Alaska, baby!!!!!

Yay....cruise time!!!!! the day finally arrived...we booked this sucker like a year ago, so we've been waiting a while. So the following blogs are somewhat divided, in order to categorize things a bit...let me tell you, i have over 800 pics (plus about 300 from Pammer, and i haven't even seen Theresa's pics yet to know what she snapped that i didn't), so that makes it a bit difficult to choose a few to blog about. Anyway, i hope you get a good overview of our trip, i'll try to explain things the best I can...and shortly, there will be many photo albums on facebook with a lot more pics, so you can see more there.

Whew..i'm tired! Let's go on vacation! Ok so here's our ship (seems i did steal the right pic off the website before!!). This is me and Theresa at the port in Vancouver just after we got dropped off by Chad. We are about to go through customs and security and head to the boat!!!!!!

On the ship...welcomed with champagne!

These next 2 pics are from later in the week, when we got all dolled up for dinner!!

Here's Pammer getting slightly windblown on our balcony!!!!!! LOL!!
This was at our first port, Ketchikan. We did a Duck Tour (don't make fun) which was the perfect excursion because it was raining, and we stayed dry. For those unfamiliar....this vehicle that Pam and Theresa are posing infront of is our bus...or is it a boat?? Oh WAIT, it's both!! yeppers, an amphibious vehicle...so we got a tour of the town by bus and then headed into the water and got a tour of the waterfront!

Here I am chillin' on the boat with a cup of coffee...notice the toque, yeah it was a bit chilly but nice when the sun came out
Me and Pammer with the Mendenhall glacier in the background
Oh wait, here I am back on the ship...me and Rebs
Me and Rebs hard at work
This picture was taken on the Jeep tour that went up to the Yukon (more pics of that later)!!!

My first trip to the Yukon!!
And then back to Alaska!
Back on the boat, in the sports bar, with AMAZING chicken wings (we had them at least 3 times) and our helmet of beer...it was the cheapest way to have alcohol on the boat
Me, in one of many elevators on the ship

Me and Theresa and random heads in Juneau Checking the map in Ketchikan...the town was so small, could i really get lost??
WHAT? Skagway has a starbucks???? Well, not really, but there was a place that "proudly brewed" it (at really expensive prices...but we went anyway!!)
Ah the jeep tour...this was fun. There were about 5 jeeps and we had a guide who talked to us by radio, pointing out things, giving us interesting facts, etc. Like you saw above, we went up into the Yukon. Then we did some 4x4ing which was sweet, before coming back to Alaska
And then, before we knew it, the week was over and we were back in Vancouver. Theresa and I showing our sad faces.
Ok, on to some more scenic pics!!!!

out and about on the ship

Ok, so now you've seen a bunch of pics, some scenic stuff, some general sightseeing and fun stuff. Here are some more pics, mostly from our room, to give you an idea where we chillaxed for the week. First of all, Pammer and I had our bags temporarily held, cuz we tried to smuggle liquor on board. Apparently they have xray machines that detect "liquids" and our bags got tagged...as did many others...lol there was a long line up of people waiting to get their bags back!!! And not to worry, our liquor was in safekeeping for the week and we got it back at the end of the trip...that's how they force you to buy their really expensive drinks on the boat, if you want anything alcoholic. Ah room service...what a beautiful invention that is!! We ordered room service a lot, because we were lazy. Many mornings we had a tray such as this delivered to our room, so we could eat in peace, watch the scenery and laze around. We would also order room service in the afternoon, for a light snack. Sometimes it was just coffee and hotchocolate, sometimes it was pizza. The menu wasn't too extensive, but it was still fun to order and have someone bring us food!!! Wish I had that option at home...lol
When our housekeeping boys (victor and victor) would come turn our beds down for night (sweet), they would also bring us new towels (again a delightful service i wish i had at home) They would also make us cute little towel animals and leave us some mints
Check out our bathroom!!!!!!!!! It was huge!! We had a full sized tub!!
Ah yes one of the other delightful things on board...ice cream parlour...i think we went on a daily basis...or sometimes 2x/day. They usually only had a choice of chocolate, vanilla or strawberry (either in hard or soft serve) but one day they had coffee flavored ice cream...it was heavenly! You could also add sprinkles, m&m's or gummy bears.

