Surprising my wife with the cruise of her dreams

[terrific_surprise]

Just discovered your post - what a wonderful birthday gift! Also think it is fantastic that you have 11 children! My husband and I have 8 so I can relate to shocking others!! Look forward to reading about your cruise.

 

When we had less than 8 children, my dad used to often say "8 is enough!" After we passed 8, he would kid us about "cheaper by the dozen."

 

The thought had crossed our minds that 12 would be nice, and at times over the past year we thought briefly that #12 might have been on the way, but over the course of the year it became evident that my wife's biological clock has moved into a new phase.

 

So for us, the cruise will be the celebration of a new phase of our lives -- moving beyond the childbearing years (which for us spanned over two decades). That's a milestone which is definitely worth celebrating for this amazing woman who went through all of the "labor" for these children!

[olemissreb]

Have you told her all about sharing this wonderful journey with all of us here on Cruise Critic? I'm kind of glad she figured it all out and that you "came clean" so you can both enjoy the anticipation together for the next 3 weeks!

[terrific_surprise]

After our wonderful Valentine's day weekend Bon Voyage Experience resulted in my wife discovering that we are cruising on the Golden Princess on March 27, I needed to take some time to seriously reevaluate the remaining clues I intended to give her. Many of them would just be too obvious now. I briefly considered whether I should just give her the remaining puzzle pieces and let her finish the whole puzzle now, but I decided that after coming this far, I need to finish what I started, one golden envelope at a time, one puzzle piece at a time.

 

Between being busy with ministry and family activities and trying to catch up with posting on CC about everything that happened over Valentine's weekend, it took me over a week before I was ready to give her another clue. I doubt that it ever crossed her mind to wonder why I hadn't given her more clues, though, because she was so excited about what she had already learned. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she is now more interested in listening to the Fanfare CD than she was before -- I had hoped that she wouldn't have become weary of these songs after listening to them throughout the year, but that after experiencing the Fanfare Fountains they would bring back precious memories, and I was glad to see that my hopes are being realized.

 

Ten days after our BVE, I happened to be outside just as the full moon rose over the horizon. At that moment it hit me: the next full moon would happen on the day the cruise begins! I had known for over a year that there would be a full moon on the first day of the cruise, but knowing that we were just one full moon away from the cruise made it seem incredibly close.

 

DW was teaching a seminar the next day. It is a seminar that we have taught often over the years, and I keep her notes in my computer, so in preparation for the seminar, I printed out the notes for her. In the middle of her notes, I slipped a golden envelope. It fell out of her notes in the middle of her talk, interrupting her train of thought, but her smile showed that she didn't seem to mind. On the front of the envelope I had written "To my favorite teacher!"

 

Of course she waited until after the seminar was over to actually open up the envelope. Inside I put this photo:

 

On the back I had written: "The next full moon may be the best one of your life! – By moonlight, sunlight, or no light at all, you are beautiful!"

 

From her response, she apparently thought I was using the moon as a metaphor. :o But I insisted that I was really, truly, referring to the moon up in the sky.

[terrific_surprise]

Have you told her all about sharing this wonderful journey with all of us here on Cruise Critic? I'm kind of glad she figured it all out and that you "came clean" so you can both enjoy the anticipation together for the next 3 weeks!

 

She knows now that I post on CC, but I assume that she has no idea of the extent to which I have chronicled this journey here. I'm still hoping that my CC posts will be one final surprise I can reveal to her, which hopefully can make the experience last that much longer.

[elcydcruiser]

t_s.... elcyd from BVE... I better post this now before I forget. When you do the Sailaway on the 27th, and as the Golden passes along the waterfront, and nears the Ports O'Call restaurant, be on the lookout for a crazy person waving a big, yellow hand. That will be me. I will be on the upper deck of our company boat. The boat is docked between the Tall Ships (the twin Brigatines) and the PO'C restaurant.

I think this big, yellow hand is large, but I've seen pictures of it, taken from the cruise ships...it's not that big. But I wave it frantically to fellow cruisers when I know they are leaving.

