Grandpa Rick and Grandma Alice decided to have an adventure this year with the kids. They went on an 7 night Alaskan Cruise on the Norwegian Encore. I had the kids sit down with me as I typed this up, so some of it is directly from them.
Grandpa Rick did a lot of planning and thinking for the trip and since there were so many options and he was worried that he would choose wrong, he had Norwegian Cruise lines book the travel for them. Unfortunately, Norwegian did a horrid job of scheduling the flights and they booked Paige and Grandma Alice on one flight and Connor and Grandpa on another. They weren't even on the same airlines, or going through the same connections. Norwegian insisted there was nothing they could do and we were worried about it leading up to the cruise. That was a little stressful for everyone, but thankfully all of the flights worked out and they made it on time.
The boys got to the boat first and did a little exploring before they met the girls.
Grandma and Grandpa love games and trivia, so they jumped in to some trivia time and Grandma Alice volunteered to compete at SPEED TRIVIA.
During the show "Choir of Man" Grandpa got selected to play a special part by the cast members and went up on stage to perform with them. He got to drink two beers and had the spotlight on him multiple times.
On Tuesday, May 30th, Grandpa reserved a glacier boat tour excursion in Juneau. There were two levels on the boat and they mainly sat on the bottom at a table. They enjoyed the views and had special family bonding time, playing cards, talking, and doing stretches to stay loose. They saw a seal in the water by the glacier and they ate dinner on the boat.
Wednesday, May 31st, Grandpa booked a scenic train tour in Skagway. While the train inside was old fashioned, it had an outdoor area where Paige and Grandpa spent a lot of time enjoying the views. Connor and Grandma mainly sat inside, taking in the sights through the windows. There was this annoying little kid that sat in front of Grandma and Connor for the entire train ride. Grandma wondered if she could get away with hitting him when the train went through the tunnels and it got dark.
Thursday, June 1st, the cruise boat went through Glacier Bay where everyone got to see multiple glaciers. The family took in the views from their balconies and looked out at the scenery, trying to find animals. On the way out, they saw Humpback whales and seals on the icebergs.
Most nights the family ate dinner at the buffet since they didn't want to sit through the long dinners. Grandpa reserved two specialty dinners for the cruise. One of which is pictured at Teppanyaki. The food was prepared in front of everyone on a grill. Paige enjoyed her noodle dish and Connor had a steak and chicken dinner.
On Sunday, June 4th, the boat docked in port in Seattle. The flight that Norwegian Cruise lines picked for them was not scheduled to depart until late at night, so they had a long time to explore Seattle. Thankfully the cruise line took their luggage for them, so they were free to wander around without having to worry about their bags. When the boat arrived back in port in Seattle, there was a long line to get off the boat, so they stayed on as long as possible. When they disembarked at 10:00am, they headed towards the Seattle aquarium. Grandma and Connor enjoyed the octopus and otters. After the aquarium they ate lunch at the Alaskan Sourdough Bakery.
After lunch, they rode the ferris wheel and had a great view of the boat and of Seattle. Connor said he liked Seattle and thought it was cleaner and nicer than New York and LA. It was a neat opportunity to see the city, especially since he's been to a few other cities recently.
The flights were long, but they made it home without any drama and everything worked out after all.
It sounds like it was a fun trip and we loved hearing their stories about hanging out with their grandparents one on one. Connor said that Grandpa woke him up one night banging on the wall and it turned out that Grandpa was having some kind of dream where he was throwing something and he acted it out subconsciously. Paige told us about how Grandma would be fiddling on her phone, muttering and talking to herself for quite a while before going to bed. Grandma has quite a few funny and unique sayings and Paige started a G-Ma counter on her phone and tallied them up.
- This is the pits: 13
- For Pete’s sake: 13
- Shucks: 19
- Sheesh: 27
- Hmph: 29
- Poop: 7
- Creep: 3
- What was that bottom card: 7
- Crud: 2
A big thanks to Grandpa Rick and Grandma Alice for taking our kids on this adventure and for making some special memories with Connor and Paige. I know they'll remember this trip fondly and the good times shared.
No comments:
Post a Comment