The Traveling Banana

i am home! Wow... there is so much to tell..... hope you guys don't mind a looong update. If you do then i'll just say now that i had an AWESOME time!!!!!!!!!!!

DAY 1:
Okkkk, so Thursday morning, bright and early.. well 5:00am we woke up and got in the car and drove to the airport. We got there, went through customs fine and dandy and then waited for our flight.... we got on. And got ready for the flight. Oh, i just love take off... don't know why but it always feels so amazing! anyways the flight to Denver was good... didn't really do much actually haha. We got to denver, had a like 30 minute layover and were off to Vancouver, BC, Canada. We got there and got our luggage. Met up with our other aunt and uncle who came from CA and our cousins too. ... oh by the way, i realized how much FUN it is to travel with family!!!... ok on the first flights to Vancouver, we got to fly with our Aunt, uncle and cousin, our grandparents, and our other aunt and uncle! FUN!!! Okkkk so we got to BC met our other aunt and uncle and cousins and then went on a bus to the hotel. We got there.. to BC at 1:00pm .... in MO it was like 4:00 so the time difference... wow... i was pooped... Anyways that night my other aunt came in and the poor thing! Her and her boyfriend had traveled together cause they were both coming on the cruise and then when they got to BC her boyfriend got stuck in customs. So, she was pretty sad Anyways, that night we all had a good sleep i think everyone did at least

DAY 2:
Friday morning, we woke, ate breakfast, and got everything packed. We all took a bus to the cruise and went through more customs. We finally walked on the gangway and went into the cruise ship. It was unbeleivable!!! I mean after the first few days it kinda wore off, but when i first stepped on it was sooo cool! There was this huge fountain in the middle and it was like you were in a mansion! It was geeeeorgeous! Anywayssss... we all went off to our rooms and then went up to eat. The Lido Deck *the resturaunt* had like any type of food you could want... all the way from Thai food to Italian, to .... well anything!!!!!! So we went up there and ate and talked about what we were gunna do the rest of the day Around 4ish everyone had a lifeboat drill. Haha! It was fun! We had to put on our lifejackets and then go to our assigned lifeboats. So yah the lifejackets were HUGE! SO we were playing bumper ...... bumper person. hahaha After the drill was done me and Damarise went up to my granparents room *they had a verandah* so we went up there and watched the ship take off from Vancouver, BC! So we were finally on our way. After that we all got ready to go to dinner at the Rotterdam Dining Room. We would go to this resturaunt every night for dinner. Everyone had assigned seating and the waiters got to know you so well Anyways that night was casual cause most people didn't have out there nice clothes yet. But every night after that you had to be a lil' dressy. Anyways, so we went in there and the waiters pulled out your chair, and put the napkin in your lap and then handed you a sheet of paper with the menu on it. So you had like 3 choises of food from things like your appitizer, salad, soup, and then you had like 7 choises of what you wanted your entree to be. so the first night was .... weird kinda At least to me. It was something totally new! So for the main course, or the entree they had choises of like, duck, lamb, crab ... i mean things that i am totally not familiar with. So the first night i got a salad, fruit and pasta. It was all very good!.... The dessert though, wow that was even better! Haha, of course! ... now the food isn't just heaped on your plate. No it is all in very small helpings and VERY decrative! I mean sometimes it was even too pretty to eat!!!! So, yah the had a big variety of desserts! All very good! .... After dinner we went to a show... there were these guys playing violin and WOW they were good!!!!! ... After the show, me, damarise and my cousin Matt went to the teen room thing and played cards with some other kids there. Around 11 i was to tired to stay awake * i was still on MO time* so i went to bed!
But the things that i noticed that day:
1- they have hand sanitizers EVERY on the cruise ship! It is soo wonderful!
2- All the workers are mostly Indonesians. They all have a HUGE smile! I loved it!!! ... but it was hard to get used to their accent! After about 3 days though, i could understand a lot
3- The room cleaning guy comes in when you eat breakfast and cleans your room and makes your bed. At night while you are at dinner he folds down the comforter makes a towel animal*VERY COOL* and leaves a chocolate!
4- the waters were very smooth that day!
5- In the Elevator the have a rug and everyday they change it to the day.. so when it was Friday they had a rug that said Friday! Very cool!!!
6- I got used to the elevator! 11- was the Lido, which is where we ate lunch and breakfast every day. 8- was where we ate dinner. 5- was our floor. 6- was most everyone elses floor. 9- was my Aunt Penny, Uncle don's and Anna's floor... well their room was on that floor. 10- was my granparents room. 12- was the Crowes nest. It was comfy up there and had a great veiw! 7- was the stage and theater.. etc.... stores... yadda yadda.

