h20skibum

We have noticed it on every ship we have sailed on since the restart. Although we has sat as far away from the sound source as we could in each venue, some we had to leave because of how loud it was. I have heard the same complaint from many others. Seriously, don’t their sound engineers have dB meters, to check levels?

@FromSea2ShiningSeaHelen, you have a great eye for photography. I am enjoying all your photos.

Ours are even higher. I think it also depends on the ship and the length of sailing. Our next 3, all on Oasis class ships.

Picked up this chestnut, and plan to roast a few. I am not sure if this says that we grow our chestnuts big, of if Royal has small drinks! It wouldn’t even fit in Lime and Coconut pail.

That is good to hear. I hope you continue to improve. wishing you an early happy birthday on the 14th

So tell me, does that link have the compass for the entire week, or is it refreshed every day to provide the compass for that day? Are you then saving the pdf to your iPad to have a copy, post cruise?

They are in San Rafael. Quick trip for them to Napa, or to the City.

Happy 41st Anniversary to you. Great way to celebrate on a cruise.

Sounds like our saga on Harmony a few years ago, when they didn’t even have me listed in the cabin with Susan. I was at guest services 2 or 3 times a day during the cruise trying to get things straightened out. Hang in there and keep that sense of humor about everything.

Dani, ours might be a somewhat unique situation. Since we have had our grandson stay with us during the summers, we see the family when we fly out to pick him up for the summer, and again when he goes back at the end of the summer. For the past seven years, we have rented a beach house in Florida for the Christmas / New Year holidays and we will have them and our daughter and her family join us. The grandkids all look forward to that winter break. We FaceTime with them about once a week, on their schedule. We do feel bad that our grandson hasn’t had the type of quality time he has enjoyed with us, with his other set of grandparents. They would fly in, and spend several months, but then Covid and travel restrictions happened, and now the tensions between our two countries (China and US) have made things more difficult for them. If they could get direct flights, they are 14.5 hours, so much longer than ours. It is a shame, because they are the nicest people, and I would like him to spend more time with them.

Looks like you probably drove past my son’s place to get there. We cross GG every time we visit him. We saw a lot of nice photos of their outing yesterday in Sonoma. They were eating at Folktable, near the airstrip for the vintage aircraft.

Have a great cruise @Ozark_Kid Looking forward to some more photos.

It was a beautiful day here today. Our leaves are changing more.

Now, for part two of our day with our granddaughter. When she knew she would be coming to spend the weekend, she said. “I want to make a wedding cake!” I don’t know if it was because she knew her mom and dad were going away to a wedding, but like good grandparents perfecting the art of spoiling, we said “Sure, you can do that.” By the way, the wedding my daughter was at was over the top. Several TV personalities there, and they even had indoor pyrotechnics similar to these. Now, back to our cake project. Susan bought some cake pans to make a three tier cake. Here is a pro tip. Place the bowl in the sink when kids are running the mixer. It keeps the flying batter contained. How much batter should go in the pans? I thought this looked good, but the one in the little pan was a little too much. Of course, you have to make them level to stack them, so cut the tops off. She chose confetti cake. This is where we took our break and went to Iron Mills. They had to cool before icing. After returning, she started to ice the cakes. Our little 8 year old did this all herself, and I only had to help with two minor items. Icing the base layer in progress. Of course, she wanted a strawberry filling, so I had to devise a way to cut the cake in half. So I dug out a couple old triangular engineering scales to use as a knife guide to cut the cake layers in half. Spreading the filling on the cut half. The other part of my job was to lift each layer and place on top of the one below. Susan had bought a few decorations and a topper for the cake, so our granddaughter went to work at finishing icing and decorating. This was her finished cake. She had a lot of fun, and the cake tasted pretty good. If anyone wants a piece, stop by. There is some left.

Looks like an infinite veranda

We have our granddaughter spending the weekend with us. He mom and dad are out of town to attend a wedding, and her brother went to spend the weekend with one of his friends at their camp. So we had to find some entertaining things to do. Part one of our day, yesterday, was to take her to Iron Mill’s Farmstead, for their corn maze and fall fun. https://ironsmillfarmstead.com/ These people have a gold mine with their facility, and it was packed yesterday, even though it is located in the heart of Amish country. Many of the activities are geared towards kids in the fall. And, of course, they have plenty of refreshments for kids and adults. I think we were both a little nervous when she scrambled up this rope net tower. But she did make it to the top and back down. And what is fall fun without going in a corn maze. This year’s maze is one with Bob Barker. Both the Pittsburgh and Youngstown TV stations had some stories on this maze. They have some Price is Right themes going on, and they even plan to give away a new RAV4 at the end of October. That gives you an idea how much money this generates. Our maze guide led us through and found our way out. This corn bin seems to be a hit with the kids. And granddaughter mastered the art of bubble making. IMG_9075.mp4 It was definitely a fun outing, but the other part of or day was still interesting. More to come………

I don’t think I would hit 100%, but Susan is always accusing me of this. I tend to look at things in terms of their parts, and if any of those parts would be useful. I have taken apart so many things, and the get sorted into different parts bins to be used for repair to other things. I don’t remember how many times I have been asked “Do you have something to fix this?”, and usually the answer is yes.

I like that idea of the community piano, but heat and humidity has to take a toll on it. When our grandkids show up at our house, they gravitate to our piano and start playing, almost as soon as they get here. Our daughter is the same way.

@dani negreanu, sorry to hear your travel did not go as planned. I hope your husband is feeling better.

Last night was the Mooncake Festival. In Chinese culture, it is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night. My grandson in California was enjoying a mooncake. I think if I was enjoying one, I would pick a different shape. There is just something about eating one that is shaped like a pig! 😬 In case anyone is wondering, they are sweet tasting, and some even taste like ice cream.

Happy birthday to Micheline. That food looks really good.

Another vote for Le Petit Chef @Sea Dog, Greg. I think you would enjoy the show as each meal is prepared and served.

The one I have has one way valves so you do not get the carbon dioxide buildup. Some of the early ones did not have that feature. I have snorkeled for a couple hours with no problems. Did meet someone using an old one, a couple years ago, and he was getting light headed using his. The fit does make a difference. Susan could not get one of the full face ones to work for her, because of her narrow face. It is always a good idea to get a good fit and try them out before taking them along the first time.

Wait, aren’t you the OP? Or are you using two screen names to post here?

@Sea Dog glad to hear you are better this morning.