FWP.......

Earlier this month Dave and I treated the "kids" and their families to an Alaskan cruise. There were ten of us....with four grandsons ranging in age from ten to 17. Two mothers and two fathers.....with different interests, and two "oldies" with their own wish-lists.

I guess our biggest "wish" was just that we would enjoy the time together.....anything else would be a
bonus. As with most trips or vacations there were a few "bumps".....starting in Milwaukee when our plane was delayed and we flew out two hours late.

Sometimes we were frustrated on our huge cruise ship just trying to FIND each other.....and at moments the two younger families sharing one cabin each felt a bit "crowded"! The food wasn't to everyone's liking.....and frankly the coffee in the buffet was really weak....and we had some rain that dampened a few of our excursions.

But....Dave and I went snorkeling in Alaska! The kids did some sea kayaking, some rock climbing, visited a glacier, got personal with a number of wild animals at an animal rescue park...including a huge moose! We played Scrabble and Monopoly together, had some fabulous meals in the ship's dining rooms, swam in the pools and sat in the hot tubs. We sat on deck and talked. Since we are spread from Wisconsin to Washington State this doesn't happen often enough! And the dessert selection was amazing.

Our steward took care of our rooms each day, we didn't have to cook a darn thing all week, we got to spot whales and seals and just stare at the amazing ocean.

So the fact that we "suffered" a few bumps pales in comparison to all the good things that we enjoyed. As Megan said (quoting a comedian) .... we were complaining about First World Problems. Really not problems at all. On a scale of one to ten they are not even on the list.......

Except Meg just texted me to say their flight was delayed for who knows how long in Seattle. The escape chute deployed by mistake! They were sure to miss their connection in Dallas. Crap.....sorry, but that is a pretty frustrating FWP!