DAY 3:
Woke up! And got ready to go eat breakfast at the lido deck. went out of my room went to the elevator and pressed 11 ... so easy hahaha!!! We got up there and they had out sooo much breakfast. And my favorite..... guesses guesses??? ... YOGURT!!!! They had it at lunch AND breakfast so i was soo happy! Anyways i got in line and the Indonesian guys who worked at the Lido were there saying "Gooood morning, how was your sleep?" And they had their BIGGG smiles on!!! So happy After breakfast, me and damarise went off to "explore" the ship. We found a library, with a great view and it was quiet so we went there a lot, just to read We also found the deck at the very front of the ship and... waved to the captians hehehe. After that we went to the salon with Mom and Aunt Pennt to listen to a talk about hair. It was pretty boring After that we went to lunch. And then me and Damarise went to the library to read. Grandma came and got us and we *us three girls* went to play Bingo with my other aunts and uncles. Fun fun! Damarise won a gold bracelet so that was pretty cool After we played that we went to go get ready for dinner! We had a waiter, Tika, and he loved kids! So every dinner he would bring my cousin Anna her chocolate milk! He was very sweet!!! At the end of dinner the waiter came out with a cake just for grandma and papa and it said happy 50th anniversary on it! It was pretttyy!!!!! .... After dinner we went to the Lido deck *which also had a pool, hottubs and pingpong So we * like all my aunts and uncles and my 2 older cousins, and my grandparents* played some ping pong! Haha i am not good at it. I can hit it... but it FLYS!!! And when it comes at me i usually end up hitting it just cause i am in self defence mode! HAHAHA!!! But my grandpa! WOW!!! He is GOOD!!!!! ... Anyways after that we went to the dessert bar. They had it every night at 11pm So we went there.... affter that ... i went to bed

DAY 4:
We landed in Ketchikan, Alaska. It was rainy and cold!!! Really rainy! But Dad decided we would go on a 1 mile hike UP a mountain and one mile back down. It was misserable! But it taught us how to be conent in all circumstances!!! Anyways after around 3 hours we were DRENCHED!!!! we were on our way back to the boat and some guy saw us walking past and offered us a ride back! Oh we were so thankful!!!! He took us to some old indian place with a bunch of todem poles It was cool. Anyways we got back to the ship and i took a nice hot shower. I was frozen!!!! After that we had dinner. And my aunt's boyfriend got on the ship, so everyone was happy for her anddd him!!! We had a super dinner..after dinner... we went to the stage area and watched a magician! He was really good After that we walked around for a bit. and then in a couple hours we went back to the stage area and watched the Indonesian staff put on a show! Haha. It was very good! At the end all of the indonesians took out this bamboo type instrument. It was shaped as a square but it had 3 peices of bamboo in it. Anyways they all had a different sized one and then they played a song with those! It was soo cool!!! It was one of the most cool instuments i have ever heard! Anyways after that the boat was rocking really bad! Haha everyone was going from side to side to side! But we made it to our room and went right to sleep

DAY 5:
Woke up early. And went to Icy Strait Point, Alaska, we couldn't get there by walking off the gangway so instead we had to go by lifeboat It was neat! ... Anyways me, Damarise, sarah, and a couple of our aunts and uncles and cousins went on a walk around. we saw some seals, and crabs... lots of crabs haha. After a couple hours we were cold so we decided to go back to the ship. We got there, ate lunch, helped my cousin Anna make a bear and then my aunt did mine and damarise's hair for us since that night was formal night So we got all dressed up and went to the Pinnacle Grill It was a REALLY fancy resturaunt! We all wore our gowns, and we gave grandma and papa the scrapbook that me and damarise made for them. They loved it! Yeah! After dinner, we *mom, dad, damarise and me* went to the movie theater and watched RV. after that we went to the dessert bar... haha it became a habbit i think! ... anyways we went there and then to bed!

