PWS - Memorial Weekend 2014 (Day 1)

One of my personal goals for this summer is to make it out on our boat more often. So we packed up and left town a little early last Friday to enjoy our extended Memorial Day weekend in Prince William Sound. The drive down was beautiful and not crowded at all. The boat launch in Whittier was another story but I think we have our system down pretty well. After D gets the boat off the trailer, I stay at the dock and move it down the line while he and Boyd park the truck waaay down in the paid lot.

Driving past Portage Glacier icebergs, on the way to the Whittier Tunnel. 

The first trip of the season is always a learning experience - we forgot quite a few things at home. There's just so much to pack and plan for. But after a few outings we get our groove back!

Dropping the shrimp pots is usually the first order of business, since it opens up our available deck space for other activities. Afterwards we stopped at the beach (seen above) for a shore break.

"Drive? Drive?" We heard Boyd ask this all weekend. He adores helping Daddy pilot the boat. 

Saw these two tree fungi just sitting on the ground. I convinced D to let me bring one home. 

Tide going out. 

The pollen was out of control in PWS. It littered the beach and the water in some places was crazy thick with it. 

Tree root wrapped around the trunk. 

Skunk cabbage. Boyd called these "bananas" all weekend!

Seal in the water, watching us play on the beach. 

Dinnertime! Jalapeno cheese dogs, carrots, and cookies for dessert. 

This was close to 8 p.m.

Reading a bedtime story with Daddy. Boyd was SO excited when we setup for bed. And then it took us 2 hours to get him to settle down and go to sleep. He woke up around 4 a.m. and cried pretty hard for an hour or so. 

This may have been around 10 p.m. - I was so tired by that point!

Mother's Day

It's hard for me to believe, but this was my THIRD Mother's Day. I feel more like a mom every year as I get a little better at it and learn new things. More than anything, I want Boyd to know that I love him no matter what and I'm proud of him.

D and Boyd let me sleep in (seriously, the best present of all) and then they whisked me off to a nice breakfast at Barbie's Cafe', a little place down the street from our house. Boyd was well-behaved during the meal - he usually is very good when we're out to eat but we're thankful for good behavior nonetheless! Then we hung around the house in the bright sunshine for a while and got ready to head over to Risha & Gabe's house for dinner. D left to go pick up Gabe from the airport and then we had the whole family sit down for an amazing meal of shrimp, salad, pasta and cheesecake.



The toddlers in Boyd's class at school all made these sweet posters for Mother's Day, along with the little bracelet (top left).

One small section of the greenhouse near Risha's house - I met her and my mom there so we could pick up some discounted hanging baskets. 

A good visual reminder. 

Boyd enjoys checking out Risha's huge greenhouse and garden. 

He also loves rakes. Who knew?

We don't usually see eagles in town, but this one spend a long while circling overhead. We think it may have been stalking Risha's cats!

A beautiful tree in the yard. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Zoo Days

My very best friend at work has a daughter who is 9 months older than Boyd, so her May birthday pretty much ushers in summer for us. This year, the birthday girl had her celebration at the Alaska Zoo. We joined her friends for snacks and cake in the chalet, and then ventured out to see the animals!

B LOVES the zoo. Like, big time. Although, he does ask for whales and turtles every time and I'm like, wrong zoo, kiddo.

CAKE! The birthday girl's mama made a very labor-intensive rainbow cake. It was awesome, and delicious - as evidenced by Boyd's almost-clean plate. 

Future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.

Snow leopards are one of our favorite zoo stops. 

Yak attack. 

Aren't they so super adorable? 

My friend Char was back there holding him up!

This next set of photos is from late April - a couple weeks before the birthday party. Was definitely a bit colder and not as sunny. We spent a lot of time in the Petting Zoo with the goats - one of which used my boot as a head-butting station.

Boyd & goat's rear end. 

The Zoo gift shop is also a good place in which to wander around. 

Easter Fun

I'm back, everyone - and finally coming up for air! Life sure gets busy sometimes, I don't know how parents of more than one kid even get anything done. Here is my incredibly delayed Easter post...

We spent most of April being sick - colds and coughs rolled through our house like waves and no one was immune. So Easter was a laid-back affair (most things are, in our household.) B seemed to enjoy his holiday basket, filled with a new puppy lunchbox, little treats in plastic eggs, and a Thomas the Train farm set. We also had a special family breakfast. Afterwards it was time to dye eggs! This was the first year we braved this messy activity but all went well. Boyd spent a lot of time dipping each egg into each glass of dye - it was a multicolored set we ended up with.