Antarctica! brrr..

(Where we went! Z made this by taking GPS readings each day, pretty cool.)

You know how you just put things off, because they're overwhelming and you'd rather read a book, or even just clip your toenails or deep clean the entire house or something? That's how the Antarctica Post has been to me...But now that we've been back for 4? 5? days, I guess I'll start cranking it out! It was just so...long...with so many pictures...but it was fun, so here I go!

We went on a cruise. A cruise to Antarctica, with stops at the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas if you're Argentine), Ushuaia, Argentina (in Tierra del Fuego), and Punta Arenas, Chile (Patagonia). We didn't actually get off the ship in Antarctica, but we'll get over that. Z might not, I think he plans to go back in a sea kayak someday, in which case I'll send him off with loads of handwarmers and wait on a beach somewhere. A warm beach.

We got on the ship, the Star Princess, here in Montevideo on Sunday, Feb. 15, and got off it on Monday, March 2, in Chile. TWO WEEKS. Two weeks on a boat, with two 2-year olds. Luckily, our good friends, Mike and Julie, and their 3 kids, Paige (5), Jonah (turning 4 this month), and Jack (20 months?), as well as Julie's mom, Mary, came along, too. We had a lot of fun with them! And here they are! On the little boat (tender) taking us from the ship to the Falkland Islands. Mike, Jonah and Julie, and then Nuala, Paige, Mary, and Jack.

Nuala and Bran LOVED the other kiddos, except for the times when Nuala was grumpy, which was only about the last week or so. And even then she still loved them, she just didn't show it so nicely. Jack is so dang cute. Seriously. And such a sweet little guy. Jonah and Paige are great, too, of course! Jonah was always some animal or other, and Paige was soooo good with the littler kids, Nuala had a ball hanging out with her.

What? Get on with it? Fine, fine. Here's some pictures. Starting with our first stop...Stanley, Falkland Islands:

We found a cheap ride (compared to what the cruise was charging. We didn't go on any of the "official" cruise excursions and saved a bundle. You can always find a cheaper way once you're off) out to Gypsy Cove and spent a while walking up and down the coast looking at penguins. They were awfully cute, little Magellanic penguins.

Unfortunately, but fortunately for the penguins, of course, we couldn't get too close. The main reason was the possibility of a stray mine ruining someone's trip. The Falklands are a territory of Britain, but Argentina claims them as their own (as las Islas Malvinas). In 1982, Argentina invaded and there was a 2-month war, which is when they so lovingly placed the many mines on the beaches. Mines are one of the worst ideas ever. Such a potential for harm to innocents for soooo long after a conflict has ended. But we won't get into that.

And good thing we brought the binoculars! because then we got some cute pictures...

This is the whale jaw bones pavilion thing. It was a gorgeous day...we all thought it was going to be chilly and overcast, so we brought jackets, and dressed warmly. Ha! Joke was on us! It was beautiful and sunny.

Guns, guns, guns...or, as Bran calls them (and he calls them OFTEN...): "owie pokie guns!" Swords and anything long and pokie looking are plain old "owie pokies".

Here's some pictures of Antarctica. It was beautiful, and wonderful to see, but I'll admit it wasn't on my "must see" list. But I'm very grateful I had the chance to go there, and Zachariah just LOVED it. It was definitely gorgeous... :

See? Gorgeous. We saw penguins porpoising around the ship often, which is...well, swimming/jumping out of the water like a porpoise or dolphin. There were whales sighted several times, but we were never in the right place to see them, darn it! And usually we were not in a position to drop whatever we were doing (meaning, something with the kids) and race to the exact spot before they disappeared again. Oh well! Some other time. Every day almost we spent a good bit of time in the afternoon in the hot tub and pool. The "hot agua" was a definite favorite of the kids. For some reason other people didn't seem to want to be in the hot tub when the Tull kids and our guys were there...weird. I think something to do with the amount of splashing that inevitable happens when you get small children in any pool of water...not very relaxing, but loads of fun! No, I'm not wearing a bikini, my TANKini top bunched up and I hadn't rearranged yet. Also, in the afternoon, the milk and cookies guys would come by. Yum.

I'm the only one of our entire group who got seasick, at least more than slightly. It was the 2nd or 3rd day...I can't remember...but it was MISERABLE. I've never really been seasick or carsick before. At dinner that night, I had to practically run from the table (Me to waiter: "where's the bathroom?!" Waiter: "outside the doors...can you order first?" Me: "No!"). And, I didn't tell you this, Julie and Mike and Mary, but I puked IN MY HAND since I didn't get there in time. I'm sure it was a lovely sight. Don't worry, I washed up well. I just didn't want to affect your nice yummy dinner in any way by sharing that tidbit over the entree. The ship had to run from a huge storm at one point, changing our course, which was kind of exciting. Those waves were a little bit BIG, but I never puked again. I was a bit worried that I was going to be sick for the rest of the two-week cruise, but luckily it was just the one day, maybe a little bit now and then, but really not bad other than that. But, yep. In my hand. Betcha want to shake now.

After cruising around Antarctica, we hopped off in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. It's in Tierra del Fuego, which is just the southern tips of Chile and Argentina, so named because ships sailing around Cape Horn would always see the fires of the local people dotting the land at night. We rode a cable car up to a glacier, Glaciar Martial, but didn't actually set foot ON the glacier because of freezing kids, etc. We got hot cocoa afterwards, which really hit the spot. Nuala had her whole cup and finished Bran's. But it was a really nice hike. Bran loved it! Nuala wanted to be worn the whole time (on my tummy, she specified, not my back!), and when we got back on the ship, we figured out she was a little bit sick, ending up with a slight fever and all. Poor kid.

Next stop was Punta Arenas, Chile. It's part of Patagonia. We saw more penguins! It was an hour drive, mostly on a really bumpy gravel road which DID put Nuala and Bran to sleep on the way there...none of the Tull kids conked out though, haha! so they had a little less relaxing drive than we did ;) We walked around on a boardwalk type thing, with little penguins (Magellanic again) popping up from their burrows here and there. It was great! It was windy, but still fun. Our driver dropped us off at a statue of Magellan afterward. At his feet sit two natives, and supposedly if you rub the big toe of one of them, you'll return to South America someday. We all rubbed it. Oh, and this first shot, taken by Bran, totally captures the essence of Nuala during the last few days of the trip. Attitude, attitude, attitude. A grumpy attitude. At least she's cute.

Finally we docked in Valparaiso, Chile and went our separate ways. The Tull crew to Santiago and a hotel before beginning their loooong trip back to Seattle the following day, and us to the Santiago airport for our less-than-2-hour flight to Montevideo. Nice.

It was a fun trip, more so because of the friends we had along. And this was obviously a very quick summary, even if it didn't seem like it...So many cute pictures, so few made the cut...sigh. But, WHEW, it's good to be home! It wasn't all that relaxing, for sure, with two 2-year olds... There weren't very many children on the cruise so the kiddos were pretty fawned over by the staff and other passengers. I mean, obviously they would have been anyway, but still... ;) Z and I even went running every other day or so up in the fitness center. It was sort of a strange feeling, sweating away on a treadmill while watching icebergs out the window. And of course, the FOOD. Too much of it. But we're not complaining. So, overall, a good time. The kiddos were excited to get back, to not have to sleep in their little tents on the top bunks anymore. Haha! Ever since we've been back, Nuala asks us to "zip up!" instead of "tuck in!" at night. Poor kid. Guess that shows they were in those little tents a slightly long time.

(And you will probably be subject to a few more teeny posts trickling in about our trip...just advance warning ;)