I'm actually writing this late in the afternoon on Thursday while in Key West. I didn't write an entry last night because I was lying in bed shivering and feeling quite ill. Explanation follows...

We rose early and made our way to the tender for the trip to Coco Cay. Coco Cay is the private island owned by Royal Caribbean and it is quite a beautiful place. The water surrounding the island is an unbelievably bright blue that you usually only see in postcards. We spent several hours on the island. I did use sunscreen but it evidently wasn't enough because my head fried and I looked like a lobster. Steven and I stayed behind for about another 30-45 minutes after everybody else left. We got back to the boat around 4:30...in time to start preparing for Dinner at 6:00. I really didn't feel too bad then but by the time Dinner rolled around, I thought I was gonna die. I had the shakes pretty bad but I feel like it was because of too much sun and not due to really being sick. I made it through the meal but about 8:30 I went back to the room to go to bed. I think I woke up when Carmi and Eliana came in around 10:30. I roused myself long enough to get undressed and then plopped back in bed and slept until about 7:00 this morning. Lousy way to spend part of my vacation but at least I'm feeling better today.

I'm still aggravated because I still haven't been able to send any pictures. Guess it'll have to wait until we get home.

Carmi's alarm clock disrupted our sleep at 6:00 am this morning but we lazied around and didn't get up until around 6:45. Did get up in time to see us pulling into the dock at Nassau. Got an early start because we needed to meet the rest of the family in the Dining Room for breakfast by 8:00. We chowed down and with time to spare made it outside where we met our tour excursion guide by 9:15. Our excursion of choice for the day was called the "Pirates and Dungeons" tour. We boarded an air-conditioned minibus and traveled to a number of historical spots before ending up at a Pirate museum in downtown Nassau. The whole tour took about 3-1/2 hours and we were slap wore out by the time we got back to the room...mostly because the Empress demanded to be carried for a majority of the time. After the excursion was over we met back in the Dining Room for lunch. I had a pork roast that was to die for. Carmi and Tema had shopping on the mind so after lunch, I took Eliana to the room for a nap and the dynamic duo headed back to downtown Nassau on a mission. 3-1/2 hours later, they returned in time for Dinner. Tonight was formal night so I had to put on my coat and tie. After dinner, we had our formal pictures made out in the centrum and also took a picture with the 5-1/2 of us together. Hopefully they will turn out all right. We'll find out tomorrow night. Didn't take long to get back to the room and put my shorts and short-sleeved shirt back on. The three of us took a lengthy walk around the ship. As we made our way back to the room, Tema and Steven were coming out of their room (just 2 doors down) so we walked around with them a bit. We ended up in the Viking Lounge in the very tip-top of the ship. While walking through, a lady musician was playing an acoustic guitar and singing so we stopped for a minute to listen. After finishing one song and before starting the next, she invited several volunteers to come up and play the tambourine while she performed. Guess who jumped up!?! Eliana...the little ham...made a beeline for the stage and stole the show. She actually did a pretty good job of shaking that thing. I keep saying she'll be up there herself some day.

The day has been long and we're exhausted so it's off the bed. Tomorrow we are at Royal Caribbean's private island called Coco Cay.

Well...I'm aggravated. I had it all figured out how to upload pictures from our cruise onto the website only to find that I won't be able to do it after all. At least not from the ship. What I'm hoping is that I might be able to find an internet cafe at the different stops we make and send pictures from there. Just my luck!

What a long day it has been. We woke up this morning at 3:00 am after only getting about 2-1/2 hours sleep. The alarm clock roused me but I was also greeted by a few claps of thunder and the sounds of a heavy downpour. We did the majority of our packing last night so we just needed to throw a few things together and we were out the door by 5:00 am. Got to the airport by 6:00 and it was already a very busy place. Checked our three bags and discovered that Carmi's bag weighted 58-1/2 lbs which was 8-1/2 lbs over the allowable limit so I ended up paying $25 for the stupid overage. The plane was packed to the hilt with a bunch of young kids who I think were from some church youth group. Got to Miami International shortly after 9:00 am and made a beeline for the baggage claim area. Here come's Carmi's bag...here comes Eliana's bag...here comes...hey...where's Doug's bag?!? The conveyor stops and everybody leaves and we are the only three left standing but we've only got 2 bags. Turns out that a number of bags from our flight didn't get put on the plane for some reason and your's truly was one of 'em. Turned out not to be a big problem-o though because the lady behind the desk told me that my bag was definitely on the next flight from Charlotte and would arrive in Miami by 11:30. Just so happens that was the flight Tema and Nancy-Coe and Steven were on. I was sitting on the conveyor when 11:30 rolled around and my bag was one of the first ones to round the corner with Carmi's family not far behind. Well, they weren't on the conveyer but...you know what I mean!

We caught a couple of taxi's to the dock and were on the ship by around 1:00ish. Threw our stuff on the bed and ran hastily to the Windjammer Cafe to combat all of the growling stomachs. Afterward, the Empress and I laid down for a quick nap but had to be up by 4:30 with our life preservers on and standing at the muster station for the obligatory "what to do in case of an unfortunate accident" pep talk. Dinner was at 6:00 and we were joined by an older couple from Wisconsin. Our waiter is Basil from India and his assistant is Dudley from...mm...I'll have to find that out tomorrow night. Dinner is now done and we are all absolutely exhausted so it's early to bed tonight. Tomorrow will be a busy day as we wake up in Nassau. I hope, I hope, I hope that I'll be able to upload some pictures tomorrow. If not...I tried.

