Day 1 Anchorage to Soldotna AK

Here is a map to show where we traveled in Alaska on Day 1

We flew from Seattle to Anchorage early this morning, arriving in Anchorage at about 9:30 am (after a 3 ½ hour flight). Connor did great on the plane, it was a wide open flight, so we were even able to take his carseat on, so he could spend most of the flight there (which he slept the majority of the flight-tired after getting up at 4 am!) 

At the airport in Seattle, notice how much stuff there is! Hope it all makes it :-)

In the airport. I came across this thing called the "tote a tot" it is a small bag that basically converts your rolling suitcase and carseat into a stroller.. it was GREAT!! we had so many people comment on it.. wish I would have thought of it!

In Anchorage waiting for our shuttle.. it was raining. We were "under cover" but it was still chilly.. Connor didn't seem to mind

The RV rental company picked us up. It took a few hours to get checked in, review the motorhome and get our luggage all unpacked and situated. Then we went to town for supplies J Unfortunately we had SOLID rain the whole first day, so we weren’t able to see much of the scenery, but fortunately…. It’s only the first day, and it’s not supposed to stay like this! We HOPE! 

After getting all the things we needed we headed south down the Kenai Penninsula. We stopped about and hour down the road to take pictures and so Jeremy could "glass" the mountain side for Dall Sheep.. Notice Connor asleep in his carseat.. While he is facing backwards like he is supposed to, he doesn't mind because he can see into the motorhome and out the window :-)

Our ride and bed for the next week! Not to shabby...

A little further down the road we came across the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. It is a rescue center for Elk, Black Bears, Brown/Grizzly Bears, Musk Ox, Caribou, Bald Eagles and Moose. It was VERY cool.. It was amazing how close we could get to them :-) Not the same as seeing them in the wild, but got some sweet pictures! ** Please note, these animals are all behind fences, while the pictures may look like they aren't, I was able to
shoot photos through the fence. So while we are still VERY close, they are in fenced areas (similar to a zoo)....It was completely safe :-)

Look at the claws on her! No wonder Grizzly's are "feared"

So most bears are lazy, they eat and sleep... She is sleeping about 15 feet from us... very COOL

Beautiful creature :-)

Moose.. He was close enough I could have reached out and touched his nose!

Two baby moose! They were so cute!  

Very curious, came up right to the fence to check us out.

Caribou :-)

Black Bear cubs! They were pacing back and forth so fast this is the best picture I got..

Grizzly bears...They didn't mind the rain!

This one was getting branches out of the tree to chew on...

This bear was about 30 feet away....

While we were driving around the wildlife conservation center I just held connor on my lap, below is a very cute video of him laughing. It took me a while to figure out what he was laughing at, but when I did, it made Jeremy and I both laugh :-)

Video of Connor laughing....

 

Some of the scenery.. because of the weather, we aren't seeing as much as we'd like, but it is still BEAUTIFUL!!

We drove as far as Soldotna Friday night, where we just camped in the parking lot of the bear watching/fishing guide company as we had to be there to check in at 8 am Saturday morning.



Before we go

Before we leave for our big family trip to Alaska, I wanted to get one more post in of our August happenings this far....

When Connor and I came home from Boise we stayed in Seattle with my good friend Suzanne and her family, they have a little girl who's 6 months older than Connor so he got to play with her toys ;-) He doesn't seem to mind that they are pink!

Playing with his toes, but looking back on this now, I think he was pointing to his hidden tooth. :-).. (he's currently teething- or at least we think he is... which won't be fun on vacation, but that's life :-)

Connor is saying: " I LOVE THESE NEW TOYS.. THEY ARE ALWAYS HERE!!"

We've started giving Connor some solids, he seems to enjoy it.. but he INSISTS that he help put the spoon in his mouth, so I've basically started letting him feed himself.. crazy! He has great aim too! This is a video of him using a spoon to feedhimself:

Spoon feeding himself already at only 5 months old!

