Summer in Alaska

Summer in Alaska in different from anywhere else. 

The sun shines 24 hours a day! Which is so awesome. We find ourselves outside at 10 o'clock still playing only to realize that it is so so late, rush inside for baths, a quick story, prayers, and bed time. I have thick curtains that block out the sunshine to help us sleep. 

People from all over the world flock to Alaska in the summer. Fairbanks is filled with tourist now. They come from all over and by many different means. You see bicycles with packs on them, People on foot, RVs and campers galore, motorcycles, and even the occasional horse or two. 

This is not an RV park. This is a Walmart in the middle of the week, it will be worse this weekend. 

Alaska DOES have bugs. We have some of the biggest misquitos you've ever seen!!! 

It gets warm here! Some People think That Alaska  never warms up. We have amazing such beautiful summers. 

We have gardens. With the abundance of sunshine and rich volcanic soil, Alaska produces some of the BIGGEST crops! I'm talking foot long corn, heads of lettuce that are HUGE, over 1,000 pound pumpkins, and the biggest flowers you've ever seen! 

The salmon run is very serious business here. *Side not when you buy salmon at the store you want wild caught Alaska Solomon.

Summer solstice is a very exciting time. Last weekend all of the state celebrated the summer solstice. There was carnivals, parades, contest and tons of events going on all over at all hours Of the day(we missed it due to the flu). 

O, and one more thing in Alaska. Forget the sunscreen. We are so far from the sun you won't get burnt. 

Summertime in Alaska is AWESOME. God sure knew what He was doing when He created it! 

Not again!

I got this bright idea about putting the kids in a daycare just as a drop in so I could get some painting and stuff done in the house. 

The kids and I went and visited the in home daycare and it looked so fun! The kids also got along super good with the ladies daughter. Everything looked super safe and like tons of fun. Lance and Lexie couldn't wait till they could go play and stay for the day. 

Last Monday the kids stayed for 4 hours. I Was able to get tons done and the kids had tons of fun!

So on Thursday I dropped the kids off again. I got a text that Lexie had hurt her toe but it seemed okay and was probably just bruised. The bench at the table had got knocked over and smashed her foot. I was finishing up anyway so I figured I better go pick them up.

As the evening went on Lexie's toe and foot got worse and worse. She wouldn't walk on it at all and was crawling everywhere. So first thing Friday we went to the doctor. 

Turns out Lexie's foot is broke just above her big toe. Just weeks before vacation and Lexie will yet again be in a cast! I am so bummed! 

Tomorrow we will be seeing the doctor again for a hard cast. I am hoping we can get a boot or something remove able or water resistant so that Lexie will be able to enjoy playing in the water. 

Almost done

Things with the house have been coming along great! Last week, I got the kitchen and living room painted and I laid the tile for the backsplash of my stove.

 

Last week we discovered that something was wrong with our well. We called in Alaska well drilling and had them take a look. They said they may be able to fix the existing well but we could run into a couple problems: 1. We could spend lots of money trying to fix this one and still end of having to have a new one drilled 2. This well isn't up to code and if we ever wanted to sell the house we would need to drill another one anyway. A well should be at least 100 feet away from the septic. As much as we hated forkin out $7,400 for a new well,  we knew we needed to. Tuesday they started drilling and by Friday we had running water! 

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous when we started opening valves to the different areas of the house. Andrew had pretty much done all the plumbing himself. I am pleased to say that everything works and no pipes went spewing lol. We had a couple small leaks which were easily fixed by tightening up the fitting. 

Now all that is left is trim, hanging ceiling fans, and flooring which goes in this weekend and on July 2nd! 

If all stays on track we could be moving July 4th weekend!!! Now we just have to decide if we want to spend the weekend moving or if we want to enjoy the weekend camping.

Happy Father's Day

The kids and I made some special cards to give to Andrew for Father's Day.

Lance and I woke up early to make Andrew a special breakfast. Lexie does not like to wake up early at all! 

Lance was so excited to bring daddy breakfast in bed and to give him his special card!