After reading your story, I firmly believe, when you stop in Kauai, you should go up the Wailua River to the Fern Grotto to hear the Hawaiian Wedding Song. It'll bring tears to your eyes.

[terrific_surprise]

t_s.... elcyd from BVE... I better post this now before I forget. When you do the Sailaway on the 27th, and as the Golden passes along the waterfront, and nears the Ports O'Call restaurant, be on the lookout for a crazy person waving a big, yellow hand. That will be me. I will be on the upper deck of our company boat. The boat is docked between the Tall Ships (the twin Brigatines) and the PO'C restaurant.

I think this big, yellow hand is large, but I've seen pictures of it, taken from the cruise ships...it's not that big. But I wave it frantically to fellow cruisers when I know they are leaving.

After reading your story, I firmly believe, when you stop in Kauai, you should go up the Wailua River to the Fern Grotto to hear the Hawaiian Wedding Song. It'll bring tears to your eyes.

 

Thanks, elcyd! I hope we remember to look for your yellow hand. Our roll call will be meeting at the Outrigger behind Horizon Court during sailaway, so we may need to break away to go down by the Terrace Pool to see you. But I know that DW will get a kick out of this, being on the receiving end of the crazy waves she was giving on the 16th.

 

Now I need to figure out if there is a way to squeeze the Wailua River and Fern Grotto into our Kauai day. :confused:

[terrific_surprise]

Although I have never been to Hawaii, my favorite wallet was from Hawaii. A girl named Terri (who would later become known here on CC as my DW) bought me the wallet in 1983 when she visited Oahu. It wasn't a typical leather wallet, but was made out of some kind of lightweight mesh material, with a Hawaiian flower design painted on the front.

 

At the time she gave it to me, our high school romantic relationship was ancient history (at least in my mind) and we were "just friends." Good friends who talked often, but still just friends. Nevertheless she always insisted throughout those years "some day you will marry me -- even if you marry someone else, eventually she will die and then we will get married." (She said this not in a manipulative way, but with calm confidence, like she really believed it.) Although it was a bit unnerving, I scoffed when she would say that. But soon after she gave me the wallet, our romance was rekindled.

 

That wallet stayed with me throughout the year that led up to our engagement, through our engagement year, through the early years of our marriage, and through our early years as parents. I hated to get rid of the wallet, but eventually it just wore out. By the time I replaced it, I think we had at least three kids.

 

Since then I have gone through many wallets, typically replacing my wallet every year or two. Sometimes that lump in my back pocket has been a major irritant.

 

About a year ago, my son made me an amazing wallet out of duct tape. He even used clear duct tape to create a kind of window to hold my driver's license. While I marveled at the work that went into making this wallet, I wasn't thrilled with using it, even from the beginning. But my wife said that I should, so I did.

 

By now I have had my fill of pulling duct tape out of my pocket when I need to pay something. I have also grown tired of the sticky residue on the cards I carry in my wallet. Now the duct tape has been worn through in some places so that things sometimes fall out, so I feel like I have used it enough to be able to justify moving on to another wallet.

 

A clue relating to my favorite Hawaiian wallet was on my list of possible clues for a long time, but I hadn't used it before because I thought that it would point to Hawaii too clearly. But now, when DW knows we are going on a cruise to Hawaii, that is no longer a concern. Nevertheless, I wanted as always to try to make my clue something that might take a little thought before she figured it out.

 

So I decided to write this clue: "This duct tape is getting worn out! Would you consider buying me my favorite one again? – My love for you will never wear out!" (I never used the word "wallet," hoping that she wouldn't immediately know what I meant.) I put the clue on the back of this picture of the Golden Princess in Kauai:

 

Then I put the picture and clue with a puzzle piece, inside a golden envelope (writing on the front "To the one I'm thinking of"), and I put the golden envelope in a little golden box I had given DW on her 49th birthday. The box was originally intended to hold the pieces of the puzzle I have been giving her throughout this year, but it soon became obvious that the box was inadequate for that purpose, so all that was left in the box was a golden key which I had also given her on her 49th birthday. For months that box has been sitting, rarely opened, in a compartment between the two front seats of our van.

