Alaska.

This post needs to rewind to Christmas with my family. My grandpa's Christmas gift to all of his children and grandchildren was a seven-day cruise to Alaska. Daniel and I were thrilled at the opportunity to go on a childless vacation to make irreplaceable memories with my sweet grandpa, my parents, siblings, aunt, uncle, and cousins. We could hardly wait for the end of June to arrive and our once in a lifetime trip to begin!

Now, fast forward to that long awaited summer date. It was a little bit bitter sweet. Although we were going on an amazing vacation, we were going to have to say good-bye to our baby girl for TEN DAYS! We had arranged for Ellisyn to fly to Arizona for ten days to stay with her Grandma and Grandpa Spicer. She was ecstatic to go spend so much time with her grandparents and cousins! Grandma Robbie flew to Idaho Falls where Daniel handed her off at the gate. My mama heart instantly missed her, especially because we didn't fly out for two more days. It felt so strange and empty to be at home without her there with us. It was even harder knowing that we would not have cell service while on the cruise ship, so I couldn't even talk to her one the phone the majority of the trip. Despite my selfish mommy ways, we are so grateful for family that jump in to help us and love Ellisyn just as much as we do. Once we sent Ellisyn off to Arizona, we were ready to pack, clean, and get on our way!

Our trip officially began on Saturday morning when we hopped in the car with all my family and drove to Boise to catch our flight to Seattle. The four hour drive passed quickly as we made silly music videos and expressed our excitement for the week ahead. It's funny how as soon as the kids aren't there, we become the silly kids we were growing up. The flight was quick and easy to Seattle. We didn't have to board the cruise ship until Sunday afternoon, so we had the remainder of Saturday to explore Seattle. After checking into the hotel, we rode the tracks to Pike's Market Place to explore downtown. We wandered the streets, ate some dinner, and did some light shopping. We also went down to the pier and saw the ocean and the famous farris wheel, although that was a little tainted after a seagull pooped on my head. Seattle was such a fun start to the week.

Sunday morning was welcomed with a breakfast buffet and a bus ride to the cruise ship, the Ruby Princess. The ship was absolutely amazing! It had swimming pools, food, hot tubs, food, shopping, food, theaters, food, sports games, and more food. As soon as we got on the ship, we were escorted to our first of many, many buffets. We explored the boat, unpacked our cabin, and then headed to dinner. Dinner on a cruise is so much fun, because it's a fancy three course meal with food that I normally wouldn't get the opportunity to taste. I think many of our favorite memories and laughs together were either at dinner, or at the midnight buffet before bed. It was really enjoyable to eat and talk with my family without having kids around!

The first stop on our cruise was in Ketchikan, Alaska. It was an absolutely beautiful city and scenery. We rented some golf carts and drove through the streets of the town. We saw some awesome totem poles, walking trails, and shops. It was such a nice, relaxing day exploring a new place.

The next stop on the agenda was Juneau, Alaska. Juneau was incredible. It's amazing to see such a big city settled in such a beautiful part of this world. The mountains and water are stunning! We hiked to a really neat glacier and did a whale watching boat tour. We saw Killer Whales, seals, and Humpback Whales. We  had heard mixed reviews on the whale watching, but it turned our to be really fun. It was really neat to see the animals in the wild like that, and we lucked out with a perfect sunny day. 

Skagway, Alaska was the final Alaskan city we saw. It was a small town, similar to the others, but pretty in its own way. We did a four hour zip lining excursion that was an absolute blast! I was a little nervous knowing we would be going on eleven zip lines and several suspension bridges, but it was so worth it! 

The final night of the cruise, we were able to stop in Victoria, Canada for a few hours. We wandered the streets, shopped, and ate hotdogs. Victoria is a really cute place, and it was so fun to see it!

Each night of the cruise there is a different show. We always made sure to make the show, because it was usually really good entertainment or a really good nap time. Either way, a cruise never disappoints! It was so exciting to see a new place and do so many fun activities, but the best part was being with the ones we love. We are so thankful for the time we got to spend with my family, especially my grandpa. He is so good to us and continually reminds us that "in the end, family is all that you've got". He's exactly right, and I'm so glad that in the end, I've got the best family. 

I was literally counting down the seconds until I got to hug and kiss on my sweet baby girl. However, her vacation was equally as fun. She had a blast swimming and playing all week long with some of her favorite people. We were able to call and FaceTime a couple times, and each time she hardly seemed to know we weren't around! I was a little worried she didn't miss me and her dad at all, but luckily when we picked her up she ran and gave us the sweetest hugs and kisses. It was fun to just be with Daniel for the week, but Ellisyn is such a a huge joy in our lives that its even more fun to be with her, too! We just love all of our people!