Alaska Trip

This story begins with my grandpa.  About 10 years ago, my grandpa and grandma decided to take all 8 of their kids on an Alaskan cruise.  My grandparents were quite the adventurers and world travelers, but Alaska was one place they hadn't been before.  It was a family trip to remember.

This last year, my grandpa sold his house in Alpine.  My aunt asked grandpa what he wanted to do with the money from the sale.  He said that he wanted to go to Alaska again.  Wendy clarified, "With the kids?" Grandpa said, "Yes.  And the grandkids." So that's exactly what grandpa did.  He took about 40 of us on an Alaskan cruise.  And now I know why grandpa wanted to go back.

Luckily Brad's parents were able to watch the kids while we were gone.  We could have brought them with us, but we decided that we like to sleep.  Nate does not sleep well when he is traveling.  Add in a different time zone and we would have all been very sleep deprived.

Not that sleep deprivation didn't happen anyways.  Brad was supposed to get in the same time as mine, but he ended up not getting in till 4 am Alaska time (6 am back home.) Shortly after take off the pilot got on the intercom saying he had good news and bad news.  The good news was that they'd all be fine and not crash.  The bad news was that there was a problem with the airplane and so they would have to turn back to Denver.  And they also had too much fuel to land right then so they would have to circle for several hours.  It made for a very long time in an airplane.

After finally getting the Anchorage and getting a couple hours of rest, it was time to get going.  We had a caravan with all of our family going to Seward to catch our cruise ship.  We stopped to see the tide plains and the Wildlife Refuge.  We had a brown bear walk 6 ft way from us with only a wire fence between us. That was just a little scary since we could see his claws so close!

Once we made it to Seward it was time to board the ship.  Grandpa had bought all his kids upgraded rooms with a balcony and all grandkids had interior rooms.  We really wanted a room with a balcony, but we just couldn't do the upgrade fee.  I had heard a little tip that once you are on board you can check for an upgraded room and they will reduce the fee.  We got lucky and we got a room with a balcony for 1/3 of the cost!

Now it was finally time to catch up on some sleep!  The next day we spent at sea so we got to sleep in and enjoy our day.

Nate's Birthday in Minnesota

. . . we were going to Minnesota to see Grandma and Papa on Nate's birthday!

Both Nate and Evy love being a Grandma's house so going for Nate's birthday was a special treat.  Grandma has the most amazing backyard.  Nate loves to go out into the forest, along the paths, and to the sand box.  Grandma also has a bazillion legos so Nate had a blast putting them together. Plus there's Grandma to snuggle him and Papa to tell him stories of Nananny Fox Fox.  It's the perfect place for a 6 year old boy.

Happy (Pre) Birthday Nate!

Nate ended up having more of a birthday week than just one birthday.  We started with a water party with friends. For years of Nate has hated water, but Nate now loves it!  After slip and slides, water balloons, and running around, there was a red train cake.  Nate loved it!

Since daddy had to work on the day of Nate's water party, we had a family party the next day.  More cake, ice cream, and presents.

We had these two parties before Nate's birthday because . . .

Last Day of Kindergarten

Once Nate was home from his last day of school, there was a surprise for both of the kids.  Water balloons! We had such a fun water fight that I think this may have to become a yearly tradition.  Do you have any last day of school traditions?

Double Graduation Trip

It just so happened that the U of U and Dixie scheduled their graduation ceremonies back to back.  We had quite the adventure trying to get to both for Malinda and Adrianne!

First up was Malinda's graduation.  Originally her graduation was on the same day as Adrianne's, but she was able to work it out with her dean to walk the day before with the science department.

After graduation, it was time to hit the road to St. George.  The girls car was the best!

Adrianne's graduation ceremony was first thing in the morning which was a very good thing.  It was already in the 90s and the graduation was outdoors.  Good thing there was a playground close by so papa took Evy and Nate there to keep happy.

We did a little exploring in St. George.  Malinda showed us Glitter Mountain.  The kids LOVED it and still talk about going there.

We also rented a Razor to ride on the sand dunes.  Papa is a crazy driver, but Evy loved it.  She was whooping and wanted to keep going on rides.  And of course the sand and water was a big hit for both Nate and Evy.

After we got back to Highland, we had one more stop to make.  We went to see my grandpa.  I love seeing my kids with him.

On our way back to Utah I found out something surprising.  My mom had never stopped at Little America.  So of course that became our lunch stop.  It's perfect since the kids could get out their energy on the playground!

We did 26 hours driving in less than a week, but it was worth it to see both Adrianne and Malinda graduate.  Congratulations to both of you!