Flashback to summer

Flashing back to summer because I was too busy having fun to post about all the fun at the time... Grandma Janet and Cousin Stephanie came to visit.  

Blake loves his cousin so much he even smiles straight into the camera for her!  Believe me, this is an amazing thing.  Usually, Blake grimaces briefly, then turns quickly away.  Here, I got a shot of Blake looking at Stephanie for a picture.  Ah well...he still looks cute.  

Seward in the summer.  We had fun playing on the beach watching the fisherman cast out for salmon, seeing all the wildlife on the cruise, and playing on the playground.  Jim and his Mom also got in a half day of charter fishing.  Fun fun fun...  Well...more fun for Jim since he caught all the fish.  LOL  

First on the agenda...a train ride!  Why drive when you can relax and take in the beauty on the Alaska Railroad.  My only gripe was the early morning start.  Luckily, there is alot of sunshine in the summer.  It's easier to wake up early when it is light out.  

View of Turnagain Arm from the train as we head away from Anchorage.

Dead trees along Turnagain Arm. During the 1964 earthquake. The earth lifted and then dropped this area allowing salt water over the land. Alaska black spruce still can't grow in this area because the soil is too salty.

Cedric and Blake watching the beauty glide by.

A picture of the back of the train as we rounded a bend up Turnagain Pass.

A little black bear scrambling up an embankment.

Spencer Glacier. Since Stephanie and Grandma were with us...we could sneak away by ourselves at times...Yea! 

Sea plane on the lake at Moose Pass.  

I don't know the name of this lake, but the stillness allowed a beautiful and perfect reflection of the mountain in the water.  Ahhhh.  

Stephanie and Cedric relax in the dining car.   On a poplar fishing beach in Seward, Blake looks for ... something.... anything... what IS in there?

Working together for the common good...higher...HIGHER!

First time fishing ... we didn't catch anything, but boy was it fun trying.  

Cedric got his Junior Ranger badge on the cruise!  He was so proud.  The ranger was impressed at all that he knew.  Well...he is a smartypants.  ;-)

We saw tons of animals on this cruise.  There was even a humpback whale.  I saw the blow hole go and the back of the whale very briefly.  Here are a few of the better pictures I took.  

Bald Eagle sighted during our cruise.... Cool shot looking at mountains through a hole in the rock.  

Sea lions....

Glacier ahead!!!

Beautiful fireweed in front of the Seward Harber...

Blake and Cedric both pulled their own luggage.  Thanks potterybarn!  

Blake made it all the way to the top during a hike to Exit Glacier near Seward.   He was like a mountain goat.    

Blake was a great hiker, but even mountain goats get tired sometimes.  Blake catches a ride back down.   Stephanie pondering the awesome natural beauty. 

During our second Seward trip of the summer (what a rough life we lead, huh?) Grandma Sandy and Pop Pops pose with Cedric and Blake. My favorite Alaskan flower...the fireweed... frames the background. We had a lot of fun. Jim went on a charter fishing trip with the Grandparents. I didn't get to go fishing because the weather was good for only one day. Luckily for Jim, he caught a bunch of fish and our freezer is full. Next time, I get the good weather fishing day.

All About Blake!

Blake is SWIMMING!!!  I couldn't believe my eyes.  Yesterday, he got in right before his swim lesson, put his head in the water, floated a little, then started kicking.  By the end of his actual swim lesson, he was trying to use his arms!  Next session, he'll be in LEVEL II!  I'm so proud of him.  :-)

A boy and his cat.   Blake loves giving Peppy hugs and kisses; dragging a string for him to stalk and catch; cleaning the litter box (both boys enjoy this!) and gently stroking Peppy.  What more could a gentle, sweet cat like Peppy want?  

I'm a copy cat!

I enjoy Jill's music on her cobbapple blog, so I decided to make a playlist of my own. This is my theme song. "I'm not completely insane... I'm really just a little bit crazy...." LOL Come on...sing it with me!

