I know I will forget something as I write this because I don't have my travel journal in front of me, but I do know that my memory is better than the other 4 Nolans put together.  So here it goes...

Monday, June 3rd- board cruise ship, get aquainted with the layout and staff.  Boys love it!
The boys go to the Kids Club after playing basketball on the top deck while Rich and I go to the Welcome Aboard show.

Tuesday, June 4th- we are at sea all day -sailing from Vancouver to Ketchikan.  We went swimming while Rich played in a Texas Hold 'em Tournament and went to a Veteran's Meet and Greet.  I went to an Art Auction and bid on an actual Pablo Picasso drawing, knowing I wouldn't win, of course- just for fun.  The free champagne made me do it :)  The evening entertainment was a show of a acrobatics from Cirque who were amazing- especially on a ship. 

Wednesday, June 5th- We arrived in Ketchikan and went on a small boat to the Misty Fjords and saw bald eagles, dolphins, and sea lions.  We tasted the Alaskan salmon and got a stamp in our National Parks passports.  After that tour we went into town for the lumberjack show.  They were hilarious and the boys really got into the silly competition.  We had our photo taken with the lumberjacks and got back on board.  I played BINGO and won, but had to split the $120 with another winner.  Later the family enjoyed the Production casts rendition of several Broadway musicals.

Thursday, June 6th- we landed in Juneau and headed straight for the creeks to pan for gold!  And Eureka, we did find it!  We all found gold flakes that morning and put them in little vials to take home- the boys were super excited about that of course.  Next we headed to a salmon bake.  The funny thing that happened there was that a raven stole Jake's entire portion of salmon right off his plate while Jake was going to get lemonade!  Luckily it was an all-you-can-eat buffet, so Jake still got to eat salmon.  After that, we went to Mendenhall Glacier and got our National Parks stamps there too.  Jake, Zack and Rich hiked to the waterfall while Nathan and I watched a film about the glacier and learned about Dall sheep.
After a full day out there was still more fun to be had back on ship.   Jake didn't want to go to the Kids Club so he went back to the room by himself and enjoyed his independence and watched Back To The Future, while his brothers enjoyed the Pirate themed fun with Kids Club.  Rich and I went to see another singing/dancing production- another hit!  After tucking the kids in bed, we went to the casino on board and played a little blackjack- we doubled our $100 and got out of Dodge.  Fun time.

Friday, June 7th- Skagway- tiny little town tour and off we went up into the Klondike region where we had lunch and met sled dogs and their adorable puppies.  The boys got to ride in a sled pulled by 9 dogs- boy, were those dogs energetic, loud, and mean to one another.  It was a wild ride that the boys won't soon forget.   There was a cool museum to see and then it was off to Yukon territory.  We stopped at some amazing scenic stops and took a bunch of photos.  At Frasier we got on a 115 year old railway train and rode it 2 hours back into Skagway.  It was an 8 hour adventure in total!  We wandered around town after that - watched a movie at the Visitor's Center about the Klondike Gold Rush- got our National Parks passports stamped and Rich got his Skagway Brewery T-shirt.  Long day, but amazing.
Later that night after dinner, Rich and I went to see a comedian while the boys played basketball.  They are loving all the freedom of being on the ship, checking in every once in awhile.  Danced the night away at the 80's dance night!

Saturday, June 8th - we woke up to being inside a National Park- Glacier Bay.  We had some park rangers climb aboard for the day and teach us about the park and it's glaciers.  We got our passport stamps and the boys even earned their Jr. Ranger badges and patches at the Kids Club.  We all attended a ranger program in the theater and then enjoyed the views.   At lunch we saw humpback whales, sea otters, and bears along the shore.  Later that day we all got sea sick at dinner except Rich.  He took each one of the boys back to the room and put them to bed after leaving the dinner table one by one because they felt so bad.  I couldn't help him because I myself felt like I was going to lose it.  I hung in there and we played Deal or No Deal- no winners that night.  We stayed in the theater to watch a Rock-n-Roll show.  I fanned myself the whole time because I felt so bad.  After we went to the White HOT party where everyone wore white and danced the night away- we sat and watched.   I told Rich to go ahead and dance without me but he didn't go out there- go figure! 

Sunday, June 9th- at sea, but we did stop by a glacier which I can't remember at the moment.  We all felt much better the next day thank goodness.  Nathan and Zack went to practice for their big circus performance while Jake played basketball all morning.  We enjoyed a quiet morning reading and going through our photos because the camera was FULL already - so I had to delete some!  Then we went and saw the circus that the boys had worked hard on and they were SO cute dressed as clowns.  Jake didn't do it because he was too old he said. :(   Later we all played BINGO  and Nathan won!  We split $170 three ways but was so happy.   We played Deal or No Deal one more time- no love.   We went to see the magic show/ illusionist and the boys were amazed at his tricks (Rich and I were too)!  We ended by putting them to bed and packing a little bit before we went out to enjoy our favorite band SOUL for one last time and then called it an early night since we had to get up early and disembark.  It was an incredible vacation!  Cruises are the way to go.

Great way to start our trip!