Well, I seem to be the one who takes the longest to post to
the blog. But I am still pregnant, still
on bedrest and will (hopefully) make it a few more weeks so these babies will
be good sized when they’re born.
It’s a super special book, so I’ve decided to divide this
into their specific stories rather than snark the whole book, since it’s not a
story, but several different stories.
The book starts with the kids writing a thank you note to
the (newly married) Brewer parents and Pike parents. They made a present for
them as a thank you for the awesome vacation.
Apparently the Pikes won a cruise trip to Disney and hired MA and Stacey
as Mother’s helpers. Watson got wind of
it and decided to take the Brewer Thomas family as well with Claudia and Dawn
as guests. They all fly to Florida and the
adventure begins!
Dawn:
Is staying with Claudia and Kristy on the ship and has told
the other girls she’s a neat freak. And
she’s not kidding. Of course, Kristy
does her best to needle Dawn too. Dawn
explores the ship and runs into Mr. Gorgeous.
She strikes up a conversation but he quickly bows out and leaves. Apparently Dawn’s pretty boring.
She and gorgeous guy keep eying (STALKING) each other over the next
few days, but they finally get the chance to talk at a snorkeling class. He comes over and says hi and suggests they
go take a walk around the island they’re on rather than spend the day
snorkeling. Yeah, that’s a good idea,
Dawn. Wander off on a strange island
with a boy you don’t know without telling your friends, much less an adult.
But since this is not Criminal Minds, it's all ok. They have a great day together (his name is Parker, by the
way. Apparently Ann thinks this is a
weird name) and decide to meet the next morning. They enter a ping pong tournament (Apparently
Ann thinks only old people and kids play this) which they win. They lay on the sun deck and talk about divorce. Parker is against remarriage and thinks his
new step brothers are brats, even though he’s not spent much time with
them. He doesn’t want to talk about it
so they wander off and find a photo booth.
Dawn is in LUV!
When they get to Florida,
Parker suggests they spend the first day at Magic Kingdom
together. This time Dawn decides to get
permission before she goes from Kristy’s mom.
Woo-hoo! She borrows an outfit
from Claudia: white tank top under lavender overalls, lavender pushdown socks,
lavender high top sneakers and a beaded Indian belt around his waist. In her hair, white and lavender bird clips.
Dawn and Parker head for Disney World, which Dawn isn’t too
excited about since she’s been to Disney
Land. Then they ride on Space
Mountain, which is more realistic than
the one in Cali
and Dawn almost pukes. So they sit for
awhile with a soda before going shopping for the perfect souvenir. Dawn only has $8.80 left so she settles for a
glass unicorn charm. Yep, this just
screams, “I WAS AT DISNEY WORLD!!!”
Maybe it would for her, I don’t know.
She attaches it to her antique bracelet she is wearing and thinks it
looks pretty good. Parker buys a t-shirt
and Dawns thinks cattily that boys don’t care much about souvenirs. I think his shirt might be a little more, I
don’t know, memorable?
After they finish shopping they run into Parker’s father and
step family. They ask Parker to watch
the boys for a little while and Dawn discovers they’re not brats. The four of them end up having a really good
time together….until Dawn discovers her bracelet is missing. She’s sad until Parker slips her a new charm
and kisses her on the cheek. Aw….
Mallory
Mallory has just finished reading Harriet the Spy and has
decided she wants to be just like Harriet.
Having read that book, I think the point of the story is to NOT spy on
the people around you. She wants to keep
a notebook about the people on the ship and gets the opportunity to slip off
alone to spy on people. She spys an
actress, a sad older man and a little boy with oxygen tanks and medication
along. She also is sure she has seen
Spider from the music groups The Insects and has spotted a stowaway.
She waits the whole time on the ship for the stowaway to be
arrested, but he isn’t. If he’s a good
stowaway, no one is going to find him, Mallory!
She gets another chance to spy when they get to magic kingdom. The first part of her afternoon is pretty
boring, but then she sees the actress and the stowaway with…their…parents. It turns out that the parents are a singing
duo and the kids are just trying to be individuals. Honestly, Mal's chapters are a little...boring.
Karen
If she was my kid, I’d be embarrassed. All of her stories in this book are supposed
to be precocious, but are just bratty.
