We spent Dead Week this year on an Alaskan cruise with some of our very best friends. We left last Friday early morning and flew into Seattle. Gorgeous views coming in and none of us had been to Washington before, so that was fun!
It had been an early morning and we were all a little loopy by the time we arrived and we jammed into a Lyft and Kase had to lay across our laps to get there- ha.
Sun in Seattle- we felt lucky!
We headed downtown right away since our friends weren't getting to town until later. We had a great lunch then walked to the pier. Kylee spotted jellyfish right away!
We had fun exploring. Went to the famous market- Kylee was not very impressed. It was crowded and smelly- ha.
We also had to see the Gum Wall of course! They are smiling for the picture but we collectively thought it was very gross. Kael and Kase added to the wall, though!
We met up with Mark and Kendall and went up the Space Needle- such cool views!
The rest of our friends got in late that night. We ordered pizza and hung out at the hotel. Fun night.
The next morning we were up and ready to get on our ship, the Norwegian Bliss.
Again, it was a gorgeous, sunny morning in Seattle so we felt very blessed!
Here we goooo!
I knew the trip was going to be a blast when right out of the gate the kids were having wall sit contests in the line waiting to board the ship.
We quickly grabbed lunch then the kids were the first ones on the waterslide when it opened!
Goodbye, Seattle!
Kase caught a t-shirt at the Welcome Party because of course he did.
We had a fun afternoon exploring the ship and getting settled. Then we had chop chop reservations for dinner which was an awesome way to kick off our week. Our guy was so funny and sang so many songs and we all declared the rice from that night to be one of the best things we ate all week.
The kids all had fun getting dressed up each night and taking pictures together.
Beauties. The balcony pictures each night were so pretty!
And they did such a good job including Kase the entire week.
Kael buddy doesn't care about pictures as much as the girls but he was a good sport for me!
The next morning we had the most fun hot tubbing and spotting whales! Kase and Kael entered a ping pong tournament during this time but joined us later. Kael lost the eventual champ and both had fun!
Since it was a full day at sea, we made sure to explore all the areas of the ship!
Kael entered a black jack tournament. Some of us played Bingo.
We all enjoyed dinner at the steakhouse that night!
The next day we were excited to wake up to beautiful weather and spent more time on our balcony whale watching.
First day off the ship was at Sitka.
Right as we got off there was a place the kids could hold crabs!
Then we had a private tour scheduled. He took us to this beautiful photo spot!
We also enjoyed taking pictures with KK as she recently committed to South Dakota and was so excited to make her commitment post while we were together. So special sharing that moment with her!
Our tour guide had told Kael when we first met him that he reminded him of someone he knew. When we stopped at Fortress of the Bears we coincidentally ran into him. I can see the resemblence!
The bears were so fun to watch.
We also took a hike and had fun seeing some native Alaskan plants and crazy huge slugs.
A quick coffee stop! Cloudy but no rain. I truly was prepared to be cold and wet all week so we were thrilled with the temperate weather!
We had the MOST fun at this totem pole park. The kids were glad to be off the ship and have some green space and honestly they just have so much fun together. We tried to recreate a totem pole with their faces and then they spent some time doing hand stand contests. They were so joyful and having so much fun that a random middle age guy saw us and told his wife- "That looks like fun! I'm in next round!" and he joined the contest. Ha.
We strolled over to the harbor to take a few pictures and look for fish.
Then Kent saw a fishing boat coming in so we followed it to the dock to see what all he caught and he was so nice. He let us see everything and also told us a place very close to see sea lions so the kids took off to the jetty.
This was such a huge win. They saw SO many sea lions so close up! Seriously so cool.
Back on the ship, everyone wanted to try out the go kart course!
So fun.
Another fun, fancy dinner and more pictures of cute kids.
For the most part, main course servings had not been huge on the ship at the seated dinners. One night we went out for Italian and none of us were really hungry but Kent and Mark ordered lasagna and got the most hilariously huge portions we had ever seen.
Jess caught this picture of the sunrise one morning- so pretty!
We were up and at 'em early in Juneau.
It was our helicopter day!!! Everyone was so excited.
That view though.
Flew over Mark Zuckerberg's yacht and companion boat!
Landed on a glacier! How cool is that? Clearly Kael was overdressed and had to take his hoodie off.
Everyone drank the glacier water and it was so good! The picture of the snow near the glacier looks dirty but the water was crystal clear. Just another instance of where the photos don't do it justice.
Kase contemplating life. Or just admiring the view. Or maybe trying to figure out how he could skim board on the water here. Who knows.
The colors were crazy.
Besties.
A core memory for sure for all of us.
The guy who makes it all happen.
Views going back into Sitka.
Of course we had to get Alaskan crab for lunch before we got on the ship!
Everyone tried it but these three loved it the most.
We were all wiped from an early morning but we knew the ship was going to be sailing through a glacier later that day so we sent the kids to nap on these awesome couches to save a prime viewing spot for us!
You guys, it was unreal. The colors were amazing.
We bought snacks and had bought a puzzle in town earlier that day so we just cozied up and spent all afternoon enjoying the view, hanging out together. The waiters brought hot chocolate around too.
The next day we stopped in Icy Strait Point. We had a whale watching tour and I didn't do a great job with pictures- mostly I took video but we saw a pod of whales bubble netting and got to follow them up and down the shore line for a couple hours. It was really neat.
We also got to see bears! A mama and her cubs were out in clear view for us.
And more sea lions!
It was a really neat morning and we had taken a gondola up into town and when we got back, we opted to take a nature walk back down.
Back on the ship we found our very favorite performer, Albert. We enjoyed checking the schedule each day to see where he was playing the piano and singing and would always go check it out.
He was a family favorite by the end of the trip for sure!
Ketchikan was the only day we had rainy weather. And that was just fine because we didn't have an excursion planned this day. The kids wanted to do some souvenir shopping and see the salmon ladder but that was really our only hopes for the day.
So imagine Kase's excitement when he saw a sign for a place to rent fishing poles!
And after a bit of a fight, he got one!!! There was a really nice guy near him showing him the ropes. So of course, Kase got one! Some of the other kids tried too but Kase was the only one who got one.
Another night, more pictures.
Kael was so fun mostly hanging out with the adults at night and it was so fun that he could get into places like this adults only spot to see the sunset. He also had a ton of fun trying roulette at the casino and playing black jack with Kent and Jess!
Kase liked to be cozy in the bed. Honestly our rooms were great.
One last night and one more round of pictures before getting off the ship in Victoria, British Columbia!
We didn't have much planned this night either but the kids were so excited for warm weather and open green space. The Parliament was so pretty! The kids of course did hand stand contests and races here.
How pretty is this spot? The flowers were gorgeous.
The harbor area was so neat too.
We explored the vibrant city. Found a puzzle shop for KK and Kase. Got some food, loved the city vibe and just had fun walking around.
Cute girlies in matching sweatshirts. They met some friends about halfway through the cruise and had fun hanging out with them each night. Kase would bring his hacky sack, or they would just sit in the stairwells and talk- but it definitely helped entertain the kids late into the evening!
The moon the last night was so pretty!
I don't think any of us knew what to expect as this isn't a typical vacation for us. We tend to gravitate towards warmer locations but when our friends invited us on this adventure we couldn't say no and I'm so glad we went! So many great memories made!
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