Today, we were running a little slow.
Nana, even though we went to bed AFTER 3AM, was still up raring to go at 6:00am! She was up, sitting on the balcony, just listening to her headphones. She was jamming away. We were so proud that she was such a party animal! LOL!
The room was making a crazy howling sound that morning since we had the balcony door open. When Jennifer woke up, the first thing she said was, "Why is the room screaming at me? Is it in my head!?" It was so funny! It was rather spooky.
We took it a little slow getting up and ready. We had our photoshoot this morning. There was no "set" time, group A was just asked to start lining up at 11:00. We got some coffee and were actually first in line! It turns out, they were sending groups of eight to get pictures with both bands. Our group was OK, except for two people. They were technically THE FIRST people in line, and stated quite bluntly, that they were standing by Rob. WHATEVER. I tried to make a joke that I wanted to stand by "Pookie" (a nickname the band has for Brian Yale) and the husband said, "Whatever, she was first, so she gets to stand by whoever she wants." Yes, we already heard, she wants to stand by Rob. Again, WHATEVER! It worked out because we did get to stand with Pookie and Kyle. Both of which, are super awesome people. We got to talk to Rob for point three seconds. I told him how much fun we were having watching all those old videos in our rooms. He loved that!
Next, we moved over to have our picture with the Goos. They moved us through pretty fast, but we were howling because Nana and little dirty looking Robbie (singer/guitarist) were holding hands in the picture! It was HILARIOUS!
After that, we went to grab some lunch, then explore around the ship. We went back by the water slide area and found some nice lounge chairs. We sat there for a long time just enjoying the sunshine and the humming of the ship in the water. It was awesome!
This afternoon, both bands were having a Q&A on the lido deck. It was so great, because everyone was just hanging out, swimming, drinking, just listening to the Goos and MB20 answer questions. They joked about everything from who was the clumsiest, them growing up and what they would have been if they weren't famous. It was fascinating!
After the Q&A's we decided to go see how crowded the Goos theater show was. We enjoyed ours so much, that we were hoping to sneak in like we did for the songwriters session. The theater was about half full five minutes before it was supposed to start. We felt so bad. We snuck in and sat in the back row again. A guy from Rose Tours came over and said, "you're welcome to move up, but if the people that have the closer seats show up, we just ask that you be respectful and move back again." We were like, "OK!" We ended up probably in the sixth row. It was awesome! They put on one hell of a show! John Rzeznik actually forgot the words to one of the songs. He started laughing and making fun of himself. It was a hoot! We were just excited because we got to see them do Holly Jolly Christmas again. It was so good!
Between shows, we went to grab some dinner at the buffet. Since we snuck into the Goos, we had missed our dining time. Oh well, it was worth it!
Nana and Jenny were going to take care of some other stuff, when I happened to see that John Rzeznik was sitting in the secret room. I told them I was going to hang out there, and when they were done to just come meet me. I didn't think he'd come out, but you never know. I ended up talking with two other ladies while we were sitting there. All of a sudden, out the door he came. I jumped up and said, "Hi John! May I have a picture?" He smiled and said, "Why do you have a shirt that says box on it?" I explained our shirts and that my two other partners weren't there. He just laughed and said, "Let's do this!" His bodyguard snapped the picture. I just love it! We had such a moment!
Next up, was our Matchbox Twenty concert in the theater. We were so pumped!! Before the show, we spotted Randall, who we've been trying to get our picture with. He's a friend of the band that came along and helped them with stuff on the ship. I went over and asked him if we could get a picture. He said, "Sure!" I asked him to come up to our seats, he said he couldn't because the show was about to start. He teased, and said, if you need anything during the show, let me know. I teased back and said, "Actually, we were wondering what's with the camel in the Real World video?" We had been laughing about Rob Thomas walking a camel through a bowling ally for three days. It just seemed so random. Randall laughed and said, "well that's the guy you want to ask! That's their manager." I shook his hand and asked him the same question. He loved it! He went on to tell me that it was originally supposed to be an armadillo, but the armadillo wouldn't walk in the bowling alley, so the brought in the camel. He could of went on, but the show was about to start. What a cool moment that was.
When the show started. the band seemed a little tired from their marathon photoshoot day, but it was still awesome. It had taken four hours for the whole ship to get their pictures taken with them. I can't even imagine that! That had to be hell for them! Rob even opened the show by saying, "So, I met every single person on the ship today!" It was a hoot! His voice was even a little raspy from chatting all day! At one point it got real quiet between songs, and I said to Jenny, (a little louder than I wanted) "Geez, he sounds just like Robbie!" (Robbie from the Goos who we joke sounds like a little troll when he sings) Kyle actually laughed out loud at that, that's how close we were. It was so awesome!
At the end of the show, each band member came across the front row and was signing autographs. I had brought my boarding picture to see if I could get a few signatures. I never dreamt, I would get all of them! I WAS SOOOO EXCITED! Just SO EXCITED! They were all so completely down to earth. Just very kind people.
Paul Doucette actually held up a drum and asked who wanted it. He went on to say, most of you will have to fly with this, so keep that in mind and just giggled. He ended up giving it to a teenaged girl. She was thrilled! Jennifer got a drumstick and Kyle gave us each guitar picks. It was so FUN!
After that concert, we went up to the lido deck to give Joe Bachman another shot. He was in his upbeat happy mode, so we had a good time! We were dancing away and having some cocktails!
We just giggled and laughed the rest of the night. We bumped into a couple Goos and Paul Doucette again and got some pics. It was so FUN!
When we were heading back to our rooms, we decided to check down the hall where the bands were staying. It was actually on our floor, but the opposite side of the ship. They had bodyguards sitting in chairs at the top and bottom of their hallway, so you couldn't go down there. The bodyguards were really friendly though. I was joking with the one, when Pookie came around the corner from the other end, heading to his room. I yelled down the hall, "Goodnight Pookie!" He just smiled and went in his room. Yes, I admit to having probably three to many "Real Worlds" at that point! LOL!
We just continued to giggle and laugh at everything and anything. We had the BEST time!
Meanwhile at home, Jim and Reagan went to Reagan's first YSU girls basketball game.They played and lost to Cincinnati University. Jim said Reagan was really into it and watched the whole thing. At halftime she was happy because Jim got her a big Kit Kat. The only thing she didn't like was the buzzers. Being it was such a blowout, Jim tried to leave with five minutes left. When Reagan realized they were leaving, she said, "No Dada, I don't want to leave," so they ended up sitting by the cheerleaders. I guess she spent some time waving and talking to them. It was a very successful trip!
After the game, they met Jim's mom and dad for dinner at the Cracker Barrel. They had a nice dinner together!
The photo of the day is John Rzeznik and I...
Next, us with Brad from the Goo Goo Dolls.
Jim and Reagan - Reagan enjoying the game...
And, all of them at dinner...
Eppie Adventure - hanging in the lamp