 

DW needed to bring the kids to some church activities last Wednesday, but I needed to stay at the office to get some work done. After she had been gone for a few hours, I sent her the text "It doesn't hold the intended pieces, but it does hold the mysterious key."

 

Within five minutes she responded "ty... you are sweet!"

 

My text response was "I considered it to be quite useful and was sad when I had to stop using it ;-)".

 

She immediately replied "walley :)" (I assume she just mistyped "wallet" on her phone, but in any case she obviously figured out what I meant right away).

 

The sun was almost going down, and I had been watching the Golden Princess bridge cam, seeing it depart from Los Angeles. Estimating how long it would take for the ship to pass Catalina Island and for darkness to fall, I texted DW "Exactly 28 days, 28 minutes and 28 seconds from now we will say catch our last glimpse of California on our way to Hawaii." (As I have mentioned previously, 28 is a special number to us, because of our 4/28 anniversary among other dates.) I just guessed the part about 28 minutes and 28 seconds, but it was close enough to make my point.

[mndctrl]

Thanks, elcyd! I hope we remember to look for your yellow hand. Our roll call will be meeting at the Outrigger behind Horizon Court during sailaway, so we may need to break away to go down by the Terrace Pool to see you. But I know that DW will get a kick out of this, being on the receiving end of the crazy waves she was giving on the 16th.

 

Now I need to figure out if there is a way to squeeze the Wailua River and Fern Grotto into our Kauai day. :confused:

You will probably have a better view from the Outrigger to see the hand.

[terrific_surprise]

After reading your story, I firmly believe, when you stop in Kauai, you should go up the Wailua River to the Fern Grotto to hear the Hawaiian Wedding Song. It'll bring tears to your eyes.

 

It looks like there may be more than one Wailua River cruise to the Fern Grotto.

This one mentions "songs and stories of ancient Hawaii" though:

http://www.smithskauai.com/fern_grotto.html

 

Do you think that's the right one? If so I think we might have time for it.

[terrific_surprise]

You will probably have a better view from the Outrigger to see the hand.

 

Thanks mndctrl! I'm glad we won't have to leave you and the others to see the hand.

[terrific_surprise]

A few days ago my wife and I finally had a few minutes to relax and watching something on TV. We didn't have enough time for a movie, and really just wanted some mindless entertainment, so I put on a DVD of Gilligan's Island, and we watched episode 9 of season one (titled "Thurston's Gold Mine"). I had been waiting for several weeks for an opportunity to watch this episode of Gilligan's Island with DW, because of course I had planned a clue in relation to it. (I don't recall watching this episode before, at least not in recent memory, but I had found a synopsis of it online.)

 

I had the golden envelope prepared, but (as is often the case) I hadn't decided what to write on the front yet. Eventually I decided to hastily write (trying to avoid letting DW see me doing it) "You're GOLD and You're MINE." (Obviously my mind was weak that afternoon.) Then I slipped the golden envelope in a place where DW was sure to find it -- on top of her cell phone. Her phone is her primary means of connection to the outside world (not just by voice but by Facebook, texts, etc.) so I didn't worry about her finding it.

 

DW enjoyed watching episode 9, and continued into episode 10. I didn't have time to watch the full episode 10, but when I saw Gilligan running from falling coconuts I was glad she had chosen to watch it (the falling coconuts had an unintended connection to the clue that was coming). But I guess that's not really surprising -- falling coconuts aren't exactly a rare occurrence on Gilligan's Island.

 

I came back into the room about an hour later and saw that her phone was gone but the envelope was still there, unopened! She was in our van, waiting to leave. So I took the envelope and brought it to our van, putting it on top of her phone again. A few minutes later, she picked up the phone again -- and once again left the envelope untouched!

