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!