Anyway, Kristy takes her sibs swimming and Karen has forgotten her
earplugs. She begs to be allowed to run
back to her room to get them and Kristy lets her. On the way there, she sees a beauty parlor. She decides to have a manicure, of course,
and just charges it to her room. Then
she stops at a café to have a coke, also charging it to her room. She finally gets her earplugs and returns to
the pool where Kristy is waiting nervously, wondering where Karen is. Does Karen get in trouble? No.
Kristy takes a picture instead.
Karen also loves Disney World. She and Andrew get their picture taken with
Minnie Mouse, get a magic trick, ice cream cones, balloons, and rides. Karen insists they go to the haunted house
and is disturbed by “hitchhiking ghosts” and is convinced there is one stuck to
her.
On her last day, Karen and her family get to have breakfast
with princesses on a steamboat. Karen,
Andrew and DM start eating dounuts as the meal starts. The MC asks if anyone is having a birthday
and a little boy is. Everyone sings
happy birthday to him and Karen decides to say it’s her birthday too. She likes when people sing to her and she
feels special. Watson is angry and
threatens to take her outside to wait until the breakfast is over, but
doesn’t. Well, why the heck not? The kid told a bald faced lie. All she has learned is that she can get away
with things as long as they’re on vacation.
They finish breakfast, get some autographs and head out for
their day. Karen stops to pull up her
socks and loses sight of her family. A
popcorn vendor offers to help her find them and Karen accepts, pretending her
hitchhiking ghost is friendly and is helping her as well. They got to the carousel, which is where the
family was headed and Karen is reunited with them. Karen decides to take her hitchhiking ghost
back to Stoneybrook with her to be friends with Ben Brewer. Yay.
Claudia
Claudia awakens when her alarm goes off the first morning
they’re on the ship and gets started with her day. Kristy and Dawn are at each other’s throats
until Dawn spies Mr. Gorgeous across the way at breakfast. Claudia gets a surprise with her juice – a
note telling her she is beautiful from a secret admirer! Now, I’ve always had the contention that if
you don’t have the guts to tell me to my face you think I’m beautiful, why
should I waste my time being flattered and wondering who you are? I have better things (and guys) to do with my
time. And why is Claudia always the one with the creepy stalker after her? Because Claudia is stuck with the stalker, she gets the most gifs.
Anyway, they’re docked at Nassau for the day and the girls are given
permission to go off on their own.
Claudia decides to go shopping, but feels a little left out. She explores the streets and starts taking
pictures. As she’s taking pictures, she
notices someone jumping out of the way and again as she’s shopping and looking
things over. At the end of her shopping
trip, she reaches in her bag and finds another note again telling her she’s
beautiful. Egads! She gets in line to pay her way into an
aquarium and yet again her secret admirer has paid her way, but she can’t find
him. On her way home, she spies a pair
of expensive earrings she’d like, but can’t afford. What do you suppose happens? Yep, the secret admirer buys them for her
too.
Her secret admirer continues to follow her, paying for
things and leaving her notes. Finally
Stacey spots him at the ice cream parlor, but all she notices is that he has
light brown hair. Claudia is off on the
hunt! She doesn’t find her admirer, but
runs into another boy and starts talking to him about her admirer and how she
wants to meet him. He thinks it’s more
fun to have a secret admirer. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight
They hit it off and start talking. His name is Timothy and he’s from Connecticut too, not far
from Stoneybrook. He’s nice and good
looking and Claudia decides he’s more interesting than her secret admirer. Timothy asks her if they can spend time
together at Disney and Claudia agrees.
He walks her to her room, where Dawn and Kristy are still at war over
room cleanliness. Claudia gives them a
lecture in her best mommy voice and starts packing.
Claudia spends most of her Disney time with Timothy and has
fun, but still wonders about her secret admirer. On the last day at the parade, Timothy’s
sister blurts out how he’s Claudia’s secret admirer. Claudia’s a little let down and disappointed,
more so that Timothy lied to her and she feels like a fool. Timothy likes to spy on people and hide (he’s
the stowaway the kids found); it’s his way of spicing up his life since he’s on
the shy side of things. She forgives
him. They miss the parade, but see the
fireworks and Timothy kisses her.
Back at the hotel, the girls have a BSC meeting and in the
midst, Claudia blurts out the idea of an album with diary for the parents. Everyone loves the idea and that’s how we get
this book. Yay.
