7/8/2006 Brian and Jen were married.
So it’s appropriate that 20 years later they should celebrate in a big way – like a cruise.
And it’s most appropriate that on 7/8/2026 they carve out time on that cruise for a personal celebration.
So they went to Ephesus.
And left the kids behind.
The day started with a good long walk around the deck followed by breakfast in the Solarium.
During the walk we sailed into port.
Then just before 9:00 we took control of Renner and Asher and said Good Bye to the happy couple.
We had several assignments and suggestions.
First on the list was “open play” on the pickleball court.
We grabbed a court and experienced the joy of using a racket that is shorter than a tennis racket with a smaller head. Took some getting used to.
After N&P declared that they had aged-out, R&A continued to play for a while.
While we were in the area the boys wanted to test their skill at SkeeBall.
Turns out Renner is a wizard scoring 40,000 points a couple of times.
Next on the agenda was the flowrider for A and a hot tub for N&R.
Fortunately the line at the FlowRider was really short, so Asher got to go a couple of times. It took him a little time to get used to riding on his knees, but eventually he prevailed.
I had rented a casita for us to use as a ‘home base’
It was conveniently close to a hot tub (where we found Cheryl and Renner, but also close to the soft-serve station.
Asher joined C&R in the hot tub while I had a bit of a nap in the casita.
Once they were sufficiently pruny the guys went to change for lunch while Cheryl decided that she wanted to ride the North Star.
She went to sign up and returned to tell me that she was the only one signed up for the ‘flight’ in 15 minutes. So…being a good husband I agreed to accompany her.
We returned from our flight to find Renner at the casita, but no Asher. Renner reported that A had understood that we were headed for lunch and he was to meet us there.
Thus began a comedy of errors trying to find everyone and gather them in one place.
Eventually the lost were found and lunch was finished and we were on to the next great adventure – duck hiding.
Cheryl retired to the casita while the guys and I headed out across the ship hiding ducks in unlikely places.
This brought us back at the sports center where Asher discovered that there was a soccer skills challenge about to happen – so he signed up.
I waited to watch him compete while Renner headed back to the room.
Asher came in second place among the youth. Not bad! And there were some really skilled players.
Then it was back to the room where R&A enjoyed some screen time while Cheryl read and I napped.
Somewhere along the way Jen and Brian returned.
Later we took the boys with us to dinner while the celebrants had an anniversary dinner at the Japanese Steakhouse on board.
After dinner we played cards until R&A’s bedtime.
Then we retired to the veranda to read.
J&B joined us when they returned for a sip of celebratory champagne and we all called it a successful day.
Tomorrow is Mykonos.
Fairly early excursion so we’ll have to hustle out of bed,
So tonight is an early night.
Till then,
R