Alaska: Chapter 4

After Glacier Day was Skagway! 

We went to the top and front of deck 10 to look at the town from the dock. It's cute. 

We all had an excursion planned for mid-morning. 

We took a streetcar tour through the town. 

I am not a nature girl. But Alaska IS wilderness, so I used this outhouse, which basically means I went camping. 

All 8 of us. 

We were told it was a rare day to be able to see this mountain. Apparently most of the time it's foggy. It was nice, like 70, but so windy. 

After our tour of the town, most of us went back to the ship for lunch. Then just my little family of 4 went back out to town, and we walked around. 

It was nice to know if we moved to Skagway (we would never) that we could still keep our bank.

We went to the grocery store, and this was the "Costco" section. 

Then because it was Sunday we went to church. This was a moment of panic for me. I had emailed ahead because I wanted to confirm Mass times. And Fr. Joseph told me there wasn't a Mass that day because of the priests' retreat in Anchorage. 

Which makes total sense to me now, since from Skagway it's a 6 hour ferry ride to Juneau and a plane ride from there. No way he could do a 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm Mass in Skagway and be there in time. 

I had asked if there was a communion service and heard back when I checked my email in Skagway that Dc. Vincent would in fact have one. 

It was very tiny and simple. And Jesus was there. 

We were truly about an hour early. And that was okay. My heart needed it. Remember, I was missing my Babcia. Funny enough, we were only alone for about 8 minutes. 

There was a moment where the kids and I sang "We Remember" together, and it honestly might be my favorite part of the vacation. A reminder that to the ends of the Earth the Lord loves us and my family will praise Him at all times. 

The Communion service was nice. And truly packed. It was beautiful to see. Then I made the kids stand in the street to get a view of them with the town AND ship. (It's in the middle in the background.)

There was no lack of sweets on this trip, but we bought some Huckleberry cheesecake to share from a local dessert place because fresh huckleberries and the radio was playing one of my favorite praise songs when we went in the shop. Felt like a sign. 

Everyone liked the Huckleberry Cheesecake. 

I took a picture and sent it to my bestie. She loves a National Park. I do not. But this one worked for me. 

You could barely read this but it explains how Skagway literally means "Windy Place" and oh my gosh. So true. 

Back on ship, we did a photo palooza because I was adamant about getting my money's worth on the photo package. 

Completely unedited... check out my hair... proving how windy it was! 

I am so glad we've been to Skagway! 

Alaska: Chapter 3

The next day was GLACIER DAY! 

And I was very excited. 

My dad really wanted to go to the sit-down breakfast. So we joined him. I regret it. It was SO SLOW, and I didn't want a leisurely breakfast. As such, we were scrambling to get into the Mickey line. 

See Glacier Day is the day when you can see the Disney characters, on deck with the cool backgrounds of Alaska, in their Alaskan outfits. 

Mickey's line was long. And it was the only day it was a little chilly. But you'll see the weather was PERFECT. No clouds. Windy as all get-out. (Kinda a theme for Alaska, actually.) But lovely. C ended up going to get his winter coat while we waited in line. 

His was the ONLY winter coat I packed because I genuinely wasn't worried about the other three of us. I knew we'd be fine. Everyone says "light layers" for Alaska packing, and I would agree that's true. If you're someone who is constantly cold, pack warmer. For us, that's C. Even in the hottest part of the summer, the kid likes sweatshirts and 72 blankets while he sleeps. **72 might be an exaggeration, but it's a lot of blankets.**

I mean M and Minnie look like they're on a photoshopped background, don't they?! But that was the actual reality. It was that gorgeous. M LOVES her Alaskan Minnie ears. 

Glacier Day is also when it's the Frozen Night! 

On Alaskan Disney Cruises, there is no Pirate Night, just Frozen. Good thing I love Frozen. There was a special dinner menu with Sven's Carrot Soup which is my favorite!! 

But mostly we just took pictures of the nature. These are completely unedited and from my phone now! 

This was also the first day we won! Please note the medallion on M! 

Later that night we had room service Mickey Bars. Because why wouldn't we? 

I didn't love the slow start to my glacier day but we made the most of it for sure! 

Alaska: Chapter 2

Our first day waking up on the ship was actually Husband's and my 16th anniversary. Because of this, we booked a special brunch at Palo, the adults-only restaurant. It is also not included in the fare. 

I think it was the best food I have ever eaten. I took no pictures of us dressed up. Or really of much of the food, actually. (We were stuffed. It was so much.) 

This lasagna melted in my mouth. It was so good. So so so so good. I didn't take a picture of our pizza, or the fritata or the almond croissant. But I loved all of it. 

The best dessert. That is hazelnut ice cream and I am not usually big into hazelnut but it was exactly right. 

Later I went with my mom to napkin folding. We were good at the candle. We were less skilled at some of the other folds. 

It was a beautiful day at sea to sit and look out. It was a little foggy in the morning by mid-afternoon, it was total perfection. 

I should stress to you that every single person we talked to, from cast members to Alaskans, told us how perfect our weather was. And it truly was. There was even a heat advisory going on because it made it to the 70s. 

The days at sea on a Disney cruise are my favorite. It's just activities and fun. We play a lot of trivia and do a lot of crafts. 

After our dinner that evening and the early evening activities, Husband and I put the kids in our room, and we went to the late-night game show Match Your Mate. 

They asked for the couple that had been married the shortest. They became couple number 1. 

Then they asked for the couple that had been married the longest and they became couple number 3. 

For couple number 2... they asked for volunteers. So we did. Obviously. It was our very anniversary! 

And no one else did! But Mike G the host, still made us do the dance-off they'd make us do if there were challengers. So we rocked out, even threw in a shimmy shimmy. And we officially became couple number 2!

First, all the ladies went into the pub across the hall. We got a free drink while we waited for the guys to answer their questions. 

1. Describe Your First Date. (We did not match because he described our first hang out, not date. I still had a boyfriend who wasn't Husband!)
2. There is a parrot in your bedroom; what does it repeat? (We did not match though we totally should have because we both said first "We don't really talk in our room". I said "wake up, I don't wanna." and he said "Where's my eye mask?" He was actually right, I totally say that all the time.) 
3. If your Husband were like a Marvel hero, who would they be?
1. Spiderman
2. Black Panther
3. Ant-Man **We matched because we had both actually seen this movie!**

Then the boys went out to get their drinks while we ladies answered the questions.

1. Describe your first kiss. (We matched. Joe Goodall's house. Julie **who is now our pediatrician** told us to kiss. So we did.) 
2. You're stranded on an island with all of the living members of HIS extended family. The Disney Magic pulls up to rescue you but you have to leave one person behind. Who do you leave on the island? (We matched. In kindness to that person I will not type their name. But it was a very easy match.) 
3. If your love life were a Disney song which one is it? 
1. "A Whole New World" from Aladdin
2. "Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog
3. "For the First Time in Forever" from Frozen **We matched because of course I was going Frozen. No brainer.** 

And we won! 

We won a gift bag with some awesome Disney Cruise Line swag and a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne. (By choice, we could have chosen alcoholic, but we thought it would be more fun to toast with the kids.) 

On DCL, the non-alcoholic option is Cloudem Blue. (Not my picture.)

It's an apple cider that is blue and has sparkly dust in it. I had gotten a bottle on our last cruise, but not this cruise, so I knew the kids would want some. 

It was a fun night! Perfect way to celebrate our anniversary.