Alaskan Cruise Day 2: At Sea

 We were up pretty early since we are still adjusting to west coast time.  We had breakfast at Garden Café, and then we ran into Larry and Michelle.  Larry and Josh decided to meet up for the 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament.  The four of us sat around the pool reading for a while.  Then the guys got ready for basketball, and I went along to cheer them on!  

 The whole basketball court was netted all around as well as overhead.  It was pretty windy out, but the guys seemed to get into a groove and did pretty well.  Larry and Josh picked up a third guy and won the first game.  

They lost the second game, but they ended up playing a third against the second group of guys.  Mom and Dad had come by and seen them playing, so we decided to all meet for lunch after the game.  

 FINALLY, basketball ended and we all ate at O’Sheehans for lunch.  Larry and I were the most excited about the cheese sticks on the menu--available pretty much any time... :D

 We relaxed and explored the ship more before meeting to play cards and have drinks.  For some of us, that meant a little casino time...

I found these delicious strawberries in our room when I went back to get ready--YUM!

We had a reservation at one of the specialty restaurants, Moderno (Brazilian steakhouse), that night, so then we all left to get ready for dinner.  Dinner was SO yummy!  We were totally stuffed, and then we headed off to see the evening show: a performance by a couple of amazing acrobats.  It was a really fun night!

Our first towel animal: A doggie!

From Pike Place Market to Open Waters!

The first good thing that happened was we had a message from Larry saying he and Michelle HAD arrived in Seattle!  They were messaging us lots last night about their flight being cancelled and which new flight they would be on getting in LATE!  They were lucky enough to have some super nice friends on this west coast end who picked them up and then delivered them to the cruise ship port this morning!  Josh and I went off to do some geocaching around downtown Seattle, but we met back up with Mom and Dad to pack our bags back into another cab and go down to the cruise ship terminal!!!  We had planned to just check our bags to be held, but Norwegian already had their staff ready to accept bags to be taken straight on board!  Score!  That took out one more step for later in the day.  We left our bags and walked the short walk to Pike Place Market.

I LOVE this market!!!  Mom was super excited to see the fish throwing, so we made sure to see that.  We also randomly ran into Larry and Michelle as they were between meeting different sets of friends!  

And, of course, we got a photo in front of the original Starbucks.

We grabbed some small bites to eat, lots of samples, and some fun goodies to take home.   

 This was a lovely photo shot set up for us :)  

Our ship is in the background: The Norwegian Jewel

 We headed back to the ship to get on board!  By the time we checked in, got our on board account set up, took our initial photo, and actually walked onto the ship, it was probably 1:30.  We headed straight to lunch, of course!  We ate at the huge buffet at Garden Café.  We got a great table on the outdoor deck and watched Seattle and people.  

We toured the ship, and there was SO much to see!  The lower levels were mostly staterooms.  Level 6 has Tsars Palace, the casino, several bar areas, great window seats and balcony access to Stardust Theater.  The reception area is on Level 7 and that has the restaurant reservation desk, the Duty Free shop, a lounge with music, the excursion desk, and Stardust Theater (where the nightly shows are).  Level 12 had the pools, library, card room, fitness center, several restaurants, Garden Café, the spa, and the kids’ programs area.  Level 13 had one of our favorite spots: Spinnaker Lounge.  It  was right above the wheelhouse, and there were just walls of windows with all sorts of comfy seats.  The views as we sailed were magnificent.  The only tricky thing was this room was rarely quiet.  There were dance parties, Bingo, and other on-board activities constantly hosted in this room.  But, it was worth tuning out whatever was going on to enjoy the views!  There were also a couple of restaurants, bars, and lounge areas outside.  We also were able to visit The Bridge, which was an enclosed room looking right into the wheelhouse!  There were all kinds of plaques relating to The Jewel.  We could also watch the progress the ship was making en route and check out some nautical tools.  It was really neat!  