 

When she put the phone down again, I took the envelope -- too frustrated to attempt to be discreet -- and put it back on top of the phone while DW was watching.

 

"You're making that really obvious," she laughed.

 

When she finally opened the envelope, she found this photo inside:

(If you can't see the photo, it includes a sign displaying the message "Beware of Falling Coconuts"!)

 

On the back I had written "The darkness in the place Thurston discovered is quite overwhelming. -- I'm overwhelmed with love for you!"

 

"So..." DW guessed, "you're taking me to a gold mine?"

 

"Not exactly."

 

"So what does it mean?"

 

Refusing to reply, I said "I have to leave something a mystery still!"

 

This photo broke an unwritten rule that I made for myself long ago about what these photo-clues would look like: I have tried to avoid showing any words in the photo-clues. But now that I have broken that rule once, I now plan (later this week) to give her another photo that violates that rule even more flagrantly.

[elcydcruiser]

It looks like there may be more than one Wailua River cruise to the Fern Grotto.

This one mentions "songs and stories of ancient Hawaii" though:

http://www.smithskauai.com/fern_grotto.html

 

Do you think that's the right one? If so I think we might have time for it.

I checked with one of the AZ cruisers about this and she said they do sing the wedding song. She actually did the tour with the Smith group. She had pictures, too...it's beautiful.

[terrific_surprise]

I checked with one of the AZ cruisers about this and she said they do sing the wedding song. She actually did the tour with the Smith group. She had pictures, too...it's beautiful.

 

Thanks, elcyd. I think the Smith river cruise will work for us, if I cut out a couple of other things I had planned (which might not have been that interesting to DW anyway).

 

By the way, a couple of days ago I told her to be watching for your big yellow waving hand as we sail away. She immediately started grilling me to find out how I have been communicating with you! :o

 

Hopefully she will be too busy over the next couple of weeks but it's possible that she may find my CC posts soon! :eek:

[Moonlitherial]

Smith's is definitely the company you want for your river cruise and to visit Fern Grotto. It's very beautiful and the tour guides, singers and hula dancers on the boats are very friendly and knowledgeable.

 

Fern Grotto is still recovering from Inikki in 1992. It's so beautiful today it's hard to imagine how incredible it was before the hurricane.

[terrific_surprise]

Last week when I was by myself for a while, I listened to the Elua CDs which I had received from Dave Soreff on Valentine's Day, looking for a way to relate a clue to Elua's music. After first listening to their CD Island Style, I decided that some of these songs might be better enjoyed when the kids aren't around, so set it aside for later. (I also decided to scrap a planned "hang loose" clue after listening to Elua sing "Just Hang Loose"!). :o

 

Their CD Na Mele Hawai'i cast a quite different mood right from the start. Listening to the gentle melody of "White Sandy Beach," I knew that I had found something special:

 

I saw you in my dreams

We were walking hand in hand

On a white sandy beach of Hawai`i

We were playing in the sun

We were having so much fun

On a white sandy beach of Hawai`i

 

Sound of the ocean soothes my restless soul

Sound of the ocean rocks me all night long

 

Then I found this photo of a rainbow over the lava fields on the Big Island:

 

With my gold pen, I wrote this on the back: "I saw you in my dreams, We were walking hand in hand... We were playing in the sun, We were having so much fun... – Being with you soothes my restless soul (even without the sound of the ocean)."

 

Then I put the golden envelope inside the jewel case for the Fanfare CD in our van. The jewel case had been untouched for months, with the Fanfare CD always remaining in our van's CD player. Last Spring (many months ago), I had hidden another golden envelope inside the jewel case, behind the CD holder, but DW has never found it. From time to time I have given her little hints (often through text messages) such as "just in case, I hope you don't miss any clues," but her typical response has been something like "Clues?" I hadn't been in a hurry for her to find it, but with time running short, I obviously needed to make sure she finally finds it soon.

