Prosser, Washington

The boys standing in the spot where we were married

As if the past couple of weeks hasn't been busy enough, I took the boys to eastern Washington to visit my grandma in a little town called Prosser.  I love Prosser.  When you think of country town, with one major intersection, where everyone knows everyone, you think of towns like Prosser.  I grew up going there almost every summer, spending days running around the town with the friends we made there and sometimes helping my grandparents answer phones in their Century 21 office.  My brother and I even lived there for awhile and I attended school there for the first few months of 7th grade.  I have great memories in that town.  When my grandfather died in 1990, I never thought Prosser would be the same, but it was the same ol' Prosser, I just had to make new memories there.  I love that place so much that neither Jay nor I hesitated to plan our wedding there on my grandma's lawn, overlooking the Yakima River.  And it is also the place where I celebrated the last Christmas with my mother.  I don't know what I will do when and if Prosser isn't a place we can go to anymore, so that is why I am making sure my boys know and appreciate it like I do.

The boys with their "GiGi"

My Grandma & Me

Chrissy & Me (Uncle Dan in the background)

Chris has been my grandma's neighbor since 1979

Doin' the Puyallup

MMMM - fair food is the best!

As part of Zac's birthday, we took the boys to the Puyallup Fair.  Our coastie friends, Anthony & Sherri Owens and their daughter, Sammie, met us there and we had a grand time.  Sammie & Scotty have been playmates since they were infants, way back during our days in Juneau, and it's as if time has never passed when the two of them get together, so much so, that it gets Sherri all googly-eyed with wedding plans every time.  I have to admit, they are very cute together.  I didn't think Scotty would go on any rides, so thought we'd be spending most of our time in the animal exhibits, but I was wrong.  As soon as Scotty saw the bumper cars, he wanted to go on them.  So I accompanied him first and then Jay went with him the second time. 

By that time, the Owens arrived and Sammie took over.  Those two went on every kiddie ride possible, sometimes even twice, and they had a blast.  It was really good to see Scotty come out of his shell a little more. 

Sammie's tooth is missing from a mishap she & Scotty had at our house in Juneau, when they were running and bumped into each other, knocking Sammie face-first into the wall.  I guess he had to make sure she always remembers him...

To top the night off (literally, we closed the fair down!!) Sherri and I had to get rid of the last bit of tickets, so we found the only roller coaster still open called Monster Mouse.  It's smaller than some of the roller coasters, but still crazy enough for a couple of 30-something year old women!  I was definitely feeling the effects of the whip lash I'd received the day after, but it was worth it!  I haven't laughed that hard or screamed that much in a long time! 

We had to get our pictures taken in the photo booth (Sherri got the better end of the photo strip)

Zachary turns TWO!

I can't believe it's been two years since our little guy came into this world!  Every day it seems he does something new that amazes us or entertains us.  Big brother Scotty definitely has a hand in all of Zac's advancements and we're so happy they have each other, they are best buds for sure.  Scott & Nik hosted the birthday party at their house and had an awesome seafood spread complete with crab, shrimp, catfish and lots of butter!  YUM!

Stalking Sarah

Admittedly, one of the reasons I wanted to visit Wasilla, Alaska was in the hopes of getting a glimpse of my favorite gal, Sarah Palin.  So it should be no surprise that we happened to stay at a hotel on the very lake that Sarah lives on, Lake Lucille, and it just so happened that the Palin house was just two docks down from the hotel property, and it also just so happened that Sarah was doing a photo shoot on her dock that day we arrived.  Imagine that!  So, I set Jay and the boys up to pretend like I was taking pictures of them, when really I was taking pictures over at the Palin place.  STALKER.  Jay started calling me the paparazzi and wouldn't take part in any bit of my insanity.  However, I managed to talk him into taking us to a park across the lake where I could get a good shot of Palin's house.  Yep, I am a Stalker.  Definitely one of the highlights of my trip to Alaska :)

Here's a pic of the photo people prepping her for the shoot. At this point I didn't know if it was her because Todd's plane was blocking everyone, but I just assumed it was her.

Okay, here she goes....is it her? Is it her?

Yep!  That's Sarah!

HI SARAH!!!  Look over here, I'm totally stalking you!

Palin house from across the lake

So close I could've walked down her driveway and knocked on her door (and then got arrested probably)

Todd's float plane

Wow, she really CAN see Russia from her house!

ALASKA

Look at all the bears we encountered while in Alaska!....at the zoo....

Since we are maintaining our residency in Alaska, we have to spend at least 72 hours in the state every year.  Thus, we took our first family vacation this past week, flying into Anchorage and road tripping it around the Kenai Peninsula and South Central areas.  Jay was anxious to show me these areas, as I'd never seen further than Juneau, hoping that I would desperately fall in love with it and want to move back.  Jay was a giddy little boy the day before our trip, he couldn't wait to get up there.  We arrived Anchorage at around noon and immediately got into our rental van (I love mini vans!!) and headed south to the peninsula. 

