Atwood-Family of FIVE: Saturday, Sunday and Monday

We arrived on the ship around 2 pm on Saturday. We had a super quick lunch in the cafeteria and then tried to get Anne to take a nap as she hadn't slept all day long, had been up since 6 am, and it was about 4 pm Chicago time. I thought for sure if we just laid with her on the bed, she'd go to sleep peacefully and serenely snuggled up with her mother and father. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Trying to get Anne to sleep with us was a nightmare. She screamed and cried at the top of her lungs for about half an hour until finally her crib arrived. I was so fed up with her that I just stuck her in the crib, gave her Ducky and Elmo and shut off the lights, just so I could have a second to regroup after our extremely trying day. Within seconds, Anne was asleep. I'll reiterate: Anne is NOT a cuddlier.

Sunday was spent sailing, and I thought since I had been fine all day Saturday and Saturday night on the boat, I was not going to get sea sick. This was a big mistake and I spent the morning in the bathroom and on the bathroom floor alternating between moaning and praying to the porcelain god. Fortunately the Dramamine worked for me and I slept extremely well every single night of the cruise.

Monday we arrived at Sitka, Alaska and spent most of that day wandering around Sitka and doing a little shopping. The general consensus for both guests on the cruise and staff was that Sitka was not the greatest stop or port. However, it was the first one and they only got better after that.

And now onto the pictures.

Anne, so happy to be off the plane and in a bed with her friend Ducky. Here she's "loving on ducky" which she did quite a lot during the trip. During the trip she also learned the following dialogue:

Me: "Anne, who's your friend?"
Anne: "Elmo"
Me: "And who else?"
Anne: "And ducky" (pronounced Da De)

Here is Anne in the hall outside our room. This was one of her favorite things to do, escape into the hall and squeal as she ran the length of it.

Our view from the ship the as we approached Sitka

Another gorgeous view.

John and Anne on the ship.

On the ferry to get to Sitka, Alaska. We were unable to dock there so we had to take a ferry to and from the boat to land.

Anne's cousin, Jasmine and Grandpa. Jasmine and RJ were such great company on this vacation. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with them and getting to know them better. They are great kids.

Anne's other cousin, RJ (Jasmine's brother). RJ fell in love with Anne even before he met her. He was so great in keeping her entertained and helping her to not be so fussy during the trip. Thanks RJ!

Sitka, Alaska

Sitka II, this time with a beautiful model in the picture....oh wait, that's me....

More Sitka.

Posing

Posing with the boat in the background

More posing

And even more posing

RJ and I had a fun time climbing down to the "beach" on these rocks. RJ then stood as close to the ocean as he could and let the waves splash up on his feet and legs. (The water in Alaska is a steady 35 degrees year round)

Picture of RJ with a totem pole. Little did I know, but Alaska used to belong to Native Americans. Then the Russians came in and claimed it. After several years (or longer, not sure exactly) they decided they didn't want it or couldn't keep up with it and sold it to the US.

We found this river off a path in the woods. It was literally teaming with fish. There were practically more fish than water . In fact, it was so crowded along the banks there were fish that had gotten caught on the land and died. These fish just littered the banks. I believe these were salmon fish.