Monday, August 10, 2009

California

So Me and Dave, Steph and Darren and their 3 boys, and Dan and Danielle and their 2 girls all went to Los Angeles, California for the weekend. We had a really fun time just basically hanging out and going to the beach everyday! We did make a stop at Downtown Disney, as well, and had a fun time looking around there!

When we first got there, we went to California Pizza Kitchen to eat. Ali and Aubrey were posing great for us!

 
 
  

Before leaving, Dave had to get a pic of me on the CPK delivery bike.

  

 While at Downtown Disney, we stopped at the Lego store there. Dan and Dave, of course, had to pose with the Darth Vader.

  
  
  

 This is a classic "Dave" moment. While browsing through the stores, Dave decided to try on Snow White's outfit and wig. Doesn't he just look adorable?

  

 While at the beach, Cameron, Cole, and Caden all wanted Dave and Dan to bury them and form it into something. I don't have a picture of Cameron...I forget what he was. Cole wanted to be a buff man and Caden wanted to be an octopus. So, their wish was granted...

  
 
  
 
  

 The boys all surprised us with these bike/cart thingys. We had 2 of them and got to ride around the streets on them. It was lots of fun!

  

 On the last day, Darren decided he wanted to start digging a HUGE hole in the sand. He was just digging. Then Dave and him decided it would be cool to dig a tunnel. It turned out to be really awesome! They were able to get all 3 boys through a couple of times. Even Dave and Darren crawled through!

  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  

 Well, the tunnel eventually collapsed...so sad. So we then decided to bury Cameron, Steph, Caden, Darren, and Cole. It was pretty funny. They actually ended up using this picture for their Christmas cards, adding Santa hats and saying, "We've been buried up to our necks this year". Funny stuff.

  

 We had a fun time in Cali. We try to go every summer! This next summer we are going to try to rent out a camping spot that's just a walk away from the beach! It would definitely change things up!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Ship Moments and Anchorage, Alaska

Ship Moments
We had a lot of fun memories from being on the ship! Here are a few for ya!

On the last day, we had a dessert called Baked Alaska. It was really good! I forget why the waiter brought out a FREAKING TON of it later, but he did, and so we got some pictures trying to get Dave to eat it! Dave wonders why he's always in pictures trying to eat enormous foods (we do have quite a bit of pictures with him like that!)

 
 

On one formal night, Dave and I dressed up, and we matched! We didn't intentionally do it, but we did look so great together when we realized!

 

 One awesome part of the ship was the FREE ice cream! Here we are enjoying it with my niece, Natalie, and my nephew, Zack.

 

Kyle is a little cutie. He loved my hat and kept trying to get it!

 

On a couple of occasions, there were kareoke nights on the ship. Cheri, Heather, and Jenny sang on the first night, and Laura and me sang on the other night. It was funny when I sang because the theme was "love songs". If you know me, you know I like to make things interesting, so I decided to change up the mood (there was too much slow songs and not enough action). I sang a Dixie Chicks song, "Goodbye Earl". If you haven't heard it, I recommend listening to it. It's a pretty silly song to sing, especially on love song night.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 The ship had a mini putt-putt course that we decided to try out. It was fun! We didn't do too bad! It was difficult with the strong wind blowing our balls off-course, though!

 

 

Dave and I brought our "Settler of Catan" game to play. Heather and Todd (pictured) introduced us to the game, and we've since introduced it to others. It's a great game!

 

Another formal night...

 
 
 

 All the sisters together! I love getting together with my family!


  
 Anchorage
Anchorage was an awesome place to see! We got to see a bit before Dave and I headed back to Las Vegas. We did miss out on the rest of the family then going to North Pole, Alaska, where my sister lives, but we cherish the memories we made when we were together!

At the Alaska Native Heritage Center, where they show you the different tribes that lived, and some still live, in the area. They had these huge whale rib bones in the ground, too! Crazy.


Walking around Anchorage, we took pictures at a picture spot after eating lunch at a fish place behind it!