 

Saturday morning, my wife sent me a text asking if I would like to take her to breakfast. Before I received her text, I had been intending to ask her to breakfast anyway, so I gladly said yes. So before I put the golden envelope in the CD jewel case, I wrote on the front of the envelope "to the one who always knows what I want." ;)

 

Then just before we left, I texted DW this message "Just in case... You were wondering where your next musical clue is."

 

On our way to breakfast, DW turned on the CD player, apparently thinking that she would be hearing a new song-clue. When she just heard the usual Fanfare CD songs, she quickly realized that she should look for the jewel case.

 

When she stopped driving, she found the jewel case and opened it, immediately seeing the envelope I had prepared that morning. While the rainbow in the photo delighted her, she seemed much more interested in looking at the photos on the Fanfare CD's jewel case, which show scenes of the Fanfare Fountains and the nearby palm trees and bridge. This was the first time she had looked at the jewel case since she had experienced the fountains in person. "Now that I know where this is, I like to look at it even more!" she exclaimed. "But I really thought that these pictures were from Hawaii!"

 

Not wanting to miss the opportunity for her to find the second clue hidden behind the CD holder, I sent her a text clue "Did you miss one?" while she was looking at the Fanfare CD case.

 

But before she had a chance to see the text, she noticed the circle of gold (where the golden envelope behind the CD holder was showing through), asking "Is there a golden envelope in there too? Should I take that out or leave it there?"

 

"If you're going to see if there's an envelope in there, you're going to have to somehow get in there," I replied.

 

"Did you want me to find both of them?"

 

"Well, it's getting to the point where you'd better find all of the envelopes."

 

Moments later she had removed the plastic CD holder from the jewel case, exposing the hidden envelope. On the front I had written "To the one who makes my imagination run wild!" Inside I wrote "We might take a few minutes to browse an art gallery, but nothing can compare to my favorite (50 year old) work of art!" on the back of this photo of two little islands (which have been featured in several photo clues).

 

Even though DW knows now that we are cruising to Hawaii on the Golden Princess, she thought that the islands are somewhere near San Pedro. Still trying to retain a few shreds of mystery, I didn't correct her.

 

Later that day, I put Elua's "Na Mele Hawai'i" in the van's CD player, cuing it up to "White Sandy Beach." This would be the first time DW would hear Elua sing (although she had heard Dave Soreff's background music on Valentine's Day).

 

I hoped that DW would immediately recognize the lyrics from the clue I had given her. She didn't say anything about the lyrics, but she did immediately realize that she was listening to Dave and Leialoha from Elua (even though I didn't tell her, and she didn't look at the CD), apparently because I have told her so much about Elua in recent weeks.

 

She has listened to the CD repeatedly since then, and is often humming the songs from the CD even when she is not listening to it. She still hasn't commented on my clue's connection to "White Sandy Beach," but that's ok.

 

Thanks to our Elua CDs, our Golden Princess "Hawaiian experience" has begun!

Edited March 13, 2013 by terrific_surprise
correction/clarification

[skandls]

If you do go to the Fern Grotto make sure to use bug repellent. Mosquitoes like me and I ended up with over 50 bites - which made me sick. DH went to find antihistimes for me to take.

[terrific_surprise]

If you do go to the Fern Grotto make sure to use bug repellent. Mosquitoes like me and I ended up with over 50 bites - which made me sick. DH went to find antihistimes for me to take.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am bringing bug repellent but I'm not sure if I would have brought it to the Fern Grotto without this reminder. Getting sick from 50+ mosquito bites could ruin the rest of the cruise!

[olemissreb]

Not sure if you'll post anymore before you leave, but I wanted to say:

 

HAVE A GREAT CRUISE! I hope it's everything you dreamed of and more for both of you!

[terrific_surprise]

She has listened to the CD repeatedly since then, and is often humming the songs from the CD even when she is not listening to it. She still hasn't commented on my clue's connection to "White Sandy Beach," but that's ok.

 

Thanks to our Elua CDs, our Golden Princess "Hawaiian experience" has begun!

