Puttin' Down Roots

** WARNING** There are a lot of photos with this post....A LOT!

BUT if you want to take a peak into our fun-filled Disney Cruise to Alaska....keep looking!

There were 23 of us on this trip (amongst the other thousands on the boat!), but my immediate family was there (except for my brother & sister-in-law, Andrew & Tami) and my Aunt Lorraine & Uncle Bob were able to join us.

One of the first things they do on the boat, is to hold a evacuation boat drill. They do not make you put on your life vest, but of course we wanted to experience what that would be like. After this drill the important SAIL AWAY party is in full force up on deck 9 & 10.....

This was party time!! Dancing, confetti, streamers, pom poms, Mickey, Minnie....what else could you ask for?!

My sister Stephanie & 2 of her girls, Hailey & Kate

We explored the ship, ate some lunch, peeked in on the kids club....

we were ready for this trip to start!!!

Our first morning was our Character Breakfast. What a fun breakfast it was! All of our favorite characters stopped by for chatting, autographs & pictures. The only BAD party of this morning was that the sea was pretty rough. It lasted until about noon and then it calmed down. Several of our party needed to take some Dramamine to keep the morning "calm". My niece Olivia had to leave breakfast and go relax so she could get thru the rough seas. But, other than that, this was a perfect start to our trip!

I don't know if this picture shows just how rough it really was!

Every night our room stewardess (is that a word?!) would turn down our beds, leave some chocolates & a surprise towel animal. Every night it was exciting to see what she had made for us...

Our first full day was at sea....lots of fun activities, and lots of fun friends to spend it with!

Our 2nd full day was traveling thru the Tracy Arm. It was an absolutely gorgeous day...the pictures will never do it any justice. Here are just a few shots, I did not want to bore you so I'm just including a few. There were eagles everywhere, sea lions, waterfalls, icebergs, enormous mountains.....

Scott took a picture of this boat and later when reviewing his pictures he noticed that this guy was also taking a picture of a boat, our boat! Too funny!!

My sisters and I always take a picture of the three of us when we are traveling...we call it our sisters pic....so there are a few of those on this trip.

Sea Lions.....

The beautiful glacier at the end of the Tracy Arm. It was enormous. This picture really does not show the true beauty.

Our elephant towel animal .....

Our first port was Skagway. This is a tiny town....tiny. I think it's funny when you stand at the end of the town's "downtown" street. It looks like we just pulled into a parking spot! It was a cute little town, but I'm serious when I say tiny. There are only about 850 residents. I was surprised to actually see a chapel for our church there. But it really looked about the size of 1/4 of one of our buildings.

Scott went to visit a place called Jewel Gardens. When he was there he looked right up the slope and saw this little guy. Crazy! Not that often you are walking around and see a bear.

Our next port was Juneau, which happens to be the capital of Alaska. Now this city is quite large, especially when compared to Skagway. We booked a private Whale Watching excursion. The boat would hold 23 people, PERFECT!! We had a great time and saw orcas, humpbacks and sea lions. We had perfect weather for it also. It rains A LOT there, but we had a pretty clear day.

Kate was really excited!

Great tail shot!

Emma & Noah (this shot was from our day in the Tracy Arm, who knows why it is here!)

After our whale watching trip we took a bus to the Mendenhall Glacier. That was amazing. Again, perfect day for it!

Tonight was a monkey!

and we got a peacock!

Our last port was Ketchikan. Scott really wanted to see the Totem Poles, so he took the city bus and went to see them. Noah & I walked the town and hiked a little bit too. The city had some beautiful areas.

Here are some photos with some of our new friends!

Noah wanted me to take his picture doing this....why, I don't know why, because he's a boy!

This is a little out of order.

On our first port of Skagway, my sisters & I took the younger kids with us to a place called Liarsville. We went to pan gold, saw a little "play", to be honest, it was lame! But, we had some laughs while we were out!

BUT, then he wanted me to do the same thing & he took my picture!

Leaving Skagway....oh, but still at Skagway (told you the pictures were messed up!)

Noah & Emma and their new friend

Another sisters pictures, with our ship in the background

the beauty leaving Skagway, it was awesome in person!!

We had a blast, it was M.A.G.I.C.A.L.!!!!!!!!
We love our Disney Cruises!!

Goodbye room 6631,

you made our week onboard fabulous!!

This was the first day of Kindergarten....a big milestone in our lives....

He was excited to go to school, excited for all the little things that came with it...getting a new backpack, a lunch box, new school clothes....etc, etc.

He did not have a care in the world, he was just going to school. He didn't realize that there would be work. There would be homework. There would be reading, even when you did NOT want to read. There were projects. There were holiday parties. There were new friends. There were disagreements with friends. There was a new teacher. There was days when your Mom would work in the classroom. There were days when you would stay home sick. There were days when you were surprised when Dad would pick you up. There were days when Grandma was there too!

These were your days....your KINDERGARTEN days!

What a great year you had! You have learned so many things, you have flourished in ways that are amazing to see. We love to hear what you have learned....it's wonderful that you love to go to school. We have loved our first year of school....and we look forward to the next year....BUT, first we are going to enjoy our SUMMER!!

So, now that the school year has ended, we need to celebrate.....