I think this was one of the last meals we all had together. Then we all started going our separate ways = (

 

 We found a glacier that we were able to hike to! It is called Byron's Glacier, and it was an awesome site to see! The hike was a nice one, and the end result was amazing, as you can see from the pictures. The glacier is at the very back of the picture with the blue. The melted water from it ran down into a river (which the water was FREEZING cold!). You can see the tunnel the water carved out of the snow to pass through it. All the boys hiked over to it and later, Heather, Jenny, and I decided we wanted to see it! It was so massive!

In this first picture, Jenny is about to cross part of the water-strewn path. We were hopping along rocks the whole way to get back and forth, it was pretty difficult at times. Well, I believe, right after this picture was taken, Jenny was crossing to Dave and lost her footing and stepped in the water (only ankle deep, if that). Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but this is ICE COLD MELTED GLACIER WATER! Jenny said her foot felt a bit numb, but she just trucked on! haha. It was pretty funny.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

(I know someone took a picture of all the sisters...whoever did, I couldn't find the picture anywhere, so please email me it!!!)

In this next picture, we stopped along a lookout-type point to try to see a different glacier, but it was too foggy to see it. It was also sooo freezing cold and windy that we only stayed outside long enough to take the picture and then ran back in the car! Gracie, the little one without a coat, is obviously more used to the Alaska weather from living up in North Pole!


Another stop we made was to an Alaskan wildlife conservation center. They had wolves, deer, moose, bears, caribou, and reindeer (which are just domesticated caribou!). The animals had huge spaces to roam, some of them having a few acres to do so! It was cool when we got to see them up close though!

 
 
 

Our Alaska trip was so amazing and such a blast! Thanks mom and dad for planning everything and for making it all happen! We love you so much! I love being able to spend time with my family! Thanks for all the great memories everyone!!!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Skagway and Glacier Bay, Alaska

Skagway
Skagway was an interesting place. Actually, the town of Skagway didn't have much to offer except a cool hike to a waterfall. Dad, Jenny, Chris, Heather, Todd, Dave, and me all hiked to the waterfall. Everyone else stayed behind and got them and their kids ready for the day!


We weren't content with being that far away from the waterfall, so we decided to climb the rocks (which, at times, was quite a task!) and get closer!

 

 

Victory!

 

We had all planned to go on 4x4s in Skagway, so we had to take an hour long ferry to Haines, Alaska to where the 4x4s were. This pic is one of our ship, the Island Princess.

 

Dave wanted to take a picture of the map of Haines, Alaska. As you can tell, there wasn't much to offer there either!

 

Time for the 4x4s!!! We all took turns driving and some people switched around. I got pictures of everyone except Josh and Laura and Natalie! I wasn't able to get any pictures of them because they were either in front of us or too far behind. It was hard enough taking any pictures because it was sooo bouncy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family photo! We stopped halfway up the mountain at a lodge for lunch and hot chocolate! It was very yummy! Isn't our family cute?!

 

 

Along the way, we were able to grab some photo opportunities!

 


 

At the very top of the trail, there was a big meadow and the view was amazing!

 

All the sisters got together to take a picture!

 

 

While in the meadow, Todd couldn't resist frolicking/running/hopping really fast down the mountain. It was funny to watch! I'm surprised he didn't just start rolling down! It was pretty steep!

 

As we headed back down the mountain, there were some pretty photo ops, so I took advantage of them!

 

 

Glacier Bay
Glacier Bay was awesome! We were able to get really close to glaciers that you can only access by boat! We were also able to get so close to them and saw some good chunks falling to the water, too! It is definitely a different site to see! In this first picture, you can see the glacier from further away, as we approached it.




I thought all these birds hanging out on a piece of ice was cool, so I took a picture of it! =)

 

A closer view of the glacier!

 

My brother-in-law, Josh, took this next picture. You can see the glacier's size in comparison to the yacht next to it! He's actually a really talented photographer! You can see more of his work at http://galleries.joshtrefethen.com.

 

We're winding down to the end. Probably only one, maybe two, posts left of Alaska! Lots of pictures were taken and I want to share them all!!!