A couple of months ago, I briefly dated a guy in SL who had a passion for sailing and flying. He'd take me around interesting places in the Blake Sea, and it really renewed my love of the beauty in SL. I had become so "mesh this, mesh that" that I'd forgotten the creativity of the people. When he took me around to interesting places on the Blake, there was a beauty in prims that I had forgotten about. From the mer-communities we visited, to the lighthouses and shacks on islands, I found that I had developed a love for sailing. I retained this interest in sailing after the relationship didn't work out.

I decided that I wanted to learn how to sail. Apparently, sailing wasn't as easy as it is to drive a car, or motor boat. It consists of trimming sails, taking note of wind directions, and a whole bunch of other complicated stuff. I purchased my first boat, the Loonetta. I learned how to sail using this boat, and it wasn't really a bad boat. However, when I went to my first "cruise" with other people, it gave me nothing but script errors. I was embarrassed, being "that sailing noob", so I TP'ed home, disappointed that I apparently, didn't know how to sail... despite all my lessons and practice.

This lead me to purchase a different, more expensive boat - the Bandit 60. It had been intended to be a "backup" boat, but ever since I took this boat out, I have never looked back. I heard that the Loonetta 31 is fixed with it's script errors, but I really haven't even looked at the Loonetta since I got the Bandit 60. (If you're ever buying this sailboat, I definitely recommend the skip hud, it makes it SO much easier to remember commands)

I love this boat, it goes so fast, even for someone like me, who is still learning how to sail, I feel like I could actually keep up with some of the more experienced sailors. I put the boat into auto-pilot mode for photo taking, but I usually don't like to make a habit of using it, cause manually sailing is so much more fun!


I've joined a particular group in SL where they send out a cruising "route" for the group to follow a couple times a week, and at the end of the route, is a party! Ever since my experience with my erroring Loonetta, I've been a little traumatized into going with them, but I usually go out within the next couple days and do the route myself. It's so beautiful and relaxing to get out on the water in a boat, seeing all the creativy in SL, and all the different landmarks that the lindens made many years ago. Tip: If you're joining these cruising groups, the Ultimate Sailor Buddy will be your best friend!

Yesterday was day number 6 of the Playdate Cruise, and we had arrived at the Mermaid Sea! I was AFK quite a bit yesterday, and didn't get to as many events as I wanted. But, we did explore Mermaid Sea, I helped a special camper find the hunt sticker, and the biggest part of yesterday - the talent show! I was one of the judges, and trust me, it was hard to judge all these adorable kiddos and pick a winner. But it was done, whew!

Of course, we had the obligatory camp fun before the talent show started! It was a fun day, I always love watching the talent shows, and the creativity that the kids have. The creativity these special kids have though was amazing, seriously! There was a video that the camper, Kit, recorded! If you wanna see, here is the link!


Day 7 was the last day of the Playdate Camp. (So sorry for the lack of pretty in this photo, there was ALOT of kiddos, and ultra graphics... just wasn't going to happen). We had to go to town today in RL, as we had tickets to see Beauty and the Beast, and had to do some shopping. So we rushed home, to try to make it in time for the closing ceremony. I was a little early, and got to do some "HECK NO!! WE WON'T GO!!"-ing with all the kids. Flag waving and all! After closing ceremonies, we did another bit of camp craziness!

Closing ceremonies was so touching, tearful, and such a beautiful sit down with the kids. They shared their feelings, how much camp meant to them, and the counselors did the same. I cried, they cried, it was emotional. But, camp is officially over, as sad as it is, we all go back to our normal SLives.

I will write more about camp, my feelings and how big of an experience this meant for me. But, for now, I think I need to get caught up on some sleep, relax a little and process everything. Oh, and I absolutely must sort through my post-camp inventory, omigosh, it's an official mess!

Day five of the Playdate brought..... The Land of Giants! I did the usual daily fun stuff, like getting the golden goat of the day, the daily theme hunt, and exploring the land of Giants. There was even a special hunt around the ship for the super-secret Clown Town pin for our lanyards! Every item was a clue to the next item, and we had to collect words in each item to unlock the chest the held our pin! It was great!

In addition, I attended a couple of events - Story with a Hole was fun, as you got a little bit of a story, and had to figure out the rest of it. It was fun, though it made me feel a little stupid cause the kids are so smart! Miss Late and Radio's Great Toyroom Escape was fun but really hard (it probably wasn't too hard, but with the amount of kids pushing each other off ramps and blocks, plus lag, it made it super difficult to navigate, Ohhh, the joys of camp!), Miss Jewel's Toypocalypse was super fun! She had all the kids make a base, and then made toys come to life and come after them! Miss Jewel has some of the absolute best events, they are always so thoughtful and focuses on teamwork. That's why she's so great at doing the Neverland Scouts!

And lastly, story time with Miss Allex. Even as a counselor, there's something soothing and relaxing about someone reading stories to you after a busy day of camp. Even if it's something as obnoxious as the entire book of Stinky Cheese Man. *laughs*

Yesterday we were at the port of the Dark Isles! It was filled with quite a few creepy things, and the port looked like we arrived at Heck itself. *laughs* It was good though. Misty was AFK whenever I logged in yesterday, so we didn't get to get our photo together yesterday.

That doesn't mean that I didn't get a photo! She just didn't know it. She leaves herself logged in at night while she sleeps, so I snuck into her bunk and took a photo with her. It was probably one of those embarrassing 'mom' moments, but, I needed our daily photo!