So Connor has decided he DOESN'T like the ERGO carrier- which was what we planned to use in Alaska, but thanks to our good friends here in Omak for lending us their backpack to practice with (and thanks to Shane and Suzanne for letting us use theirs in Alaska.) we've all been able to get used to using a backpack carrier, Connor LOVES it! This is Jeremy using is to  feed the animals one evening :-)

Uncle Braden stopped by during Stampede, Connor was geting a kick out of chewing on his chin, Braden was being a GREAT sport :-) By th time I got the camera, Connor had had enough.. but its still a cute photo!

The night before we left there was alot to do, so Nicole put Connor in the backpack and started working away, next thing she knew Connor was passed out, rather than carry around all that extra weight, Jeremy and I got him off my back and propped against the couch with a blankie so he could just take a little nap :-)

He stayed like this for about an hour!

Connor rolls basically anytime you put him on his back now.. here is a video of him when he first started rolling:

Connor rolls over at 5 months old

Connor is almost out of his infant carseat already.... so I had to look back on how much he's grown... it's AMAZING!! :-)

The day we came home                         1 month old                              5 months old
 

Almost time to transition to the convertible carseat! The head rest is as high as it can go and he's almost too tall! It's made to go to 30 lbs or 30 in whichever happens first... he's almost to 28".... so I guess he's pretty close :-)

 

We fly out Friday morning for Alaska.. we hope to stop at some internet coffee shops every few days to update the blog :-) Wish us and our 3 large suitcases, carseat, stroller, backpack carrier, and 3 backpack carryons luck!!! (traveling with kids doesn't mean traveling light!)

Clean up on aisle.......

It's hard to believe that Connor is already 5 months old! As Jeremy said last night, "he's a lot of work, but he is so much fun!". This is very true..

One funny (it wasn't at the time) "experience" Nicole had with Connor recently, that we don't want to forget is what we are calling the "cantelope blow-out". We have a farmers market here in town on Tuesdays, I decided I'd go stock up on some fresh fruits and veggies and a couple of pies, So I loaded Connor up in the stroller and shopping we went. (note: Connor was in an extremely good mood about half way through the market-I find out why later). I was putting most of my produce in my re-usable shopping bag which I was carrying, but a few of the heavier items I put in the basket under the stroller (like the cantelope). When I was done shopping we went to the car and I began unloading my treasures, I got the cantelope out and saw a yellowish orange squishy liquid on the outside of it and thought "o bummer the cantelope broke open" but after further investigation realized the cantelope was completely intact. My next (not wise) move was to touch the foriegn substance and smell it (accidently touching it to my nose) I soon realized that it smelled unpleasantly familiar and quickly rushed to find a wipe to get the baby poop off of my face... You can imagine my mind is racing at this point! "how.. what... ewwww.. WHY.... Where? ahhhh... nasty!!" I got to investigating further, and realized Connor had had a blow out of all blowouts that went up the back through the clothes, pooled up in the seat of the stoller and soaked through leading only to the basket where my groceries were..... LUCKILY the only thing it contaminated was the Cantelope... needless to say, the cleanup on that one was extensive!!.. "clean up on aisle... " ! Many motherly experiences are pleasurable and I would happily repeat... not this one.. I'm hoping I never have to experience the cantelope blow out ever again!

Aside from this experience...Connor is still an extremely easy going baby, good natured, doesn't hardly fuss or cry. He has all sorts of new interactions and "milestones" he's mastered. He's basically sitting up on his own, rolling over (back to tummy so far) reaching for everything and everyone! talking, screaming, grunting :-), holding toys, feeding himself with a spoon... (he has incredible aim and accuracy!), loves to stand, plays with his feet, notices EVERYTHING from big to small, is still facinated by dogs, and loves to watch them play. He loves to ride in backpack style carriers, and is beginning to become aware of the fact that being strapped in a carseat isn't very much fun :-) As far as his stats go: 21.2 lbs, 27 1/4" long, wearing size 12 month clothes,and size 2 and 3 shoes. We have a very big boy on our hands !! Here are my favorites of his 5 month pictures.. :-)

Connors new favorite toy is his mini red wagon from Great Grandma Verleen, so I thought we'd borrow the neighbors full sized one, and get a few photos :-)

He's sitting up mostly on his own, but Jeremy's arms are just outside of this photo just in case..

