Alaska...the Big Post...part 1

It's been one week since we got back into town and things are indeed settling down. Sam misses Papa, Grandma, and Aunt TT (which is probably affecting his nighttime sleep patterns) but appears to be having fun at school. Mom and Dad are not thrilled to be back at work, but this is a three-day weekend, which works. Our Alaskan voyage was pretty fun. Seas weren't choppy very much, the food was great, and plentiful, and as was said before, everyone loved the Sam-man. We're not too worried about his people skills, though a bit later in life we'll need to explain to him the importance of not talking to strangers.

The journey started off with a day at sea, followed by several hours cruising slowly around Glacier Bay. The next day brought about Juneau for a few hours, the at night we sailed to Sitka for the better part of a day, and our last stop in Alaska was Ketchikan the following day. Our final day brought us to Canada for a few hours, enough to see some pretty flowers and fireworks.

Oh yeah, purpose of the trip: to celebrate Papa's 60th! Dad's B-day was in there too and it was a nice consolation for him to get double servings of shrimp cocktail and king crab legs for dinner.

We're happy to answer questions, but we'll let the photos speak for themselves...

Sam starts the cruise off with Aunt TT in the pool.

Why not spin spin spin with Aunt TT?

Of course he's excited to be on a ship!

Breakfast is over! Yup, ready to move on.

Sam has a great time playing in the morning.

Entering Glacier National Park.

This bloody Brit tried to take our photo all week long. TAKE THAT YA BLOKE!

Sam and Mom on the lookout up on deck 10. Of course, Sam has a conversation with a stranger.

Mom and Sam are all smiles in the Park.

Sam and Dad pose with the Glacier National Park ranger.

Glaciers (and ice) everywhere.

A smaller cruise ship is dwarfed by a glacier.

Marjorie calves! This is the best of 20 or so photos we got.

The sun on Marjorie Glacier really brought out the blue.

Dad's artsy shot from the Promenade Level.

Alaska...the Big Post...part 2

We took soooo many photos at each of our stops that it was painfully difficult to narrow the field down to the best. By the way, it's not easy to get a photo of a salmon in mid-jump...it's a good thing cameras are digital or we would have gone through 4 rolls of film just to get one of those.

Sam made great use of the window sill for playing.

The Mendenhall Glacier is sadly receding, like pretty much every other glacier in the world.

You can see the cruise ship way back on the left.

In Sitka, Sam climbs a rock.

Dinner time!

There are a ton of spawning salmon in the river!

In Ketchikan, it was a rainy day but quite pretty.

There's a jumping salmon in there, click on the pic to see it.

Bed time? No way.

In Victoria BC, the ship looks massive.

A long exposure at twilight leads to surreal lighting at Butchart Gardens.

The Cruise to Alaska

When considering taking a week-long cruise with a youngster, worry should not be a concern...though when we got close to taking the Sam-man on the past week's getaway, that was a big part of our discussions. Would he get sick on the boat? Would he enjoy himself?

Well, he never got sick and by our observations, he had a blast (as did the rest of us). Add to that the fact that just about every worker on the ship knew him by name by the end of the cruise, and yeah, we'll go ahead and say that it was a very cool cruise.

More to follow later, but just to whet your appetite...

Sam carries a cone to stack on others at the bow of the ship.

At the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau.

Sam rests up on the bus ride to Butchart Gardens so he can be awake for the fireworks.

It's The School Pic-a-nic, Boo Boo

On schedule for Sunday was a picnic for the students at Sam's school, so we headed out to Bellevue for it. And what was there in the parking lot??? A digger...and free access to it. Sam shrieked with delight when he saw it, and that triggered the rest of us to look. We could have probably headed home after that...but we stayed to meet Sam's teachers and for him to cruise around for a while. He caught a "fish" in the wading pond, played ball with some other kids, and ate most of a hotdog. Then it was time for the play structure which Sam has pretty well mastered at this point. His parents can just watch him enjoy himself now.

Must...drive...digger...

Mom's there to help!

What a great start to the picnic.

Blowing the whistle he won in the fishing pond.

Wheeeee!

Gazing skyward, he ponders the poor taste of the bubble solution.

Racing to see Grandma.

So they could sit together for like...10 seconds...then he was up and away.

Oh yeah, I slide on my own.

Sam appears put-off by the girl who picked a fight with him.

Another young girl plays nicely with him though. Is he enamored?

Hello there.

Hey, good lookin'.

Not sure if he's orating to the masses or what.

He has fun at the water portion of the park.

Seafair!

Our one non-Sam post is all airborne today. Planes and birds. The A-10 Warthog (Tankkiller) is one of Dad's favorite planes, with the SR-71 being the all-time fave. It's designed for Close Air Support of ground troops. It's got a Gatling gun in the front and also can shoot missiles. It packs a punch. Then there were the Blue Angels who always thrill the crowds with their high-speed maneuvers. It was a partly sunny day so the clouds and exhaust made some of the photos less than great. Here are the best of the best.

The A-10 pilot should have waved.

Here the A-10 (woo!) flies with a prop plane.

After the Blue Angels first pass, this eagle flew right in front of us. Some said it was a young bald eagle, but we're not sure.

The Angels put on quite a show...

Including a high speed descent.

And some great technical flying.

The Lake Union boaters have the best seat in the house.

Skill.

Until next year.