 

About a week ago when we were listening to "White Sandy Beach" again, my wife said "I think somebody quoted from this somewhere."

 

"How long did it take you to realize that?" I asked.

 

She explained that when she took the puzzle piece out of the envelope and re-read the clue a few days after I had given her, she immediately recognized the lyrics.

[terrific_surprise]

Not sure if you'll post anymore before you leave, but I wanted to say:

 

HAVE A GREAT CRUISE! I hope it's everything you dreamed of and more for both of you!

 

Thanks for the wishes, and for being an important part of the journey, olemissreb! I must confess that for a while there it felt like it was going to be a nightmare instead of a dream, but now I feel better about it.

[terrific_surprise]

Although some may have thought that I have been overdramatizing what has been involved with this yearlong process of surprising my wife with a cruise to Hawaii, the truth is that I have actually been deliberately trying to hide some of the most extreme drama we have been experiencing.

 

For example, although I have not mentioned it here previously, I have been sick since a few days after Valentine's Day. I came down with what I eventually found out was Shingles, but for a while there I was experiencing such severe pain that I thought I could be dying (that may be an overdramatic thought, but it was how I felt). I certainly considered the possibility that I could miss the cruise.

 

When the kids all came down with a flu bug for a while, our lives were really miserable. (Although in a large family, it is not a bad thing for everybody to be sick at the same time, because if a sickness is passed from sibling to sibling it can last a really long time, sometimes even repeating the circuit.) After my shingles eventually subsided, another illness brought me down for a while, but I am finally now beginning to feel better.

 

I am generally not a sick person, so I am hopeful now that all of our cruise days will be healthy. I am also hopeful that the kids will be healthy when we are gone (if they had been sick that could have had serious implications for our childcare arrangements). We did have to change some childcare arrangements due to another extended family member's illness.

 

Before I came down with my last illness, about a week and a half ago, I needed to chop some wood. Our wood-burning stove is the primary source of heat in our home, and although we do purchase some firewood, we also have a large dead oak tree on our property which is a source of firewood when we need it.

 

Thinking that I was finally feeling good enough, I went out to chop some of the dead oak branches into pieces small enough to fit in the stove. Before you start to think that I am trying to represent myself as some kind of rugged woodsman, let me shatter your misconceptions. Not long after I began chopping wood, I cut a piece of wood that flew into the air and hit me in the forehead!

 

After my wife gave me an ice pack to hold on my head, I eventually went back out to chop more wood, apparently not yet learning my lesson. Before long I cut another piece of wood which flew into the air and hit me in the chin! I knew that it hurt, but I didn't realize exactly what had happened until my wife saw me.

 

"You're bleeding!" she shouted, finding a cloth to wash away the blood as she bandaged my wounds. "If you're going to kill yourself, you need to wait until after we go to Hawaii!"

 

Shortly after this episode, we sat down for dinner. I had quickly found a golden envelope and had slipped it into a Princess Cruises napkin (I had brought the napkin home from our time on the Sapphire Princess on February 16). As we ate lunch, I kept watching DW, hoping to see her leave a shred of food somewhere so that I could encourage her to use her napkin. But she just wasn't being messy at all!

 

Toward the end of the meal, she finally reached for her napkin and found the golden envelope inside. On the front I had written "To my favorite nurse!" (She's not really a nurse of course, except for the fact that she has functioned as our family nurse for many years.)

 

Inside was this photo:

 

On the back I had written "I'm looking forward to the view of the pretty girl on the edge of the punchbowl – At any age you're my favorite view!"

 

I waited to see her reaction to the mention of the "punchbowl," wondering if she would think I was referring to an actual bowl filled with punch. But apparently she quickly knew what Punchbowl I had in mind, saying "I went to the Punchbowl but I don't remember it." After pausing, she added "is it a cemetery?"

 

Obviously she did remember it, but I don't think she remembered the fact that one of the places in Hawaii where she had her photo taken 30 years ago was the lookout over the city at the Punchbowl. So the full meaning of what I wrote apparently still remains a mystery... for a little while longer at least.

