It was an early start on Friday morning! 8 AM flight to Seattle through Dallas. Overall the flight was uneventful and all parties arrived safe.

This year we’re traveling to Alaska via a Princess Cruise Ship with LadyCoach’s extended family. We have Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle R and Aunt M, and Cousin J all traveling with us for the first half of our adventure. We’ll be taking the inside passage stopping at Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and Victoria, BC. We’re super pumped! Alaska was a bucket list item for Coach – he was thrilled when Grandma & Grandpa asked us to join them on this cruise.  When we arrive back in Seattle we plan on spending a second week in Glacier, WA, in a little cabin. Lots of adventures ahead of us.

When we arrived in Seattle everybody was exhausted.

We grabbed dinner at Shawn O’Donnel’s Pub. The kiddos then got reenergized for some hotel pool swimming. Coach took a nap. Man, the nap was great. No clue on the swimming. We all turned in early after watching some horrible events befall Baudelaire children.

Traveling to the west coast has some “weird” side effects. The one the coaching staff has most readily recognized is the “children” still think we’re on central time zone. Also known as the, “what time is it? seriously?” and “why are they awake?” disorder. Mostly the symptoms of this disorder manifest themselves around 4 in the morning local time.

LadyCoach seized the opportunity to relish in the disorder and headed down for an early morning workout. Gman joined her. The highlight of said workout is when Gman, after ignoring moms warnings to wear the safety key, was shot across the gym by a treadmill going Warp 9. Gman, not one to be deterred, tried to climb back on. He failed and was once again a projectile. We’d like to apologize to the folks at Marriott for all the skin Gman left lying around in the gym. After much screaming from road rash, he calmed down and we headed to Pike Place Market around 9am.

Pike Place is awesome! Lady Coach and I visited several years back and it was blast enjoying the world’s best donuts from Daily Dozen and drinking coffee from a small local joint, Starbucks, with the entirety of TeamHovis.

We saw men throw fish over the heads of the crowd and marveled at the beautiful fresh flowers. It is worth the crowds.

We were due at ship port around 1pm so we hiked back to our hotel in Pioneer Square and headed for the docks. After our shuttle driver attempted to drop us off at the wrong pier, all went smoothly. Upon arrival at the docks, it became very clear that we brought way too much stuff on this trip. Southwest Airlines allows two bags p/guest – we took them at their word.

We got through security and had a great time running around our staterooms on the boat with the kiddos. Bunk beds for them in an adjoining room to our queen. Great set-up for us and a nice window.

We had a buffet lunch. Cruise ship buffets have a reputation and they live up to the stereotype. They gots food. We tried to eat light as we’re dining each evening for dinner at 5:15. Touring the boat and leaving out of Seattle the views were wonderful. The cool breeze on my Houston hot face felt nearly divine. We explored the ship and got the kiddos registered in the super cool kids’ areas.  We got all dolled up for dinner and headed up to the top deck for views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Some cold “drinks” and some cold wind made for a memorable experience of trying to stand up straight on the highest deck.

Dinner was delicious and then Coach took the kiddos plus cousin up to the top deck for High Stakes High Seas ping pong. Em dominated.

The kiddos then all got checked into the kids’ areas for orientation. They had a blast while Uncle R and Coach grabbed a drink and watched the sun go down on Victoria from a swanky pub.

Fun was had by all when Lady Coach and the grandparents joined for a nightcap before picking up the kiddos and heading to bed.

Kids had a blast meeting their peers on the boat. After kiddo rack time, Coach tucked in Lady Coach and headed out to the Promenade deck to say goodbye to the last light. It was stunning watching the mountains fade out of sight into the darkness. Spent some time in prayer and contemplation about the year. It was a sweet time and Coach had the whole deck to himself somehow.

Then, all the men tried to win big in blackjack. We did not. We all laughed and called it a night. Tomorrow, more ocean.