Alaska!

We've been looking forward to this trip for awhile! We had so much fun with all the siblings and Jared's parents on our last cruise three years ago. Jared and I haven't been on a trip together since. And even though it was kinda hard to leave Soren I am so glad we got to have this chance to be together. I was so looking forward to having Jared to myself for a whole week. Cruises are so fun in groups. I love the long dinners and having a chance to talk with everyone. Jared's brothers are always super entertaining. Alaska was amazing! I loved it. We had amazing weather the entire time. No rain at all, which is unheard of.

Ketchikan

We saw a lumberjack show, toured the little old town part of the city.  We had fish and chips at this yummy little pub.  Jared and I took a floatplane into the Misty Fjords.  I love seeing things from above.  Misty Fjords are also called the Yosemite of the North because of how they were carved by glaciers.  There were tons of glacial lakes, waterfalls, and vast wilderness.

Juneau

The highlight of Juneau was the Mendenhall Glacier.  It was awesome.  It is one of those things that you really can't explain, or capture how cool it is in a picture. Before heading to the glacier we saw three bears, a mama and two cubs, up in a tree in an area where bears like to fish for salmon.  There were lots of red salmon that were getting ready to spawn.  They were everywhere.  It was crazy. There was a huge waterfall coming down into the ocean right next to it.  We saw all these preppy 20 year olds wearing pretty fancy clothes for hiking to a glacier.  Then we figured out they were doing a photoshoot for American Eagle.  Kinda fun!  I eavesdropped on their conversations all the way back to the bus and it was interesting. We ate at Joe's Crab Shack before heading back to the boat.

Skagway

I was excited about Skagway.  Elise had to do a big webpage last year for history on the Yukon Gold Rush, and I loved the old pictures.  Skagway was beautiful.  We rented a van that took us up the White Pass Summit to the Tormented Valley.  I was just saying how hard it would be to spot bears since I never would have seen the ones in the trees by the glacier on my own.  But right after I mentioned that we saw a little bear right next to the road.  We were so close to it, literally only a few feet away.  I loved all the blue lakes.  I guess the lakes are that gorgeous turquoise because of the crushed rock that flows down the rivers and into the lakes.  We ate lunch at a great little sandwich shop called Glacial Smoothies and Espresso.  It was my favorite place we ate at in Alaska, and cheapest too.

Victoria

I was looking forward to Butchart Gardens.  It has been on my bucket list since Angela went there several years ago.  I knew I had to see them even though we only had about an hour because our ship docked in Victoria so late.  It was neat and I am so glad we did!  I couldn't stop taking pictures.  The flowers and all the combinations were breathtaking.

At Sea

Our two days at sea were fun as well.  Jared and I watched Alaska: The Last Frontier and kinda got hooked on Atz Lee and their stories of subsistance living in Alaska.   It was fun to watch all the boys win all the different contests on the boat.  Cameron won the Ping Pong, Zach won the golf, and the basketball tournament got cut short, otherwise they would have won that one too.  I worked on a puzzle, and wished I had Aunt Marge there to do it with me.  They had some great comedy shows, and trivia contests that were fun too.

They had Les Mis on the Movies under the stars.  At night on the boat on the big screen they give out blankets and you can curl up on the lounge chairs and watch.  It was really cool.

We saw Orca from the boat a few times.  I learned that they are actually part of the dolpin family and not actually whales at all, so that was interesting.

I love the Mediterranean Cafe and they had a lot of good salad options.  I probably should have eaten less cheesecake, more salad.  But we figured we'd live it up for the week.  It was such a fun time.

Seattle

I've never been to Seattle before.  So it was really fun to get to see a new city.  We were able to take a shuttle provided by the cruise from the airport.  Our bags went straight to our ship cabin from the airport.  So when we were dropped off at the port, we got a cab and we went to Pike's Place Market for a couple of hours.  We had the most delicious shrimp cocktail, crab, rainier cherries and clam chowder.  It was fun to see the flying fish.  On the way home, we took a cab to the rental car place near the market and got to explore a little more before our flight home.  We ended up spending more time at the market.  We missed the Gum Wall the first time around and it was fun to get more food.  Jared tried currants for the first time.  I wished I could have brought some of those flowers home with me on the plane.

Thank you Mom and Dad Winger for the amazing trip!

16 Months!

We have a talker.  In July grandma recorded Soren saying, "I want this"  over and over.  Then he said "where is that" when Monet was hiding the ipod that he wanted.  Today he said, "I REALLY want this."  a lot.  And grandma insists that he also said refrigerator.  So funny.

He says "MAAA" in a nasal voice that sounds like some sort of Brooklyn accent.  It is probably a shortened version of Miles's badgering "MOMOMOMOMOMOM" that I hear on a regular basis.  Maybe with the older kids he will skip the "Mommy" phase.  Simone quit saying it last year.  Aww.  

Soren is obsessed with lids.  He couldn't care less about cars and toys, but markers, pens, plastic containers, nail polish and anything else with a lid is really exciting.  He always wants to scratch the lid labels off the doTERRA bottles and is entertained for awhile doing that.  

Some words he says that we can understand:

Kitty

Doggy

Sugar

Chicken

Hello

Stop

No

Daddy

Mom

Eees (Elise)

Monet

Nurse
Miles
Yum
Stop it
Diaper
EWWW

He speaks clearly for a little guy.  It is going to be fun to see what he starts to say.  He can communicate what he wants really well with gestures too.  We are trying to teach him not to dump his food on the ground when he doesn't want something.  Can't wait to stop sweeping up the mess under the highchair five times per day.

I had to leave him for a couple of days to do the Wasatch Back Race and then again for our cruise, and I missed him so much!  He has been a little more clingy ever since I got back.  I'm loving the extra hugs.  He pats my back like I do to him when I am holding him.  And he'll randomly pucker up and give me kisses.

He started watching Sesame Street and loves Elmo.  We got a sticker book for church with Elmo and that keeps him entertained for a little while.  

He LOVES his blankie.  He is always happy to go to bed at night.  He waves bye bye to everyone with a big grin on his face.  It is sweet.

He's got six teeth. His top two are kinda huge.  He has a cute little grin.

He just started climbing onto the table.  He is proud of himself and apparently really likes the view.  I had to move the bench.  Somehow he hasn't figured out to use the chairs yet.

Back to School

Back in school!  This is a momentous year, it is the first time since having a kid in school that I don't have a half-day preschooler or kindergartener to be home at noon for.  Which means, a much less chopped up day for me.  Yay!  Even though Soren naps anyway it is a lot more flexible.

Simone has been looking forward to school starting since about a week after school got out.  That girl loves seeing her friends.  She loved eating in the lunchroom.  She packed her own lunch and made sure to bring some seaweed paper to share with her friends.  Most of them liked it!

Miles has the same teacher as last year, and lots of friends in his class.  He was disappointed at first not to have the teacher with the snake as a classroom pet.  But his teacher is really thoughtful and interesting and he likes her.

Monet was really excited about her teacher!  She already knew who her teacher was going to be and knew that her class would be mostly the same since she is in this two year program at her school called ALL.  They do a lot of fun things and she is especially looking forward to doing Space Camp and Lego League.  Monet is getting taller! She's grown an inch in the past year.

I missed catching a first day of picture of Elise in the morning.  So I'll have to do another post for her.

I am really looking excited about my schedule so far!  I feel like I hit the jackpot.  Girls lacrosse practices are at the same time, same place.  And carpools are all in place.  I think this is going to be a great year.
Hopefully I'll spend some of that time catching up on my blogging!  It was a very busy and very fun summer.