Edited March 21, 2013 by terrific_surprise
photo link fix

[terrific_surprise]

I had planned to do many things over this year of surprises, some of which are not cruise-related. One of the things I had intended to do which I did not finish was to prepare a DVD for each of our 11 children with videos from their childhood. This was intended not only as a present for the children, but also for my wife.

 

Although several months ago my DVD plans for several of the children fell by the wayside, our son #6 was turning 18 last week, so I wanted to get his DVD done before his birthday. Unfortunately, the end result of my efforts was a blank DVD disc (although I did complete a nice DVD label featuring photos from his childhood).

 

When he was little, we used to call DS#6 "JoJo" (after the hero of the Horton Hears a Who story) although at some point in his childhood he decided he no longer wanted us to call him that. On his birthday, I gave DS#6 the DVD (apologizing that it was still blank), slipping a golden envelope behind it so that a circle of gold could be seen in the middle of the disc. On the front of the envelope I wrote "To JoJo's mom," so of course he handed it to DW as soon as he saw it.

 

Inside I put this photo, which is definitely a different type of clue-picture than I have given her previously:

(The photo shows a sign at JoJo's Shave Ice in Waimea.) On the back of the photo I wrote "Jo-Jo's little place may be a bit run down, but it is pretty cool (and tasty! You might want to avoid the beans though.)"

 

DW was confused by the clue, which was just the reaction I had hoped for at this point. Although she has figured out most of the clues and knows exactly what cruise we are going on, I still want to have a few little surprises for her along the way!

Edited March 21, 2013 by terrific_surprise
formatting

[lostone65]

I for one have not found this past year of surprises and stories over draminatic at all! This is a trip of a lifetime for you both and it deserves all the hype and fanfair attached to it! I am continually impressed at how you have stuck to your game for an entire year!

I hope you are over your illnesses, I know shingles are extremely painful. I hope both you and your wife stay healthy throughout the entire cruise. Keep the updates coming we are enjoying being a part of the surprise!

May God continue to bless you both!

 

Sent from my HTC Rezound using Tapatalk 2

[terrific_surprise]

Almost 20 years ago, we brought our kids on a trip across the country. One night we camped in our van at Marineland in Florida. After our five young children were asleep, DW and I somehow found the opportunity to slip outside for a little romantic rendezvous, and when a stray cat became curious about our activities, we nicknamed the cat "Cupid."

 

I decided to remind DW of this experience, so I took this photo of Liliuokalani Gardens (which reportedly is overrun with stray cats):

 

On the back I wrote "Fond memories of Marineland... and Cupid! – You make me want to purr!"

 

DW had just returned from the chiropractor, and I had just gone to the cleaners to pick up a suit coat which had previously been very wrinkled. I put on the coat, asking DW if it would be good enough for the cruise. But first, I put a golden envelope in the front pocket of the coat, letting a corner stick out as if it were a fancy handkerchief.

 

DW immediately saw the envelope and took it out of the pocket. On the front I had written "To the one who straightens me out." I wasn't sure how DW would take this. There could be several interpretations. Perhaps she would think I was simply referring to the way she corrects me when I need it. On the other hand, a more embarrassing interpretation was also possible.

 

She chose to interpret it in the most embarrassing way possible ('nuf said about that)! :eek:

 

Reading the clue inside, she immediately responded "so now we're going to Florida? I'm not 100% convinced I have this figured out!" :D

[terrific_surprise]

I for one have not found this past year of surprises and stories over draminatic at all! This is a trip of a lifetime for you both and it deserves all the hype and fanfair attached to it! I am continually impressed at how you have stuck to your game for an entire year!

I hope you are over your illnesses, I know shingles are extremely painful. I hope both you and your wife stay healthy throughout the entire cruise. Keep the updates coming we are enjoying being a part of the surprise!

May God continue to bless you both!

 

I'm so glad you're enjoying the updates. God certainly is blessing us, and things are looking much better now!