Read about the Oosterdam accommodations, a beautiful ocean sunset, cruise decorations, on board excitement, and towel animals in these previous posts.

Crusin’ desserts photo adventure:

Read about the Oosterdam accommodations, a beautiful ocean sunset, cruise decorations, on board excitement, and towel animals in these previous posts.

Crusin’ main entrees photo adventure:

The most interesting one they had was an ox-tail soup. Of course, this is something my mom and grandmothers always made so I knew what flavors I was looking for. Flavor wise, they did alright, but in terms of actual ox-tail meat, there was definitely something lacking there even though it did come with the coolest pastry topping!

Read about the Oosterdam accommodations, a beautiful ocean sunset, cruise decorations, on board excitement, and towel animals in these previous posts.

Crusin’ soups photo adventure:

The first night at dinner, we learned that you really do need to order an appetizer, soup/salad, and entree because most of the portions were not all that big. The good thing is, that gives you a chance to try even more foods, which is great! First up was always the appetizer. There were always three to four options on the menu for appetizers. The portions were usually very tiny, but always creative and interesting. Most of the options included some kind of seafood, which I was definitely a fan of!

Crusin’ appetizer photo adventure:

My school district’s last day in 2011 wasn’t until December 23 and by that point, it was practically already Christmas, which made things all a muck. And now that all those Mexico entries have been written and shared, my [room 329] entries are finally making a comeback.

On December 23, my class (like pretty much every class in the school) made gingerbread houses, or rather, graham cracker houses. So even though these pictures are at this point over a month old, they’re just so cute I thought I’d share them with you anyway.

Making of the gingerbread houses

Working hard

Final product #1

Final product #2

Final product #3

Final product #4

My parents and I have tried a large number of breakfast/brunch type restaurants and Elijah’s was by far the best. We walked in and were greeted by rows and rows of incased bakery goodies which smelled delicious. The wait staff were polite and fast. The restaurant space was huge and there was an empty room that looked like it could be used for parties or such functions. I ordered a “Reuben, Reuben, Reuben”. It was delicious; the pastrami was juicy and tender, the rye bread was crunchy, and the sauerkraut was the best I’ve ever tried. My mother ordered an omelet that came with a bagel and tasty hash browns. She really enjoyed the omelet. Now everytime she eats an omelet she compares it to Elijah’s. I know we will definitely be returning to this delicatessen.

Welcome to Elijah’s!

Reuben, Reuben, Reuben

Omelet

After arriving in Seattle, getting some good eats on the way through Vancouver, and also chomping down on some Italian in Whistler Village, we were more than ready to hit the slops.

Finally atop the mountain, we spent the next three days in the cold, carving the trails. The first day was not as cold and there was no new snow, but the first night it snowed about four inches, which was great! It flurried a bit the second day too and cleared up in the afternoon, and the third day was sunny all day, which made for some great views. There are actually two mountains there, Whistler, and Blackcomb, and they have a gondola that goes between the two. Although I came back bumped and bruised, it was a pretty good trip. Can’t wait til I can go back!

Ticket booth

Going up

Let’s go!

Ice skating rink in Whistler Village

View from peak to peak gondola

Gondola record!

View down the valley

Olympic rings from 2010

Dumplings (with ramen)

Sliced oranges

orangutans