Once again, time has slipped by and it's been almost four months since I last blogged! I've been meaning to try and catch up for weeks, but get a little overwhelmed trying to remember everything that's happened since I last posted.  So, rather than trying to do a recap, I'll just pick up with current events and go from there.

The biggest thing that's happened recently is that we took an Alaskan cruise on the Disney Wonder with the family. We left last Monday (Labor Day) and returned today. The trip got off to a little rocky start. There were two cruise ships leaving out of Vancouver that day, but due to the holiday there were only three custom agents to process over 5,000 people! It took us an hour and a half to get through, but we were lucky. The rest of the family got there about an hour after we did and it took them over three hours! Thankfully everyone kept their cool and we were a pretty happy bunch heading out of port.

We had gone shopping for princess dresses for the girls and were disappointed at the price and quality offered, so of course Nana volunteered to make their dresses. Mei-Mei was the princess from "Frozen" and Isobel the princess from "Brave". She was impressed that Merida carried a bow and arrow!

Once aboard, we quickly learned that much of our day would revolve around Food, Glorious Food! From the Disney character breakfast to the adults only formal dining room, our head server Paula and all the other servers made sure we were taken care of in grand style!

Our first stop was at Tracy Arm. Although we didn't get off the ship, we did get up close and personal with twin glaciers and hundreds of sea lions.

The next day we got off the boat in Skagway. The weather wasn't too cold, but the wind was pretty brisk. There was lots and lots of shopping, but history too. Abby, Claudia, Isobel and I took a walking tour of the town and learned about the beginnings of the Gold Rush.

Juneau was our next stop and we were surprised at how small it is. Pretty small for a state capitol! There really wasn't much to see in town, but we did take a trip out to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was a little sobering to stand in the visitor's center and realize that in the 1930's you could have touched the glacier from that vantage point, but it is now over a mile and a half away. In another 75 years it may be gone altogether. 

That sign on the bench warns people not to carry any open containers of food because of the bear danger. When we returned to the ship the girls wanted to dive into the pool and go down the slide. This is them:

This is the lifeguard:

Brrrr! Ketchikan was our next stop and my favorite. Very quaint and pretty. And very, very close to where the ship docked. We attended the Lumberjack Show – a little hokey and touristy, but enjoyable nevertheless!

The rest of the crew went back to the ship, but my sister and I decided to explore further. I'm so glad we did! We found the charming Creek Street and at the end of it, a fish ladder. We kept on walking upstream and were astounded to see thousands and thousands of salmon swimming upstream to spawn! What a sight!!

I have never seen so many salmon in my life. You couldn't even see the river bed in places!

So there you have it – a wonderful family vacation, but it's certainly nice to be back home in our own beds. I did actually get some knitting done, although not as much as I expected. I promise to be back soon and catch everyone up on my creative ventures.