Welcome to our room!!! (thanks Pammer for the kind hello!) There's theresa behind her coming in the door. Like I mentioned, we had a mini suite...however, much to our delight, we were upgraded to the suite at the FRONT of the boat just a few weeks before departure. Our room was awesome, with a big bed and a couch that pulled out to a bed, a big patio door, nice good sized balcony...and you've already seen the bathroom!! There was also a big closet and a "getting ready" area (i don't know how else to describe it)

See, more of our room, looking the other way, out towards the balcony
Theresa, all set up in her chair, with her book, able to look out the window at the scenery whenever she wanted!
Here's Pammer out and about on the boat
And here I am lounging on the bed
Ahhh...cruising...good times, good times...!!!!!

be back later.....!!!

Pammer, Theresa and I are off for some holiday fun...cruising to Alaska!!!!! Tune in after Labour Day for many photos and stories of our adventures!!!!! I don't really know if this is actually what our ship will look like; i stole this photo off the NCL website- i'll let you know in Sept!!!

a weekend of cousins and kids!!

On Friday night, my cousin Susan and her 3 year old daughter Alaina, who live in Calgary, came to stay with me. First of all that was exciting because they were my first "guests" in my new place (got to pull out new towels and everything!!). Second of all, that was exciting because we headed out Saturday morning to catch the ferry for Vancouver Island, to go visit Susan's sister Karla(who is also my cousin, of course), her husband Brian, and their little munchkin Zander (almost 9 months) who live in Courtenay. The ferry was a fiasco in and of itself, suffice to say things didn't work out exactly as planned and it became a very expensive weekend, but no worries, there is no price tag on family time, so it was all good. Here are some pictures (many pictures, because the kids are just way too cute!) from our weekend of fun. I have realized that i didn't really take pictures of my cousins! whoops, sorry girls, i just got distracted by your adorable little kidlets!!!! enjoy!!!

Here's Alaina, chillin' on my couch as we got ready to leave for the ferry
And baby Zander
Alaina and I picked some peas in Karla's garden
Showing off the fruits of our labour
We spent some time on Sunday afternoon out on Brian and Karla's sailboat!! It was a great day, a nice gentle breeze for a mellow, relaxing sail. I was hanging out on the bow for a bit, so yes, those are my feet.

Skipper Brian
Zander checking out the water
and getting a bit windblown....lol!!
One of the few pics of my cousin Susan...hey cuzzy!!
After sailing, we came back home and got ready to meander our way back to Nanaimo, to take me back to the ferry (i had to work monday morning, so i had to come home sunday night....). Here are a few shots from around the house...Zander hanging out on the pot...and playing with tp

And chewing on Karla's ski pass...mmmm...plastic...
We spent some time hanging out at the hostel that Karla and Brian own (by the way, this is my first attempt at adding a link, so i hope it works...). Karla gave Alaina some sidewalk chalk, so when she and I weren't drawing princesses (i should have takend a picture, they were awesome!), we taught her how to play hopscotch
On the way to the ferry on Sunday we drove down the coast and stopped in Parksville for supper and checked out the sandcastle competition that was underway. There were some pretty spectacular creations!!

and of course, Alaina wanted to get in on the action and started making her own creation

Meanwhile, Zander had a good time just chillin'
and then down to the waters edge where curious little babies find things like seaweed to grab

And Alaina spent her time throwing rocks

and finally, a little love between cousins!!

So there's my weekend excursion. It was fantastic to see my cousins (it's been a while) and play with their kids (who are adorable) and visit some places i've never been before!!