Mary Anne
MA is along as a mother’s helper for the Pikes. The first day they’re on the ship, she and
Stacey split up the kids. The oldest
four are allowed to go off on their own, so MA is with Vanessa and Nicky, who
want to explore the ship. As they’re
looking around, MA spies a beautiful girl in the salon, a girl not much older
than her who fills out a bikini really well.
The girl hears her soft “wow” at her cleavage and turns to tell her that she
doesn’t recommend traveling alone, but she has to since her parents were ki-.
Oh, she has to run. MA instantly assumes
that she was going to say killed. She
and the kids continue to explore while she puzzles over the gorgeous
orphan. Suddenly the kids spy a head
sticking out of a lifeboat. They too
have spied the stowaway!
The days pass. The
triplets get into trouble and are back under MA and Stacey’s care. The triplets, Nicky and MA are off on their
adventure the next day and are soon joined by David Michael. It turns out the boys have a treasure map
and, although its highly unlikely they will find anything on the ship, MA
agrees to let them QUIETLY search the ship.
MA takes pictures of the boys, but is soon bored. She runs into the gorgeous orphan again, who
is complaining about how the salon butchered her hair. Her name is Alexandra Carmody (Alex) and this
is her fourteenth cruise. MA brags that
Spider from the Insects is on board (according to Mal) but Alex says he’s not
since she knows him. MA changes the subjects
and asks where her parents are. Alex
says they were killed 6 months prior in a car accident. MA starts to cry and talks about her dead
mother. They’re practically dead mother
sisters! Squeee through the tears! Jordan Pike runs up at the moment and says
they need to move on and so they do.
MA is run ragged at Disney and keeps putting off Mal, who
really needs to talk to her about something.
Before they can talk, she and Stacey go to a BSC meeting. They discuss the kids and then the dreaded
question of the gift for the parents comes up and no one has an idea.
MA falls asleep while the girls are watching a moving. She drags back to her bedroom where Mallory
pounces on her. She saw Alex Carmody
with her brother, mother and father. Alex’s parents are famous singers. MA is completely torqued off and calls Alex
on it when she sees her the next morning.
She’s with the kids at Disney when Alex appears and proceeds to follow
her around all day. MA takes the girls
for ice cream (with Alex following) then to space mountain. Margo throws up on Alex’s shoes and that just
makes MA’s day.
MA sees Alex later in the day at the parade and Alex ‘fesses
up to lying to get attention. MA
forgives her, but isn’t going to keep in touch when they go home.
Byron
Byron is convinced they are going to find treasure on
Treasure Cay because he saw the move Treasure Island. The triplets get permission to go hunting for
treasure, along with Nicky and David Michael.
Now, as a parent, I can see letting 10 year olds explore a cruise ship
alone, but an entire island? An entire
foreign island? An entire foreign island
with two 7 year olds along?
Anyway, the boys decide to explore and are a bit
disappointed at how modern everything is.
They explore the beach, spot some cool things in the water and decide to
dig in the sand. At first they find
junk, but Byron discovers a treasure map.
They try to figure it out, try to get Dawn to help them (she’s in a
Parker daze) and decide to try exploring the ship and Disney World, since
there’s a stowaway on board the ship and he may have something to do with the
map.
The triplets get in trouble and end up back under
supervision, so when they’re at Disney, Stacey is along with them. DM and Nicky come along too and they do rides
first before searching for treasure. The
go to Tom Sawyer’s island and look for treasure. And then Byron finds something – an antique
bracelet. Stacey bursts his bubble by
explaining it’s Dawn’s but assures him Dawn will be thrilled to get it back
(she is-she cries). The boys are disappointed they didn’t find any treasure,
but Byron keeps the treasure map in his pocket.
Stacey
Stacey’s first day is spent with Margo and Claire in the
water, which she recaps with the girls at a mini BSC meeting that night. After the meeting, Stacey goes up to the sun
deck for a little alone time. While
she’s there, she meets a 7-year-old boy named Marc Kubacki. Mark is in a wheelchair because he has a
severe heart condition. Stacey confides
in him about her diabetes and they start bonding. His parents rush up a little while later, but
are relieved when they meet Stacey and see that Marc is fine. Stacey has to head back to her room and is
greeted by MA. There’s a storm rolling
in and everyone is to be in their cabins.
Stacey goes in and sees a green Margo.
