Family Day Cruise

Last weekend, Zack's ship had its family day cruise. The wives and all kids eight and over were invited to go with the crew and see what the guys do all day. Other than having to be on the ship at 6:30 with Zack, it was quite a fun day. The weather was about as good as we could ask for: no wind and sunny. We watched Sasebo disappear from the top of the ship, along with all the excited kids:

While the ship was chugging away towards 99 islands (a scenic area near Sasebo), Zack had to do some actual work (after all, his guys were feeding us that afternoon), so I sat and read, but as soon as we dropped anchor, the crew began entertainment for the kids. First, they showed them all the firefighting gear on the ship and let them try it on:

Then they broke out the fire hose and the kids took turns aiming and adjusting the nozzle.

While the kids were having some fun with the water, Zack gave me a tour of the ship, which was really very interesting. Then it was lunchtime. The food service department served hamburgers, pizza, wings and ice cream, much to the delight of the kids of all ages on the ship. It was quite a good meal.

After lunch it was time to go home. We adults sat around and chatted with each other, and the kids were forced to entertain themselves for awhile:

And before any of us knew it, we were pulling back into Sasebo again. Over all, it was a very fun day.