Alaskan Adventures Week 4

Again, no pictures from Mon, so I'm not sure what we did all day. And, I think some of the pics on the camera are on Britt's laptop (I hope), so I may add more pictures later.

On Tuesday we met up for a kids' soccer practice. Same friend from church has organized their own group that practices/plays once a week. Divided in two age groups, 3-5 and 6-8. Emilee didn't want to play that day because I mentioned not having shin guards (why do I say things?!). But, Logan was excited to play and had fun; he jumped right in without any problem. They play on a school field, so there is playground equipment there as well. The girls had fun playing during the whole hour of practice. After practice came the best part: snacks. Logan really did say that was the best part. Then all of the kids played on the playground equipment for a while. It was good to get out and have the kids be with other kids. That night we went out to dinner since Britt got off early enough for that. Then we took Britt on an adventure to the chocolate factory (we did the same walk along the creek that we had done before). We stopped to pick raspberries along our walk. One of the coolest things ever is having raspberry bushes growing randomly. We enjoyed samples at the chocolate factory, and we convinced Dad to buy us all some chocolate to bring home. We picked more raspberries on the way back. Then we played around a little in a field and looked in the creek at the salmon (?) there. It was a nice, relaxing evening together as a family.

Wednesday. We went to a new park for the ward's park picnic lunch. We met some new people, and I was able to visit with some other ladies that I had previously met. The park was nestled back behind homes and bordered a lake (Lake Otis). The kids had a lot of fun and would have stayed all day. As it was, I think we were there for almost three hours. The kids also played with play-doh at the apartment and had a good time doing that.

Thursday was a bit rainy as I recall in the morning. We did make it to the post office and Costco in the morning. After nap time, we went to Wells Fargo to get more quarters for laundry, and we walked through the museum they have in the Wells Fargo building. We only had 30 minutes before the museum closed, but that was really about all we needed. The kids saw Alaskan native artifacts and even a giant woolly mammoth tusk. The kids also got suckers at the bank - they were so happy. We went back to the Anchorage Museum with the cool kids' zone. One area that was being cleaned last time was open this time. It was like a tree house with dress up clothes inside...the kids really enjoyed dressing up. We stayed in that area the whole time we were there. I think they could have stayed there for a full day if we'd had it. Oh, we did play with bubbles again before we left.

Friday was rainy. We stayed home that morning and made cookies in preparation for the church picnic the next day. We had a picnic lunch of our own outside on the deck.

On Saturday we went downtown to the park strip for the Stake's Pioneer Day party. Emilee and I had matching braids for the occasion. We took cookies and fruit salad for the potluck. The kids noticed a bounce house right when we arrived. Guess where Logan and Emilee spent most of the time; Rachel tried it out, but there were too many big kids so she came back to me. We all enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, the rest of the potluck vittles. Rachel waited in line forever for face painting, but I finally convinced her to give up and come do other things (only one person was face painting, and she was painting elaborate full-face designs that took like 5-10min per kid). I noticed the watermelon eating contest about to start and told Logan. He really wanted to try it (and got Emilee on board), so we headed over. I thought it was more for adults, but there were a few kids, too. My kids loved doing it no matter the outcome. They even got a little extra watermelon out of it to share with Rachel. Eventually we walked around to participate in some activities. Logan and Emilee did a sack race. All three kids participated in a large-scale game of Tic-Tac-Toe with teams. They enjoyed that, too. Things started wrapping up around then. Except for one thing. There is a Samoan branch in the Stake that was putting on a show of traditional dancing. We stuck around for that, but it did take longer than the kids and I thought. By the time we left, we were all tuckered out from being outside for so long.

On Sunday, we talked about pioneers a bit in the morning before church. Rachel never napped that day, so that did make church and the rest of the evening interesting. The big kids passed off more Articles of Faith and got more candy, so they were happy (and they did share with Rachel). It was rainy that day, too, so we had fun getting in/out of the car in the rain at church. We picked Britt up so he could have dinner, and he immediately had to go back to work. The kids loved driving through the puddles on the road and having other cars splash us as we waited at a stoplight; it's the little things in life.