I didn't really go to many events yesterday, cause I was very tired, and feeling ill, but I did find the theme's hunt, the day's golden goat, and went to Scary Stories with Late and Radio! This event was actually one of the best, because it was actually Miss Late's birthday! We all surprised her by telling her Happy Birthday at the end of the event. It was amazing, extremely touching, and she rewarded us by singing to us! It was wonderful. I adore Miss Late.

Yesterday was day three of the Playdate Cruise 2017! Our port for that day was.... Unicorn Forest! It was such a beautiful place, lots to explore! There were unicorns everywhere, an abandoned playground, a little gnome village, caves and a gorgeous pond where the unicorns came to drink. Our hunt item prize was even a little carton of Unicorn Milk! I was joking around with one adorable camper, saying that someone should steal a unicorn and market this unicorn milk to sell in SL grocery stores! They'd make a fortune!

But, aside from unicorn forest... it was my first event - Paintball! I was so, so nervous going into it! I'm not a huge voicer, but I decided that I was going to voice to the kids during my event. Misty and I practiced, got my microphone working well, and I headed to my event, set it up. It went well, all things considered! Lag was bad that day, all around. Then when I added many paintballs rocketing off everything, lag got worse. LOL. But it's okay, all that is part of camp! The kids were tired out, so it worked out pretty well, I think. Misty said afterwards that I didn't sound silly or anything, and no one even seemed to notice that I was sick and only had half my voice, *laughs*

After paintball, we tried to save a unicorn who forgot he could fly, I made balloon boxmobiles with Miss Jewel, and tried to play "Funky Monkey" which turned out to be a fast paced version of Greedy. I, however, am stupid and Greedy never makes any sense to me... but it was fun to watch the kids play!

I found the day's golden goat, found the theme hunt diamond in Unicorn Forest, and tried really hard to stay up for Late and Radio's Fireworks and Fishing event, but I was really tired and couldn't make it. Being sick during camp is no good at all!

Day two on the Playdate Cruise came, and we arrived in the Port of Cloud Town! This was really great, every day on the cruise is a different location, a different scene to see each day. I never feel bored, as there really is a lot to do, a lot to see! From exploring each port we come into, to the daily diamond hunt, to all the back-to-back events... it's hard to stay still!

I'm still happy to see that Misty is running around, collecting stickers, exploring, and having fun! I'm really glad that I can experience this with my child. I do feel that if she was by herself at camp, she might not have had as much fun as she is, cause, camp is always better with friends, and people you know. I know it's not cool hanging out with your mom, but I want to think that I'm a pretty cool mom. *laughs*

Surprisingly, she has yet to do anything to be grounded at camp, and embarrassed by her mother in front of her new friends. LOL. She'll slip up eventually though, right?! (No, I'm just kidding, she really is a great, well-behaved kid, hahaha)

Yesterday, was the first day of our Playdate Cruise camp! It was mainly a day of arrivals, getting to know the ship, golden goat hunting, exploring, and decorating bunks. It was a super-busy day, yet we had a lot of fun! We did some Zumba, some picture taking... and lots of sticker collecting! I was even more happy to see Misty having so much fun.

After the opening meeting, Misty and I set off for our day one photo! The ship was super crowded, I was lagging bad, half my HUDs weren't even loading for me (and naturally, one of the unloading HUDs was my smiles. Gah!) So, don't mind my grouchy face, my animations were not loading! Me and my Playdate Camp sign... and well, my child loves her pizza. I hope they serve pizza some day on the ship for her! Otherwise, she'll me making me hire workers for our Pizza Hut back home on the sim. *laughs*


In a little downtime, and once the sim calmed down a little, I was able to take a photo of myself at the docks. I'm so, so excited for the rest of the week! It's gonna be so fun and amazing, I can tell already!

On my little, I love camps. This year, I got the opportunity to become a Camp Counselor for the Playdate Cruise Camp! I was so happy and excited, it was unreal! I had heard that last year's cruise was incredible, so I am really excited to participate this year!

I have been to many camps before on my little, so being able to experience this as an adult, being around all the kids, is going to be so amazing! So, Misty and I, we got our camp shirts on, tickets in hand, the Jeep loaded up... we are going to camp together! We're both so very excited! Although, to be honest, I think I'm  just a wee bit more excited than her!

We're going to have so much fun!

In my last post, I mentioned two people entering our little family. Rayito was one, this post will be about a special little girl. I've mentioned Liiani a couple of times, mainly when she went on vacation with us. Several weeks ago, Misty mentioned to me that she wanted Liiani to be "official" family. This is where it gets complicated, as Liiani already has a family she loves very much. Misty and I talked about it, and decided that we'd ask her to be her cousin/my niece.... just... without me having a sister. LOL, SL families are weird, right? Your world, your imagination.

So, anyway, we waited several weeks, waiting for her to either forget or assume I said no. And all the while, we planned this little event for her. Some backstory: we have a mine on the sim we live on, and it's boarded up, abandoned and scary looking. Liiani's always wanted to go in there, explore around... but obviously, it's too dangerous for kids,so I've always said NOPE.

Except for last week. We gathered our flashlights, and I opened up the mine, told Liiani we're going to explore! She was very excited! I set up this big maze mineshaft thing up in the sky for us to explore. It was long, fun and filled with turns and inclines... and at the very end of the mine, when we couldn't go any further.....

We found treasure! Liiani was surprised, happy and excited! And thankfully, said yes! The space was so small in the mine, and lighting was so horrible, we all just sat on the treasure for our photo. It was still perfect.

Misty and I are so very happy to welcome Liiani into our family!