Alaska Vacation!

We just concluded an amazing family vacation consisting of:

1)Road trip to British Columbia to see James' Grandma

2)Alaska Cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage

3)A week in Alaska with our friends the Copelands

Here are a few highlight pics:

 It was so great seeing James' Grandma who we hadn't seen in 16 years and who the kids had never met!

  She lives in beauitful Penticton, BC and so we enjoyed some time at Lake Skaha


Then it was time to set sail on our 1st ever cruise, here we are leaving Vancouver:

   

Even before we got underway (can still see Vancouver in background), the girls had to hit the pool.

            The 2 major cruise activities for the kids: pool and ice cream!

              It was so worth it to upgrade to the balcony room on the cruise. All of us loved to just scan the shore as the ship cruised by tons of breathtaking scenery on the Inside Passage. The girls even spotted an Orca! (kind of small in this pic but right in the center)

We saw tons of wildlife, here are 2 pics of Bald Eagles:

Our 1st stop on the Cruise was Ketchikan. 

                         

 It was really green with shops and much of the town built right on the water

                     We saw a popular show here in Ketchikan: The Lumberjack Show.

Next stop: Juneau, incredibly small especially considering it's the Capital, but very pretty:

               

                                           Here we saw the Mendenhall Glacier & Waterfall

                                     
                                           Then later that day did a whale watching trip

                                                                               
                                          Several other cruises stopped here too

                                        Another couple glaciers somewhere along the way, just one example of amazing scenery we saw throughout the cruise.

                                               Our 3rd and final stop: Skagway. Very pretty!

                                                  Here we went ziplining in a beautiful forest

                                                     

                                                           Countryside near Skagway

Our cruise wrapped up near Anchorage and then we spent a week with our friends the Copelands who live in the area. They built a home in a beautiful wooded area near Palmer (The girls on their deck)

                                              Jordan with Jacob Copeland enjoying the 4th of July BBQ

 The Copelands took Jordan and James fishing on the Kenai Pennisula which was beautiful. Here are the boys on the Russian River:

              

                                     
They also took us shooting at a range near their home and the kids had a blast

                                             
                                                Emma found her inner Charlies Angel

                                            Amazing mountains and Rivers by their home:

Wrapped up the trip at the best pizza place on the planet: Moose's Tooth in Anchorage

An amazing trip! The Alaskan cruise and time in Alaska was the perfect balance of adventure and relaxation all with incredible scenery....so grateful we had this opportunity!