Alaska Adventure Part 4-The 4th of July

Wow, they celebrate the 4th up here for several days in a row! We started our weekend off with a special treat; my grandparents came into town on the ferry on the evening of the 2nd. We visited with them the next day (Saturday the 3rd) and Ray took us all out to one of the cove's to watch people snag salmon, which are running right now. If you have never seen this it is truly amazing, there is special hooks & all you have to do is throw your line out and yank it back. Then you hope that you snag one! These fish are huge & they put up an awesome fight. It was raining buckets (bet you wouldn't believe that in Alaska!) and we were all soaked within minutes. We had lunch at McDonald's then everybody went their seperate ways for the rest of the day. We came back and put Elli down for a much needed nap & watched movies. Then on Sunday, we watched the parade out of our window until the boys could no longer handle not getting candy, then I took them downstairs to finish watching while Ray & Elli napped. That afternoon we headed downtown for a little shopping. We of course hit the candy store & then bought the boys ice cream cones at the Soda Fountain that just opened. Afterwards we walked up the street to Creek Street and shared a free root beer float & watched the duck races. Ms. Elizabeth had a massive meltdown & thus was unable to participate in watching the duck races. Ray finally took her to the car and drove her around the block, she of course was fine after that. Apparently, Ray & the boys even seen a seal swimming in Creek Street while they were waiting for the races to start & I was off with Elizabeth. The boys had fun & it was pretty cool. The fireworks didn't start until 11:00 that night so we sent the kids to bed early, and then set the alarm for 10:45, and woke them up to watch. Luckily, the fireworks were right out our window over the ocean so we watched them from our apartment in our jammies. Monday we headed out to the park in the morning & also had the special treat of meeting up with my neighbors from Potlatch, the Potter Family. They were up here on one of the cruises and we were able to visit with them for a little bit before we went to the park. It was so fun to see faces from home & to see how much the boys have grown since I last seen them. After the park we met up with Grandma & Grandpa. They wanted to see where Ray was working so we drove them out to the job. We had a nice little drive and it was great seeing Grandma & Grandpa. After we dropped them off at their motel, we headed up to Walmart & then came back to "the office" to put Elli down for a nap. Then it was lunch and more beach time. Tuesday, it was beautiful up here so the kids headed out to the beach in their swimsuits! Yes, the boys went swimming in Alaska in their swimshorts! Elli swam in her clothes, she kind of fell in! Today, we are heading out to look for shorts...it's supposed to be 75...It's a heatwave!!!! So, more swimming at the beach & maybe a pic nic. Stay tuned for posts from the weekend!

Alaska Adventure Part 3

Yay! We had some time with familiar faces last week! It was wonderful to have new kids to play with & a friend for me! Our friends Brandan & Melissa Seubert and their two children moved to Thorne Bay (on Prince of Wales Island) in February, which is a 3 hour ferry ride away from Ketchikan. Last Wednesday, Melissa and the kids came into town with one of her friends from Thorne Bay and her three children. We met up with Melissa & Shanowa and the kids on Thursday & toddled around downtown, went to lunch at McDonald's, found the new favorite place-The Candy Corner, and went to Walmart. On Friday morning, we met up with them again at the Recreation Center playground and let the kids play; Shanowa has two boys that are 6 & 8 which was great for Nicholas. Then we dropped Shanowa & her kids off at the ferry and brought Melissa & her kids to "the office" for an extended visit. Sean had a blast playing with Monica who is almost a year younger than him. Those two were pretty tight. All of the kids had a blast making forts in the kitchen cabnets and just playing around. Needless to say, things were a little louder & a little more cramped when you put 4 adults & 5 kids into a one bedroom apartment. Ray & Luke had to work on Saturday so we took the kids & went second hand shopping at the thrift stores. Then we came back & the kids watched movies. On Sunday, Ray & Luke went fishing & Melissa & I took the kids back downtown to The Candy Corner & checked out a couple of more shops. Monday, Mike & Aleshia (Ray's boss & his wife) and their family were in town for a little while before heading out to Thorne Bay on the ferry. After we dropped everybody off at the ferry the kids and I went down to the library for a little bit & just rested. Tuesday was a much needed jammie day and then Wednesday we attempted to find a new park and did some shopping. We didn't end up finding the new park & ended up back at the Rec Center for a little park playing in the rain. The kids had a blast and ended up soaking wet, they got to put on their jammies a little early that day! Stay tuned for our weekend with my Grandparents and the 4th of July celebration!

Alaska Adventure Part 2

Our first day without Dad was really rough. The kids were still wound up and excited about being here & trying to adjust to a new place. However, we survived. We spent the rest of the week exploring the beaches and doing a lot of beachcombing. Thursday we had the treat of watching one of the shot's, which the boys thought was super cool. After that the kids & I went down and explored Totem Bight (a really cool Totem Pole park) that was right across from where the shot was. On Friday we celebrated Elizabeth's first birthday...we made a cake & went to storytime at the local library. It was a lot of fun. :-) That Saturday, Ray didn't have to work so we went fishing at one of the lake's. It was a beautiful day & there was hardly anybody at the lake. The kids even managed to have their first experience of skinny dipping in an Alaska lake! They had a blast...it was so cute to watch the three of them play around in the water & laugh at each other. The next day was Father's Day & Ray wasn't feeling a 100% so we just took it easy. We went to Church & then took Ray to Totem Bight & the Gun Museum and then out to Settler's Cove (a really neat beach at the end of the road...litterally). Then we came back to "the office" (as the kids have been calling the apartment) and Ray took a nap & we relaxed.