Mrs. Pike retrieves her and she spends the night with her parents while
Stacey and Claire take pictures of things sliding around. There’s a picture of a flying banana in the
book
The last day on the ship the Stacey is in charge of the
girls again and this time they are arguing about what they want to do. Mal and Vanessa head off to read and Stacey
takes Margo and Claire to every place of things to do, ending in the
arcade. There they run into Marc again
and Stacey talks his father into letting him come with them to the arcade. The kids play until they run out of quarters
and then they go to the ice cream parlor for a treat. While Stacey’s in line to pay their bill, she
spots Claudia’s secret admirer, but is too late to get Claudia’s attention.
Stacey spends her last day at Disney with Claire and Margo
(Again). They actually end up at Epcot
and as they’re walking in, they spy Marc!
They decide to spend the day together and Stacey is pleasantly surprised
at how nice people are to Marc and how is wheelchair doesn’t seem to be a
problem. Now I’m not a huge Disneyworld fan, but they do do a good job with special
needs. That’s especially important since
so many Make-A-Wish kids wish to go to Disney.
Anyway, they start with Universe of Energy and then head to World of
Motion. Marc’s parents decide they
should stop for lunch and Marc’s medication, so they sit down at a café. While the kids are eating and having a great
time, the Kubackis confide in Stacey that Marc is having risky heart surgery in
just a few short weeks and that they want him to have the time of his life.
A few months after the trip, Stacey gets a letter from the
Kubackis saying that Marc’s surgery, while difficult, went well and, after a long recovery, he is at home.
All I have to say about Stacey’s section is that I know
she’s supposed to be a mother’s helper in this book, but where is the mother
she’s supposed to be helping? The older
kids go off on their own and the younger kids are split between her and MA all
day, except for two measly hours. Why
bother bringing your kids if you’re only going to spend two hours a day with
them? Save the airfare. Even Elizabeth and Watson spend time with
their (step)kids. Except for Sam and Charlie. Where the heck are they in this book? In the beginning it says that
Sam and Charlie are coming on this trip as well. They are not mentioned one single time after that. Of course, they were on a cruise ship and
then in Florida. They were probably too busy chasing bikinis
to be mentioned again. I bet their chapters would have been MUCH more interesting. ;)
Kristy
Kristy is excited and squees when they get to Florida and the
ship. She’s not so excited about rooming
with Dawn and a by day 3 on the ship she is doing her best to annoy the snot
out of Dawn. She decides to go off on
her own for awhile to cool down and heads to the pool with a book and a towel. The first night on the ship an older
gentleman had stopped her and asked for the time. The same man sits near her by the pool. As she’s toweling off, she spots the title of
his book, which happens to be Nannie’s favorite book. They strike up a conversation and she finds
out his wife is recently deceased. Mr.
Rudy Staples took this trip for a change of pace, but it wasn’t really the
change he wanted. After her conversation
she heads back to her room and discovers Dawn has cleaned it.
Egads! Horrors! She’s cleaned the room!!!!
She’s so mad she demands to switch rooms. When her mom says no, she’s so mad she
cancels their nightly BSC mini meeting.
Thankfully the hotel room is bigger and they have more space
to spread out. Claudia puts her foot
down and demands a truce, which they reluctantly agree to. Then they finally really make up and admit
they were trying to tick each other off on purpose. The girls head off to explore the hotel with
Karen and Andrew in tow, when who should they see but Mr. Rudy Staples at the
check out desk. Apparently she and Rudy
had gotten close and played shuffle board a few times, had some conversations
and talked to the family. Karen even
begs him to come to dinner so he can pull a coin out of her ear. He decides to stay and they pretty much escort
him to his room.
That night they have another meeting, but still no ideas on what
to get the parents.
Thankfully Claudia comes up with an idea, so Kristy can
relax and enjoy the rest of her vacation.
At the airport, she and Mr. Staples hug and exchange addresses (so
Kristy can sic Nannie on him). All
around are all the girls saying good bye to their respective “interesting
person I met on this trip” and crying.
Finally they get on the plane.
Margo pukes again (it mentions somewhere that the Pikes have Dramamine
floating around – wouldn’t it be best to give it to her BEFORE she throws up?)
and Karen begs to watch. Byron is
informed by a Dutch man that he has a diagram for a Dutch copy machine, not a
treasure map. They land, Margo pukes
AGAIN and they head into a sea of people to the sign that says “WELCOME
HOME!” Because no one in the BSC circles
can just quietly meet someone at the airport.