Valdez photo dump

Valdez

Friday morning we all woke up and started loading the vehicles full of snacks and everything else we would need for our trip to Valdez. While packing Andrew got a call that their fishing trip was canceled due to rough sea conditions. The guys were pretty bummed but I called and added them onto our wildlife and glacier cruise so all was not lost.
The trip down to Valdez is just over 5 hours long. We made it take longer though since we made lots of stops to stretch, eat, potty, etc... The trip is absolutely beautiful! Around each corner was simply breath taking.
We arrived to Valdez, checked into our hotel then grabbed dinner. After dinner Mama and Papa went to bed while the rest of us went walking around the small town of Valdez. Andrew and Lance fished off the dock for a little bit.
The kids all did great through the night. Lance and Lexie love hotels.
Our tour on the LuLuBelle began at 11 so we had plenty of time to eat a good breakfast then walk around the docks.
The LuLuBelle was such an awesome boat. Right out of the docks I spotted a humpback whale. I knew it was going to be a great day. We saw whale after whale and also saw eagles, sea lions, otters, puffins, jelly fish.
My dad's favorite thing was seeing Columbia Glacier. Columbia Glacier is one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, and has been retreating since the early 1980s. Watching is calf (huge chunks breaking off) was pretty awesome. Even though we were pretty far away would could hear the ice crashing into the ocean which was followed by the rocking of our boat from the giant waves.
We all had tons of fun on our wildlife and glacier cruise!! We will definitely be making a trip down to Valdez again soon.
Sunday we headed back to Fairbanks. It was a bit rainy at time so we didn't stop as much. Once we hit some nice sunny weather we pulled over and fired up the bbq. Dad and Andrew grilled some reindeer brats while the rest of us ran around. It was just what the kids needed.

Barber Lance

Today the kids were playing so peacefully in their room, or so we thought. You know that saying "Silence is Golden"? Well, that doesn't apply when you have small children. It means they are up to something!

When I went up to check on the kids I found Lexie with a whole new hair cut! My blood was instantly boiling. I grabbed each kid by the hand and took them downstairs. I gave Lance to Andrew to take care of while I took care of Lexie. Her hair was past the middle of the back and now it has to start all over again growing. At least it grows fast, I guess. I immediately called and made her a hair appointment. There really wasn't much that needed cut. Lance had done a VERY though job of cutting her hair. He actually didn't do that bad of a job. I am so thankful that he didn't cut it to the scalp.

this is her before picture

this is after.

As much as I hate that he cut her hair, I will admit that it is super easy to take care of. No tangles!!!. I have been messing around with styles. When playing outside she wears the awkward top of the head ponytail like babies wear to keep her bangs out of her eyes.

Time to have fun

Yesterday, dad and Andrew finished up the plumbing. Dad and I worked on the tile in the bathroom. (I'm starting to really get the hang of it!)

We spent the rest of the day riding fourwheelers and hanging out. 

Last night I went and pick up some more visitors; Matt, Stephanie, & Addy. When I dropped them off at their hotel I met up with one of my Pampered Chef directors, Jane. Jane and her husband had taken an Alaskan cruise and land tour and was in Fairbanks for a couple days. 

We have a fun day planned with family!! It's going to be fun! 

Gold Dredge 8

We woke up excited for the day! We had a fun trip planned and couldn't wait. I had booked us tickets to visit Gold Dredge 8. After eating a late breakfast we all headed to Fox which is just north of Fairbanks. Our tour started standing under the Alyeska Pipeline. We got a brief history about the pipeline the boarded a train. The train ride was tons of fun. The kids all loved it! The train took us through a few stops giving us the history of gold mining in Alaska. I love Alaska and love learning about it's very unique history. Our tour then took a to some dredging stations where we seen the different ways gold mining was done in Alaska. The last station they showed us how to use a gold mining pan. We was then given a bag of dirt to try our luck at gold mining.

It was lots of fun. We all found a few flakes of gold. My dad found the most. When we all weighed our gold (that we got to keep) he had $15 worth. 

After panning for gold we then went into some gift shops. I was extremely surprised at the price of things. They actually weren't expensive like most tourist things! 

We had such a good time visiting Gold Dredge 8. 

After visiting the gold mine Matt, Stephanie, & Andrew went fourwheeler riding. I was excited to get to spend some time with Addy! 

So was mama and papa! 

Lance and Addy shared a Popsicle 

Tomorrow we all head down to Valdez for lots more fun!!!