The Countdown is Over...

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Geo: 38.9821, -77.5386

We knew early this year that Anna and I would be spending the last week of Summer vacation together, right before she heads off to 5th grade. Katherine and her mom had planned an English sojourn for early September, so that left Anna and I to plan a little Daddy-Daughter get away. I spent a lot of time -- all of which I enjoyed -- exploring different options, and in the end, knowing how much Anna enjoys cruising, I focused on an end-of-summer cruise. We had seen several print adds touting the "coming soon" Norwegian Epic over Spring Break, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found a good opportunity to book an Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Epic, out of Miami. We kept Anna in the dark for several months, and made a big show of telling her we were going on a driving tour of Civil War battlefields. Bless her for being so big hearted and only confiding to Katherine that she REALLY did not want to go on a battlefield tour, but she didn't want to tell me and hurt me feelings. We finally told her near the end of school in June, and she immediately began her countdown. I have never seen a kid more excited for the end of summer to arrive.

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