Alaska #1

May ended with our trip to Alaska.  Jared's sister moved up there last August, we decided to get up there as soon as they were done with school, just in case she decided one Alaska winter was enough for her!  Thankfully, she didn't!  And thankfully we made it up there for some wonderful family fun and got to see the Lord's beautiful creation that is on display everywhere you look in Alaska!

Our trip started with some family fun!  We got in late Saturday night, at 11:00pm, but the sun was still shining so we were filled with energy and able to chat!  Sunday morning came early and we were off to church then back to the house for some quality cousin fun!!  The kids were entertained most of the day by these balloons!

Here they are about 9pm, bouncing away in their pj's!  Thomas loved this!  Getting to be outside, with his cousins, jumping.

Monday morning we headed down the coast on Highway 1 towards Seward.  Everywhere I looked caused my mouth to drop open at the majesty of creation.  I couldn't get enough pictures along the highway.  Out one window was snow, the other, dry mountains with waterfalls of snow melt running down.  Around every turn was more beauty.

The boys did a great job on the 3 hour drive.  They kept themselves entertained with some fun car activities and keeping their eyes out for a moose.

(these picutres should actually be after the conservation pictures, but just go along with me!)
Monday late afternoon we got into Seward and went straight to the Aquarium where the boys were able to get up close to all sorts of sea life.  This was extra good timing for Thomas because they were right in the middle of studying the ocean at school!

Benjamin was fascinated with everything:

Thomas was excited to tell Grammy Berry that he got to meet some Puffins.  This one was super friendly.  If you waved at him he would wave back, the boys loved it.

They had this awesome touch pool, which was probably Ben's favorite.

Eventually we made our way downstairs to this awesome scene!  A 1700lb Stellar Sea Lion named Woody, was gracefully swimming around.

We ended our tour back at this fun boat play area and got Thomas to take our picture.

Now back to the first part of our day:

This is one of my favorite shots, not amazing quality or anything, just the beauty of the snow, mountains and water.

We came across the Wildlife Conservation Center that my parents had visited and raved about.  It was a great place to see the wild life that Alaska has to offer. We saw Moose, Bears, Bison, an Eagle and so much more!

Thomas saw the snow up in the mountains and desperately wanted to play in it.  He was thrilled when we found this pile of collected and dirty snow and went to town.  Isn't it amazing there, just check out the background.

We stayed in Seward at a holiday inn with a pool.  Imagine swimming in Alaska!  We actually had to go to Walmart to get bathing suits because who brings their bathing suits to Alaska!!!  Well, the hotel was fine, until the electricity went out in the middle of the night and the elevator starting beeping.  Oh well, always an adventure.  Thomas favorite part of the hotel was bed hopping.  Every boys favorite part of a hotel!

We had a chance on Tuesday to take a boat tour and see some wildlife in their natural habitat.  It was amazing!!  We saw birds, an otter mama floating on her back with her pup on her belly, goats climbing the mountain side, porpoises, someone saw a bear on the mountain side, a bald eagle in its nest and just the beauty of the landscape.

The best part was when we saw the stellar sea lions lounging and barking and then saw 4 killer whales (orcas) swimming on down ready for a hunt.  It was amazing to see them, real life national geographic's played out in front of our eyes!

While on board, Thomas got pinned as a Jr. Ranger.  He had a book he had to complete and then had a whole ceremony and everything.  It was cute to see him take it so seriously.

Part of the cruise was a salmon and prime rib lunch, which was fabulous, on a little island.  We got to explore and skip some rocks.

On our way back to Anchorage we made a little detour to a glacier.  Well the road was closed up to it, but we got a great view and had a fun snowball fight.  Off the overpass looking down into a river we saw some HUGE moose tracks!  They had to be the size of my head!!  The view was breath taking and the camera was dead!!  I got a bunch of pictures of the snowball fight, the view, Nope... Oh well

IT was amazing to have a couple days to just take in the beauty of God's Earth.  We spent the rest of the time enjoying family and checking out their area.

Fun Around Camp

Mt. Hermon really is a great week. It's the week we get to spend time with Jared's sister and family. There's always been a long drive between us, so Mt. Hermon has been our real time together the last couple of years. This year was extra special because with Jared's parents living close and being retired, we've gotten to see the cousins several times. They spent several school breaks here in town!! They made for some great relationships to really grow between the kids, making being together extra fun. Also, this week was important because they have now moved to Alaska!! So exciting for them, but we already miss them!! But, back to our fun week. Here's a snap shot of the fun things we were able to do!!

Coffee break between sessions every morning!! They are famous for their yummy camp-made donuts!

Water balloons at the cabin brought extra fun most days. Then the last morning they had the joy of picking them up!

Eating time!! Linda has always done an awesome job of keeping our belly's full. This year her and Ron didn't join us until Wednesday, so Aleta and I took over the job. Lots of mouths to feed as all these kids have gotten bigger. We are so thankful for this cabin with such a large patio with room for us all to sit together!

We even got Drake in on the cooking one evening!!

Lots of time to hang out all over camp!

Aubree got us to pick black berries one day after lunch. Super fun, when we weren't getting poked!

Tackling Drake was definitely a highlight. Thomas loved having his big cousin around!

The ropes course! Jared was super excited to get to go on this this year. He went on it with his nephew and 2 nieces making it extra special. Here are he and Kailyn going down the zip line.

The creek! This is my personal favorite. We spent two days down at the creek. The second time we were there for over an hour exploring, moving rocks, playing in the sand and crossing it to get to the waterfall.

Here's our family after some fun at the creek. Caught this pic before crossing the crazy bridge over the creek. This was a huge accomplishment for me. I did it without too much fear inside. I still didn't look down, but I wasn't shaking inside either!We can't wait for next year!! Praying Aleta and family can make it down from Alaska!

Benjamin & Mt. Hermon

These two are some of my favorites. It's later in the week when he decided he wasn't afraid of the cold water. He desperately wanted across the creek to Grandma and the other kids!Monday:

He just couldn't wait to get in and play!! He found great entertainment in this bark. The joy, giggles and the smiles made all the dirt worth it!

Tuesday: Breakfast at the big table with the family

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, He loved all the noise, people and watching Thomas play games and ride rides.

Wednesday: His first attempt at the cold water in the creek. He was SO not into it!

But later he found some stumps to drum on which he found oh so fun!

Thursday: He discovered that maybe the creek wasn't so bad. He finally made it across to Grandma with Mommy's help and was so happy!
He even got to share in the fun at Thomas' little beach area. He would climb up the hill just to slide down. He would go down as far as he could until his toes or his bum were in the water. Oh yah, that was a mess too!
Friday night, our last night, making more of a mess. This time with some Joe-Joes

It was a great week!!

Thomas & Aleeyah

Two peas in a pod!

T & A are just 3 weeks apart and have the best time together. His cousins don't live very close, but with Grandma M. here in town they've been around somewhat frequently. So over the past year these two have really grown to love eachother. We spent Friday helping them pack up then the following Sunday we all headed to Mt. Hermon. These two spent the entire week together. In the same cabin, playing at child care, spending most free times together, with almost no problems. We didn't have to break up a single fight. They found all sorts of things to do together all around the camp, it was so sweet to see. And to listen to them, well that was just entertaining!! Here are a few pictures of their week together:

Heading off to Day Camp, by the end of the week they were leading the way!

Eating S'mores we made halfway through the week with all the families

Playing games during free time. They were very serious about this one:
I love these two!!
Encouraging one another on wall climbing:

Their traditional matching Mt. Hermon shirtsHanging out with one of their favorite persons, Grandma

Crossing the creek, their favorite adventurePlaying on their beach