For Christmas this year my family decided that we would celebrate by being together and having new experiences, rather than exchanging gifts. It was a very different holiday for us but I think we all had a great time! We stayed at the Pueblo Bonito at Sunset Beach, which was an all inclusive resort. It was great to eat our fill of seafood, tacos and margaritas! 

Christmas Eve and Christmas night we dressed up and enjoyed both a sushi dinner and the more upscale restaurant. 

 

 

Christmas morning was very different in Mexico! First of all, 70 degrees and sunny was quite the environment to feel jolly!

Christmas breakfast was also quite impressive!

 For mom's birthday the day after Christmas we celebrated by taking a boat ride to The Arch and to whale watch. 

 Overall it was a great trip, even though it was a non-traditional Christmas. I think this is a tradition I could get used to though!

My family has gotten really good at nailing theme parties when celebrating birthdays! For my aunt's birthday, we opted for a golf themed dinner party and then a miniature golf excursion. What a great time!

I just returned from a bucket list trip and I cannot begin to wrap my head around what I experienced!

For this desert creature, every view was unique and inspiring. Being summer time, it really wasn't THAT cold, although it was rainy many days and very foggy. The biggest environmental thing to get used to was it never really got dark. When the sun "set" at 10:30PM, it was more of a dusk rather than a night sky with stars. Then the sun would rise at about 3:30AM, so sleep was a little difficult. 

My travel partner for this trip was my mom! We had a great time and never got on each other's nerves too badly. Here is a video of some of the highlights!

 Mendenhall Glacier was pretty amazing. Since it was overcast and raining, apparently it brings out more of the blue color in the glacier. This is something I would like to return to Juneau to see again, as hiking through the caves here seems wonderful as well. We didn't have time to explore so this was about as close as we got.

In Skagway we had a very adventurous day. We took a helicopter up to Denver Glacier to complete my bucket list item - DOG SLEDDING! It was thrilling. The pups were so excited to run that they were barking and jumping around. What an experience!

Of course when you are in Alaska you have to have an authentic Alaskan crab leg!