It finally arrived! The long awaited first day of school. The girls had a great day and so did Mom and Dad!
Archive for August, 2009
We spent a week in July in Alaska, visiting my brother and his family. In my opinion, it’s a vacation of a lifetime – to see Alaska, not as a tourist, but as a true (transplanted) Alaskan does. Layne and Jolene may not have been born in Alaska, but it’s a place that suits them very well. And they were the greatest of tour guides.
Because we are cursed with slow internet out here, I am linking to my sister-in-law’s blog where she has posted pictures of all our adventures. Enjoy your virtual Alasakan Vacation!
Idita-Hike – This was our first full day in Alasaka. We spent most of the day recovering from our flight and getting reacquainted. We visited the Iditarod headquarters and the kids were pulled by real sled dogs – they loved it! After dinner we went on a hike to the Hay Flats below Layne and Jolene’s house. Laura was struck with how beautiful and peaceful the hayflats were. I loved the hike (except for the “moose”quitoes).
Moose Dropping Fesitval – Yes, this is a festival that celebrates Moose droppings. We had a great time sampling the local fair and watching the parade
Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center – We were able to get up close and personal with Alaskan Wildlife. But my favorite picture is the one of Kate and Landon. Landon was an amazing little tour guide and filled Kate in on all the important stuff about the animals we saw.
Portage Glacier – I wish we could have spent more time at the visitor’s center at the Glacier, but we arrived at closing time. We did take in the beautiful scenery and saw some small icebergs.
Bowman’s Bear Creek Lodge and Cafe – What a beautiful place! A pond surrounded by small cabins and a river running behind it. The kids played in the paddle boats and canoe, watched the baby birds in the bird house, panned for gold and made s’mores over the campfire.
Hope, Alaska – Fishing for Salmon.
Russian River – More salmon fishing with bear sightings mixed in.
Ninilchik, AK – The girls enjoyed walking the beach, observing the volcanoe and watching for eagles.
J&J Smart Charters, Ninilchik, AK – while the girls walked the beach the boys and my mom took a charter to catch some halibut. It was a successful trip and they brought back lost of fresh halibut. Jolene fried some up when we got back home. It was so good and a big hit with the kids! They kept saying “….and just think, yesterday at this time this fish was swimming around in the ocean!”
Littlest Guy turns two – The youngest of the grandchildren turned two while we were there and we enjoyed helping him celebrate. He’s such a happy kid!
Well, that’s it! Our summer vacation to Alaska. As you can see it was jam-packed with activities. We enjoyed the cool weather (even though native Alaskans thought it was hot!) The only regret about the trip was all the smoke and haze that clouded our views from the forest fires. But what we could see was phenomenal!