Family Pops show

Cedric and Blake turned their full attention to the stage as the Family Pops program starts. This was Blake's first time seeing a show and Cedric's 2nd. The Anchorage Concert Choir did not dissapoint. There were "Cats"; "Oompa Loompa Doopide Do...."; "Lions and Tigers Bears...Oh My!"; Storm Troopers and a light saber battle; Enchanting songs of love; a King, Queen, Prince, and Princess; a mermaid that dropped down from the ceiling; and more. We all had a great time. You should have seen Cedric and Blake sit on the edge of their seats during the Storm Trooper entrance and light saber battle. They looked as pleased as any child who is finally allowed to watch a movie that is usually for older kids or adults. I loved seeing our friend perform a duet as a Jelico cat. Of course, that is one of my favorite musicals. And I have to say, the Mermaid songbird performed to the level of the best broadway plays. Fun fun fun and one of the best performances I have seen in a long time.

The bright side of cold climates...no ghosts!

With Halloween fast approaching, Cedric and Blake have been thinking (and worrying) about ghosts, goblins, and witches.  I overheard them talking about ghosts while driving home one day.  Blake and Cedric made up their mind that ghosts only like warm weather and since it was cold here, there were no ghosts.  

No ghosts = nothing to be afraid of!  

Cedric's stitches are out!

Cedric is all smiles today.  His stitches are out!  Yea!  It looks like the scar will be minimal too!  Double yea!  :-)

The Three Amoosegos

At times there have been four bull moose in our backyard.  Mostly, these three have been eating, fighting, and generally hanging out in our neighborhood for the last 3 weeks.  I just can't believe how lucky we have been.  It is very unusual to see bull moose and they are usually solitary creatures.  During the rut, which is now, obviously, moose are known to give up eating. These three have been eating plenty.  In fact, today, they nibbled on our bushes, dying flowers, and the carrots that I haven't fully harvested.  They only ate the greens, I'll just have to dig up the roots.  

The next two pictures show the two larger moose deciding whose in charge.  Guess who won? Here the bigger moose is pushing hard against the middle sized moose.  I got some of it on video and will be adding it later.   Video of the moose battle: A few weeks ago, it was warm, sunny and nice.  I was home because we were having a window repaired.  I'm soooo glad I HAD to stay home.  :-)

Mugging for the picture are the smallest and the biggest of the three moose.   This was before the little moose realized he didn't have a chance.  LOL 

In this picture, the Big moose gave the little moose some rut lessons.  First you lock horns, then you push.  The big guy wasn't really pushing hard.  I think he knew this young bull wasn't a threat.  

Big moose takes a rest.  It's hard work being a teacher.  

Blake is 4!!!!

My "baby" is now 4!  He is so proud of being 4.  "I'm big now because I'm 4!"  "I can dress myself now because I'm 4."  etc etc.  

It's all good.  :-)  

Blake's birthday party was at Arctic Gymnastics.  Imagine 16 kids running around with crazed excitement.  It was really hard to get good pictures and I was using the fast setting on the camera.  This first picture captures the mood of the day perfectly.  See the first blur...that's Blake.  LOL Running on the trampoline "path". Video of the trampoline "path": Foam pit wars.  The older kids ended up here the whole time.  The kids wore the parents out.  Mission accomplished.  LOL

Cedric "burried" in foam.  

One of Blake's friends testing out his "climb the rope" skills.  Well, he perfected the "hang on the rope" technique.   Same friend also perfecting his balance beam routine.   And another friend tested out his bouncing and jumping skills on the ever popular trampoline.  Bounce bounce bounce...

We played a few parachute games to settle the kids down right before cake time.  

Blake was shy and didn't want to play parachute.  The teachers at Arctic Gymnastics did a great job to get him into it.  They let him play "shark" where he went under the parachute and touched someone's leg bringing them under the parachute, then both of them become sharks and so on until everyone is under the parachute.  Fun fun fun.   Video of the shark game: Ah yes...cake time!  Jumping, running, and climbing is fun; but this is what it's all about.  

Grandma Pat thought it would be a good idea to put groups of 4 candles all around the cake since it was such a big cake.  As you can see in the next picture, Blake needed some help to blow all those candles out.  

Everyone had a great time.  Blake is 4.  Next stop 6, so he can be just like his brother.  :-)