Babysitting, Vacation, Girls Camp, and Oh Yeah, the Baby (an epic and long post)

Can I just say that June was a crazy month? Well it was. I should probably make this 3 separate posts, but that would just be too much time, so here we go...

For every teacher June seems like the ultimate relief. You can finally get all those things done that you have been wanting to, you can sleep in a little, and relax. Yeah well that lasted about 4 days. We started our summer off with a nice 10 days of baby sitting my nieces. It really was not too bad but being pregnant made me extra exhausted. I love spending time with my cute nieces but they sure make me tired. Even though my sister lives really close to me, it still makes it pretty much impossible for me to get anything done at my own house.

About 5 days after our epic babysitting we were off on our Alaskan cruise! We booked this cruise months ago and have been greatly anticipating this vacation. Overall I am really glad we went but I think my expectation were way beyond reality. In order to not be too long winded, here are the worst and best highlights of our Alaskan Cruise.

Bottom 5 least favorite things:
1. Our Skagway excursion. I thought it would be a magical experience panning for gold, meeting sled dogs and playing with sled dog puppies, learning a little about Alaska history, eating fresh grilled salmon, all while enjoying Alaskan view. In reality is was 10 minutes of gold panning, literally 10  seconds of holding a sled dog puppy, bland farmed salmon, A LOT of sitting around and waiting, and a lot of listening to the shrill voice of our tour guide "Gold Beard" It almost ruined the whole trip for me.
2. The crowds! I did not think about how crowded everything would be. And lets just say some people from certain countries are not polite and do not know how to wait in any kind of line.
3. The cruise food. Not really that great. It was like eating at Sizzler or Chuck-a-Rama every night. You can find what you like, but after a while your poor stomach just can't take it any more.
4. Days at sea when the boat is a rocking. Mostly we had amazing weather, but there was one day that the boat was so rocky I could barely walk. I was so sick all day and it was not fun.
5. Watered down versions of Alaska. I think if we ever went to Alaska again we would not do the cruise route simply because I felt like the cruise gives you a really watered down version of Alaska. Yes it is cool to see 3 different cities, but all you get to see is what the cruise offers you. A lot of it is really watered down and not very authentic I felt. I wanted the real thing!

Top 10 favorite things (because you have to have more positive than negative right?)
1. Our whole visit to Ketchikan. We saw a great lumberjack show, went to a nature preserve and saw about a bazillion bald eagles, baby salmon, beautiful forest, and a lot of bear tracks.
2. Eating the best seafood of my life in Ketchikan. Can I just say I love crab? I make Sam do all the hard work of cracking the legs while I get to reap the sweet, sweet, reward of the meat. It is a good life.
3. Seeing two sets of whales from our ship. Once while eating lunch we believe it was a small pod of Orcas because we saw dorsal fins. The second time was what I would like to believe a hump back whale and her baby calf. We watched them peacefully off the side of the boat almost all alone as they swam along the ship for a long time blowing up water to show they were there. It was magical.
4. Our tour and hike to Mendenhall glacier so kindly set up by my co-worker Tim. He was by far the best tour guide we had and it was cool to hike up closer to the glacier.
5. Taking unlimited naps in our cabin and watching endless movies. We were there for relaxation andd we got it,
6. Getting to be with Sam all day for 7 days! It was great to just spend time together.
7. The city of Victoria. Canada, it's not that bad. But really Victoria was a big surprise. No one had said anything that great about it, but it was actually probably my favorite city on the cruise because it had a lot of personality and was not totally run and controlled by the cruise lines.
8. Seeing seals resting on ice burgs while our ship cruised past the Sawyer Glacier. It was cold, and I got a little grumpy, but it was worth it.
9. Getting to see my friend Amy again in Seattle.
10. The amazing weather, views, and scenery of Alaska. It was so beautiful there and it always makes me want to move to the Northwest.

Overall, I am glad we went on this adventure, but I also think that maybe Sam and I are just not cruise people. I got sick of the food and got sick of being on the ship. We did go to shows and ate a lot of food and stuff, but I think I enjoy just a land adventure more. I felt like it was a lot of money and next time we will do something a little different. By the end I was super ready and excited to go home. Here is an overload of some of my favorite pictures. Sam took most of them because I am a bad photographer.

Our first day on land in Ketchikan

The Mendenhall Glacier outside of Juneau

The beginning of our excursion in Skagway, I am still happy at this point

  

We literally held these puppies for 10 seconds and then passed them on. I am faking happiness here...

The Gardens in Victoria were amazing and I was obsessed with these roses

Who names a street Mensies? We thought it was hilarious.

Last sunset of the cruise

You know when you get home from a vacation and you almost need a few days to recover from your vacation? Yeah, well we probably needed that but did not get it. Immediately after we got home we were off to my 10 year high school reunion. All I will say about that was that it was not as awkward as I thought it would be.

We got home on a Saturday and the following Monday we were up at 5 am and off to girls camp for our ward. Yes, both of us. Sam so lovingly volunteered (or should I say I volunteered him?) to go as a priesthood holder. I am so glad he was there. Honestly he helped me more than he helped anyone else. Overall, girls camp was way fun. I didn't really get to participate in anything because of being pregnant, but Sam did most of it. He basically was my replacement and went off and did everything with the girls while I sat at camp and tried not to overheat and get dehydrated. The camp we went to is a high adventure scout camp called Camp Browning. It was beautiful up there but very hot. It was so cool for the girls to actually get to do some fun adventurous stuff instead of the classic girls camp things like crafts. It was tough! Other than Sam basically betting second degree sunburns while canoeing, it was really fun. But again, we were really ready to go home.

Other than being exhausted beyond reason, and having only slept in my own bed for maybe 8 days out of the entire month, the main reason why I was so eager to get home was because the very next day after girls camp we had out 20 week ultrasound and got to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. We woke up the next day eager, excited and nervous. I love the ultra sounds but there is always a small amount of nervousness that the doctor will find something wrong. We got to see all the major organs and body parts and our baby is healthy and growing normally. And we got to find out that we are having... a boy! Woo hoo! On my side of my family we have 12 nieces and only 1 nephew, so we are pretty excited. My mom was probably even more excited than anyone! For some reason I have felt all along that it was a boy, but because of how many girls we have in my family I had been telling myself that it would be a girl. But my gut was right and we have a strong healthy boy on our way! We are so excited. And I just have to share that my big strong husband cried and I didn't! I have never seen Sam get emotional over anything that was happy. Ever! It was so cute. This little guy already has us wrapped around his little finger and he is not even born yet! Now we are just ready for him to get here! November can't come soon enough