In a parade!

Today we took part in the Hyack Parade on behalf of the school. It was a rainy day and we had to wait for a while, but it was fun being IN a parade (a first for the both of us!). Holly is standing in front of one the school's founder's Smart Car. It followed the band and marching students and staff through the parade with bubbles blowing from the back.

Children's Festival

We took Holly to the Vancouver International Children's Festival today - we went to see the National Acrobats of Taiwan. She missed going with her class because we were on our cruise - but today the weather was great and it was probably not as crazy (the day her class went, it was pouring rain, muddy and super busy with kids from schools all over).

All 3 of us loved the acrobats - you could see the awe in Holly's face as she watched them - especially the man who piled up about 9 or 10 chairs on the legs and even at different angles and balanced on them (with NO safety rope!) -nearly up the top of the tent!

Our visit was short, but she had a lot of fun. Daddy even painted her face for her!















Cute blue puppy with an orca hat on!

Holly the Cat

Today we went to a surprise party for Cassie's dad who turned 40 a few weeks ago. There was cool balloon guy and his sister, the face painter. Holly decided she wanted to be a cat and the lady did an awesome job!

Super Girl Power

I have no idea where this came from or if Holly completely made it up, but it's pretty cute! There is a very particular way you need to do the "move" - i.e. how you place your feet and which hand goes up, etc . . . you will see it in the video - enjoy!

Cruise Day 7 - Last Day!

Our last day on the cruise - 7 days sure flies when you're having fun! We were at sea all day, so we just relaxed.

What can you do with a huge block of ice in about 20 minutes?!























































































How about carve a dolphin?



















Holly on her bed - she wanted to wear one of her two fancy dresses to dinner every night, even on the non-formal nights!














Mommy & Daddy's bed during the cruise. Comfy!
































Last dinner - the chef and waiters sang and did some funny little things like a napkin dance, and a salad tossing salute!




































































































































Our final nightly walk around deck - some of the great scenery we saw along the way . . .




























Holly went to a pajama party at Club HAL tonight - she was looking forward to the pillow fight, but that wasn't happening until 10pm (past her bedtime!). Here she is saying good-bye to Lisa, the great leader of the junior kids' program.

Cruise Day 6 - Ketchikan

Today we docked at our last port, Ketchikan.
























































While we waited to get off the ship for the day, Holly went to a cooking class with Club HAL. We didn't know they were making breakfast, or we wouldn't have had her eat with us!














They made pancakes and then got to put their own toppings on them.
































Holly put whipped cream and sprinkles on hers . . . and promptly ate the whole thing - even after she had already eaten breakfast! You can also see the badge on her jacket I mentioned previously she had received from the Glacier Bay Park Ranger that visited Club HAL (it's covering the "A" in Canada).



















We picked up a walkting tour map and went to the West End of town, looking for the historic buildings and points of interest.










































































As you could see from the first few pictures as the ship was docking, there are a lot of houses built on the steep hillside.














Along with the steep hillsides, come steep stairways. (Yes, Paul is pulling up the rear, working on his Blackberry!)





































































At the top of the stairway (which also happened to be a street!).






















































She wouldn't be a Luksun girl without a camera on her vacation!














Another of the "stairway" streets!

























































Check out this dog peaking out from his own window. . .














. . . his view?!



















Actually, it's his own deck!

























































Our little poser . . .

































We walked back through the tunnel to the newer side of town.














We even found the police department headquarters.



















This was a lovely little park in town, called Whale Park, which was surrounded by streets on all sides. Holly loved the different sea creature benches. She wanted to pose here with the killer whale we let her choose to buy with the spending money that Poh-Poh gave her for the trip.












































Reading up on one of the many totem poles in town - I didn't know this until I came home, but Ketchickan has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles.






























Continuing our tour of Downtown, we found a great area where little bridges crossed Ketchikan Creek and there were quaint little shops all around.







































We took a ride on this funicular tram up the side of the steep hill - at the top is Cape Fox Lodge, which looked like a really nice place to stay. There are other ways to get up there (i.e. walk!), but for $2, this was much more fun!































































This is City Park with some great spots to relax under trees, beside Ketchikan Creek. Here you see some of the holding ponds for salmon that date back to the early 1900's when the city's first salmon hatchery was founded.














Beside the park is the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center. The hatchery raises and releases more than 300,000 salmon, steelhead and rainbow trout each year. The Eagle Center cares for injured bald eagles and other birds, including owls.






















































In City Park, this lighted fountain was built in the 1930's - it was restored by volunteers in 1989.



















































































































































































































































































Tonight's paper animal from Teguh was a penguin!





































And our towel animal - an elephant!














Tonight was the on-deck Dessert Extravaganza at midnight. Everyone else was too tired, so I went by myself to check it out. I took a lot of pictures, but only ate a couple of things (honest!).














Some of the bread sculptures we saw on the Galley tour.