Alaskan Adventures Week 3

Here we go, a little late, because I've been too tired to blog at night. [I have more pictures to add. So this post may be edited in the future.]

Britt had the car on Monday because he'd been called in to the hospital during the night. So, I decided that the kids and I would trek to a nearby park. When I checked on google maps it was 1 mile away (the way a crow flies). Though it would be more since we would have to follow roads and trails, I firgured it wouldn't be too bad. We took the stroller, so the kids tried to ride in it the whole way. I made the big kids take turns. It took longer than I thought, but we finally made it. Goose Lake Park was pretty neat, though the lake there looked a little more dirty to me...maybe just because it was cloudy that day. We played for a while, and the kids even got to play with some kids that were there for their summer camp. While we ate lunch, Logan dropped his sandwich and the duck that had been hovering was all over it in no time. I was tired for the walk home, so we took our time. We stopped so the kids could be kids, and we actually had to stop to go potty, too. It took us a whole hour to get home!

Apparently we skipped Tuesday because I have no pictures. If I don't take pictures, I don't remember anything. I think maybe that was a shopping day?

For Wednesday morning, we went on another hike with our friends. It is called Thunderbird Falls. This time, the hike was shorter and easier even though it started with an incline. Two of my kids were not in the mood to hike, so that made it not as fun. But we did it, with me carrying Rachel off and on and holding Logan's hand on the way back.

Britt got off in the afternoon (post-call) on Wednesday. He napped while the kids did watercolor painting. When he woke up, we went to a hole in the wall restaurant that was recommended to him. It was a Hawaiian restaurant called Hula Hands. The food was delicious (and the kids were happy they got burgers and fries). They sampled the more authentic food Britt and I got and liked those meats as well. After dinner we drove around, got lost, found our way again, and we went to a new park. At the end of the trip I will make a list/tally of all the parks. This one was Margaret Sullivan park, and it is really close to the coast. There was a lake there and a pretty cool swing (?) that everyone but me and my belly tried out (I'm a little jealous). Lots of fun just being outside enjoying the greenery and flowers and nice, cool weather.

On Thursday, we met up for a short walk to the chocolate factory. Alaska Wild Berry Products is the name.  They boast the world's largest chocolate (water)fall. Our group got a guided tour back through the kitchens (you can normally see the kitchens through windows anyway). I think the adults might have enjoyed the tour more than the kids. But, the kids liked the chocolate samples at the end. Everything there is pretty pricey, but it is delicious. The kids got chocolate covered ritz/peanut butter sandwich crackers and chocolate covered caramel popcorn. After the factory, we walked back along the creek/trail to a field we had parked our cars next to. We had a picnic lunch while the kids ran and played with the recently cut grass (everyone got green grass marks on them).  That night the girls put their hair nets back on (from the factory) and made chocolates at home for almost an hour. They were pretty creative and busy that night while we did a video chat.

Friday morning was a shopping day, again. That afternoon, I took the kids to another park - Russian Jack Springs. It has a pretty cool play area there. The kids made friends and had fun playing for a couple of hours. There was also a church group there that afternoon giving out snacks and helping kids make bracelets. My children jumped in on that fun. It's nice to know there are good people in the world doing good things.

Saturday was busy, busy since Britt had the day off and we're trying to cram stuff into those days. We planned to hike Exit Glacier and go to Seward (they are about thirty minutes apart but just over 2 hours from Anchorage). We listened to an audio book on the drive (thank goodness for digital library collections!!). We stopped once on the way for a potty break (luckily there was a rest stop when we needed it). Britt, Emilee, and Logan took pictures there. 

Unfortunately we didn't get great pictures of the waterfalls, but there are waterfalls at random on the mountains - so pretty. The drive was gorgeous! We were surprised at the hike for Exit Glacier because there were flies EVERYWHERE - HUNDREDS of them. 

