Just say no…

I’ve never been one to over-medicate my kids. No Benedryl for long trips, no combo cold meds, etc. But, I have to admit, I never REALLY knew if medicating them would really be a bad thing or not.

Well, now I know.

Grace had a bit of motion sickness yesterday, and Peter, while not queasy, didn’t particularly enjoy the rough ocean last night (his mother, of course, couldn’t help think of Gilligan’s Island, The Poseidan Adventure and The Perfect Storm!). Today we were scheduled for a 3 hour Sea Otter Quest, and I did NOT want to have queasy children, so I gave them each a Dramamine before we left.

Grace slept nearly the entire trip, and Peter was not far behind! They certainly dozed the first hour or so. Peter eventually woke up, and FINALLY Grace did….just in time to see the Humpback whale! I have to admit, her timing is impeccable!

The tour was great; the staff was very friendly and knowledgeable, and we saw harbor seals, sea otters (CUTE), bald eagles galore, an Alaskan black-tailed deer, and the aforementioned humpback whale. The whale even did a couple of deep dives, which meant on the way down his tail was out of the water so we could see that.

The kids woke up enough that I convinced (OK, forced) them to walk around Sitka after the sea otter tour. We got some of the BEST kabobs ever (salmon for me and Peter, steak for G), hit a drugstore for more Dramamine (non-drowsy this time), got chocolate, and saw a bit of the town.

Sadly, I didn’t get many pictures, which is a shame. But I’ve discovered that it doesn’t rain ALL the time in Alaska – just anytime my feet are touching Alaskan soil! I got a few pictures of bald eagles, but my poor camera couldn’t figure out how to focus on the sea otters, I didn’t even TRY to get the whale, and in Sitka itself I kept getting raindrops on my lens. Sigh.

The kids have decided they could live in Alaska; I keep reminding them of the 19 hours of darkness in the winter, and we found out today that if Peter played ball in Sitka, rather than taking an activity bus for away games, he’d take an airplane! It’s been enlightening…..