Alaska: Chapter 1

Here we embark on the vacation recap for my memories. If this is boring or upsetting to you, feel free not to read! 

We planned this cruise in the summer of 2025 in honor of my 40th birthday next week. My parents and brothers all joined us, and it was a really nice way to celebrate and be together.

The night before we left I gave M Mickey nails. True story: they were a pain to create. But she loved them! 

The morning we left, we woke up and it was severe thunderstorming, so we didn't leave as early as we had planned. This turned out okay. 

I got a call from my brother; they were at their airport, and as it happens, my grandmother passed away in her sleep. It was not unexpected but still very sad. Here is a picture of her with C, her only great-grandson. 

We unfortunately never got M out to see her. Which sounds really bad. But we talked to her on the phone regularly until her Alzheimers progressed to the point where she didn't know who we were anymore. 

We were glad we were all traveling to be together. This was my Dad's mom. My Babcia. She has a beautiful life story, and I will tell it to you soon. 

Anyway. My family got in the car and drove to Chicago. 

We parked in the far, far-away lot. Then we got on a bus to get to a slightly less far-away lot. Then we got on the airport train to get to the terminal and through security. 

We killed a lot of time in the airport and ate some very expensive McDonald's. 

We had a long flight to Vancouver. But I mostly slept, which was good. 

We stayed at the hotel that was at the airport, and our hotel room looked right out at the airfield and the mountains! It was very cool!

We had dinner down in the terminal food court with my parents and one brother. My other brother's flight didn't get in until late, late. 

The next morning, we woke up and took a Disney bus to the port. Vancouver was really cool; my big regret is not flying in a few days earlier to explore it. 

Then we made it through security at the port and waited for our boarding group to be called. 

And by noon we were on the Disney Magic heading to lunch. 

We had ice cream. The kids swam. We changed for dinner. 

We got to the sail-away party with a rock star spot. 

And we sailed out into the sunset. 

Our first blanket animal was there, and we all slept very well! 

And They're Off

I know you're all dying to hear about Alaska. I promise it's coming. But today is Day 1! 

If we are being technical, C actually went to algebra at the high school last Friday. But today is the first real full day and in uniform. So I am counting it. 

Happy First Day! 

Ahoy!

 Hello there! 

My last two posts? They were scheduled. As it happens, we just got back from a big 9-day trip for our Disney Alaskan Cruise! 

More soon! 

A Weekend of Fun

I am behind on blogging but here are some things that happened. 

C sang at a brunch! 

He sounded great. And then he was one of the recipients of a Training Grant towards his voice lessons tuition! So that is AWESOME. 

Later he went to his friend's birthday party. Since the party was quite a ways a way, we decided to kill time in the little town close to the party with M. 

We had some lunch.

M had a mac and cheese pizza and was delighted by it. 

Then we went to the Polish Pottery Shop. My grandmother and aunt collect Polish pottery. (We're Polish.) 

I liked that teal flower print, especially in a butter dish. 

M was a big fan of the Cat Platter. 

We were all taken with this classic-pattern pierogi. 

We all liked these cat statues. 

Some of the other shops had some cute things too. These made me laugh: 

M really wants this burger book where you rate 33 Burgers. I didn't buy it. 

We thought C would like this pigeon hat. 

Then we went and let Meredith run around a playground for a while. 

So it was a fun afternoon out and about together! And C had a really nice time at his party. 

A Night With My Girl

 My favorite girl and I went to see Frozen together. 

We loved the lobby setup!

Typical program/stage shop. 

The thing is that the two of us love Frozen so much. And it was a delightful evening out together. 

Did M humor me quite a bit when I asked questions like "Do you think there will be a family that is beloved by all?" or "Do you think they'll finish each other's sandwiches?" etc. 

She did. With a tweeny eye roll. But we had so much fun. 

We even got little treats at intermission. A cake pop and an Elsa drink. Obviously. 

Please note her Frozen T-shirt. 

I think this title will always have a place in our hearts. And I am 100% okay with that! 

A Friday in August

On Tuesday, we met my parents and children in Mason City at Music Man Square.

