Alaska Cruise

This last week, Matthew and I left our kids with Emmalee while we, my siblings and their spouses, and my parents celebrated my mom's 70th birthday and my parent's 50th wedding anniversary by going on a cruise to Alaska. I'll be honest, I was not excited to go. It was expensive in an already expensive year. It was yet more time away from my kids. But it was my mother's dream come true and Matthew agreed to go to show his love to his mother-in-law.

I fasted at the beginning of the month that the cruise would be worthwhile and I believe it accomplished all the goals. Couples had a good time with their spouses, children had a good time with siblings and in-laws, and my parents reveled in time with their children. Added bonus: Matthew has found his travel option of choice. He loved it. For a man who gets angsty when it comes to travelling, I am happy to support him, especially if it facilitates more travelling. He's already dreaming of where we are going next.

We went to Juneau, Sitka, Ketchican, and saw glaciers, waterfalls, arctic wildlife, and beautiful scenery. We shopped, hiked, played games, ate a ton, watched shows and generally enjoyed being together. Prayers answered.

Us in Seattle about to get on the ship.

In the elevator in all of our silly glory

Us in Juneau in front of the Mendenhall Glacier.

After we saw the glacier we did an extra hike through the woods. It was beautiful and I definitely got my steps in for the day.

We saw the most amazing whale sculpture,

and really cool totem poles.

We saw the Marjorie glacier - only a few ships get to have access to this pristine part of the world.

We stayed outside hoping to see a chunk fall off, no such love. We did get to see a chunk come up from under the sea which was pretty cool. It looked like a giant whale coming out of the ocean. Nope, just a large chunk of ice.

Us getting absolutely drenched on our hike in Sitka. We had a ton of fun hiking through the forest, especially knowing that if we had attempted this with the kids they would be miserable almost from the beginning. A lot more steps today.

Do you see all those coats? It's middle of July. Thanks Alaska. We still love you.

The darling couple who inspired this trip. Thanks parents. We love you too.

P.S. I should say for the record that the kids enjoyed their time with my sweet niece Emmalee and their cousins. Dude and Cousin A joined a jump rope camp for the week. Luca didn't want to go so while the boys jumped their hearts out she hung out with Emmalee's two babies while their mama cleaned the apartment getting it ready to move out of the next week. But after that week we were anxious to get back to our own beds and just be our little foursome again. And the kids enjoyed their souvenirs. A moose stuffie for Luca and a salmon wooden sculpture for Dude.