During the 7 days of our cruise, we had two full days at sea. The cruise boat was JAMMED packed with awesome daily activities. The kids all enjoyed being in the kid's zone area where they played and hung out with other kids their age. Chris and I went to lots of fun things like a line-dancing class, a "How to use your binoculars" class (which proved to be very helpful), and movies. There was of course FOOD ALL THE TIME, fun family classes like balloon-tieing and cupcake decorating. And the pools and jacuzzis were heated and always nice to jump in. So here are some photos of fun we had on the boat:
Tatum's favorite night on the boat--Pirate Night!!!
Every night we had a new towel animal waiting for us in our cabin! These are 3 of our favorites:)
Family Cupcake Wars!
Max LOVES magicians and got to meet the one on our boat. He even got his autograph and learned a few tricks from him:)
We also had some of the most AMAZING views from our boat--icebergs, whales, and sea lions!!! We came upon a whole pod of whales one day! It was AMAZING! We saw 15-20 whales from the deck of our boat jumping in and out of the water and blowing water into the air. They kept their distance from the boat and so we watched them through our binoculars--no good pictures to be had of this:( We also saw beautiful icebergs!!! We watched them for several hours one day. My favorite kid quote about the icebergs was from Tatum. I was calling her over to come and look at an iceberg and she said, "I know! I know! It looks like toothpaste on a toothbrush!" And they really did! I could not believe how BLUE they were:
So never a dull moment on the boat! You could be as busy (or not) as you wanted to. We really enjoyed our time on the boat.
Our last Alaska stop was in Skagway. It seemed that each stop got a little colder! It was pretty windy in Skagway which made it seem even colder than it was. So thankfully, us wimpy AZ people had a 3 hour train ride planned for the day!
We took the White Pass Railway that took us up the original Gold Rush route. It was a beautiful (and warm) train ride and FULL of interesting history. Here are some views from the train:
We then walked around the town--which kinda felt like walking around in an old western movie. Apparently this town closes down for winter as the winters are quite bitter here so it really just is a tourist attraction and not much else. But the town had quite the population during the Gold Rush. Every town in Alaska had a "red light" district as brothels were a HUGE source of income for this state. I like to joke with Chris about him getting back in touch with his roots here--as he has a "madame" in his direct ancestry line:)
"House of Negotiable Affection"--AWESOME RIGHT?!
One of the original cabins in Skagway
It was a fun little town to visit for sure. Always fun to learn about the risqué history:)
Juneau, Alaska was slightly colder than Ketchikan. It was sprinkling rain slightly as we got off the boat but we all had rain jackets and couldn't wait for our shore excursion today--DOG SLEDDING AND PUPPIES!!! When in Alaska, one MUST dog sled right? This excursion was a little expensive but absolutely worth every penny in my opinion. Chris was not necessarily looking forward to it himself but was a good sport. (I know he had a good time and even enjoyed the puppies:)
For some reason, we were really early for our excursion--we followed the instructions given us. But it all turned out FANTASTIC because our tour guide took us on a little unexpected detour to fill our time! We would NOT have seen this glacier had it not been for the extra time we had! So here we are at Mendenhall Glacier:
We then headed over to the Musher's Camp where we got to learn all about how the dogs are raised, fed, trained, etc...They even had a sled dog there for the kids to play with.
Tatum with Robin
Ethan in a real dog sled
Scenery around the Musher's Camp
It was soo funny when we were heading over for our sled ride. All of the sled dogs KNEW what we were coming to do and they just could not wait to get going!!! All the yipping and howling was hilarious! They were just so excited to pull the sled--that's what they're breed AND trained to do and they were ready to go! I've never been more excited for a ride in all my life--not even at Disney:) These dogs were AWESOME!
The bottom left 2 dogs were siblings-- Mac & Mercedes. Mercedes was quite a character! She was the MOST excited dog of the pack. She kept crossing over into her brother's lane and as annoyed as Mac seemed, he NEVER snapped at her. He just waited patiently for her to get back to her own side. We sure enjoyed watching these 2:)
Here is a video of our ride:
The sled ride was a BLAST and just when you thought it couldn't be any better....they had 3 litters of sled pups for us to hold and play with! H-E-A-V-E-N for myself and my kids!!!
See...Chris LOVES them he just won't admit it:)
So while Ketchikan was my favorite town, this was our FAVORITE shore excursion hands down! We just LOVED every minute of it! I am so glad that we did this. I know my kids will remember and talk about this FOREVER and that's what making memories is all about!
Our first stop in Alaska was in Ketchikan. ABSOLUTELY BREATH-TAKING!!! This ended up being my most favorite town that we visited. It is the rain capital of the US--it rains 260 days a year here--but we came on a day that there was NO rain so it was absolutely perfect. So beautiful and picturesque!
The first thing we did was watch a Lumberjack Show. I had NO idea how big lumber-jacking is!!! It's a HUGE sport in the area! All of the lumberjacks in the show are serious competitors year round. As an audience, we were broken up into 2 teams--The United States & Canada. We were to cheer for our team and boo/hiss the other team. We were on the US team and we lost:/ Oh well, still SOO much fun to watch!
We then walked around the town. The histories of the Northwestern towns are quite risqué! All of these town had "red-light" districts. I guess when the majority of the population are Lumberjacks and Gold Miners, women had a better chance of finding a man here:) We also took a hike on "Married Mans Trails" which took us to the top of a mountain where we had the most beautiful views of Ketchikan and our boat:)
We could have spent several more hours here. It was a perfect day with perfect weather. It was sure nice to get off the boat after a whole day at sea the day before (Sunday). I absolutely LOVED this little town!
