September PWS Trip

Oh friends and family, I have no good excuses for my neglect of this blog...just the same old stuff. Please don't be mad and I hope you're still reading!

Now here are some photos from our last boat trip of the season - we had to go out and retrieve shrimp pots that were left out in the Sound for a week. We had a doozy of a weekend during the prior trip with crazy weather.

Early morning boat launches make for pretty amazing sunrises...

Icebergs all around - D fished in this area for a while and had to push the big ice chunks away from the boat!

Tree stump that had grown around a rock - it wouldn't budge. 

Ah, my very favorite: an intact sea urchin shell. 

"Love your legs, mama."

My helper holding the bag open so I could toss in shrimp. 

Playground Fun

The Anchorage Parks Department has been doing a wonderful job lately of improving the playgrounds and parks in town by updating and adding new equipment. On one of our Mondays together, we explored two playgrounds. The first was redesigned to resemble a tree house and while I thought it was well done, the equipment was geared towards kiddos aged 5 and up - a little much for my almost-3 year old.

The next park was in Oceanview and we both loved this one. Along with the existing slides and play structures, a zipline and rock climbing wall were installed. We both had a lot of fun at this park. Boyd so loved the toddler zipline - he asked to do it over and over again!

Super happy kid! 

Potter's Marsh - September 2014

Potter's Marsh is a protected area along the Seward Highway that is home to waterfowl, fish, small critters and sometimes moose. It's part of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge and a great place to see birds in Anchorage. Boyd and I strolled along the boardwalk on a Monday in early September. 

Salmon ready to return to their creek to spawn. 

San Diego - 3

I never finished my San Diego recaps...from JANUARY. My blogging has really gone downhill!

At Sea World San Diego - such a cool place but lots of controversy around it due to the treatment of the killer whales.

TURTLE!

Oh gosh, look at my poor sick baby. He caught something on the plane and was pretty miserable. 

We missed the Shamu show because of Boyd's nap schedule, but still got to see the orcas (killer whales) swimming. I was surprised that they had 4 or 5 of them all in one tank. 

We figured out our nap system on this day - leave wherever we are at lunch time and then drive around until B falls asleep. We figured out that we absolutely CANNOT stop the car or else he'll wake up. And get mad.  

The penguin exhibit was really neat too - they are so much larger than you would expect them to be. Most of them just stood around watching us, but there was a small group that would jump in and out of the water. So cute. 

Baby beluga whale. We have these at home - you can see them along Turnagain Arm.

Mama is a sucker and bought the $26 penguin rolling backpack. In my defense, it's super cute and kept him occupied for quite a while. And he still likes it today.