Tale of Despereaux

When I saw that The Tale of Despereaux was going to be at the Old Globe Theater, I knew that I had to get tickets for Kailani. The Tale of Despereaux is her favorite book of all time. She has an autographed copy from when she met Kate DiCamillo, the author.
Originally, Becky and Sadie were going to join us, but then something came up with Sadie's cheer team. I gave the tickets to Kailani for her birthday, and the boys ended up joining us. I don't think they enjoyed it that much.

Kailani is not thrilled about pictures!

Book Artist - International Printing Museum

Today Kailani and I drove up to LA to the International Printing Museum. They offered an incredible workshop for Girl Scouts. She was able to see all of the old machines and learn about the evolution of printing. She made lots of cool booklets too. It was definitely worth the drive!

First Day of School

First day of 5th and 8th grades!!

Disney Cruise - Alaska

The Disney cruise to Alaska was amazing. We spent 10 days on the ship, and stopped in several different ports.

Day 1: Vancouver, B.C.
Day 2: At Sea
Day 3: Ketchikan
Day 4: Icy Straight Point
Day 5: Juneau
Day 6: Hubbard Glacier
Day 7: Sitka
Day 8: At Sea
Day 9: Victoria, B.C.
Day 10: Vancouver, B.C.

Day 1 - Vancouver

We're learning more and more each cruise. We now have a bunch of magnets for the door, and a fish extender for gifts.

Day 2 - At Sea - Today we did a character breakfast. We didn't know you could do this. Apparently it's only available on longer cruises, and it's free.

The views were amazing!

Tonight was formal night.

The sun didn't set until almost 10pm!

Day 3 - Ketchikan - We did a lumber jack show, and walked around the city exploring.

We also did a totem tour of the city.

All of the characters were in their Alaska gear.

Day 4 - Icy Straight Point - We did a wilderness hike. We had hoped to see bears, but we didn't see any. The city is so small that they only have one gas pump. Not many people drive on the island.

We did manage to find some bear poop!

The kids enjoyed skipping rocks into the water.

The kids also enjoyed the "smoothie of the day" every night with dinner.

Day 5 - Juneau - We did a tour that took us to Mendenhall Glacier National Park, Glacier Gardens Rainforest, and Macaulay Salmon Hatchery.

Again, we were hoping to see a bear. We saw a porcupine instead!

The kids completed the Jr. Ranger activities and earned patches.

Day 6 - Hubbard Glacier - Today we stopped at Hubbard Glacier. We didn't actually get off the ship, but circled near the glacier for a while. It was such a beautiful thing to experience.

Day 7 - Sitka - We did a tour that took us to the Alaska Raptor Center, Fortress of the Bear, and Sitka National Park.

At dinner that evening, we each got to draw a character that was animated on the screens at the Animator's Palate.

Day 8 - At Sea - We explored the ship.


Day 9 - Victoria, B.C. - We did a tour of Craigdarroch Castle, and walked around the city.

Day 10 - Vancouver, B.C. - We had plans to go to Grouse Mountain today to see the bear sanctuary, but the weather had other plans in mind. It was pouring rain, so we spent the day at the airport with our luggage.

We didn't get too many pictures because we let the photographers capture the memories. We purchased the photo package, so we got all of the photos on a usb drive.

Seattle

Vancouver

Disney Cruise

Disney Cruise Photo Package

We can't wait for the next cruise!