A Birthday and Back to School.

Coming back from vacation was a serious jolt.  We came home ON Marin's actual birthday, the 21st....and of course we wished our sweet girl a very happy 8th birthday.  I know, can you even believe she is EIGHT?!

 I had to jump right back into making dinners after not cooking a single meal or lifting a finger for a whole week.  It was harsh, haha!

 When you have a little girl, you often find things like this in your house.

 And these two started school just a few days later!!  After doing a little school shopping and having an eye exam for new glasses, these two were ready to roll.  Marin is in third and Owen is in Kindergarten this year.  Right?!

 And Rosie came to help mama pick some wild plums.  She had such a great time, what a cute helper.

She is totally rocking those piggy tails!

 Owen was a GREAT plum picker!

 And on Saturday, we celebrated the birthday girl!  I've told my children that they can have "friend parties" when they turn 5, 8, 12, and 16.  So....this year was busy with Owen turning 5 and Marin turning 8.  Marin loved her party and then they were off to Cherry Hill for swimming.  

 She got a tablet...and that's been, ummmm....interesting.  

 My darling girl.  She loves those shoes.

 This boy.  He is the cutest and funniest boy there is.  He also drives me to brink of insanity.  I'm not sure how he can do both so well.

 More shoes.

It was one busy week after an incredibly relaxing vacation!

Alaska {Part Two}

Wednesday was Glacier Bay, and it was really the only rainy day we had on the whole cruise.  Talk about lucky, right?  So, yes, it was terrifically rainy, and pretty cold.  We actually both wore our fleece's and rain slickers to go outside.  While we couldn't see the entire path of the glaciers, we could certainly see the front of them jutting into the icy waters.  There is something so peaceful about standing in the cold rain and staring at a thousand-year-old river of ice.  A glacier that is dying; a small relic of the land that breaks away piece by piece and falls into the water that created it.  It's so primal and real and silent.  I read once that silence holds many answers.....and I believe it.

I know, just pictures of ice, right?!  

The black to the left was also a glacier, actually.  A very, dirty glacier.

Ketchikan was Thursday.  Ketchikan is such a CUTE town, we loved it!  We didn't have a whole lot left to spend for excursions, and the town was so beautfiul to explore by itself anyway, so that's what we did.

We first booked our little excursion and asked the girl where we could get breakfast.  She pointed us across town to a little local hotel/diner.  It was pretty simple, but very delish!

Yes, I'm showing you an XL picture of my breakfast:  Nutella stuffed french toast.  It was so good and yes, I ate it all.

Do the docks get any more beautiful?!

Mmmmm, petite-fours!

We did do a small excursion....a little Duck Tour!  This little contraption can drive AND go into the water, it's crazy!

 We were good friends with this other cruise ship, she was our travelling buddy.

 This one is upsidedown, but the thing on the right is a salmon ladder...something they invented to help the salmon get up river a little easier.  It increased salmon production exponentially the next year.

The sign:  Married Man's Way.  It was the street that used to have the brothels on it.

Ketchikan is famous for their totem poles.

Seals!

We had to be on the ship by 2:30ish, and as we were pulling away from the dock, we stood on the back of the ship and watched the rains come in.  We pulled away right before they swept the city.

On of our favorite places on the ship.

The sunset that night was absolutely incredible.

Aaaans the moon that night, talk about stunning!  My camera was not up to the task, so this is the best I could get.

We had a darling little bunny waiting for us in our room.

Amazingly de-stressed.  It's been way too long since we had time to do that together.

They had a demo on carving fruit/veggies that day, it was absolutely fascinating!

And they also had a cake decorating demo with a help from a guy from the audience.

Then we played this game.  SO fun, and SO hard!

Saturday we docked at 6pm in Victoria, British Columbia.  We had until 1130pm, so we kind of needed to decide where to go.  I already knew I wanted to do Butchart Gardens, and I'm SO glad we did, what an experience!

  I wish I could even express to you how ethereally beautiful these gardens were!  The blooming season is 8 MONTHS in Victoria....ridiculous!  These pictures didn't even do justice to the beauty of the flowers.  And I love flowers.

Yes, they are totally real.

Walking through Butchart Gardens is what I can only imagine walking through Wonderland would be like....pretty spectacular.  There were flowers and lush greenery absolutely everywhere, and yet so perfectly manicured.  It was unreal.

  The private dock at the back of the gardens.

  A fireworks show to end the evening.  

 And Sunday morning it was back to the Seattle.  Such an amazing trip and we loved every minute of it!  It was time to go home and see our babies and wish our beautiful Marin a happy 8th birthday.