cruise – Kumquat & Peanut

eating, expressions, family, outings, play

Alaska Cruise: Day 8

June 23, 2019 No Comments

It’s Day Eight of our Alaska Cruise: Seattle

We woke up this morning back in Seattle. The ship docked at 7am and we were off the ship by 9.

Our driver dropped us off at Pike Place and we did some exploring this morning before our afternoon flight home.

When in Seattle, you gotta have some oysters on a half shell!

We also had some famous chowder (tried 4 kinds today!)

We found the the original Starbucks and the kids were not impressed.

The kids got some time to run around and play at the park and then we found a restaurant nearby for lunch and bathroom breaks.

The kids loved drawing on the butcher paper table covers.

Janie drew a rocket ship.

This is Peanut’s version.

Then it was off the the airport, back on the plane, and home again. What a fun trip! It’s always so nice to be with the family for an extended period of time and we saw so many new things along the way.

expressions, family, outings, play

Alaska Cruise: Day 7

June 22, 2019 No Comments

It’s Day Seven of our Alaska Cruise: Day at Sea > Victoria, BC

Most of today was at a sea as we sailed toward Victoria, BC. After breakfast, the kids went to the kids club for a couple hours and made photo frames.

Peanut also drew a picture of an airplane for Auntie Jia. He also added a bird, clouds, and mud.

We had lunch at the pool deck today and the kids spent part of the time playing with their stuffed animals by the window.

By 5pm, we arrived in Victoria, BC. We had the rest of the evening to explore this cute town and we did it on foot.

The first sight we passed was the British Columbia Parliament buildings.

We walked along the inner harbor until we found Chinatown.

We found a decent restaurant and enjoyed a comforting Chinese meal after 7 days of cruise ship food.

We walked back to the ship together and arrived at around 10:30pm. It was late but the sky was still blue!

Aaaaand what is this? A koala? A bear?

expressions, family, outings

Alaska Cruise: Day 6

June 21, 2019 No Comments

It’s Day Six of our Alaska Cruise: Ketchikan, AK

We are in Ketchikan today and had just enough time to have breakfast before heading outside.

Our window is always close to the port so we placed the friends at the window so they could see out the window while we were away.

Auntie Jia got each of the littles a polar bear that hugs your arm.

Janie got a harbor seal.

We booked a trolley ride today and hopped on for a quick ride around town.

Peanut got a front seat so he could see all the sights with an unobstructed view.

We stopped near a stream and the boys enjoyed watching Ankong play with the yo-yo he bought in town.

We also went looking for bears but they were all hiding today.

Back in town, we went to Creek Street to browse the shops built right over the creek that usually has lots of salmon running.

At dinner, Peanut played a mean game of Uno with Ankong but started to make up his own rules. He also had two servings of cocktail shrimp this evening!

Here is our towel animal for tonight. Is it a duck? A gorilla? We don’t know.

eating, expressions, family, gross motor, outings, play, videos

Alaska Cruise: Day 5

June 20, 2019 No Comments

It’s Day Five of our Alaska Cruise: Sitka, AK

This morning, we woke up in Sitka and saw lots of fishing boats out the window during breakfast.

Mama and Janie went out to the deck to get a better look at the view.

At the port, there was a free shuttle that takes you into the town.

It’s a cute little fishing community.

We walked to the Raptor Center, which was a little over a mile away. The kids started out well but then 3 of them ended up on shoulders for part of the way.

The kids also stopped to pick dandelions on the side of the road.

There was a mini walking trail through the forest next to the center and there was so much to see. We saw a carving of a hawk sticking out of a tree and different flowers and plants.

At the end of the trail, we found a stream that is supposed to fill up with salmon later this season.

We only saw baby fish on one side and the other side was good for skipping and throwing rocks.

Before heading back to the ship, the kids played at the library. They had a cute kids section and they also gathered flowers for the grownups.

Once back on the ship, Mama and Janie went to the back of the boat to see what the wildlife expert could show us. We saw sealions and jellies in the water as he set sail for the next town.

If you look carefully in the water, you can see little white discs floating in the water.

At dinner, the kids had a fancy watermelon sherbet.