We also were expecting to get closer to the glacier than we did. The glacier has been melting rather rapidly, so the trail stops farther back than we expected. It was super cool and windy when we came out near the glacier. It was neat to see close up. Britt even found a waterfall on/from the glacier. 

We were all tired after that, 

but we continued on to Seward to explore the Sea Life Aquarium there. We had some pretty neat experiences watching the water fowl, the seals and sea lion (he roared for us), otters, and the kids got to touch sea stars, anemone and other underwater sea creatures. We got dinner afterward then let the kids play at a public park there. They had more fun there at the park than anything else. Then we headed for home. We didn't make it home until after 10pm. Perhaps next time we should head out earlier in the day.

Britt had Sunday off as well. He got to sleep in while I prepared breakfast and the kids took it in to give him a late Father's Day breakfast in bed. Everyone was excited to do that. The kids had practiced some Articles of Faith, so they were able to pass one off each and get a treat at Primary - happy kids. We should be practicing more this week. On Sunday evening we drove to the Anchorage Temple and walked around for a little bit.

Emilee has taken to 'sketching' things that we are seeing while driving and walking. I think it's cool. If she finishes any of her sketches, I'll take pictures and post them.

Alaskan Adventures Week 2

Week 2 has flown by, despite the days being long. The kids seemed to get worse about bedtime this last week. I'm trying new (old) methods to see if it'll help. Warning: lots of words as I typed this without pictures first. Brace yourself.

Monday was the Fourth of July, so we headed downtown for their parade. It was the first parade I can remember taking the kids to. We enjoyed it, but there weren't as many floats as I expected. The kids each got a free little flag to wave, so they were pretty excited about that.

Afterward there was a carnival set up, and the kids got excited and wanted to try stuff out. I'm such a party pooper. I'll blame it on being pregnant and it being almost 1pm  (parade started at 11) as to why we didn't stay. The crowd was big and lines were long, even to get tickets, and I just didn't have it in me. I made a deal with them that if we left without doing anything I would get them red, white, and blue popsicles. They were good with that.

That night we had a dessert party with the other two residents here who are our neighbors (at 8pm!!). Emilee wanted to make invitations and invite them to our party, so we did. We had apple/cherry pie that we made that morning and red,white, and blue M&M cookies that we made a few days before. We tried getting straight to bed after that. No fireworks for us. But, I'm okay with that. I think someday when the kids are older we'll go to a big fireworks show. Yeah, when people are older.

On Tuesday, Britt got home early enough that we went to the Anchorage Museum which has a pretty awesome kids area. There were lots of hands-on things to play with. We asked the kids for their favorites, and I think the bubble stuff was the ultimate favorite. We only had about an hour and a half there, so we definitely want to go back to play some other time.

We got invited by our friend in the ward to go to movie theater for the kids' summer movie this Wednesday. We made it (a few minutes late), and got to enjoy Curious George. Totally worth going to for $3 total. ;) 

The ward we are attending here has this cool park playdate thing this summer. Each Wednesday they visit a new park. Those who come bring lunch and visit while the kids play for a couple of hours. Food and fun - totally what we love. We stopped home after the movie to grab lunch and then headed for the park. It was misty/drizzling that day, but the kids still wanted to play. They each got hurt at least once but still had fun. By the time we got there, I think some people had gone, so we'll try to get there earlier this week so we can actually play/visit. Now that I know the wetness doesn't bother my kids, we can go play rain or shine.

 

On Thursday we tried getting to the library for story time. The room was filled to capacity, so we weren't allowed in. The kids still had fun playing in a cool kids' area there at the library. I think I even read Logan a book. I plan to go back with the kids to read some more (though we've been reading books left at the apartment and digital books we checked out through our library). There is a city park adjacent to the library so we ventured out with our packed lunch for music in the park. It was a guy with a guitar performing,  so we ate our lunch and  enjoyed the music. Once the kids were done eating they wanted to play on all the equipment, naturally, so we shifted over there. It was a fun little outing that we may repeat this coming Thursday.

