We had the amazing opportunity go on a 7 day Alaskan cruise with Lance's family in August. We were a little overwhelmed with the idea of taking all 3 girls but we had some really incredible experiences. I'll try to recreate the fun as best I can!
We decided to drive our family from Salt Lake to Seattle, instead of flying, and it worked out well. We split the 12 hour drive into 2 days each way, and no one got too tired of the car. It was so exciting to meet up with the rest of the Brunsons at the pier- we were all ready for an adventure~
There's our ship- the Norwegian Pearl!
Since we had a couple hours to kill before boarding, we had lunch at a yummy seafood restaurant right on the dock.
The big kids were ready to start some mischief...
Boarding went smoothly, and we were all ready to explore the ship!
First things first- we had to get the safety training out of the way. The kids got a lot out of it...
Lance's parents got a room with a deck that was a little bigger, so we congregated there most of the time, and the kids spent a lot of time playing there.
The other rooms were a little...cramped...Reagan slept next door with Meagan and Grace which was wonderful, but with Daryn's cot on the floor and Maddie's playpen, not to mention clothing and luggage for 5 people for 10 days, we had about 10 square feet of floor space. Not to worry! If we weren't sleeping or getting ready, we didn't spend much time there. Except one afternoon when we were too tired to move, we just crashed and watched tv.
My days started very early- Maddie woke up at 7:30 am Utah time every day, which was 5:30 most days on the cruise. I can't complain because the girls slept very well all night long (it was so nice and dark!), and so did I- our bed was soooo comfortable. But once I was up, I was up, so I volunteered to take the morning shift with Maddie and let Lance sleep.
They had lots of fun activities for the kids on the ship, and there weren't very many of them- some people thought we were a little crazy. I know because a few of them told me! I can't blame them. It was so worth it, though. Maddie loved the Guppies activities she got to go to when she wasn't napping.
We departed on a Sunday, and Monday was a day at sea. We dressed up for formal evening that day and took some pictures. My kids cooperated 0%, so that was awesome.
This was literally the best one of our family, out of about 15.
I'm loving my bloated, 8 week pregnant look I've got going on. Yay! I can't complain, because I didn't feel sick at all and I had quite a selection of food to choose from.
Later that night, we hit up karaoke with the older kids. After a little trouble finding a song that they would know (let's just say the listed was...dated...), we finally settled on "Brave" for a group song and then Reagan and Grace rocked "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" from Frozen as the last number of the night and it was really freaking adorable.
Best buddies!
The next afternoon was our first stop, in Juneau! We were splitting up on the excursions for this day- Lance's parents really took one for the team and took ALL 4 of the younger kids (ages 4, 3, 1, 0) to a glacier walk and a fish hatchery. I can't believe they not only survived, but had a great time! Getting everyone off the boat was the hardest part, I think.
Beautiful view of where we were docked.
Bus ride!
Daryn and Ander became best buddies on this day and it was really adorable.
Lots of fish, apparently.
Totem pole up close.
I love this cute little poser!
Beautiful view of the Mendenhall Glacier for them! Best Gigi in the whole world.
While they were busy with the little kids, the parents and the big kids were on an adventure of our own! We had originally planned on a kayaking adventure across Mendenhall Glacier Bay, but as it approached I was a little nervous. Meagan was working with a fractured foot, and I was really short on energy! As luck would have it, it was too windy so they had to cancel the kayaking. They replaced it with rafting across the lake and down the river, which was a million times better in my opinion. It was the coolest excursion ever. Side not, we dressed warm because we weren't sure what to expect, but we had the most perfect weather you could imagine. It literally did not rain a single time on us in Alaska. It was warm and sunny every day. What a gift! So we are wearing our coats in these pictures, but you can see our guide is in a sleeveless shirt, shorts, and sandals- he said it was one of the warmest days of the year.
The trip across the lake was beautiful. We got great views of the glacier and saw bald eagles flying and salmon spawning. Our guide Riley was the best and took us to his own special spots.
After we crossed the lake we were going down the river for a while- the whole thing took about 2 hours, I think.
Picture from the rapids!
We made it safely to the end and had the most incredible time.
Then we hopped in the van that was taking us over to the salmon bake to meet up with Brent and Joy and the other kids for dinner! Dinner was delicious, and there was a stream nearby jam packed with spawning (and dying) salmon and a beautiful waterfall just a short walk up the path.
It was such a great day! Things worked out so well, and we couldn't have asked for cooler experiences. Back to the ship and I think we all slept hard that night.
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