The Wildlife of Alaska

Another of my favorite things on the Cruise was the Wildlife (I know, I could have just included my family in this category, but I thought that would have been just too many pictures for one post). There is all kinds of wildlife in Alaska to see, and one of the things you hear about most are the whales. I was not disappointed...

...I did hear a lot about whales, but the one that I saw looked something more like this than the pictures above...

But, be not dismayed, we did see some other cool wildlife...

We did see some wildflowers...

There were a lot of Salmon...

(not the greatest picture, but you get the idea)

We saw an eagle, just sitting there. We were able to get within about six feet of him, it was amazing! Of course, he was in a cage...

Because there were so many Salmon, there was a good chance of seeing some bears (live ones, not stuffed). Or so we were told. So, we went on a walkway above a river where the Salmon were running, hoping to see some bears. There we came across this sign, I really liked the sign...

Now I know that you never haggle with a bear about who got there first, that is good to know!

Well, we waited there on that pathway above the river with about 40 other people, all standing, staring at the river below and being extremely quiet, waiting for the rumored Mama Bear and her two cubs. And then all of the sudden, there they were! First the Mama Bear...

and then her cute little cubs, I really only got a good picture of the black one, but there was a brown one too! Yeah! Real wildlife! That was pretty cool!

And so, there you have the Wildlife of Alaska, as experienced by Kelli Gordon. I don't know, but I think I experience some pretty scary wildlife daily, right here at home!

The Alaskan Cruise...

On August 5, 2009 my parents celebrated their 50th Anniversary, pretty awesome. So, to celebrate, their children (minus one, sadly) and their spouses, my Dad's twin brother, my Mom's brother, and a couple of my cousins all went on a cruise to Alaska. What a party! When we got home, I was frequently asked the question, "What was your favorite part of the cruise?" So I give you (over the course of the next few posts), my Five Favorite Things about our cruise to Alaska. I will start with my very favorite thing...Family! In no particular order...

Me and my sisters...

Sherry and Larry on "Formal Night"...

RaeAnne and Dale all decked out...

Mom and Dad, still sweet on each other after 50 years...

Dad, being Dad (thanks for the picture Rae)...

The only picture I got of my cousin Carrie and her husband Curtis. Funny story about Carrie and Curtis (rather embarrassing for me)... See, I haven't seen Carrie since I was say, 8 maybe. So we go to dinner on our first night on the ship and our group has been assigned to about four tables. Well, I look over and see Mark and Lois (my uncle and aunt) sitting at a table with two strangers, and I think, "That's not right, those people aren't even part of our group, Mark and Lois should be sitting with our group." Well, I was getting pretty bothered by this and said so to RaeAnne, who looked at me like I was a little crazy, and said, "That is Carrie, your cousin." So, she marched me over and introduced me to my own cousin, who commented that I had grown up quite a bit since the last time she had seen me. It was lots of fun to get to know her and Curtis again...

My aunt Zelma and my cousin Davis (my cousin's son, does that make him my second cousin?)

This is on my parents balcony while we were looking at the glacier, notice Sherry all bundled up? I didn't really get to lay out on the deck of the boat on this cruise, but if you look at the next picture...

you will see that the cold didn't bother Jim...

In Juneau we hiked to the top of a HUGE mountain to see the beautiful vistas.
Here is Blake, trailblazing...

And Tonya...

Jim and Larry...

See the beautiful vistas? Yeah, we didn't either. Unfortunately there were some forest fires somewhere in Alaska that shared their smoke with Juneau, we had a hard time seeing anything, but it was fun anyway!

My kids were really upset when they looked at our pictures and saw that Alyssa and Kelsie got to come. "How come we didn't get to go?"
It was so much fun to have Alyssa and Kelsie there! It would not have been as much fun to have my kids there (not that I don't love them...)

Mark and Lois, relaxing on the deck, I am so glad they came!

And here is a shot of the whole group...

So, my favorite part of the cruise? Hanging out with my family for a whole week! That was awesome! Oh, how I love these people!

Utah Part 2--The Girl Party

While in Utah, Sydney was able to hang out with one of her favorite people, Kati. She was even invited to "Spa Kati" for a relaxing manicure and pedicure treatment. She was more than excited! Kati had Sydney sit in this chair and put her hand on the paper towel so she could have her nails painted. Sydney sat just like this for probably 10 minutes while she waited for Kati to make the necessary preparations to paint their nails, she didn't move, she just sat with a smile on her face...

This was service at it's finest, Kati even filed Sydney's nails, something I don't think she has ever experienced in her life...

A lovely shade of pink was chosen...

Jenni even joined in the fun!
Sydney blowing on her fingernails...
Here Kati teaches Sydney the fine art of waving your hands back and forth for the "air-drying" effect.
And then the cute little toes...
Thanks Kati for spoiling Sydney, she was in heaven! She was showing off her cute nails for days!

The Annual Trek to Utah

So, after three weeks of vacation, I guess it's time to return to real life... regrettably. At the end of July we loaded up the car with suitcases, dufflebags, a cooler, a box of snacks, the dvd player, coloring and random entertainment for the kids, and there even happened to be room for us as well. It was time for the annual two day drive out to Grandma's house!!! My dad found this comic strip the morning we were headed back home, and because it speaks truth I share it with you...
One of the kids favorite activities in the car (after watching movies, of course) is playing with pipe cleaners. They fashioned glasses for everyone, but somehow Sydney didn't make it in the pictures. I bet you can imagine what the car looks like by the time we roll into Grandmas!
More vacation pictures to come, if I can really and truly adjust to real life again that is...