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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Little Bunny Foo Foo…Goes Cruisin'

Who is little Bunny Foo Foo? Aside from the old song some of you remember with great disgust, Foo Foo is my daughter Rachel's favorite little stuffed animal. Amazing since I think it came out of a Happy Meal. Nonetheless, Rachel loves to play with it, creating little adventures and homes and even feeding it. {Future novelist perhaps?}

Long story short, Rachel saw the commercial where "Daddy Businessman" went cross country on a trip and took his little girl's stuffed monkey {?} along. He sent back pictures of the little primate from all over the country.

So, Foo Foo went with my wife and I on a 7 Day/Night cruise of the Caribbean. I begin the narrative tonight and will add more photos and captions as the days go by. Enjoy the adventures of Foo Foo the Bunny...in the Caribbean.

This is Bunny Foo Foo in my laptop case. This was his mode of travel while on the airplane and in transit. Foo Foo claimed it was comfortable but did not allow enough space to read.


This is little Bunny Foo Foo at our hotel in Fort Lauderdale. As you can see, he staked out a primo spot on the bed. My wife and I were a little miffed about having to sleep on the floor.


Gaining a measure of revenge, my wife and I sneaked out to the pool while Foo Foo was sleeping. Makes you wonder who took this picture, doesn't it?


Mary Lu and I brought Little Bunny Foo Foo onto our cruise ship, The Norwegian Dawn. This almost proved disastrous as Foo Foo underestimated the trade winds in the Port of Miami and nearly flew off the railing of our balcony. My wife was all set to yell, "Foo Overboard!" but my catlike reflexes saved the day.


While my wife and I were out to dinner the night before our first island visit, Little Bunny Foo Foo discovered a talent for making strange animals out of bath towels. This, of course, is the dragon Smaug from The Hobbit.

Speaking of strange creatures, my friend Dave and I rented snorkel gear on the beautiful peninsula of Samana in the Dominican Republic. There we found all sorts of cool sea critters: clownfish, knifefish, anemones, sea urchins, and HUGE starfish. As you can see, this one was pretty large (big as my hand). Later we found one as big as a dinner plate, but Little Bunny Foo Foo was afraid to get near that one.


Little Bunny Foo Foo continues to impress the ladies with is remarkable skill of sculpting with white bath towels. This, of course, is the old TV show character Alf. Needless to say, this beautiful young lady succumbed to Foo Foo's charms. (My wife in the pic, btw). ;-)


Still stinging a little that Foo Foo went dancing with my wife, I decided to take the little guy for a snorkeling trip off the island of Saint Thomas. It was an amazing experience. We saw tropic fish, stingrays, starfish, and sea turtles. Oh, and I must not forget about the sea urchins. Little Bunny Foo Foo had a --little-- trouble with the snorkel fin and got to meet a sea urchin up close and personal.

From Saint Thomas, it was on to the British Virgin Island called Tortola. Stunning island. The two wives were a bit tired of the sun, so they stayed on board the ship (see upper right). We were told that one thing we just couldn't miss on Tortola was the Caribbean's oldest rum factory. 300 years old or some such and quite a sight to see. So Dave and I took Little Bunny Foo Foo, grabbed a cab and were off. We had no idea what we were in for.

Foo Foo Concludes...



So Dave and I (and Foo) were headed to the ancient rum factory on the other side of Tortola. We expected this gigantic, old monastery kind of place with huge wooden doors, vast chambers, and windows casting streams of light in the age old dust.
Uh, not so much.

What you see above is Foo resting on some kind of old wheel. In the distance behind Foo, you see a huge banana orchard. Not sure if bananas are for the rum, but it was cool nonetheless. Anyway, back to the factory.

Turns out, the rum factory was this itty bitty shack in the woods. Seriously, it was about as big as my basement. Inside was still kind of cool: old beams, large glass jars, and tons of barrels. Above you see Foo attempting to hide from a horsefly that was bigger than he is.










Above you see Foo Foo seated atop one of the many barrels. You see the date on the barrel? that means the rum inside has been aging since 2002. Some of the barrels were much older. As I'm sure you know, the Caribbean islands produce a ton of rum. (Official Disclaimer: Neither Mr. Batson nor Foo Foo advocate the drinking of alcohol. Very dangerous! Beware!)






After that adventure which included a harrowing ride through the twisting mountain roads of Tortola in a van driven by the craziest cabbie in the islands, we returned to the cruise ship. As you can see, Foo built up quite an appetite. So did I. Mmmm, can you say, "Monster Cheeseburger?"
Yum.








Next, Foo Foo settled down to read some cool epic fantasy by the poolside. In this case, Foo was reading Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy. Cool stuff if you're a patient reader.










Our next stop was a little island called Great Stirrup Cay. It's owned by the Norwegian Cruise Company. Actually, not so impressive. But Foo Foo really liked the palm trees.
Can you see Little Bunny Foo Foo in the tree?










Foo Foo and everyone else were exhausted from the excusions and ready to hit the hay.
G'nite, Foo Foo!

41 comments:

Galadriel said...

I love it! Who took Foo Foo's photo?
Try saying that five times fast1

R.P.H said...

Way to cute[= Bunny Foo Foo.lol

I'm glad you guys are back safe and sound and had a great trip.

~Ryan

Cloe said...

That is funny.
I just found this blog and I think it is really nice.
I am reading Isle of swords. I really like it.

Wooton said...

Cool! =D
I cant wait for more Foo Foo =P

Kii said...

Awh Rachel sounds like me. ^_^
I got a stuffed cat at McDonald's when I was four.
I still have it and take it every where.
It's 10 years old...so it's falling apart.
Haha, :D

Jonathan Maiocco said...

lol, that's really funny! I know exactly which commercial that is...

everlastingscribe said...