Someone told me recently " he has a big mouth.." this picture shows that that was a true statement. His smiles are HUGE :-)

Chewing on the adorable boots that don't fit because his feet are too chubby.. :-(

This month is the Omak Stampede, so I though western was appropriate.

He's playing with his toes a bunch now!

Giddy Up!

Love this look... what a smile :-)

Thought we'd try on dads boots... a little ways to go big guy!

He loves to stand up! He's got strong legs... Should be with those "thunder thighs"!

This months photo in his "chair". Amazing how much he's growing into it...

My favorite color on him is orange.. Got this adorable outfit from our neighbor.. it looks awesome on him!

Hey dad.. I have my toes!

O there you are mom....

Him with his very favorite blankie, it's muslin Aden and Anais.. they are my favorite swaddle/blanket yet!!

Had to get some naked ones :-)

His hands are always busy now... :-) usually either playing with his toes, or in his mouth!

Shall we count thy rolls? can you say healthy... :-)

Another BIG smile :-)

It's hard to believe how fast time is flying... Connor is 5 months old and summer is almost over! Crazy.... We leave in a week for our big family trip (Alaska).. I hope to post several times while we're there, so follow along as we road trip/camp (in a motorhome) our way through the Kenai Peninsula.... Until next post !

 

Is July really over?

Is it just us or did July fly by? Well.. here goes the update from the last part of the month...

After the fishing trip in Omak with Nicole's family, Nicole headed to Boise for a week and Jeremy went to Juneau Alaska for a long weekend with his brother and a few friends to fish... and fish they did!!

Connor with his Grandpa Kevin just before they left Omak

Connor with his Grandmas...Nancy stopped by to say hi before Mom, Connor and I drove to Boise.

In Boise, Connor discovered a new favorite toy... a car (well technically a wagon.. but it has wheels!)

Swimming on a very warm day felt sooo good!

After swimming, hanging out with another new favorite toy.. a ball! :-)

When in Boise, there was a family lunch with some of Nicole's Mom's side of the family, this is Brian and I hanging out with Connor at the lunch... just after Brian changed Connors diaper!! :-) Go Uncle Brian !!

Connor chillin with Uncle Brian. (Update on Brian: bones are healing- a little slower than the dr. would like, but to be expected with 6 bones healing at once. He's started physical therapy, but for now only 1 day a week as he is still non-weight bearing on his pelvis, when they clear him to put weight on his pelvis he will have therapy 3 days a week then in the gym pretty much every day he's not in therapy..)

At the lunch there was a fountain, and seeing as it was over 100 degrees outside, I thought it would be appropriate to let Connor get a little wet :-) he seemed to enjoy himself!

Grandma Shelly holding him in the foundain so I could take a few photos

 Also while I was in Boise there was a baby shower for a friend of ours, Natalie and her baby Milan. Connor is incredibly intrigued by her... he reached and touched, but I was impressed how gentle he was..

Connor sucking on Milan's hand :-) How cute!

Brookney reading a story to Connor.. he LOVES books!

ALASKA....

Jeremy's Cousin Jenny and her husband Kelly recently moved to Juneau, They were kind enough to let the guys stay with them (2 weeks after getting married!! ) Notice they still have their car decked out :-)

Jeremy and Braden as they headed out of the marina... hopeful for a good day of fishing!

The guys: Josh, Jeremy D, Jeremy L, and Braden

 

Jeremy with his 16 lb silver...

The fishing was so good it wasn't uncommon for them to "double up"- have two fish on at once... can be fun and challenging. They doubled up on salmon 3 times and twice on halibut.. This is a video of Josh and Jeremy D doubled up on Salmon.. :-)

Fish on! O wait... 2 fish on!!!

Josh with a 21lb Silver, this is one of the biggest Silver's that cpt. Mike had ever caught before...

Beautiful views while fishing

Braden with a halibut.. with the new restrictions in place, they could only be 37" long and each person could only get 1 a day.. Braden's was exactly 37"... sweet

The guys again on the last day.

Fishing totals for the trip:

Day one: 4 Halibut, 12 Silvers

Day two: 4 Halibut, 20 Silvers

Day three: 2 Halibut, 4 Silvers

After dividing things up, Jeremy brought home about 50lb of Salmon and 18lbs of Halibut!! YUMM.. :-)