G'night from the Majesty.

Carmi got home a little later than usual from work today so we decided to eat at Lotus - our Chinese restaurant of choice - in town. Would you believe...we have never bothered to ask the names of the man and woman that have waited on us in the 3-4 years we've eaten there? We figured it was about time to know who they were so tonight we introduced ourselves and discovered their names to be David and Sharon. As is customary when we sit down, they brought us a small bowl of chips and two different bowls of sauce. One is called "duck" sauce and the other is some vile-looking yellow gook that I've never desired to have touch my lips. Eliana loves the duck sauce and I usually have to fight her for it. Tonight she decided that she wanted to try the "yellow" sauce. "Are you sure?" Carmi and I asked in unison. "Uh-huh" the Empress replied as she pointed and grunted for the stuff. Okey dokey...so we push the bowl to her and Carmi suggests that she only get a tiny bit of sauce on a corner of the chip. Suprisingly E obeyed and she dabbed a small bit of the sauce on the end of her outstretched tongue. Her tongue rolled back into her mouth and almost instantly, her eyes grew as wide as saucers and she lets loose with a blood-curdling scream while grabbing for her juice. Sharon informed us a few minutes later that it is a hot mustard sauce. Being the concerned father that I am, I asked Eliana if she wanted more. I don't think yellow is one of her favorite colors anymore.

Woke up this morning and it was snowing a little outside. The snow was lightly coating the grass and that was about it. Mom did say at lunch that there were some really big flakes around mid-morning.

I sang for Celebrate Recovery tonight at church and Eliana made me proud (again). Carmi had a Southern Living at Home party and the Sanctuary Choir was going to be practicing for the Sunday evening presentation of their Easter Cantata, so Kathy Evans was gracious enough to just bring Eliana to the church with her when she came to practice at 6:30. During my second set of songs, I brought E up and had her stand on a stool where she gave a wonderful rendition of "Jesus Loves Me". Everybody just gushed but who came blame them, eh?

After singing, I went into the Sanctuary where the Ensemble was supposed to practice for our song on Sunday night. Celebrate Recovery ran a little longer than usual so they had practiced without me and everybody was now gone except for Randy Hart. Randy is the leader of our praise band and does a super job on the acoustic guitar. He will be accompanying me on a song called "Beautiful" during Sunday morning services. In the quiet of the sanctuary with Randy lightly strumming, we performed "Beautiful" and I must say that it was quite a reverent time.

This was the day that wasn't. As usual we had lunch at Mom's after church and returned home around 2:00ish. There was a Pursuing Vital Ministry meeting at church at 3:30 which both Carmi and I were supposed to attend. Since the Empress needed a nap, Carmi stayed home with her and I attended the meeting solo. It lasted until 5:30 and then our evening service began at 6:00. For the last seven weeks, Andy Anderson (our Youth and Children Pastor) has been leading a discipleship time on parenting entitled "Effective Parenting in a Defective World". There were actually 2 sessions left. However, next Sunday night is our Sanctuary Choir's Easter Cantata so Andy presented both sessions tonight which wrapped up the study. It was very interesting and well attended. After the service, an Adult Ensemble that I'm now singing with from church had a brief practice session. The practice concluded around 8:00 and the Hendersons went to O'Charley's for supper. O'Charley's is cool because kids up to the age of 10 can eat FREE!

Hmm...somebody I know has a birthday tomorrow!

I woke up around 6:00 am this morning as Eliana was walking into the bedroom. I reached out and helped her up into the bed. As I lay on my side facing her, she snuggled up with her back to my chest and went to sleep having never uttered a peep the entire time. She might push our patience to the limit on many occasions but it's the times like this that make me so proud to be a daddy.
E felt much better today. I did still take her to the pediatrician, though, just to be on the safe side. The doc said her ears were clear, her nose was clear and her lungs were clear so that was very good. It is evidently just a 24-hour "viral" thing. I was talking to Mark Willis tonight on the phone and he said that Anna Kate was sick with a fever so it must be something that the daycare kids are passing around.
Didn't get home until between 11:30 and 12:00. I dropped Eliana off at Mom's again so I could go and help with the Habitat house. Mark and Sharon Baker and Ken Baker (no relation) were there from our church and we had a great time together. I'm hoping that our church can commit to sending some folks the 2nd Saturday of every month.
Carmi made it home from Wrightsville Beach...yeah! It was between 6:00 and 6:30 but at least she made it safely. We were supposed to go to John and Susan Davis's house for a surprise party for Don and Christine Davis (no relation). However, Eliana was getting cranky about this time and Carmi was very tired from her trip and my stomach was not feeling very good so we just stayed home and ordered a carry-out from Captain's Galley.
I'm working on a really neat improvement to the photo gallery so keep your eyes open.

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This journal offers a peek inside the Henderson home where you'll find two Little Empresses. Eliana stole our hearts on October 29, 2002 and Karys forever became a part of our family on September 17, 2007. Is a Little Emperor in the future?

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