ALASKA, Part I

For years, Craig's Mom had talked about how much she would love to take the whole family on an Alaskan cruise some day.  But it was Jason who finally asked what exactly she was waiting for and before we knew it, it was happening!  We've been planning for over a year now, and then got to re-plan a few things when Kamryn got married and we added her new husband into the mix (this required getting another room, and poor Jason having to re-book all the excursions for his family!), but this last month it finally HAPPENED!  We cruised to Alaska!!!

Our ship was the Ovation of the Seas, but one hapless guest messed up in a quiz in front of everyone and called it "Ovulation of the Seas" so that's what we called it all week.  I think that might be the hardest the cruise director had ever laughed...!

Between the three families, we had 5 state suites, and then one interior room for the newlyweds.  We ended up with me, Craig and Bentley in one room and then Ryder, Colton, Camille, and their cousin Eli in the room next door.  Next was Grandma and Grandpa, then Kendra was sharing with Lindsy and Maya, and then Jason and Jeni were in the room farthest from us.  Our balconies were all connected, so it was really easy to round everyone up, which was nice.  The rooms were bigger than I'd hoped for, and they each had a half bath AND a whole bath, which was SO GREAT.

We threw our backpacks into our rooms and then raced off to the buffet.  So. Much. Food!

That's quite the Nixon impression Camille's doing there...

We ran around getting acquainted with the ship, mustering at our emergency stations (right next to the all-night pizza buffet-- just what you'd want in an emergency!), and enjoying some last views of Seattle and Bainbridge as the ship glided by...

Jason and I both snapped a pic of Mount Rainier, but his is WAY better than mine, so I'm stealing it here...

While I was sitting in the hot tub waving at Bainbridge, my Mom ran down to Fay Bainbridge with her binoculars and managed to get this shot of our ship passing by!

Bentley and Kendra tried escargot.  They were not fans.  (But I was proud of them for trying!)

Arriving in beautiful Sitka, Alaska!

That's Ryder way up there!

And Camille!

Who is also plotting world domination!

It was pretty windy and chilly on the top deck!

Bentley, Colton, Kendra, and Maya getting ready for a show at the 270° Lounge!

Me, Camille, and Craig.  That little Hershey kiss thing behind me was very comfortable to lay in, but you couldn't see the show at all

So we let Kamryn and Connor (aka, The Newlyweds) take that spot!

Tom, Donna, Ryder, and Eli

Jason and Jeni and Lindsy

We decided to try indoor skydiving.  When I'm nervous, I smile extra big!

The whole family, looking glamorous!

Bentley

Colton

Kendra

Me

Ryder

Craig

And Camille, who was actually the best in our family at this!  The guy hardly had to hold on to her at all!

Our first stop in Alaska was Sitka.  We got off the ship and did a little shopping until it was time for our shore excursion, which was kayaking.  Ironically, we had to take a bus, and then a boat to get to where we were kayaking, but it was still fun, and I was glad we could see most of downtown Sitka in the process!

I just loved the clouds with the mountains behind them here

Colton is hilarious

Bentley is also hilarious

This restaurant was letting everyone take pictures with their live crabs, so all the kids had to do it.  I'm sure that crab was devoured shortly after! 

I was a little bit chilly before we even started kayaking and worried that if I got wet, too, I'd be pretty miserable.  So I opted for the fisherman's waders and they kept me warm, dry, AND stylish!  Pretty soon everyone had followed my lead...

On the banana boat!

I'd never seen splash skirts for kayaking before, but these were great!

We paired Camille with Bentley

Kendra with Maya (of course!)

me with Ryder

and Colton with Craig.  This turned out to be a very bad idea because that left me with the largest child who wasn't a particularly strong paddler.  I was dying the entire time, trying to get us caught up to the group!

But the kayaking was fun, and a bald eagle flew right over us, so that was cool to see.  But I was really hoping we might see whales, and they did not show up.  Those jerks.

Heading back to the ship

Ready for another hearty meal

As we pulled away from Sitka, this cloud was just perched right on top of this inactive volcano

I like how it's hard to tell in this shot where the water ends and the sky begins

Oh, Bentley

Enjoying that long sunset from the hot tub in the adult zone!

Besties

No sooner had the sun finally set but then this huge pink full moon came up!  Between this and the lighthouses flashing all along the coast, it was a pretty magical night!  Jason overheard some couple arguing over whether this was the moon or the sun, it was that big!  (And, admittedly, they were kind of stupid...)

This post is getting pretty long, so I'm going to hit "Publish" and start on the next post tomorrow!