Ketchikan

After a full day on the boat, our first stop was Monday morning, in Ketchikan, Alaska. I think we ported at about 6 or 7 AM. David and I woke up to find that it was very WET outside. We ate breakfast and headed to our room contemplating whether we wanted to the Lumberjack Show excursion. Well, as we were discussing it in the elevator, a nice lady said she had one ticket and we could take that, then we would only need to purchase one more ticket. We asked why she didn't want it, and she said her husband was fishing and she didn't want to go alone. We offered for her to come with us, but she insisted that we take her ticket. Such generosity from a total stranger.

AROUND TOWN

So after we followed this nice lady around the boat for about 20 minutes as she tried to find her cabin, we set out for Ketchikan. It was very wet and rainy as we left. Within about 15 minutes, we were totally SOAKED. But we had fun just walking around town and taking pictures.

THE GREAK ALASKAN LUMBERJACK SHOW

This was seriously one of the highlights of my trip. It was so fun to see the amazing things that these men can do. The had a competition between 2 teams, the USA and Canada. I guess it was what they used to do a while ago. They did a series of events. It was so fun to watch them!

Chop through the wood stump

Axe Throw

Chopping a stump again I think

Putting planks in the tree, and "topping it off"

Tree climb...this was amazing

Log Run

Log Roll. And this was more than just keeping up with your opponent. They would kick water up at each other, anything they could do to distract eachother.

Of course we had to have our picture taken with them!

I bought the boys some long johns, with the bum flap at the souvenir shop...we'll have to get picture.

MORE AROUND TOWN

After the show, it wasn't raining anymore, and we had dried off, so we walked around some more.

We made our way to a famous street, which the name slips my mind. All the building are on stilts or whatever, and the street is on the water.

This was a famous....well, you should get the point from the phrase below. It is a museum now, but we didn't make our way in.

There was a HUGE staircase up the mountain, and we had some time to kill, so we hiked up those stairs.

What a view!

Walked through the tunnel, the boys would have LOVED that!

Then back to the boat!

Alaskan Cruise!

David and I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a 7-day Alaskan Cruise, without the kinda (thanks Grandma Carma). The boys were good sports about it, they knew that mom and dad were going on a boat, and they were going to Grandmas. Thanks to Academic Innovations, our employer, for making this possible.

The journey began on Sept. 28th, with our flight to Seattle, WA. We stayed the night in Seattle, and went out to eat with some of my co-workers. After dinner we went out shopping for pants, because I totally forgot some dress pants for dinners....lovely...no denim rule for the restaurant.

On Sunday we boarded this ship. We couldn't believe how HUGE the ship was. We couldn't help but feel guilty that the boys weren't with us to enjoy the BOAT!

The first night on the boat was fine, but I woke up Monday morning feeling VERY sea sick. Fortunately it passed by dinner time for the first FORMAL night. The ship took some very pretty pictures of David and me, which we did not purchase. I am hoping to get some of the pictures that a co-worker took though, and once I get them, I will post!

From here on out, I will simply post a bunch of posts from each of our ports... as I get to them.

Another Hatch Trip

At the beginning of August we took the boys up to the Hatch House for the weekend. We were lucky to have Grandma Carma join us.

THE RODEO

While there the boys attended their FIRST rodeo. As expected, Skyler was very interested in the sport, while Connor played around on the bleachers.

A little story behind this picture. Skyler is wearing his Aztec Warrior Hat that he made at daycare. He loved this hat, and wore it until it fell apart... you will see it falling apart in the pictures below. And he is holding a purple rectangular key chain that he called his camera. The boys kept playing with it, and saying, "Cheese!"

BRYCE CANYON

Trying to get as much use out of our Park Pass, we went in to Bryce for a few short hikes and look out points.

After the wonderful sights, we stop in the little Bryce town to look around and get the boys some ice cream. Which was a huge mess! They had fun walking around and seeing the wagons.

It is so fun to see them on this horse and in the jail....I have pictures from when I was a kid in these same places. If I can find them, I will post them as well. Just kind of fun to see them doing the exact same things that I did when I was a kid and we would go to Hatch.

THROWING ROCK IN THE RIVER

Any time there is a chance to throw rock in a river, we simply MUST take it. We actually went a few times, they boys enjoy it so much. The first time, Connor fell in the river. I think the ground just gave way under him, and he slid right in. Fortunately it was in a place that the current wasn't strong enough to do anything, and it wasn't too deep. But once he was in, he couldn't get out himself.....because of the current. He just looked up at me scared to death...it was actually kind of funny. Afterward he thought so too!

Eventually the boys figured out hitting rocks with sticks, which is now their new thing. They don't quite have the hang of it, but they are certainly trying!

24th of July

For the 24th of July we invited Cinthia and Landon and their kids over for some fireworks. The kids all had such a blast watching the show and lighting sparklers. Make for a great evening.