

Travel Day Routine for the Goofin' Off Family

I don't know about you, but the Goofin' Off family has settled into a sort of routine on the day we head out to travel.  Because we live in the Seattle area, and we are usually flying long distances (like the other side of the US), we usually take an early-morning flight.  Whenever possible, we like to get nonstop flights.  This usually means that the flight leaves way too early in the morning.  I usually get up at some indecent time of the morning...around 3 a.m.  I take the time to get ready, finish packing, and double check that I packed everything.  

I am not one to do a lot of selfies, but on travel mornings I always manage to get a selfie before we head out the door.  As you can see, it's not uncommon for Mr. Goofin' Off's eyes to be half closed. He grabs and opens a can of Diet Coke before we get in the car.  

Travel Morning Selfie for May 2017 Trip

As you can see from the clock in our car from the last trip, we got in the car at 5:06 a.m.  That was only about six minutes late from when we had wanted to get on the road...not too bad for us.

The Console of the Car Says It Is 5:06 a.m. and 43 Degrees Outside

We head to the airport and park our car in a lot right off the airport property.  It takes about 15 minutes to get from the parking lot to the airport.  That's when the real fun starts...you know, getting in line to tag your bags, getting in line to check your bags, and getting in line at airport security.

Luckily, we recently got our act together and got approved for TSA Pre-Check.  Yep, that was a lifesaver this past trip. We made it through security in record time without having to take our liquids out or take our shoes off.  That left us time to pick up something to eat at the airport other than a quick stop for a Danish or croissant.  This past trip we got breakfast at Pallino Pastaria.  My breakfast came with eggs, bacon, and a fruit cup.  This was significant enough that I didn't really get hungry until the very end of the 5-1/2 hour flight.

Breakfast at Pallino Pastaria at SeaTac Airport

Once we get to the gate, it's time to settle in and wait for the flight to board.  We try to board last instead of waiting in the long lines and crowds when they start boarding.  Because that gives us a little extra time, we usually get out magazines or books...or in the case of Mr. Goofin' Off looking to see if there are any good Pokemon to catch at the airport on Pokemon GO.

Mr. Goofin' Off Playing Pokemon Go

OK, all of this talk about travel day is getting me really, really excited for upcoming vacation.  It isn't too far in the future.  I can't wait to share a few photos with you when we get back.  

Do you have any travel day routines or rituals that your family shares?  I'd love to hear about them. Just leave a comment below.