DAY 6:
Woke up and we were in Juneau So we went and ate breakfast and then went up to my granparents room. The whole family was there so we decided we would do something together. We all got ready and then went on a tram! Ok, for those of you who don't know what a tram is , cause i didn't know what it was, It is a car type thing attached to a string... ok wait a cable and it goes straight up a mountain. Now you guys no how i was with roller coasters, so i was kinda sorta freeking out before the ride. But we got on and it was smooth as could be and it didn't break! Haha. So yah it was neat!!! We got to the top of a really high mountain and went into the visitor center and looked at stuff. We saw some Inuit movie or something and then they had this real, live, breathing bald eagle in a cage. It had got blinded and paralized in his right arm i think. So it was just sitting there not moving at all!! It was sad but i got really close to a bald eagle so it was pretty cool tee hee hee After everything up there we all went down for lunch. Another wonderful meal. Yeah for yogurt! After lunch Dad, Mom, Ian, Sarah, Andrew and my 4 year old cousin Anna went back up the mountain to hike. Me and Damarise stayed in our room and nappedaw, very nice! For dinner, we went back to our ussual dinner spot and had a super time! The waiters were puting on some new show type thing while you ate. It was called the "Master Chef dinner" Anyways for 3 of the courses the waiters came out and danced and sang and it was really cool!!!!And the food was superb!!!!!! Haha andd we had to wear these chef hats! Haha fun sutff!!!.... After dinner me, damarise, mom, dad and most of our aunts, uncles, and cousins went to watch a comedian. He was really good too! He was describing the rooms in which we slept! Haha, he did a very good job! Anyways after that me and dad played HUGE chess hahaha. With the hugeee peices! FUn fun Oh yah dad won haha. Anyways, then we all went to bed

DAY 7:
We were in Skagway, Alaska. It was a really pretty place. We went walking on this nature trail. Very beautiful! We came to a river and saw like .... wow... too many to count of salmon. Just sitting there in ROWS. At least 2000 salmon were where we could see. It was unbelievable! Anyways they were all there mating. So it was very intresting! After the walk we went back to town. Me, Sarah, and Damarise went with my aunt. So we went around shopping and looking at stuff. Then we met up with her boyfriend and headed back. We came back and got ready for dinner It was another formal night , so we got all dressed up. Went to eat and then took family pictures! Of the WHOLE Turnbull family! Very fun!!! hehehe. the boat was rocking pretty bad and we were all on a staircase. So some people who were at the edge were very happy when it was over hehehe. Anywho, after the pictures we went down and changed. And then me, damarise, mom and dad went up to the Crowes Nest and did karioke! Dad and my Aunt Janiece sang a song for my granparents. My uncle sang a song for them. And my Aunt Janiece sang another song for them! It was very funAfter the Karioke we went to the special dessert thing. Ok everything on the dessert bar was like a peice of art! It was unbelievable! You didn't even wanna eat it, it was so beautiful!!! So we sat there and ate. And the boat was rocking a lot! We were swaying back and forth! Haha. After the dessert me, damarise, and sarah were talking with my aunt Cynthia about beets. Hahaha. She said she had searched the wholee boat for beets and finally one day she had found some. So she ate them all! Hahaha Anyways we went with her up the stairs and down the stairs and in the elevator, and everywhere singing "99 buckets of beets on the boat, 99 buckets of beets, take one down throw it around 98 buckets of beets on the boat.." Hahaha we sang that up to like 78 and then all of a sudden we were at 96 again! Hahaha Anyways we went to her room and talke for like 2 hours! Hahaha her husband was like oh man you guys are so weird! Hahaha. It was fun though! We talked about tons of stuff!!