We have been planning this vacation for about a year now and it FINALLY came!!! Chris and I have been wanting to go to Alaska for years now. Neither of us had ever been so it was truly a new adventure for us all.
There are several cruises to Alaska but we specifically picked one that left out of Seattle, WA so that we could spend a few days with one of our most favorite families--the Vespignanis!!! Marco and Chris have been best friends since 7th grade. Marco moved away after junior high but these 2 have kept in touch all of these years--Chris spent 2 summers in Hawaii with Marco (where he lived thru high school/college), Marco spent a couple days with Chris while he was on his mission in Nebraska--we like to joke about "when Marco served his mission"--and Chris was the officiator at Marco & Lindsay's wedding. Whew....these two have history for sure!
The last time we were together with our kids, we had toddlers. But now that our kids are older, they just had THE BEST time hanging out together. Our 3.5 days in Seattle were jammed packed with TONS OF FUN!!!
You can't tell but they are
holding "creepy dolls:)"
Dance Party--Wii Style!!!
Our first full day there we went on a BEAUTIFUL hike at Lake Forest Park near their home. Seriously never seen so much green! I guess that's why they call Washington "The Evergreen State."
We hiked to the ocean on a beautiful sunny day (65 degrees). The water was FREEZING!!! The only ones brave enough to get ALL the way in were Marco, then Chris HAD to because Marco did, and then Max HAD to because dad did:)
Jovi with a crab--it was dead:)
For our second day in Seattle, we hit the city!!! First stop...THE SPACE NEEDLE!!! We loved watching the fountain there--mostly because there was the cutest dog having the best time attacking the water as it came out:)
Our next stop...THE DUCK RIDE--starts on land and goes into the water!!! I've seen these in several cities but I've never been on one! It was SUPER fun and actually very informative. My kids really listened to the tour guide the whole time because he was so funny (and changed outfits/hats a lot). When we came back to Seattle at the end of our cruise, we were walking around the city again because we had some time before our flight and my kids were re-telling the tour to us:)
We called this trip:
Meeker Invasion 2015!
We let the boys sit together:)
Views from our Duck ride.
We had to hit downtown--Pike's Fish Market! It was fun seeing the workers throw fish around. It was as much a show as it was a business:)
These are the 2 "most photographed" signs in Seattle.
So I HAD to take them too:)
These signs were in the market place
and I thought they were funny:)
My kids favorite part of the city...THE GUM WALL!!! DISGUSTING!!! It was actually more of a gum alley. But to be cool, we added to the "artwork" too:)
These 2 became BFFs on this trip:)
So stinkin' cute!!!
Ohh! The "Original Starbucks!"
Seattle and their "art":)
We absolutely enjoyed our time in Seattle. The Vespignani's were the BEST hosts. Our kids just fell in love with each other and were super sad to leave. We let Max & Tatum get "kick" accounts--texting for younger kids--so that they could keep in touch with Jovi & Ruby. And 2 weeks later...they are STILL texting each other daily:) Chris and Marco have already planned our next vacation together--Fall 2016 can't come quick enough:)
We headed to Deming once again this 4th of July. Always great to see friends & family but the most exciting part was my parents had 7 puppies at their house!!! My kids were IN LOVE! And tears were shed when we left:)
So just realizing that I took NO pictures with friends & family but I did get PUPPY PICTURES!!!
This pup was my personal favorite--the runt of the litter that we called "Peanut"
Wow!!! This has been a whirlwind of a summer!!! Carlie has been so busy at the theatre this summer and has absolutely LOVED being there long hours every day. All of those long hours sure paid off in her most recent production--Big Fish. I have seen a lot of youth theatre shows in my day and I can honestly say that this was THE BEST youth show I have ever seen!!! I was blown away at the creativity and talent in this whole cast of teens. AMAZING!!! LOVED EVERY MINUTE!!! I watched it 3 times myself:)
This show had such a WIDE range of scenes and costume changes! There was a circus, a war scene, a witch, a giant, and even a part where the audience participated waving daffodils in the air:) Carlie was in the ensemble in this play and had many roles: Fish-thrower, Cheerleader, USO Swing Dance, Dancing Bear Trainer, & Townsperson.
The Witch & the Cheerleader:)
Carlie & Kayleah (the witch dancer)
The Cheer team!
Carlie's Grizzly Bear Bryce
Hayden, Carlie, Bryce, Sarah, & Tayte
LJ & Carlie
Thommy (stage crew), Carlie & Kayla
The traditional Carlie & Kayleah pose
Carlie, Summer, & Kayleah
YEE-HAW!!!
Carlie, Danny (Carl the Giant), & Kayleah
Carlie, Sam, Kayleah, & Danny
Carlie & Noah (The Ringmaster)
Carlie & Holly (The mermaid)
Kayleah on her stilts
I worked backstage 2 nights and just fell in love with all these great kids! The show isn't quite over yet because they have been asked to come and perform 3 more shows up in Snowflake, AZ at the end of this month. So Big Fish is going on the road!!!
This is the Meeker family residing in beautiful, sunny Chandler, AZ. Chris and I have 4 beautiful kids: Carlie (23), Ethan (21), Maxwell (18), and Tatum (16). Thanks for stopping by:)
