Juneau, Alaska

On Monday morning, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise at sea. I looked out the window to see a whale and some sea otters swimming next to our veranda! I tried to show Katie, but it was hard for her to spot them since they kept ducking back underwater.

After the morning out at sea, we docked in Juneau. The weather was beautiful the whole time in Alaska. Everyone told us how rare it was to get such beautiful weather. We were told that Juneau only gets sunny days about 40 days a year, and we hit one of those days. In fact, the day we arrived, it was about 90 degrees, which is really rare for them.

Jennifer had arranged for us to go on a bus tour of the city with a few stops to get out of the bus. Our bus driver did a great job telling us about the city with lots of humor mixed into his talk.

After driving through town, we headed out to see the Mendenhall Glacier. When we arrived there, Jennifer and I took a fairly short hike to get a closer view of the glacier and a huge waterfall there. Her broken foot made it with only a little soreness!

After seeing the glacier, we stopped at a salmon hatchery. Katie loved watching the salmon jump out of the water everywhere she looked. We went into the visitor center where she was happy to look at the aquariums inside.

Once our tour was over, my dad went back to the ship, and the rest of us walked through the small town to look in some of the shops. Before we headed back onto the ship, we let Katie run around and dance on the docks, where she had lots of space.

This was our view out the ship in the morning.

I really liked the breakfast buffet.

I realized that a piece of bacon can look like a band-aid.

Then I decided to be silly while eating my bacon.

Everywhere we went in Alaska seemed to have good views.

I spent time with Grandma and Grandpa in the Crow's Nest while we waited to get to Juneau.

These were Aunt Jennifer's binoculars, but I liked using them most of the time.

This was Juneau as our ship was docking.

Juneau had a tram that went to the top of this very tall mountain.

While we waited for our tour, I decided to do a dance.

You've gotta make your arms move with your legs!

I kept dancing for awhile.

After my dance, I found my knees.

It's sort of fun to walk around like this.

Grandma liked my dance.

Grandma and Grandpa waited patiently on the bus to begin our tour. I kept waiting for them to sing, "The Wheels on the Bus."

We liked seeing the glacier!

This is where my mom and Aunt Jennifer hiked.

This was the big waterfall that they saw.

There were always big hunks of ice in the water by the glaciers.

After we got back on the bus, I decided to color.

When we got to the salmon hatchery, I saw the fish jumping and jumping.

I couldn't believe fish would jump right out of the water.

There were tons of fish in this tank.

Grandpa found a bear in the visitor center.

Aunt Jennifer found the aquariums there.

I followed this big crab around as he walked through the tank.

After the tour, we ate dinner. Grandma tried to cut the watermelon into small pieces, but I wanted the big hunk of it!

It was delicious!

After dinner, we explored the town. Then I got to play in this big space.

I really liked hugging poles on this trip.

Where's Katie?

Peek-a-boo!

Aunt Jennifer made us sit here for a picture, so we wouldn't forget where we were.

Bye, Juneau!

Our Day at Sea

We had a day at sea for our first full day on the cruise. It gave us all a chance to familiarize ourselves with the ship.

I still  liked standing right by the window to watch everything go by.

When we went up to the deck, I found out how cold and windy it was.

This was the first towel animal our steward left for us.

There was a big mirror behind the beds in our cabin. It was fun to watch myself play in the mirror!

Our First Day on the Cruise Ship

When we arrived in Seattle to board the cruise ship, Katie was excited to finally see the, "BIG BOAT" in person. We moved through the building with luggage check-in and security, so we could begin our vacation. Katie saw all of us give our suitcases to some men, so they could get moved to our cabins for us. Then she looked at her beloved, new Winnie the Pooh suitcase, and she looked at the men waiting to take it from her, and she burst into tears. When the men saw her, they told me she could keep her suitcase if she wanted to keep it. They were very friendly, but Katie just knew they wanted to run off with her suitcase forever. It was pretty funny to watch. She calmed down as we moved on towards the ship.

Once we were on board, we walked my mom and dad to their cabin, and then Katie, Jennifer, and I found our cabin. It was small, but nice.

Before we could set sail, we had to have a fire drill. Katie was good for it, but it lasted a long time for a two year old who wanted to move and who was trapped in between a big crowd of people. When the drill began, there was a beeping noise, followed by the loud fire alarm. Katie kept her ears covered through the alarm. For the remainder of the trip, there was always a three-tone beeping noise before any announcement. Every time Katie heard the beeping noise throughout the cruise, her hands automatically covered her ears in anticipation of the fire alarm that never came again.

Katie was excited to explore her surroundings and watch the water. At dinner time, we sat at a table right by the window, and she spent a good deal of time standing on the step next to our table and looking out at sea.

When we returned to our cabin at night, our beds had been turned down. Jennifer and I each had a twin bed, and Katie slept on a pull-out couch. Once her bed was pulled out, it made it very hard to maneuver throughout the room. Our small space became minuscule! Katie had fun though jumping on the three beds!

We finally made it on the big boat! 

This was our view on one side of the ship. 

This was our view on the other side of the ship. 

We could even see Mt. Rainier in the distance. 

We got to our section for the fire drill early. 

I'm doing my best to listen carefully. 

Now I'm getting a little bored. 

By the time it was finally over, we were pushed to a very small space against the wall. 

After the drill, we found Grandma and Grandpa and waited for our departure. 

I was pretty happy to find some letters to trace. 

We posed for some pictures while we waited for the ship to take off. 

We finally left, and we had fun watching the water - especially my mom.

I wasn't very hungry at dinner, so I decided to watch the water.

It's fun to be on a boat!

Back Home

We returned home from our cruise to Alaska yesterday afternoon. Katie had a great time on the cruise, and like always, was a terrific traveler. It's always nice to be home, but we now have some memories of a beautiful place and new experiences together. More to come on our trip in the coming days as I have time to go through the pictures!

We didn't buy a lot in Alaska, but I did get a new pair of pajamas! 

I was ready for bed early the day we got back. My tiredness hit me a little!