Monday, September 9, 2013

Alaska Cruise

Wayne and I were lucky enough to go on an Alaskan Cruise at the end of August. It has always been on our dream vacation list, so when his parents said they were going we were really tempted to join them. Problem was we were just starting to build the house when they booked the trip.... Well after dreaming about it for a few weeks we decided we just couldn't pass up the opportunity. Two of his brothers and their wives and his moms cousins came too. We had a wonderful time!
We flew into Seattle and took a bus out to the dock. It was the first time either of us had been to Seattle, a pretty neat place.

Our first night we explored the ship: The Celebrity Solstice. It was a pretty fancy ship: real grass on the top deck, two pools, a water feature, glass elevators, beautiful dinning rooms, a hot glass show and more.

The second day we were just cruising so we watched for wildlife, enjoyed learning about Alaska and its animals from a featured expert, went swimming and had a fancy formal dinner. Wayne tried the frog legs. They were pretty good, tasted like chicken of course!  

Our waiter said that he had a special card for us saying it was our Honeymoon and they'd made a special little cake. We tried really hard to explain it was a mistake and it wasn't really our Honeymoon,  but he insisted on bringing it to us. We had to hold our hands and blow out the candle and make a wish. We were both just chuckling...
 

The next day we were in Ketchikan, Alaska. It was a little windy and overcast but didn't rain too much. Wayne, his dad and brothers and thier wives went fishing. They were supposed to fish for halibut but ended up fishing Salmon because of the stormy weather. They each caught 3 nice ones. Wayne didn't have a camera, so I'm waiting on getting pictures from the in laws. Meanwhile Connie and I went shopping around Ketchikan, and went on a little tour.

The salmon were running up the river right through town. It was fun to watch I can't believe how they can jump and swim up these waterfalls, they are pretty strong and determined fish. 


Our guide took us to this little place where they usually see bears and we saw a couple from a distance, but it was pretty cool. 

The next morning we went up Tracy Arm and saw the South Sawyer Bay glacier. It was really pretty, and amazing how our huge ship could navigate that narrow fijord! 

Later that day we arrived in Juneau. It was a nice day, we had great weather for the whole trip! 

We went ziplining here, it was a blast! There were 8-9 ziplines and they were pretty long, one of them was almost 200 ft off the ground. My heart was pumping! But I had a lot of fun! 
 

There were also 2 rope bridges, these were more scary for me, too much time to look down and think about it ;) 

The next day we were in Skagway, Alaska. It is a pretty little frontier type town. 

Wayne and I went on an Ocean Raft Adventure. It was fun, again nice weather. We saw lots of bald eagles, harbor seals and beautiful waterfalls. 
 


That night we had another nice dinner and enjoyed relaxing and taking some pictues. We saw a whale pretty close to our ship while it was docked at Skagway and Wayne saw some more further out. It was a really fun trip, so glad we got to go. Thanks Steve and Connie for inviting us!

Fancy Baked Alaska


The last night we docked in Victoria, British Columbia for a few hours. It was a beautiful place, we went on a little tour around the city and the harbor on a Hippo bus. It drove right into the water ;)
After seven days of being pampered and stuffed with food we were glad to get back home to our family. Thanks to Angel and Lonnie and Mom and Dad for taking care of them all while we were gone!! 
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Friday, August 16, 2013

Summer goes out with a BANG!


We've had to squeeze in about all the fun we can handle the last 2 weeks!
First we had our yearly fun at the county fair: carnival rides, yummy food, and watching our cousins do the Pig wrestling :) 

Operation Thank you Uncle Adam. He helped us out so much on our house, this Thank you is a little late, but we had fun leaving a surprise on his apartment door. 

These two just love playing in the cars and garage... a little too young I know!

Wayne won a 2 hour rental for the water trampoline at Starvation so we had another fun day at the lake celebrating Adams birthday. 
 

The trampoline was pretty fun, but kinda hard work too. The next day everyone was pretty sore! 

I'd been promising the  kids all summer to take them to the waterpark, so yesterday we went to Cowabunga Bay. It was a fun little place, just right for the kids. So glad we had our cousins to play with :) 
 
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Mountain fun


We drove up Uintah Canyon for a fun FHE hot dog roast.


Grandpa has been a trooper with his broken ankle! 

We all had lots of fun!

Ellie has learned the word: Hot! Hot! 
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backyard fun... who needs grass!



Wayne decided to set up a firepit in the backyard. We have had fun roasting hot dogs and smores a couple of times.

Hot dog face! :) 

loves her chips! 

So I decided to let them play a little. They made a ditch and little 'pond'. It all started out so innocently..... 

Ellie had to get  in on it! 

Then it gets a little crazy! We love MUD! 

I don't wanna get all muddy.... wait, maybe I do but I'm putting on my swim suit first! 

What a personality! These are definetly bribery pics for when he's older ;)

Of course she had lots of fun too!


Who got the muddiest?... my shower :)
We are just loving our new house so much, even if it doesn't have grass in the backyard yet! 
 
 
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Good Ol days of Summer!


Boy we have been having a great summer, busy busy busy!! Ellie has learned to drink from the hose, and love the trampoline :)

Daddy's such a good sport to play with his kids. What a great Dad! 
 

The girls have been having soooo much fun with their cousins. They build huts, play games/clubs, dolls, sleepovers, dress up, pretend and just whatever they think of next....
Anna has been getting really good at hula hooping. She has Emily time her her new record is 13 minutes and 3 secs!

Ainsley, Anna and Emily put on a play on Waynes trailer otherwise known as "the stage". 

A tea party lunch with their dolls

They even made a lunch for the boys! ;) 

Then they wanted to make a fancy layer cake.... (kind of reminds me of if you give a mouse a cookie....) 

Ty and David have lots of fun too, and sometimes get into trouble ;) So Ellie loves to do "her dishes", one day I found her chugging down my big drink cup.... he he he! 
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Sunday, July 28, 2013

More Family Pictures

We also took some family pictures with the Mecham family while they were all here visiting. After pictures we had fun on the paddle boats.

Starvation/Family Reunion

We had lots of fun playing at Starvation with the family. We missed Mom and Dad. Dad broke his ankle a few days before so he didn't feel up to sitting on the beach :( There are a lot of pictures so I put them in this web album for anyone who's interested...
starvation July 2013