Homecoming

Finally the homecoming pictures as promised! I had to do a picture round-up from other friend's cameras and unfortunately the really good pictures I have turned out smaller than the other ones...but you can still sort of see what's going on.

Homecoming was such a wonderful day! They had set up a nice tent with chairs for all of the husbands and wives, but everyone was so excited that no one could stand to sit still! Amid the fluttering skirts and flashing cameras, all of the ladies were frantically checking their hair and make-up every five minutes, babies were crying, and kids were running wild everywhere not sure how to handle their excitement about finally seeing their mommy or daddy. All eyes were turned to the horizon waiting for that little speck to appear that meant our ship had finally arrived...every once in a while someone would mistake a bird for the ship and loud cheers would erupt and then promptly die down into disappointed laughter. There were hula girls dancing to loud music, and people passing out shakers and flags, you can see Isabella thoroughly enjoying her shaker. Then of course there was the drawing for First Kiss. First Kiss is an honor that all of the spouses compete in for who's husband or wife gets to be the first sailor off the ship...they set up a red carpet for you and everything! Imagine my surprise when I heard my name announced over the loud speakers! Isabella and I were promptly whisked away to stand in the appropriate place and phone calls were made informing FC2 Plaas to be ready to step off the ship the moment the knots were tied. What an exciting 15 minutes this was! It was literally my 15 minutes of fame as the ship pulled in and air horns blared people screamed, signs were being waved all over the place and newspaper photographers rushed around to capture every single second. It's amazing to me that out of those hundreds of sailors leaning over the rail, dressed in their whites I could not for the life of me make out which one was my husband...but Isabella was waving that baby hand of hers for dear life, bouncing on my hip until I thought I might drop her, to my dumbfounded amazement, she and Tyler had managed to lock eyes in the crowd and they were exchanging some rather vigorous waves.

When finally the time came for Tyler to step off the ship, I put Isabella down and she trotted just as happy as you please down that red carpet and right into her daddy's arms, the lei around his neck freaked her out just a little bit, but after it was removed they were inseparable.