:-D You do know that there are scores of people who do this, right? Like whole websites set up where Rachel's bunny can tour Europe, Japan, the South Seas, and people will take Rachel's hipity hop all over the great sites and tourist attractions and take pictures and send the bunny home, well fed and tan?

Fabulous idea though, m'lord. Top marks for cuteness.

ElizabethMarieKauffman said...

Aw!!!! That's SO cute!!! :D I used to have a little white bunny myself who I took everywhere. But it wasn't from McDonald's it was from Salvation Army. In fact, I still have it. . . . Very dirty now, but very much loved. :) lol.
I'm glad you guys had a good trip!!! :)

~ElizabethOfMena~

Unknown said...

My dad has taken "Peanut", a little stuffed eagle to many conferences!
Good story though!

P.S Nice Revenge :)

cson said...

*Desperately tries to stop laughing, and fails* : )

What was Foo Foo trying to read on the flight?

Keep it up!

cson

Vivian Claire said...

Glad you got back safely... Cruises are so much fun... (or so I have heard...) :) Can't wait for more of Foo Foo... lol :D

everlastingscribe said...

Cson, you want to know what the hippity hop was trying to read? ;) Well I would say he was working on Isle of Swords, paperback edition there. What better way to get ready for a trip through the lovely southern seas?

fire phoenix said...

That's pretty awesome.
I heard about a lady who had a garden gnome once, and then it went missing. So she figured someone had stolen it, and life went on.
Then her gnome retured, including pictures of it by the pyramids, the Eiffel tower, etc.! I almost wish I could have been that gnome...

Rissa said...

LOL!! I love it!! This is amazing! What a great idea. I love the dragon, Foo Foo! Great work. Amazing pictures, Mr. Batson! I'm glad yall are having a good time!

Kel

Paula Turner said...

Oh my gosh, he is so cute! Little Bunny Foo Foo is very photogenic. And yes, I have seen that commercial before...many times.
BTW - Did Rachel get his name from the song, or was it just a coincidence?
Rock on, Foo Foo! Have an awesome time!!!

~Madeline

Shelby said...

This has been extremely entertaining!! *grins* Much needed smiles and laughs have come my way. Way to go Foo Foo!! :)

Mustang Kat said...

Haha, thanks for a great laugh! I love the pics, especially of Foo Foo and Smaug.

The Lion Hearted said...

lol!!!! I love it!! Funny, I'm going to do this same thing with my scarf on our East Coast vacation in a couple of days. :D That was very entertaining! I love it!

~Prism~ said...

Haha! That's so cool! I saw the commercial too and I thought it was cute. Thanks for the laugh!!! Really brightened my day.

God Bless,

~Prism~

Camden said...

Cool! Although I haven't been to the Caribbean, my family took a cruise back in January out of the same port (in fact, I remember the same exact view, as well as two pelicans flying past our faces!)

However, instead of an adorible hare, I had a white board known as Steve Frankie I would put messages on, including the information that, once my family had gotten down to stay a night in Miami, we forgot our passports in Jacksonville. *Ahhh* Good times. ;P

~Elliot

Galadriel said...

Foo Foo conquered the ferocious Smaug. "All hail the victorious bunny..."

Unknown said...

Too funny! I can see you had a great time.
-Fellow writer (who now has a blog and doesn't need to post anonymously... from here on out, I'm dropping the "fellow writer".=D)

~Just*Flinn~ said...

lol Awwwww..........that's cute!!!

WayneThomasBatson said...

Foo Foo seems to be generating lots of smiles. Coolness. More to come soon.

Cloe said...

LOL!I love this!

Wooton said...

Keep it up! :D

cson said...

I crack up at each new addition! Keep it coming!

Paula Turner said...

Ha ha! *snif* That is soooo funny! I cracked up at the part where Foo Foo was having trouble with the flippers....

InkStained said...

awwwwww I love little Foo Foo!!!!

Unknown said...

Huzzah for intrepid Foo-Foo! I love it!

~Just*Flinn~ said...

Mr. Batson, I remember a while back that you had mentioned TDW was possibly going to be turned into an audio book. Is that still a possibility?

The Lion Hearted said...

lol!! You let him go dancing with your wife?! Ohhhh ouch. ;) Love the new part!!

Jare said...

Dear Mr. Batson,

(This is Lib by the way) I was wondering how long it took you to write (not edit) the Door Within Books?

And I can’t wait to see what happens to Foo Foo next!

-Libby

Anonymous said...

This is so much fun! It makes me want to take a trip with a wee, fuzzy something and take pictures . . .
Thanks for sharing this lovely adventure with us. :) I bet your daughter was quite pleased.
CJ

Caleb and Andrew Ward said...

Very funny! Also, A bit off topic, but I'm reading your first book. Its great! Amazing job!

Nisly_Family said...

When is it going to be continued? I'm dying to hear the rest of Little Bunny Foo Foo's adventures.

WingedWriter318 said...

when is the next entry going to be?

WayneThomasBatson said...

Next entry is UP!!

And Flinn, the Audio books in kind of stalled right now, but we're hoping and praying.

ElizabethMarieKauffman said...

YAYY!!! :D Haha!! After several searching seconds I found Foo Foo. :)
Thanks for posting these!! They're really cute, and have given me a good laugh each time. :)

Assr lei∂r ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethOfMena~

Paula Turner said...

Omigosh I am Foo Foo's BIGGEST FAN!!! ROCK ON, FOO FOO!!!!!!!!!

CMR said...

Ha ha! I was laughing pretty hard! Foo Foo is cute! LOL. I remember that song but forgot how it ended...