First stop, Soldotna.  First of all, the drive down there was beautiful.  It's Alaska, need I say more?  The weather was rainy when we arrived, but as we meandered on down to the Kenai, it got a little better.  Soldotna was a neat town, but we were so exhausted from our trip that we didn't sightsee much other than walk the path along the river near our hotel.  

Day 2: Anchor Point, Homer and Seward.  Jay, assuming we'd never come back to Alaska, bought a little chunk of land a few years ago, about 10 acres, so that he could return year after year and have a place to set up camp while he, a few of his buddies, and eventually the boys hunt and fish.  It is pretty remote property, which was the whole point, but we did see a distant neighbor (his name is Rocky and lets just say we're glad we have 10 acres between ours and his) so it's not totally into the wild which made me feel a little better.  We spotted a moose near the property, the first of only two the whole trip.

It was cloudy while we were there, but I guess on a clear day, there's a beautiful view of Mt. Iliumna.  Scotty said something while we were there that just summed it all up:  "Daddy, why is it so quiet out here?"  Jay's thoughts exactly.  Here's some pics of the boys walking through the property.

We then headed further south to Homer.  It's too bad it was cloudy and drizzly because Homer is right on the water and as you enter the city coming down off of a bluff, I can see how one might be overwhelmed with the view of Kachemak Bay.  But, alas, no view for us.  It was a cute coastal town, though, and I do hope to see it someday when it is sunny in order to appreciate it a little more (hm....that seems to be a recurring thought when I'm in Alaska...'if only it were sunny'....). 

Onward and upward.  We headed to the final destination of the day and that was a blessed little town ALL THE WAY on the other side of the peninsula, back tracking a little, called Seward. 
                                                            
The name doesn't do it justice.  It is a sweet little town surrounded by mountains and water, much like many other towns in Alaska, but there was something about that place that made us say "ahhhhhh".  So much so that I was actually asking some of the town folk their opinion of Seward and what it was like to live there.  What I gathered is that it's Juneau with a road...oh and about 27,000 less people.  It's 126 miles away from Anchorage, about a 3 hour trip.  Hm...in the dead of winter, that drive could be horrendous.  But it was a great town to visit.  We stayed at the military resort with an awesome backdrop and before we left town the following morning, we took the boys to the Sea Life Center downtown near the bay.
 
Day 3 and 4: Anchorage, Eagle River, Palmer, Wasilla.  If ever we were to move back to Alaska, it would be more like me to live in the south central area because we could still have the experience of living in the great Alaska wilderness but yet have the convenience of being close to civilization.  And by "close", I don't mean a three hour drive, a ferry, bus, train or plane ride.  I mean, 45 minutes-ish commute by car at the most.  There are two military bases and their amenities in Anchorage, as well as many other perks of a big city...but a lot of people live in the outlying areas like Eagle River, Palmer, Wasilla.  Thus, I was anxious to get up to these areas and check them out.  As much as I complained about Juneau, I have been open to the idea that we may move back to Alaska someday.  I just gotta find that place.  I have to say, I really liked Wasilla.  I don't know if it's because Sarah Palin lives there (I'll leave that subject for a blog of it's own...) and I'm of the mentality that if it's good enough for Palin, it's good enough for us, or if it's the many other things that make Alaska towns so great.  But Jay and I actually chalked up this entire area as potential, believe it or not.  We spent the remainder of our trip in Wasilla, driving around the area and just hanging out.  Our hotel was beautiful property right on Lake Lucille so that was a nice experience in itself.                          
These last two pics are on Lake Lucille

We went to the Iditarod headquarters which was quite interesting and walked the loop trail that they use in the winters for actual sled-dog rides.  The boys had fun playing in the dog houses. 
   
Day 5: Anchorage and Juneau:  Because of the way we booked our flights, using miles for some tickets and paying for others, we had to split the tickets up for the return leg of our trip, so Jay and Scotty were on one flight and Zac and I were on another.  Jay and Scotty's flight didn't depart until 7 PM, so they were able to hang around in Anchorage all day eating at the well known Moose's Tooth Pizzeria and going to the Alaska Zoo.  Zac and I took an earlier flight and had a layover in Juneau for a few hours, so my friend Suzanne picked us up and we were able to hang out.  I wish I had more time to get in contact with other friends while we were there, but the time as it was went so fast!  Thanks Suz for feeding and entertaining us while we were there!  All in all, it was a fantastic trip, a great family getaway and we look forward to going again next year.

This is the Alaska Mountain Range and Susitna is one of the mountains, aka "The Sleeping Lady". Can you see her?

Mommy & Me Fridays

Scotty's preschool offers a class for kids under three on Fridays, so since I am already there, I decided to enroll Zac and me.  Basically, it's a two hour playgroup. Unlike his brother, it doesn't take long for Zac to warm up to people so I knew he would be fine when he entered a class full of strangers.  It was a great opportunity to meet other moms and let Zac socialize with other kids....finally Zac has his own little outlet!