On September 21, Sam turned 31. He joined the ranks of the lucky-ducks on the ship who get to have a birthday during semester. Celebrating is a big deal on the MV Explorer, so we had not one, but two parties for him on the ship. The first one was with our shipboard family, pictured below. Brian, Alyssa, Amanda, and Megan are our four awesome kids, and we are their mom and pops while we sail around the world. Many faculty, staff, and life long learners participate in the family program on board. We are each matched with students, and we organize get-togethers with them and create family bonds. We love our kids and can’t believe how lucky we are to have them in our family! Here is an extended family portrait taken with Pops on his birthday:
We reserved a classroom on the ship, ordered chips and salsa and cookies, invited several other newly formed families to party with us, and challenged them to a game of hamchunk. (Should I add that we won decisively? I just did. Boo-ya!) 🙂
Sam’s second party came later that evening. It turns out that our awesome friend on board, Nancy Carr, also celebrates a September birthday on the 22, just a day after Sam’s. Her husband Geno and I decided to go in together to buy the biggest ice cream cake the ship can offer and do it up right in Glazer Lounge after all of the preport logistics were complete. Geno teaches a comedic performance class on board…can you tell?
The theme of the party? “Come as you are” in honor of Kurt Cobain’s influence over Nancy and Sam’s high school years: the grungy nineties. We shared cake with our shipboard colleagues, played lots of 90’s music (the Salt-n-Pepa/MC Hammer/Sir Mix-a-lot variety), and danced the night away to our friend Courtney’s extensive iTunes library. Geno and I managed to get a few minutes with the guests of honor for a quick photo opp:
The only sad part about an evening in Glazer Lounge is that the students can look in through windows at all the fun we’re having, but they are not allowed into the lounge to join us: faculty, staff, and LLLs only! So, we improvised. They wiped away all the condensation from the outside of the windows, and Sam celebrated a bit with them, too.
Everyone had fun, and the proof is in the photos. Happy birthday, Nam and Sancy!
