Alaskan Adventure--The Finale

Dramamine is a very important medicine to our family. Though I don't usually get motion sick, Kade and the girls do. It's not pretty. We made sure to dose up on it before we hopped on the boat for our whale watching cruise. If you ever make it to Alaska, I highly recommend this cruise. It's pricey--I won't lie--but totally worth it! Here are some of the sights we saw along our six hour tour.

Beautiful scenery, even with the low cloud cover--

We came upon a cute little seal, just hangin' out on the rocks--A bald eagle, hiding in the trees--Sea lions chillaxin'--Our boat sailed right up to this glacier. If you zoom into this picture, you can see part of it breaking off, and falling into the water at the bottom. We sat in the water, and admired the glacier for quite some time. I kept hoping to see a huge section break, but this was the best we could get.Icy Roundys--M'kay. Here's my favorite part of the cruise...Whales! They were hard to get pictures of. One second they were there, the next they had disappeared beneath the water. Our first sighting was of a Fin Whale--

Can you believe it? I got to see a whale! In the wild! So cool!

The Killer Whales (Orcas) were super fun to watch. There are usually several within a pod, which make up their families. I think they were checking out our boat.We also got to see Humpback Whales, too. I was pretty bummed that I was holding Cora inside the cabin, and on the wrong side of the boat, when a Humpback jumped up and out of the water. I missed it. But Kade told me it was pretty great. Booo.

Seriously--that was the best boat ride I've ever been on.

Back on land, the boys decided we needed to head up to yet another glacier. Exit Glacier wasn't too far away, so we drove out, and hiked up the trail. The trail got a little too rough for the strollers, so Allison and I hung out with the little ones and threw rocks into the run off, while Kade and Shad took the older girls up.

This is a pretty serious icee--

The next day, we made the long drive back to Fairbanks. Once again, Denali was hiding from me. I had to improvise--

This will have to do, I suppose.

The following day, I think we wanted to do anything but sit in a car for a long time. Pioneer Park did the trick for us. We went out and enjoyed the pretty day while the kids played. I realized I had spent most of my time taking pictures of scenery and animals. I felt the need to work my novice photography skills and get a few pictures of the kids.

Cora, being a good sport about being her stroller--

Ailee- Maryn--

Dash. See water...must throw rocks in--

Cute little Amaya. She was the best sport about me taking pictures of her. I just can't get enough of those delicate little features--

And, Ella-- Now THAT was a fun vacation. I can't believe how much we were able to see and do. I think it helped that we had fantastic tour guides. Thanks, Shad, Allison, and family for the great time!