Off to Grandpa's farm

Next on our itinerary was a visit with Grandpa and Grandma Lee at the farm. Again, we were incredibly lucky with the weather. The heat wave that gave us such perfect beach weather for two weeks broke the day we drove inland and we enjoyed temps in the 70's until we left for home. We heard the temperatures were in the triple digits just a couple of days later. Whew!


We took our traditional ride around the fields on Grandpa's farm cart.

We were a little early for the raspberries this year. It was slim pickins' but we did find a few just ripe enough to eat.

Apparently Kieran thought we were having a broccoli eating contest.

Kieran's driving improved over last year but he still needs to work on his steering.

The view from the house over the fields. The silhouette against the evening sky has hardly changed since I was a kid.

We had a short but fun and relaxed visit with our farm family...thank you Grandpa and Grandma Lee! We miss you!

We have been talking about a visit with our former Fairbanks friends Sarah and JR for the last few years and we finally made it happen this time. It was great to see them again and to finally meet their little cutie, Bobby.
They have a bit of a farm too. Kieran thought the hen house was pretty awesome.
"May we help you?"

Kieran is always happy to feed a new animal. "How about a nice juicy pebble for you, chicken?"
Chicken feet feel funny!

We took a break from the chickens to play a little ball in the driveway. Nothin' but net, baby!

It was great to see you guys! And it's good to see that you've managed to adjust to life "outside". Same time next year?

First stop on our summer vacation

It's almost Labor Day so we might as well post a few summer pictures before the snow starts flying up here. Way back in June Kieran and I left Max at home and started our summer trip east early. We spent the better part of a week hanging out at a pool with good friends April, Jeb, Marit and Torin. We had a great time away from the pool too watching fireflies, peeking in on blue bird babies, eating peas out of the garden and catching up on what's happened since our time in Kiawah last year.



Every time we left the house (or returned) Kieran would take the shopping cart for a stroll. I'm not sure if the novelty was the cart or the sidewalks. Torin liked the new tradition too.

The zoo was a big hit with everyone. Kieran got his first look at a real giraffe. Very exciting!

Miss. Marit and Torin were looking for the alligators, both hiding out toward the back of the tank. Kieran was adamant about not wanting to see the alligators.
Baby Sampson and his mama.

Poop was the theme of the day. The first poop was left behind by this giant tortoise to the great delight of all of us.

This guy gave us the second poop of the day when he turned his back to the observation window and we all watched as he pooped in his hand! Kieran STILL mentions this at least once a day.

Marit showed Kieran how to feed a giraffe a sprig of leaves. Then Kieran got a turn. How cool!

The boys drove the Tunda Buggy through the Arctic exibit. The interior of the buggy is plastered with information about the history of Arcic tourism and other Arctic facts. One panel featured Dan Cox, one of the photographers from my cruise last October, and his years as a polar bear photographer in Churchill, Manitoba. It's a small world.

Some not-so snowy owls.

And a very hot and sleepy polar bear. It was about 90F that day. Argh. The bear should have been in the tundra buggy where it was air conditioned!

We left with some hot, tired, happy kiddos.

Nothing like a little local soft serve to cool you down in the dog days of summer!

Auntie April thinks so too!

We had a great visit and a fun time taking advantage of some of the kid-friendly offerings that we miss out on living in Fairbanks. We miss you guys! See you next summer!!

Memorial weekend in Gustavus

With Max working in southeast AK for two weeks around Memorial Day weekend we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to squeeze in a short family vacation while visiting with some former Fairbanks friends living in Gustavus. The trip south was a big event for Kieran. Three airplanes and three airports each way...very exciting! And very exhausting! Kieran was terrific on the travel days - he even decided at the Juneau airport was the ideal place to begin his self-imposed potty training. We haven't changed a single dirty diaper since he asked me to take him to the bathroom in Juneau. Max and I must have done something very, very good to be blessed with this easy, and easy going, child.

Here he is after our short ride over the mountains from Juneau to Gustavus. He loved walking on the wing to get into the plane. We were met at the airport by good friend Janet who took us back to their place where Kieran continued the nap he started on the plane. We had to be up at 4am for the flight out of Fairbanks - it had been a long morning!


Max found us at Janet and Sean's and we filled the next days with all manner of Gustavus activities. Throwing rocks into the river was high on the agenda.


Gustavus is a scenic spot and we had perfect weather for sightseeing. Soggy southeast? Not while we were there.

Kieran was happy to be with his Daddy again.

Janet took us to the Gustavus beach for some relief from the hot weather. Two year old Téa was looking for some relief too! That was some REALLY cold water!

There was some first class tide pooling in the park and Max showed us his favorite spots.

Kieran wasn't terribly excited about tide pooling at first.

But after finding wiggly gunnels and worms and squirting clam siphons and baby sea stars under a few rocks he was hooked.

Happy tide poolers!

Pretty sea stars.

Once Kieran got into it we had a hard time calling him off. Just one more rock...

This is a gorgeous spot in Glacier Bay park, just down the road from Sean and Janet's house. Not bad for a back yard.

Beautiful field of lupines.

We gave the intertidal critters a break and headed for the forest. Nice to see big trees again!

REALLY big trees! Kieran was intrigued by the tree fungus. I don't know if he was getting a close look at this one or trying to eat it.

The river overlook was the end of the trail for us.
Sean took us out in his boat to check the family crab pot one afternoon. Kieran was deep into a nap when we were supposed to leave but he sprang to life when I whispered that it was time to go out in the boat. Nothing like the promise of a project with Daddy(s) to shake off sleep!

Three crabs in the pot...

And three keepers! We had a delicious crab dinner that night. Thanks Sean!

On the way back to the dock we did a little subsistence kelp fishing.

Here's Kieran giving me his newly acquired "Gustavus wave". Everyone waves in Gustavus - it's infectious.
Happy boys after the boat trip.

We had another trip to the beach on a low tide morning. Kieran had a blast chasing Max's Frisbee as he heaved it into the wind.

This never gets old. This only gets old for Max. Kieran can do it all day.

A rare family shot.


Kieran hamming it up on the whale watch charter boat. We spent several hours looking at and for humpbacks out in the bay. We had some success but Kieran wasn't especially interested in the whales and seemed to want our attention most at the exact moment a whale would surface.

So we missed more whales than we saw but we had a nice time on the water and we did get a couple of close looks at whale parts. Janet is a whale researcher - this is her office. Unfortunately, she had the entire holiday weekend off and couldn't give us a personal tour of the bay on this trip.
Going down...

And breaching...almost. I have a mental picture of a black and white body hovering above the water before Kieran demanded my attention. I don't know how he was able to tell when the whales were going to surface. He wasn't watching them but he sure knew when to make a fuss to keep us from getting a good look! In his defense, it probably seemed a little silly to a 2 year old to keep watching the water when the majority of the time there was nothing to see.

Our little distractor. He did great even after the wind kicked up and the boat started getting tossed around a bit. So far he has terrific sea legs.
Then the weekend was over, the rain and clouds came back, and we had to leave. Back in the little plane Kieran was happy to be heading home to his "meows". Shortly after I took this he was fast asleep. What a fun trip!