C went to an OPUS Choir Camp. OPUS is an all-state choir. C has auditioned for the past few years but hasn't made it. He would really like to this year, and so we are working hard. When I saw this camp, I thought it couldn't hurt to get a jump start. 

He (and M) actually have our OPUS camp next week. M's age group at the Music Man Square was in the morning and I didn't think we could get her there in time since everyone had to drive a lot of hours. So to be clear, I wasn't trying to play favorites with my kids. 

It wasn't until nearly the end when I realized it was actually a 2-day camp. Well... we didn't attend the second day since it's 3 and a half hours from home. 

While C was off singing, M, Husband, and I did the museum and boyhood home again. 

This is our second year of Meredith with Meredith in August. It may just have to become a thing. 

We were just there last year, and there were changes to the museum AND the house tour was completely different. I mean, obviously the house was the same, but the stories told in the house were different. 

M got a shirt. 

 In a true example of her "Iowa Stubborn," this is THE EXACT shirt I wanted to buy her last year, and she flat out REFUSED because there's an emblem on the back of it. I couldn't even make that up. 

On Wednesday, I had a string art class. I have been to a lot of string art classes in the past few years, and generally I whip through them. So I invited the fam to come and hang at the library while I did my string art, and then we'd do something. 

Well... it was an advanced class. 

And even though I was the first person done BY A LOT, it still took the full hour and a half. 

My children were famished. 

So we stopped at a local burger establishment. Which was not my plan, but sometimes... people just need to eat and we were long past dinner time. 

Luckily, I do really love how my string art turned out! From this:

To this! 

Yesterday, the children went with Husband to work, and they painted a backdrop. 

And today is Friday. I have a funeral to work today. Oh, it's the saddest/most beautiful. 

T had been sick for a long time, and he passed away on a Saturday. That Monday, the family met with the funeral home, and an hour later his wife, G, had a heart issue and was rushed to the hospital. She continued to have heart issues and never regained consciousness. But the doctors couldn't actually find anything wrong. It was literal broken heart syndrome, and her children removed her from the vent Thursday, and she passed peacefully. 

So devastating for their relatives. And yet, so comforting to know how much they loved each other. 

And C has a choir rehearsal because he sings on Sunday at a brunch. 

And that's what we did on this first week of August. 

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

August kicked off in a most unimpressive/impressive way. 

We deep-cleaned our bedroom. 

It was an entire If You Give A Mouse A Cookie saga.

If you start to deep-clean your bedroom, you will have to deep-clean your closet. 

And if you deep-clean your closet, you will have to deep-clean your linen storage. 

And once you've done all that deep-cleaning, you will want a shower and will discover that your shower head is leaking. 

You will first try to descale it and then determine at an unreasonable hour that it needs replacement. 

You figure if you're going to replace the shower head, you may as well get new shower curtain liners and a new non-slip bath mat as well. 

And if you're going to do that, you should probably deep clean the bathroom. 

And so with exactly no pictures of the before, during, or after, please know that: 

• Our bedroom hasn't been this clean or organized in actual years. 
• It only took 2 trips to Lowes for cleaning supplies, storage bins, and bathroom items.
• We only bought a few storage bins for things that we 100% are sure we want to keep, including two under-the-bed storage bins for off-season clothes. (Having the sweaters out of the way right now makes life so much easier!) 
• This morning was our trash day, and we put out 8 extra bags of trash, plus a gross plastic drawer thing that I am pretty sure was from my college days and a broken suitcase that I am not sure why we still had. 
• There are still some items to be dropped off for donations, but it feels great to be purged of so much stuff that we don't need or want in our lives. (Why do we keep things that are literal trash?)
• The joy I got waking up this morning in a clean room with a clean bathroom was not small.

And this was all made possible by my parents taking our children for a few days. We all know that even helpful kids are unhelpful in these situations. They would have certainly been more precious with pieces of artwork and other knickknacks we relinquished. 

Even if they had let us do what we needed to upstairs, the downstairs would become a disaster area, I am sure. 

And that is how our month kicked off. We worked our tails off and were rewarded with cleanliness. Yay!