Alaska 2011

Dave's dad took his children and their spouses on a 7 day Alaska Cruise.  We flew to Seattle and boarded the Golden Princess.  We cruised to Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and Victoria, Canada. 

Here is the whole group on the ship:

In Juneau we took a tram to the top of a mountain.  Then we went on a 3 hour hike where we saw bald eagles soaring above and below us.

Mendenhall Glacier.

  

In Skagway we rode the White Pass Railway

Dena tried to mess up Dave's hair.  haha

Dad Grose loved every minute of the train ride.

The town of Skagway

The next day we toured Glacier Bay.  Dena got amazing photos of it all:

 My photos start with Ketchikan, our last stop in Alaska because I dropped my camera into the ocean there.  Dena let us use her spare camera, so at least I have some of those pictures to put on my blog.  The first half of these were actually taken by Dena.

Here is our ship and a Holland America ship docked in Ketchikan.

Probably the highlight of the trip for me was our kayaking adventure in Ketchikan.

We had to don these plastic skirts which fit over the opening of the kayak so we wouldn't get wet and freeze.

Here is the spot where my camera is - about 35 feet below us.

We saw more bald eagles than I have ever seen in my life as we paddled over to Eagle Island.

Dena got a great shot of the purple starfish clinging to the rocks.

Heading over to Eagle Island.

Check out this bald eagle sitting on the tree.

This eagle looked like it may have had an injured wing.

I didn't realize Alaska had rain forests.

Dena got a great shot of the pinecones on this tree.

You just have to have a picture of yourself with a totem pole if you go to Alaska.

I really liked Ketchikan.

We only had about five hours there before we had to get back on the ship.

Creek street.

Back on the ship it was formal night for dinner.  Our two waiters Gerald and Patty were the best.  Gerald cut up the Baked Alaska for dessert.  That was after a yummy meal of lobster and shrimp.

We ate dinner with all the fam every night in the Canaletto dining room.  Lunch and breakfast were at the buffet, which we all quickly referred to as the "trough".  We also met at the trough to play games, the favorite being "the name game".

The last stop of the cruise was Friday night in Victoria, Canada.  It was Canada Day and the streets were so crowded, eh?

We walked over to Chinatown.

I really liked how they had the Parliament building all lit up. 

You can't really tell, but Dave is in front of our cruise ship, which was also lit up.

We watched fireworks from the ship.  Oh, Canada!

We also had virgin Daquiris and Margaritas.  Somehow it's just not the same if you have to wear your coat while drinking them.

The final day the ship took us back to Seattle.  After dropping off our luggage at the airport we took a quick trip on the light rail over to Pike Place Market to watch the vendors throw fish.

One last meal - fish and chips and chowder with the whole gang (except Dale and Becky).  Then it was off to the airport to head home.

Thank you, Dad Grose, for a wonderful trip! 

Logan turns two!

This little guy could not have a sweeter disposition.  His birthday was celebrated in his Grandma and Grandpa Mason's backyard.  He loved his cupcakes.

Logan is quite the book lover.  Ashley says he slept with one of the books we gave him.

Olivia's hair looked like feathers.

Ashley gave Logan this ABC Book she had printed.  Every page has Logan doing something with a letter of the alphabet.  I love it.

The Mason's have a great view. We all gathered there to watch the Founder's Day fireworks later that evening. 

Luckily Terry stopped the boys from going over the edge of a huge drop-off.  They were being pretty crazy that night.

Jack took this picture of Logan.  Pretty good.

Kathy Mason with her three grandsons.

The Mason's gave Logan this Toy Story Big Wheel.  He loved it.

Fireworks bursting right in front of you at eye level are the best.   We told Logan they were shooting them off for his birthday, haha.

Olivia's First Birthday!

Olivia celebrated her first birthday in her backyard.  The birthday girl couldn't have been any cuter!

Reunion Time!

Last weekend was the annual Niederhauser Camping Reunion.  Carrie and Scott were in charge this year and it was held at East Canyon Resort.  Scott's parents have a time-share there and so we were able to use a group camping site.  Dave, Alex and I got up there Thursday evening.  We were just in time for smores around the campfire.

The river next to our campground was swollen and raging.  I was saying prayers the entire time that no little kid would fall in.  We were blessed that none of them even got close to it.

In the picture above, Steve demonstrates the proper way to hold your mouth while looking at craters of the moon through Dave's telescope.  Both Steve and Mike had very useful apps on their phones for identifying the constellations.

Dad and Mom enjoy the campfire:

Cute girls!

The next day we got to enjoy all that the resort had to offer.

There was tennis:

Shuffleboard:

Miniature golf:

And of course, the biggest attraction, swimming:

Nana and Billy kept cool in the shade:

Rustling up some breakfast:

The little kids liked the playground, too:

Carrie and I took a little hike and I took this picture of our campground.  Ours is the group in the background:

Our campfire site:

We really enjoyed this canopy over the picnic tables that the resort provided:

And what would a family reunion be without all that delicious food:

I didn't get any pictures of fishing, but quite a bit of it was done over at the dam next to our resort.  There were even quite a few dam fish caught.  (hee hee -I love dam jokes, like the ones in the Chevy Chase Vacation movie)

Thank you Scott and Carrie!  It was a memorable reunion, for sure!