On Friday we met up with our friend from the ward to go on a hike: The Butte. We had to drive about an hour to get there, and while I dislike caravaning, it was a good thing we did, because I would have been confused about where to go once we got close. The drive there was very beautiful with forest and mountains and a river to look at (no pictures since I was driving). The kids found raspberries at the parking lot to pick and eat - they loved that. All in all, I think we spent two-three hours hiking up and back. The hike was a little more intense than I expected, but we had two two-year-olds to keep the pace doable for me. The last bit had something like 400+ stairs to climb. (I did have flashbacks to my childhood and hiking in Yellowstone.) The view from the top was AMAZING. I think I'm in love with this spot now. I even told Britt I may hike it again so he can go with us; the kids agreed to go again as well. Our friend has two kids and was babysitting two others, so we had our hands full keeping kids together and on the trail. Logan followed everything the only other boy did (for better and worse). No one got lost or seriously injured, so it was a success. I figured I'd be feeling it the next day, but that night I had trouble going to  sleep because everything felt so achy. Luckily I was better by morning.

There's a glacier in the center there...the flat, snow part.

I got the big kids to pose at the top, but somehow I missed Rachel...until she finally sat down.

She's actually walking across a plank over a ditch

I told him the dirt on his face looked like whiskers (Rachel in the background)

Our friends had to take off once we finished hiking, but we drove around to the other side of the Butte to visit a reindeer farm (despite some protests). It was a cute little farm. Nothing fancy, just a real, working farm. We paid and took a tour which included feeding the reindeer. Emilee decided before things started that she would not feed the reindeer (nor did she pet them when we were in the pen...she did the camera for part of the time). Rachel had been walking on her own, but I soon realized she got scared in the pen because the reindeer are so big compared to her. So, I tried juggling her, the cup of food (which I dispersed to the kids), and feeding the 'hungry' reindeer all at the same time. Good times. I did get her to feed a few reindeer. Logan asked early on what the plastic tags in their ears meant, so he would look for a girl then a boy to feed. I enjoyed it. The rest of the tour included viewing a bison in the next field over and elk through a fence and offering grass which none of them wanted. The kids then got to pet baby rabbits (as they had before the tour started). I think this is the part Emilee and Rachel liked best. Pretty sure Emilee will be asking for a bunny once we get home. The kids had fun there despite the earlier protests. We got so dirty that day from the hike (which was dusty on top) and from walking in reindeer poo in the pen, but it was well worth it.

I thought I had tuckered the kids out on Friday, but they still refused to go to sleep at bedtime!!

On Saturday, I think we all felt a bit tuckered out. The morning consisted of me cleaning the bathroom, kitchen, and vacuuming. Britt had been on call for Friday night and hadn't ever made it home to sleep. He got home in the middle of the day Saturday, so he took a long nap with Rachel. Emilee, Logan, and I went to the city refuse station to recycle milk jugs and cardboard and such; a little adventure for the day. After dinner we walked with Britt to the little creek/bridge that is super close to the apartment. Britt walked to the water's edge with the kids and let them throw rocks for a bit. They loved it. I just hope that they don't want to do that every time now.

This morning all the kids complained about their throats and had drippy noses. Allergies or sick? Jury is still out. Logan started his symptoms on Thurs, so we picked up allergy medicine on Friday to see if that helps. At church the kids had fun seeing the friends they had hiked with earlier this week. The end of church was funny and sad. In primary the kids are being encouraged to memorize the Articles of Faith; they are rewarded with a candy each time they pass one off and if they do all 13, they will get 13 cupcakes. Logan was excited about this last week. but we forgot about it during the week. As soon as church was over, Logan begged me to help him memorize one so he could pass it off. We've previously memorized 1 and 3, so I reminded him of 1, but he couldn't say it all right. He was so frustrated (probably didn't help that Emilee passed off 1 and got a candy). I guess we will be diligent on practicing this week.