Hooked on Phonics

Maybe they should add this into Adalyn's curriculum. . .

And She's Off. . .

Today is Adalyn's first day of Kindergarten.

Though I didn't shed any tears, it was still a little bit hard to watch her go. But Adalyn is SO excited to attend school, how could I not be excited with her?

There is just something that makes me a little anxious about sending her "into the world." Part of me just wants to always keep life simple and about glued on macaroni pictures and play-dough. But I guess we all have to grow up sometime huh?

Go get 'em Adalyn! We love you!

I {heart} Alaska

My parents, Adam and I went to ALASKA on a cruise. It was fabulous. So green and gorgeous! We went August 7 - 14 on the ship Golden Princess. Here's just a sprinkling of what we saw and did.

{Aug 7} Seattle, WA

We left out of Seattle on August 7th. We made it onto the boat around 1 pm and had a little while to spare before we sailed off.

Here the four of us are. We couldn't be happier.

This is the first time I've ever been to Seattle. I wished I would of had a few extra days to spend exploring the city.

Here's the view from our boat.

The fog when we left was kind of eerie. It gave the ships sailing by us a ghost-like appearance.

And here we can see the effects of fog. Watch out mom and dad! There's a crazed man behind you!

{Aug 8} At sea

August 8th was a special day! It was Adam's Birthday! Can we say spoiled? Who else gets to spend their birthday on a cruise?

We spent the day at sea. It was cold though. I really did not pack right for Alaska. We weren't even to Alaska yet and I was already freezing all the time.

Here's Adam's face after he stepped outside onto the dock for a few minutes. See, even "manly men" get cold too.

I stayed in the corner. Yep, like a little chicken. It was COLD, I tell ya!

We still enjoyed ice-cream for Adam's b-day though. Can't have a b-day without ice cream. . .

. . . and balloons!!

This night was also a formal night on the ship. Here we are all fancied up. I may be smiling, but I was about 5 minutes away from tossing my cookies. The boat was really rocking = My head was really rolling. After this picture was taken, I high tailed it back to my room and went to sleep. Ug, sea sick!

Here's your boat funny for the day, "A lot of people ask me if I were shipwrecked, and could only have one book, what would it be? I always say, "How to Build a Boat." " ~Stephen Wright

{Aug 9} Juneau, AK

Monday we sailed to Juneau. Juneau is the capital of Alaska, but not the biggest city. And like most cities in Alaska, it is accessible only via sea or air.

Here's at sea before we reached Juneau. So calm.

We arrived around noon. My parents and I went our separate ways, though funny enough we ended up doing almost the same things, just at different times.

My madre and me.

JUNEAU!

Adam immediately started snuggling up to the natives. Little did we know how close we would get to a bear just a couple hours later.

So Adam and I took a shuttle to Medenhall Glacier. First we took a walk around and low and behold:

A black bear with her two cubs. There were signs all over the place, exclaiming, "You could have a VERY close encounter with a bear. Stay on trails, make lots of noise. . . yadda, yadda, yadda." I didn't believe the signs for one second. But we did have a close encounter with a bear. How close?

That close! In all my excitement, I failed to take the time to focus. This mama bear walked right under a railing I was standing on. I could of literally reached out and touched her. Probably not the brightest of ideas, but still could of been done.

So after the bear excitement, we walked over to Medenhall Glacier. Very cool. Literally.

Here I am, in shall I say a "casual" pose. Just in my defense, Adam made me stand and look like that. Wait, I mean, isn't that how we all stand and take in the beauty of nature? Fixed stare off into the infinite distance? No?? Just me???

{crickets chirping}

Ok, moving on.

This was called "Nugget Falls." It's located right off the side of the glacier. Adam and I hiked to it. It was very loud and oh so amazing.

Can I get a thumbs up?

Thanks Adam.

Here's an actual chunk of glacial ice. I made Adam touch it, because that's what tourists do.

After Medenhall Glacier, we had a shore excursion for night whale watching. And look at the excitement on our faces:

Not enough excitement? Ok, how about this?

That's the face of raw excitement and frostbite all in one.

So the first thing you saw when a whale would come up is it exhaling air explosively through their blowhole. Then all of the sudden people would be yelling, "Thar she blows!" and all of us crazy whale watchers would quickly walk (as running was NOT allowed) to one side of the boat or the other and start taking pictures as fast as we could.

Though we never saw a whale jump, we saw many whales come up and then dive back down. There is just something so graceful about these mighty mammals.

That whale waved goodbye to us. I swear it.

{Aug 10} Skagway, AK

Moving onward, we made our way on Tuesday to Skagway.

For this shore excursion, we did the White Pass and Yukon Route train ride. This was the site of the famous Klondike Gold Rush of 1897.


Just a picture reinforcing what I already said above. But just in case you didn't believe me:

The views on this ride were spectacular.

Bridal Veil Falls. This waterfall cascades 6,000 feet from the glaciers on Mt. Cleveland and Mt. Clifford, or atleast that what the complimentary onboard magazine said.

This steel bridge was constructed in 1901, and was the tallest cantilever (don't worry, I didn't know what cantilever meant either) bridge in the world. It was used until 1969. As stable as it looks, I can't imagine why it's no longer in use.

After we made it safely back down the pass, we did a little more sightseeing.

The Red Onion Saloon. Good thing I'm not a drinker. Look at that line. (It also may or may not have to do with the fact that it was a famous brothel in 1897)

Alrighty then.

In my best Sesame Street singing voice, "One of these things is not like the other. One of these just doesn't belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the other, before I finish my song?"

If you guessed the sad, dejected looking bird on the left, you would be correct.

Back to the ship. Our home away from home . . .

. . .and off to dinner!