Alaska Adventure Part 1

So we are currently in Alaska while Ray is working on a road expansion/bike path project outside of the Ketchikan city limits. We left at 3:10am on the 10th and drove to Prince George...all in the same day. Upon loading up the car to leave Lewiston, I came in the house to find Nicholas coming out of the bathroom. I said "Morning, Spud". He gave me this "Look" and then proceeded to tell me "Daddy woke me up...I'm NOT happy." It was hilarious, I think it's important to laugh at 3:00 in the morning when you are going on 3 nights of no sleep and overloaded with the stress of packing 3 children, yourself, plus all of the things you are probably going to need during the several weeks you are going to be gone...all while trying to consolidate all of that stuff into the back of your car. Anyway...on with the story...
We arrived at Prince George around 7:30 that night with only about an hour and a half stop for a potty break/change clothes & lunch. The kids were troopers and did really good. That is until we made it into the motel. They were wound up and happy to be out of the car (they had slept a lot of the trip) and Ray & I were exhausted & ready for bed. Needless to say it was a very rough night. The next day we left Prince George around 6:00am and headed for Prince Rupert. This was a much lighter day of driving and we stopped for an hour and played at the World's Largest Fly Rod park (yes there is such a place I'll post pictures when we get home) and then for lunch later in the day. We got into Prince Rupert around 3:30 and then headed downtown for a little sightseeing in one of their local museums. The next morning we got up and headed to the ferry around 5:15am and finally loaded onto the ferry around 8:30am-3 hours in a car with 3 kids who only want to get on the "boat" made for a very round morning and lots of "Is it our turn yet?" and "Why can't we get on the boat?" Once we were on I don't think they were nearly as excited as they thought they were going to be. They played for a little while in one of the play areas and then took a much needed nap...We arrived in Ketchikan about 6 hours later & spent the rest of the weekend getting settled and Ray showed us the sights.

Elli's Broken Rule

Yep, I know...the girl's not even one yet and already breaking rules. You are probably asking yourself...What?! When Ray left for Alaska 3 weeks ago, I made a rule for Elizabeth; no walking until Daddy gets off the plane. Well, Sunday evening she braved a couple of small baby steps. Then on Monday she braved another one. She thought about it today however, I think all of the "POOP, NO WALKING!" and the "mommy look" made her think twice! :-) heehee, just kidding I think it was her pants that were too big for her that made her hesitate on braving the footsteps today! Anyway, she's still pretty unstable and not sure of how this whole walking thing works. I'm okay with that since we are still not sure on when Daddy is going to be home....Hopefully soon, I'm not sure how much longer I can put her on her hands & knees when I set her down, she's already fighting me on it & wants to be on her feet!

First T-Ball Game

This is such a fun experience! Nicholas actually kind of got the game & where he needed to be when. He was "pitcher" during one of the innings and had fun running in front of the runner, holding up his hands, trying to stop the poor child running to first base. Most of the time, he didn't even have the ball! It was pretty cute. You could tell the first time out in the out field was kind of boring as he was busy playing with his hat. Then when he was 2nd baseman he had fun giving all of the runners high-fives! He even changed up his favorite part of the day from school to his t-ball game. :-) Here's a short blip of him the first time at bat and some pics!

The First Stand

The boys have been dying to have a lemonade stand. So, today I made some brownie bites (with my latest addiction of the Pampered Chef Mini-Muffin Pan), loaded up the leftover Tang from lunch with ice cubes, made a couple of signs & set them up with their picnic table out front. They were a "success". The neighbor next door (who has a fun relationship with the boys) came over with some change and purchased a brownie bite. Then a couple of teenagers driving by stopped and bought from them. Oh, they were sooooo excited. The girl asked Nicholas what he was saving his money for and he replied "Disneyland". They are each now a quarter richer! And yes I did take a picture however I'm too lazy to download them onto the computer so, I will get them in here soon! :-) Keep watching!

The StairClimber

Well, Miss Elli is now climbing stairs...However, she is unable to climbe all the way from basement, to landing, to upstairs. Her first attempt to the landing resulted in her screaming for rescue half way up. Her next attempt was successful and we cheered for her & picked her up at the landing to head up for playtime. Later, she made another attempt for the upstairs...she made it past the landing and up to the middle of the upper stairs before she freaked out & screamed for rescue. She's such a little daredevil, I'm afraid we have another climber baby....Yikes!

The Accident

Nicholas celebrated his 6th birthday over the weekend with one of his friends from school. We had rented the two boys a couple of jumping castles/obstacle courses for the party. Well, the kids were having a BLAST! As Nicholas came down the slide part of the obstacle course, he landed on one of his other classmates and jammed his teeth up into his gums. One emergency call to the Dentist & a quick visit to his office, he wanted to head back to his party. He's doing just fine now & had it confirmed by x-rays today, that the teeth will fall out pretty soon. The roots were already dissolved so it was just a matter of time before something jarred the two teeth loose. Despite all of the trama, he still had a great birthday party! Here's a couple of pics of the accident & the party!

I know I know! Only SEVERAL months later!

Well, where have we been? Busy with school, life, kids, holidays, birthdays, etc! I have been on Facebook though! Anyway, we are all doing good, kids are growing like weeds & both boys are still loving school. Here's some recent pics!