We eventually decided to go check our our state rooms.  While we were doing this, we found out there was a mandatory lifeboat drill.  Our room was just a few down from Larry and Michelle’s, so they were at the same area for the drill.  We saw them, and then we all met up for drinks to watch the boat leave the dock.  We hung out, split back up to get ready for dinner, and then we had dinner all together at Tsars Palace, one of the main dining rooms.  There are two main dining rooms on board (Azura is the second).  There is a grill-type restaurant open all the time called O’Sheehans as well as several other snack areas.  It felt so good to collapse in our room with just ourselves to get ready for bed and get excited for our first whole day on board!!!

And, We're Off!!!

 We packed up the last minute items and took off for O’Hare!  Dad dropped us off at check-in and went to park the car in a long-term parking lot.  We got our bags checked and our boarding passes printed.  We all got through security and then we found our gate and lunch J

 Our flight was pretty non-eventful, and we even landed in Seattle a touch early!

We got all of our bags and hailed a cab to take us to our hotel, Executive Hotel Pacific.  Checking in took a bit of time, and the elevator was super slow since only one was working, but we finally got all settled in.  We didn’t rest too long and Josh took off to find his first vacation geocache while Mom, Dad and I went down to the wine tasting happy hour at the hotel.  

 We met up near the wharf at Ivar’s for dinner.  We only had a short wait, and then we had a great table right by a window looking out over the water.

 It was a really nice night, and we did some sightseeing/walking after dinner.  We caught a cab and went to the Space Needle.  Josh had another cache in mind and went to get that while we walked around the Space Needle, checked out the gift shop, people watched, and saw a little bit of the amazing blown-glass art at the museum next door.  

      We cabbed it back to the hotel and made our plan for the morning!

Pre-Vacation in Evanston

I didn't take any pictures with Mimi and Bampa or of any of the things we did!!!  I can still write about it, though :)  We got to their house on Sunday afternoon, and the weather was beautiful, so we headed over to Hackneys to eat on the patio.  This was the perfect dinner out to finish off an afternoon in the car.  Hackneys has a playhouse outside, and we got a table right by it!  The boys were super happy to go play while the grown-ups chatted.  We hit the ground right away with a day-long playdate with Brandi, Kaitlyn and Liam!!!  Jackson was SO excited for his Super Duper Sleepover coming up, and playing with KK and Liam was the perfect way to get even more excited :)  We played at Mimi and Bampa's house for the morning, then went over to Herm's for lunch, and then we laid the little guys down for a nap (Brandi babysits a little girl during the day) before taking K, L and J to the playground.  They played all around the playground, and we actually got a chance to start our catching up!  After Brandi loaded up the kids and went home, Mimi and I took the boys to visit Nan before meeting Daddy and Bampa for dinner.  

Tuesday morning, the boys and I headed out to see the Buerstattes' NEW HOUSE in ILLINOIS!!!  We could not be happier that they get to put down roots in their hometown and always be in town when we visit :)  The kids had a GREAT time checking out the toys, while I had loved taking the tour of their new beautiful home.  After heading home for naps and some relaxing, we met Bampa and Daddy at Lou's for dinner!  Bampa and Daddy got THREE days of golf in!!!  Mom and I went to see a movie that night :)

Mimi wasn't working on Wednesday, so we went to see Nan one more time, had some lunch and ran a ton of errands getting ready for the boys to go to the Buerstattes' and for us to leave on our trip.  The boys were troopers, and we got a TON accomplished!  Mimi and Bampa were nice enough to keep the boys while Josh and I drove out to meet Brandi and Scott for a double date!  We left Scott to give Josh a tour, including samples from his brewery, while I took Brandi for a pedicure as a belated birthday present.  We had SUCH a good time relaxing and chatting!  We went back to pick up the guys, and we headed out for delicious Mexican food and then some yummy Dairy Dream for dessert :)

Josh went off to do some geocaching yesterday morning (the second oldest in the country is in Elgin!), while the boys and I went to have breakfast with Bampa.  After breakfast the boys and I headed to Old Orchard to walk around and play outside at their really fun outdoor play area.  It was a beautiful day, and Bampa ended up joining us before we went to lunch.  I got the boys' things all packed during nap time, so after they were up, we drove out to the Buerstattes' and picked up pizza on the way :)  We all had dinner together and played before we laid the boys down (and nonchalantly said goodbye).  I was SO thankful Brandi was willing to have them spend the night on Thursday night too because it saved us a lot of tears with Graham!  

