Day 8 At Sea and 50th Anniversary Celebration

The whole reason for this fantastic trip was to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary.  My brother and I did some planning and scheming before leaving for the trip and decided that Thursday, while at sea all day, would be a great day to celebrate.

I started my day where I usually did--on the back of the boat, eating breakfast...amazingly alone.  Notice the cream cheese on the cucumber slices.  My brother and I had a ten minute discussion about this--why was cream cheese only available on cucumber slices? Why can't I have a scoop for my bagel that hasn't touched cucumber?  Why cucumbers?  And so on....

This is a classic note--left for The Girl, telling her where and when to meet us, since we didn't use cell phones on the ship

After breakfast, many of the family members participated in a rousing game of Calvin Ball.  Ok, it wasn't really Calvin Ball, but for you fans of Calvin and Hobbes, you would recognize the game---If my nephew made a goal, he got a point, if his dad missed a goal, my nephew got a point, if grandma or grandpa blocked a goal, my nephew got a point...and so on and so forth...

My dad and The Boy look cold, while my mom and brother seem to be taking off layers...the weather was interesting!

While Mr IM, my brother and sister in law and I decorated the party room, the grandkids entertained grandma and grandpa.  The staff were fantastic--we had deliberated for months..cake..no cake.. cake.. no cake (my dad is diabetic) and finally decided on a cake.  The staff not only provided the cake, but also beverages and candy in fun glasses.  Even a giant bowl of sprinkles for the cake...mmmm.

They were surprised (I think?)  We watched a slide show of the past 50 years (set to music) and ate cake.  We had a fabulous photo session, using the timer on my brother's camera.  Let's just say the photos came out as our timed family photos always do (there were a few good ones!)

We then proceeded to dinner in our matching 50th Anniversary cruise shirts, where the wait staff sang "Let me call you sweetheart" to my folks.

We were met in our room by this guy (now, he's quite impressive!)

And my parents kept some decor on their door the rest of the trip--earning them many "happy birthdays" from passersby.

We ended the day with some time watching for whales and other wildlife

and enjoying the semi-tropical, Alaskan evening (he, he...palm trees)

It was beautiful!

Happy (belated) 50th Anniversary to my parents!