Icy Straight Point, Alaska

Today we went on a marine wildlife and whale watching cruise (exceptional!) and then took a small detour into town and added a little nature tram at the end of the day! Brennen enjoys some "wildlife" before we head out on our whale watching cruise.

 There was just so much beauty all around.  If you love the beauty of nature, Alaska must be on your list of places to go. 

 Caught two fish playing around!

 First whale sighting.

 We were really lucky on our day and we probably saw 15 whales come up and we also saw a whale breech (jump up and splash back down on their back), which is pretty rare.  Of course, I missed that picture!

 This is what you are on the lookout for.  When you see the air spray, a whale will come up right after.

 We took the bus into the small Indian village, but that was pretty disappointing.  We we got to the drop off spot, we actually didn't get off the bus because there was a huge group of people waiting to go back and we thought we might never get back.  So we played on the beach for a while and then we decided to go on a nature tram later in the evening.

 Finding cool nature things...

 Our cruise ship from our little beach stop.

 The kids found little baby crabs on the beach.

 Tired kids after a long day!

Ketchikan, Alaska

Day one of the cruise is spent crusing.  Good thing for me, because I am in the middle of training for my Ironman and I needed to do a 5 hour bike ride:( I figure if I can do that on a stationary bike, I can do anything!  Day 2 was in Ketchikan, Alaska where we went on a wilderness exploration and crab feast. Here we are off to catch some crab.

 

 

We didn't get to eat the crab that we caught, but we did get to hold them.

 

 

Maya did NOT want to hold one, but she was forced into it and forced to smile.  I love this fake enjoyment:)

 
Enjoying the crab!!  It was so good.

We're on our way to Alaska!

Day one of our Alaskan adventure begins with flying into Vancouver, Canada.  On the morning before boarding the cruise ship, we went to the suspension bridge park to burn off some energy.  It was a really neat place where you spent your time walking across bridges through the tree tops. The kids really enjoyed it.

 A rare shot of these two being happy to be brothers!

 A little rest stop, while Brennen checks the map (he was a little obsessed!).

 I could not believe the clarity of the reflection.

 Main suspension bridge in the background.

A great start to our adventure!

A little gem!

I love finding surprise videos on my phone.  This one really made me laugh-the faces she can make!

Happy 11th, my K-man!

Home for a day, then back out again to celebrate another birthday!  Kellen chose King's Pointe Waterpark for his day of fun.

 I love this picture!

 Kellen brought his friend Micah along.