Lets start with saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEYTON! About an hour ago, he realized in Florida it IS his birthday already. So, we deemed it his birthday. I mean after all, he was born on eastern standard time, so he's actually nine now. Calib pointed out that means we should stop celebrating his birthday at 8 pm tomorrow night. I told him it wasn't going to work that way. Calib found that completely unfair and was shocked. His exact words "What?!?!? He gets a cruise AND four extra hours of birthday?!?"
Calib also has some news to report. He has had a lose tooth all week. He was just brushing them, and he lost it. Unfortunately, it went down the drain in the bathroom. Peyton and Hayden were very concerned about the tooth fairy situation, without the proof of a tooth. I told him we could probably just write a note to the tooth fairy, so Calib did. Hayden has all kinds of questions about how the tooth fairy is going to get here tonight to give Calib a dollar. 'But, we're in the middle of nowhere, and she doesn't have a card to get in'.
Whoa, I have just realized I may need to take Dramamine before blogging on the ship. We're a movin' thats for sure.
Today's events were some of my absolute favorites. We had to be up at 5 am this morning, which, not my favorite at all. But, we were up that early to board a train from Anchorage to Seward. The train was awesome. It was a double decker, you sit on top and the restaurant is below. It was a glass domed train car too, so you could see everything. The scenery was gorgeous. We got on and had breakfast, which was delicious and pretty reasonable. The kids had a full breakfast for $3. I had some really delicious blueberry pancakes. They were tasty. Clint and Jess boycotted having to spend money for breakfast, because, well, they're Clint and Jess. But everyone else ate in the dining room. I had never eaten on a train car before, so this was pretty cool. Afterward we went back up to our seats.The view only kept the kids busy for a little while, then we had to break out the movies. Man, do the kids ever enjoy Rio. I'm getting pretty sick of the samba music though. (and I get that 'inside, outside, inside, outside' part stuck in my head). They also had a really nice little outside back of the train area, that I got some good pictures out of. Again, you'll just have to trust me on that one because as much as I like keep everyone informed, and showing pictures, I like having money more. I couldn't stay outside very long, with my motion sickness disability and all though, the landscape zooming by was a bit too much, especially if I wanted to keep down the blueberry pancakes from breakfast.
About three hours into the trip, the only wildlife we had seen was a couple of dall sheep up on a hill top, pretty far away. They basically looked like white dots. It could have been a serta sheep billboard for all I could tell. Some guy in the back of the train had yelled moose once, but I never saw it. So, I was looking very intently out my window, and all of a sudden, I saw it. A moose! I started yelling "MOOSE! MOOSE!" but only a few other people got to see it, and mom wasn't one of them. It was about two football fields away, walking behind a line of trees. However, this was a very VERY large moose, and I'm pretty confident there was a moose calf behind it. Keep in mind, I was moving on a train, and the moose was pretty far away. The girl who worked on the train was pretty sure too, so that makes me feel even better. We're saying thats moose #2 and #3 for me. Haha! I have earned my moose finder badge, for sure.When we were on the train, Gwen was yawning and she said "I'm really tired. The days are sooo long in Alaska." I couldn't tell if she was picking up on how it never gets dark, the fact that we jam pack our days, or the fact that she hadn't slept much the night before. But, it was a very good observation for a 5 year old. The days are really long. Last night I was still up around 12:30, and I had tried to take a picture out of my window to document how light it still was then, but it didn't turn out very well. I keep wanting to get a good one, but as we head farther south, I think I'll get less daylight, and even maybe some darkness. Sunset tomorrow is at like 11:00 or something.
When we got off the train in Seward, we went to the sealife center. On our second to last bus ride, they awarded the prizes for the different categories of the moose pictures they had drawn the day before (each person would draw part of the moose and then pass it on). Peyton's moose won in the category of funniest, and he got a nice moose postcard. It was pretty much your average aquarium, although I found the bird area to be pretty cool. If only they had a penguin or two. We did see some seals playing around, and pet the star fish and things. We were there about an hour, and before we came back on the bus, everyone played football with Gwen's moose as entertainment. The little things amuse us.
After the sealife center, it was time to board the ship. This is what was cool, we were one of the first buses. There was no long line to wait through. It was easy in, easy out through all the lines. When we arrived, they were handing out free cookies, Hayden asked for two. And of course he got them, because, well, as I've learned, a cruise ship is a cookie lovers paradise aka Hayden's paradise.
Our stateroom is awesome. It's bigger than I imagined, we have a nice walk in closet, and a lovely balcony. We had lunch on the ship, since now all of our meals are free. (They weren't included in the land portion). Then we set off to explore the ship. They have awesome touch screens to help you find your way around, and everyone kept telling me I should let Calib and Peyton go off on their own. Asa and I talked about it, and decided they could, so they think this is the greatest thing ever. Clint, Jess, and Mom put them through a drill, would tell them where they wanted to go, and the kids would have to find their way, they passed. Which, I guess makes my life a whole lot easier. Plus, we registered them all for the Oceaneers Club, so they can spend some time there, which also makes my life easier. Unfortunately, Garrett is too little for the free clubs, so it doesn't really help Holly a whole lot.Dinner was amazing in the main dining room, they came right out and gave the boys a nice cup of fruit. The kids menu is so extensive, that my kids didn't even mind ordering off that menu. Not that it would matter, because if they wanted, they could have a grown up meal. The waiter even asked Peyton if he would like him to cut his steak, or if he wanted to do it himself. Peyton wanted to do it himself, but when you're a mom the little things in life amuse you.. Like not having to cut up your child's meat into bite size pieces while your food gets cold.
The ship left port a little after 8. We watched up from the indoor pool deck. While there's an outdoor pool and the pool water is warm, the air is freezing. I think you'd have to be a little crazy to go in the water. Translation: Asa, Peyton, and Hayden went in while I watched warmly from the inside with my hot chocolate. Clint did take some really cool pictures of my kids laying on the windows that go out over the water. It reminded me of the glass floors at the skydeck in Chicago. I knew I wouldn't fall sitting on them, but my legs still felt a bit like jello.I came back to the room to get the kids in bed, and Asa, Mom, Clint, and Jess went out to see the comedian in the theater. It's been a really long day, tomorrow is on board the ship going through the Hubbard glacier, plus it's PEYTON'S BIRTHDAY!
Here's the recap for the day:
Total Moose spotted by me: 3
Total number of Moose pictures: 1
Cookies Hayden's eaten in a (half) day on ship: 4
Teeth Lost: 1
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