For Christmas this year, Grandma and Grandpa gave us the wonderful and amazing gift of an Alaskan Cruise!!!!! You better believe we thought about it and dreamed of it all year and were so full of excitement as the time grew closer to leave. The kids had never been on a cruise ship and Blake and I hadn't been on one since Grant was a baby. It had been a while and we were all so eager and excited. And especially to see such a beautiful part of the country! We boarded the the ship in Seattle and took off to sail for Juneau as our first stop. In Juneau, we were in awe of the majestic mountains, trees and greenery in every direction. Our family went gold mining whilst the rest of the Marstons headed on a sky tram and to see the Mendenhall glacier. It was so beautiful! Cold and rainy for sure, but beautiful nonetheless. So fun to show the kids another part of the country and how these people lived life so differently from us! After our Juneau port, we headed to Skagway for the 4th of July! Skagway was a small and darling little town where we participated in a parade and even met the missionaries! We raced against other Skagway kids in the annual 4th of July day races and we collected more candy then we do on Halloween! We sampled the fudge and toured a few small museums. We had a lovely day meeting the people and talking with locals. Meanwhile, the Marstons did a river rafting adventure!!!
Next stop was through Glacier Bay which offered up the most gorgeous scenery one could imagine! Loved the beautiful glaciers and the occasional spotting of a whale! Of course the food on board was to die for and such a favorite for the kids. Dane still talks about the pizza and how much he misses it! Evelyn loved the hamburger shop and all the kids were fans of the free ice cream! We loved meeting in the evenings for dinner and entertainment-- loved going to Grandma and Grandpa's room to play games and watch shows. We enjoyed a hilarious comedian and watching Beauty and The Beast in the big theatre. The kids and I also watched a fun musical production as well. Our favorite dessert at dinner was a heart shaped chocolate mousse cake that was offered nightly. We probably gained close to 10 pounds each! It was so much fun to eat and order room service! Anna LOVED the kids club -- the other kids not so much, but we laughed because she'd arrive back to her room late every night after having fun in the kids club. Evie and Stacy would be practically asleep when Blake would bring Anna back, glitter in her hair-- ready to order more room service! Stacy was such a good sport to room with Ev and Anna. The boys roomed with Blake and I.
We loved Ketchikan where the boys left super early to board a fishing boat and catch 5-7 HUGE fish each. Talk about a dream come true for Dane and Grant. The girls and I had pedicures, manicures and massages. Ah.... then we headed to town to scout out bears, bald eagles and tour the Totem Pole Museum. Lovely day- sunny too!
Our last day on the cruise we enjoyed heading to Vancouver, BC to the island of Victoria. A favorite for the kids- they enjoyed touring the little city, eating treats and listening to street music. Such a beautiful place and perfect way to end the trip. We loved every minute of our wonderful Alaskan vacation and were so very very grateful to Grandma and Grandpa for organizing and paying for such a life changing adventure. It was more than we could have ever hoped for and we felt beyond blessed to be with our wonderful family and spend that time together in such a beautiful place.
Blake trying to be funny!