Here’s our towel animal for the night. We couldn’t agree on what it is.

expressions, family, gross motor, outings, play, videos

Alaska Cruise: Day 4

June 19, 2019 No Comments

It’s Day Four of our Alaska Cruise: Hubbard Glacier

We arrived around noon and the excursion boat came by to pick up passengers that paid for a closer look around.

We arrived at Hubbard Glacier today and the ship took us pretty close to all the action.

The bow (front of the ship) was open for viewing.

The kids loved the open space and took full advantage of it.

It was hard for them to see the glacier but they had fun taking photos of each other.

They also served Dutch pea soup, which Janie really liked and finished a whole bowl!

This is a time lapse that was taken on the boat by the photographers on board. You can see the kids running around toward the bottom right.

Here is some of the ice breaking off the glacier and falling into the water.

It’s hard to see in this photo but there’s a bear on the shore (the brown speck to the left of the boat).

We also passed a group of harbor seals lounging on an iceberg.

In the evening, we had dinner in the Dining Room again and Peanut enjoyed the pineapple sherbet.

Here’s our towel animal for the evening!

The kids also had a late night in the game room. Janie learned how to play Battleship and the littles “helped out”.

eating, expressions, family, gross motor, outings, play, sleeping, videos

Alaska Cruise: Day 3

June 18, 2019 No Comments

It’s Day Three of our Alaska Cruise: Juneau, AK

This morning, it was business as usual. We had breakfast at the Lido Bar and then we went back to the observation deck to play.

The kids loved the “water elevator” on the ship.

One of the chess tables was free so Janie played a game with Dada.

For lunch, we ate at the taco bar that was by one of the pools.

Then there was just enough time to get in a hardy nap before we arrived in Juneau.

When we docked, the kids were excited to see where we ended up. We had been at sea for almost 2 days.

When we disembarked, we got a family photo while waiting for our dog sledding excursion to begin.

We all rode in a van up into the deep forest and arrived at a summer camp built for dogs training for the Iditarod Race. Look at all the dogs!!

Our driver and guide, Brittany, took us on a little tour and described how they train the dogs, how they get their care, and even fed us cookies and hot chocolate!

Then it was time to meet some of the dogs. There were 12 chosen to pull us today and they were all so excited to get started. One gave Peanut a giant kiss on the face.

Then we all got into a cart and off we went!

After the ride, we went to visit the puppies.

Dada held one of them while the kids said “hello” and petted him.

They also enjoyed feeding him treats!

We were all wet by the end but it was so much fun!

Back in town, the kids took one last photo together and then it was back on the boat!

expressions, family, gross motor, play, sleeping

Alaska Cruise: Day 2

June 17, 2019 No Comments

It’s Day Two of our Alaska Cruise: Day at Sea > Juneau, AK

This morning we were up early and the kids learned quickly that the day of the week changes in the elevator!

They also enjoy what they call the “water elevator” in particular.

After breakfast, we all gathered in the Observation Deck to play and relax.

It was rather cloudy outside most of the day but the kids didn’t care. They brought plenty of toys and games to keep themselves occupied.

We also went to the America’s Test Kitchen demonstration. Janie really enjoyed learning how to prepare salmon two different ways.

When we got back to our room mid-day, we found our basket filled with the fruits that we checked off last night on the card they placed on the table. The orange and apples did not last long before they were gobbled up.

In the afternoon, we went to Afternoon Tea in the Dining Room.

Janie enjoyed some of the English Tea and all the tasty treats on the tray.

They also went swimming in the pool, which was pretty wavy from the boat rocking back and forth.

This evening was “Gala Night” in the Dining Room so we all dressed up and had some family portraits taken.

It was really hard to get a photo of all the kids smiling at the same time.

When we came back from dinner, our room had been converted to “sleep mode” with a bunk bed and bat ray on the bed. This is so much fun!

expressions, family, outings, play

Alaska Cruise: Day 1

June 16, 2019 No Comments

It’s Day One of our Alaska Cruise: Oakland > Seattle > Holland America Cruise Terminal

Today we got up super early to catch our 7:10am flight from OAK > SEA (Seattle/Tacoma). The morning was a little wild with us being unable to find an Uber or Lyft driving to pick us up at 5:30 in the morning so Dada dropped us off with the van, we checked in our bags and got through security, and met Dada at the gate once he drove back home to catch a ride back to the airport.