Alaskan Adventure

I had a backpack full of snacks and an iPad loaded with games. My fingers were crossed and I was hoping for the best on the flight. Jack did so well and the trip there was truly a breeze. 

Our first outing was to the Nature Center to do a little loop. 

We saw a moose. Danielle and I really wanted to get a little closer for a picture as it was originally behind bushes and we felt we would be fine on the bridge. Danielle really egged me on and I even climbed up on the fence for a better view. Such a dumb tourist. As we moved closer the moose moseyed along and stood right in front of us. Seriously this picture doesn't do it justice. The moose was ginormous. 

The next day we headed to Hope with the hope of catching salmon. It was insane to see a tiny town packed with people fishing the salmon run. You really could see the salmon just sitting there trying to move there way up the current. Alaska has a lot of rules to protect their wildlife. The fish must be caught in the mouth and cannot be snagged on the body. There are more rules that dictate the type of pole and equipment that can be used during different parts of the year and rivers. Lucky for us we had tour guide Denton. Thank you so much Denton for teaching us and borrowing us equipment!


This kid kills me. Ollie is really growing up and wants to be just like the big kids. He wandered around with a broken fishing pole and a bobber attached to the end. He would get really excited and pretend to cast it.

That is pretty much all of Hope, Alaska.

After a couple hours of fishing in Hope, we kept driving to Seward. Once in Seward, we stopped for lunch and I talked Tim into splitting the seafood platter. Tim's wish, after watching multiple seasons of Deadliest Catch where they are looking for king crab, finally came true and he was able to try king crab. The entire platter of food was delicious.


After lunch Tim and Denton abandoned us for more fishing. Danielle and I took the kids to the Sea Life Center. It was fun and mostly just nice to be out of the rain!

There was a room full of birds. It freaked Ollie out and he covered his ears. 
Jack's first time at the ocean!

Sleep when you're dead was once again the theme of the trip. The boys decided to go back to Hope for more fishing. Danielle and I took the babies to hike Exit Glacier. Ollie was a little sad to be ditched but we got him pumped about hiking by saying, "Booyah, hiking!" It was pretty cute. For the rest of the trip everything was booyah! People were so impressed with us hiking up so quick with the babies... it was only about 2 miles and fairly easy. They had markers showing how far the glacier recedes each year. It was amazing, sad and so pretty! The babies were exhausted by the end and slept the entire way home! Winning!

First salmon caught in Hope!

Sunday was a much needed day of rest. We spent it at a park and eating ice cream with some of the Scow's friends. The cool Alaska weather didn't stop Jack from stripping down!

The next day we went for a short hike around Eklutna Lake. The water was insanely clear and we were lucky enough to have the weather clear when we got there. Because of the "nice" weather Cohen and Mason felt it was completely acceptable to strip down to their unders. We sure are grateful to the Scow's and their willingness to adventure and host visitors! They are a little crazy but that is what makes it so much fun.

Stopped for ice cream on the way home. So yummy with flavours only in Alaska.

Naturally Jack bonded with Fenway. He fed Fenway lots of animal crackers!

Muffy always talks about Mt. Baldy so it was at the top of the list of things to do. We woke up early and went to the top. It was kind of like Bear's Hump in that it was straight up but not too far.

On the way down we found so many wild blueberries, crowberries and cranberries to pick. At first we  only picked a couple but then I thought I should bring some back to Tim. In the end we picked half a ziploc full.


Next Day we went to Hatcher Pass. It is an abandoned gold mine. It was neat to walk around and see the old buildings and what was left behind. The best was watching some tourists get out of their car in full snow gear. It was cool but far from freezing!


On the way home we stopped in Wasilla (Also home to Sarah Palin) to see some Iditarod dogs. First we played with the puppies. Jack and I were in heaven.


Then we went on a sled that real Iditarod dogs pulled. It was neat to talk to the workers. One had raced a few times and one volunteered every year. The dogs were amazing. The puppies weren't allowed near the sled dogs. The sled dogs were trained with such a pack mentality that until the puppies were old enough and introduced properly, the sled dogs wouldn't accept them and could attack. I loved every second. We also checked out a little museum that showed how the race and equipment evolved over the years.

We sure do love our cousins. It was so much fun to visit but we sure wish they lived closer.

I decided that we needed to do one really touristy thing and managed to talk Tim into going zip lining. Muffy didn't want to be left out because it looked awesome and we technically needed a ride there.


We were almost late and the drive to Talkeetna was stressful but in the end we made it and was definitely worth it. The rain cleared and the views were beautiful.

Talkeetna is the most north I have ever been.

After zip lining we drove home and got ready for the next adventure of camping. We drove down the Kenai peninsula and set up camp at Quartz Creek. It didn't get very dark til past midnight and the sun was back up around 4. This made bedtime a slight challenge but eventually the constant adventure caused Jack to just pass out.

I don't think it gets any cuter than this little camper.

Our only full day of camping was a little painful. The rain started early and persisted for most of the day.

Denton and Tim went fishing. Muffy and I took the kids to Soldotna and tried to figure out a plan. It was a little dicey in the beginning with a few tears. We had a picnic in a covered park and then hit up a movie.
 
The good news was that there were only about 6 other people in the theatre. I thought Muffy was awake and watching Jack. After the movie when we were discussing how it went we realized we had both fallen asleep and were relying on the other to watch the littlest two...!! Jack and I both passed out at the end and lay across all of the chairs. We are really classy campers.

After the movie we hit up the best McDonald's play place. We enjoyed free wifi and ice-cream.

On the way home I had Muffy pull over so I could get a photo with the moose killed sign.
Alaska is seriously the strangest and most awesome place.

Thankfully the rain let up right as we pulled into camp. We were able to make a fire, get warm and cook supper.
Jack and Ollie managed to get along long enough to sneak all the cookies.



We all spent the last day fishing and finally had some success.

I might be biased but I think I have the cutest family every.

I am fairly proud of this and it was actually so much fun.

Jack and Ollie have a love hate relationship.


Denton cooked us up our salmon. We only caught pink salmon which aren't supposed to be the tastiest but I thought it was fairly tasty.

Naturally our final day in Alaska we had the nicest weather.

We went on one last adventure to Mirror Lake for a little kayaking. Jack clearly reached his max and fell asleep in the kayak.

Alaska is a magical place for little boys. There is so outdoor fun everywhere.

Finally time to go home. We took a red eye and slept the entire way home. Other highlights included Olympics every evening, copious amounts of Diet Coke, games, laughter, lack of sleep and way too much fun. When we originally planned the trip Tim was making this it our one and only time to Alaska. By the end we were all in love with the place and making a plan to come back every year. My fingers are crossed that we will be back next summer! Thanks Scow's, we had a blast.