Whale Watching Cruise

My brother-in-law was awesome and organized a morning of whale watching for Millie and I today. He even called the sitter! We hustled out of bed extra early to get ourselves showered and the kids moving. Lucas got his wish of going to school early to share breakfast with his friends. Millie and I broke in the new sitter with a play/nap schedule and food ideas for the three kids at home. She told us to have no fear. We were hopeful and raced out the door.

The day was perfect, as all days have been here since our arrival. We hardly needed our jackets at all. The sun was warm on our skin and the water was smooth as glass. Perfect.





Most of the whales we saw were male juveniles making a bee line after the pregnant females to the warmer waters of Mexico. Not any jumping or playing on this trip. Everyone was full speed ahead on a mission southward.



We were incredibly lucky to have witnessed this mother gray whale traveling with what was judged to be a week old calf. The females generally give birth down south. It really did feel special to be so close to the pair. The mother only broke the surface of the water enough to breathe, never leaving her infants side for a moment. The calf bobbed up and down beneath the water giving us all lots to look at. It was amazing that we could tell the difference between the newborns skin in terms of color and texture from its mothers so clearly. There were rolls and no barnacles and it seemed extra smooth. Special.

A beautiful moment shared with my sister. Photo taken by Millie Price.

Millie also took this shot. The circles are considered to be the whales footprints upon the water.




I enjoyed watching these kids on their field trip. They were all over the boat exploring, pointing, running, laughing and in the end, listening.

Our babysitter lied. Her parting words were that we should have no fear. Well, if you could have seen that house... Fear doesn't quite describe it. I felt more stunned shock at the look of the place. I was in such shock that I didn't take one single photo and oh boy, what a post this truly could have been. This sitter had not looked once at our schedules, which she asked for by the way. I'm not sure if the kids ate. We do know that Carley had a stinky diaper at some point in the day and the woman bathed her in the kitchen sink. Carley is a big girl and their kitchen sink is the divided down the middle sort. I just wondered about how the bath took place. Millie wondered if the lady new of the invention called - wipes. Miss Emry and Master Hugo had pulled out nearly every board game owned by the Price family from the cupboard and strewn the pieces randomly from one room to the next. Oh, the playdough. Playdough was opened out in the sun room and was everywhere, simply everywhere and all dried and stiff as gravel. Dishes were here and there. Mops and brooms strewn about. Everyone seemed happy but my goodness we could hardly face the place. We scooped the kids up into the van and took off for the beach. Once we returned home, we devised a plan to divide and conquer, I bathed the kids and made a stab at the game pieces and general disarray of the house. Millie made us all yummy waffles which the kids i-n-h-a-l-e-d! Poor Millie hadn't had a single bite before they were all demanding, not asking, for seconds. Then Trent walked in the door and Millie and I gave a Hallalulah Shout and shortly there after, the two of us, plus Hugo, tottled off to bed!

Good Night!
Don't let the bed bugs bite!