So, it was a whirlwind few days, but we got tons of time in with the Buerstattes and Mimi and Bampa :)

Summer Fun with The Conners!

Well, we got the Prius all packed up for our big summer roadtrip, and we left at 3:30am on Friday!  We chose this timing because Josh still got some sleep Thursday night, it was way early enough that the boys would go back to sleep in the car, and it would have us arriving in Indy on the earlier side, so we could enjoy even more time with the Conners!  The boys didn't sleep as long in the morning, or as much on any other part of the drive, but we had a nice, long stop at Chick-fil-a for lunch, so they ran some energy off :)  We got to Katie and Nick's house with some time to spare before going to get Paige off of the bus!  That was big excitement, and yes, as of AUGUST 8th, she has already been in school for about a week!  I can't get over how all of the school schedules seem to differ across the country...

Friday night dinner: PIZZA!!!

Always happy to be eating :)

Caleb rounding out the other head of the table.

On Saturday morning, we took off for the playground.  Katie and Nick took us to a super fun one, and the kids had a great time.  The weather was really nice too!  

There was even an old-school metal slide...

...that was really tall!

I LOVE this picture and can't wait to blow it up, frame it, and put it on the wall :)

Nick, Jackson and Paige looking tall

Lexi and Graham being cute

Monkeys!

Cute!

Can't wait to add one more to this fun bunch!!!  (On Katie's end, not mine!)  We headed off to Qdoba for lunch followed by naps and quiet time.  Josh and Nick took the bigger kids geocaching while Katie and I got to relax and catch up.

Another lovely evening for dinner on the deck!  Nick grilled yummy burgers, hotdogs and veggies!  

Enjoying vacation :)

Buds :)

Yesterday morning, we all got up and out to go find a couple geocaches before hitting up Dickey's for a delicious BBQ lunch!  We got on the road shortly after lunch and got to Mimi and Bampa's in plenty of time for dinner :)  Our time with the Conners always goes too fast, and I can't believe next time we see each other they will be a family of SIX!!!  

Last Week of Summer Fun in Virginia!

We had a nice, busy weekend as our trip to Indy, Evanston and Alaska creeps closer!  We started out Friday night at the Yanceys'.  Rachel has always loved to dress up, and Graham noticed this time and wanted in on the action!  

He picked out this turquoise dress and matching mouse ears :D

Everyone in on the action!

On Saturday, we started out at Micheal's birthday party down the street where Jackson got this AWESOME Batman face painting done!  Then we left that party early to arrive at Evan's 8th birthday party a little late.  But, that way we got to do both!  After a day full of parties, Josh and I were ready for a Date Night!

We went on a double date with Susie and Joe.  We drove into the city for dinner at Matchbox, dessert at Ted's Bulletin, and then walking around including the Botanic Garden.

Being grown-ups and enjoying D.C.!

Some of our favorite Double Daters :)

Things didn't slow down too much during the week!  Of course there was lots of packing, but we also did a little swaperoo with Miss Teresa, and she kept Graham while we took Izzy with us to a 3-D dinosaur program at the library.

Looking cool in their 3-D glasses!

A little storytime with Daddy :)

Jackson Loses His FIRST Tooth!!! (And, gets to go see a movie!)

Last weekend, Jackson announced he had a very wiggly tooth.  We thought he was just really HOPING for one, but after checking it out, we saw that it was pretty wiggly with another wiggler next door!  Yesterday morning I woke up to Jackson standing by my bed holding his tooth in his hand!  He was SOOO excited!!!

During Quiet Time, I crafted a hanging tooth pocket with a special tooth box to go inside.  We hung this on the bedpost at bedtime.  I managed to talk him out of under the pillow, since dealing with the switcheroo right under the pillow makes me really nervous!  LOL  The Tooth Fairy left two sparkly dollar bills in exchange for the tooth :)

Jackson's day just got better as he and I headed out on a date to see "Planes: Fire & Rescue" at the theater AND Isaiah and Miss Cheata met us there!!!  

Summer fun for these good buddies :)