DAY 8:
I woke up around 6:30ish and the boat was swaying soo much! I was so afraid we were gunna crash!I fell back to sleep though. When i woke up we were in the Hubbard Glaciers. We went up on deck and we were right next to a glacier! It was soo cool! ... Okkk, so our whole trip up to this had been seeing Alaska as towns. But this, we were in the ocean and we were right next to a glacier! Which is what i thought of when i thought of Alaska! So it was very neat! Peices of the glacier were falling off so you could here them crashing! It was unbelievable! After that we went to breakfast and while we were eating our captian is like," Ok guys the waters are gunna get rough so make sure you take something and movie all fragile items off your desk" So i went down and took some ginger. Later we*Mom, dad, me, damarise, and my aunt Jan(aka aunt janiece* went and played Catch Phrase with a bunch of other people! It was fun , but half way through Damarise left cause she was feeling sick. After the game i felt pretty sea sick too. So i went down to our room and took a nap. After that i went up for lunch and met up with my aunt Cynthia and Ian. So we decided that maybe if we went swimming our stomachs would feel better scince we would be in flow with the water. So we went to the pool. The pool was FREEZING!!! So we went in the hot tub But the pool had GIGANTIC waves. i mean it would bring up all the water from one side and make a huge wave and then crash back down. So me, Ian and my aunt decided we were gunna do it! So we sat by the edge of the pool for like 5 minutes waiting for us to get used to the cold! After that we jumped in and froze! Haha, it was cold for like a minute and then you were just so numb that you didn't feel anything. So we swam in the waves! It was awesome!!!! It was like swimming in the ocean when there are humungo waves there!!! Fun fun!!! After that we got ready for dinner. But mom had gotten sick and so had sarah and my aunt penny so it was pretty empty that night at the returaunt cause a lot of people were sea sick after dinner we had to pack all of our stuff up. It took forever because we were all feeling sick! So no Victoria, the ginger didn't really help. We finally all took Dramamin *sp??* and that helped a lil better Anyways we got all our stuff packed up and ready to go And finally went to bed for the last time on the cruise

DAY 9:
Seward, Alaska. Our last and final destination. We had to be up and ready to go by 6am. So we woke up at 5 went and ate and then left They had a glass roofed train waiting for us. So we all rode in that. It was a 4 1/2 hour ride through Alaska. It was SOO BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I mean words just can't describe how amazing it was! God's creation is wow! He is a WONDERFUL creator!!! We drove through all that and everything was just jaw-dropping amazing!!!!! After the train ride we went to the airport and said good bye to my Uncle Moe, Aunt sandra, and my 2 oplder cousins Julia and MattThey went back to CA. The rest of us went to another place to get our luggage. We said goodbye to my other aunt and her boyfriend because they were going back to CA too..... And the we all seperated. Our family went to the mall. Haha. okkk our flight didn't leave that night till 11:10pm!!!! Ohh man we had a looong wait! And we were all sooo tired! we went to the aiport like 6 hours early. Another couple who we were on the cruise with and on the first flight with were there. THey were a very sweet older couple! so they entertained us for ... well about all those 6 hours! Haha. around 10pmish the rest of the family showed up We were all pooped! But we got on the plane and slept kinda... well you guys know how hard it is to sleep on a plane anyways about 6am we landed in Denever. We were still all tired We got on our next flight and finally we were in Kansas City, MO at like 10ish!!!! we got our car and went to my grandparents house. and slept. I still feel like a zombie! Haha yesterday we slept from like 10 till 2. and then i woke up and was wondering what was for breakfast. Ooops. hahaha. Anyways, then at night i couldn't fall to sleep till like 2 Ohhh jet lag. not fun!!!! I had forgotten how it felt! ugh!

DAY 10 .... today:
Today i woke up at 12. whoops. hahaha. and now i am writting this. Thank youg uys for your comments and emails!!! I'll post pics soon... Sorry this is so long! Hahahahaha
Have a wonderful day!!!!!!!
Love and miss you all!!!!!