fishing

so from start to finish…everyone but me was dying to go fishing! every stream, lake, pond, bay and ocean we passed was an opportunity to fish. they had a plan….rent fishing poles from the military base along with chairs, go to river and fish…..hmmmm…good plan! however…. the rods were crappy and way overpriced to rent, same thing with the chairs. you could get a good price on a fishing license for the week and so there were 9 of those purchased. dad and I decided we would watch. so off we went to the military px (which is kind of like Wal-Mart) to buy poles and chairs, bait and whatever other crap they needed. Joey bought waders too. out we went….just to find out that fishing was closed to everyone until the 11th because it was spawning season and they wanted the little buggers to be able to get upstream a little first. everyone was very irritated by this but we still found places to fish….don’t know how they did it but…..here are a few of the spots

these four did a fishing charter and came back with the max allowed of 20 fish! it was freezing and rainy and they still had smiling faces!

after everyone saw how Joey could fish with the waders…everyone else bought some too! and with those there were 11 more fish caught! salmon to be exact and boy were these kids proud! fishing the real way…gutting and fillet yourself! so cool!

half way through

there is a great wildlife rescue in seward that we went to yesterday. there were really neat fish and otters, seals and whatnot the weather was fantastic and there was a beautiful view…we were hoping to see some killer whales but we were not far enough out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

after lunch we worked our way down to a glacier in kenai. at first i didnt think it was much at first…just looked like snow on a mountain. i was thinking it was going to be this amazing out in the water floating thing. but as we got closer and found out we could hike to it…i changed my mind! wow it was amazing! unbelievable. the park ranger says that it shrinks back 360 feet a year because of global warming. londy got her junior ranger badge and thought it was so neat! we spent way too much time trying to find a decent camp ground but did find our first mcdonalds and made londy so happy that we had to stop for dinner. not anyone elses choice but how can you deny that cute little girl! we camped on a huge, fast flowing river and everyone went down to fish once we got londy in bed. meggie and i stayed with her and hung out by the campfire. we acted like goobers and took several pictures using the tripod and timer…lol

birthday girl

my baby girl had her birthday yesterday, turning 5! where have all the years gone? wow how i ever love this girl! hardest thing i have ever done being a mom but certainly the most rewarding too! she is beautiful, fun, sweet, sassy, saucy, full of energy, playful, bright, funny, dance around, love life kind of girl! she is a leader, constantly worried about other people, making the other kids at school are feeling included and comfortable. she adores her dog kira and is a daddy’s girl through and through. she loves books and animals above any other thing. she still has a diet consisting mainly of chicken nuggets and peanut butter jelly and jam. she is working up to tacos, mac and cheese and pizza. she is my world! the one thing i feel i did right. ADORE THIS GIRL! xoxox baby girl…half way to double digits:)

four to score

wakin up to a cold crisp day….spending the afternoon reading by the campfire, playing down by the water watching a huge lab/bull mastiff swim after a giant stick his owner was throwing.

watching as a sea lion swam right up to it!!!! really? seriously?! looked like there was 2dogs in the water…couldn’t that sea lion eat that dog? it was crazy! we hiked around, londy and daddy fished.

 

we went back to camp and made smores, decorated the rv to surprise londy, had yummy dinner, sang to the baby and opened presents. more campfire and stories.

there was a huge group from Europe who was crowding us and our spot, the boys did not like this at all and started cracking all kinds of obnoxious comments we were laughing and dancing with hip hop blaring from the rv while we grilled up chicken nachos. londy entertained us as she boogied. good times!

 

meggie and i crawled into bed and watched man on fire. finally we rolled into bed around 2:00.

day two

woke up…got the tour of the rv. including how to dump your own sewer….good times! reminds me of the movie “Chevy chase Christmas vacation” ….merry Christmas shitters full! HILARIOUS!

we went to gwennies for breakfast…party of eleven. pretty good.

but the best part of the day hands down was going to chuganah state park and seeing a great waterfall. absolutely beautiful! now we are talking…this is Alaska! loved it! there are waterfalls everywhere…some big some small, just tucked away in the crevice of the mountain.

then heading to a great rv park…didn't even know there was such a thing as a great rv park…but we stayed up til about 1:30 goofing around barbequing and there was still daylight! that is the craziest part…sunlight constantly! last night same thing…more sunlight! what is it about camping and having your barbeque taste so good? it’s the same food but wow…tastes different:)

we stopped and watched the tide come thru yesterday on our way through to Seward and stopped to camp at miller landing. right on the water with a mile of beach, the most beautiful old trees, sea lions, seals, otters and even bald eagles! the weather is chilly today with a breeze. definitely enough breeze to blow around your hair and make your eyes water, and cold enough to make you second think your walking down the beach…but with view like this you suck it up and deal:)

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its londys birthday and we spent the morning picking flowers, playing Uno with grandpa roody, daddy made pancakes and they fished some. londy has been dying for a fishing pole for about 7 months and was soooo excited to get a pink one! she caught only seaweed but was thrilled none the less. the boys climbed up thru the eroding tree roots off the beach and we got some great pics of them. there has been a campfire going non-stop and you can see, feel and hear the ocean right outside my rv window.

tonight it’s chicken nachos, birthday cake and a little poker. we will decorate the rv and even have a couple presents:) i can spend the day reading, blogging, napping and hangin with the family….life is good! 

once upon an alaskan vacation

Its Thursday night, I have spent 10hours working and am dead tired. I picked up macayos yummy mini chimis with baja sauce for dinner and skedadled on home. Sitting at the kitchen table im dreading the packing and laundry I need to do before we get to leave for anchorage tomorrow. I peel myself from said table, start the laundry, mostly pack and settle down on the couch to find out who made it to the top 20 on so you think you can dance.

Talking with meg on the phone she tells me how I should print my boarding passess online and at midnight I try to do so….

Try being the operative word here. I login, Brandon is gone playing basketball and I have been enjoying the peace and quiet. Until now…when I am swearing and fuming as the website to us air says my plane tickets have been cancelled effective feb. 6^th! What the hell? How did that happen? Now mind you there are 11 of us going and only b, londy and I do not have tickets. I leave dad a message and go to bed.

8am next day the travel agent tells me everything is fine. Lady the airline says we are a no go on the plane so…call me Einstein but im thinking we are not fine! this of coarse leads to a 3 hour ordeal of …are we going or not? Do we have seats? Whos error was it in canceling the tickets to begin with?... and how much more is it gonna cost to buy these tickets the day of? grrrr…

finally hours later all is in order and away we go to Alaska….

bri does not fly well! so all these issues with the plane tickets made me more paranoid than normal! it was londys first flight and she was a trooper! singing weeee when we took off and then curling up in a ball to go to sleep after a short hour. i was soo proud!

 

 

wow 30! seriously?

so turning 30…hmmm…. not such a big deal i guess. i think it is more that you are closer to 40 and that is what sounds scary! i always thought growing up that people should grow old gracefully, you know don’t sweat the small stuff. and as i get older i seem to worry more and more bout the small stuff and I'm thinkin that growin old is for the birds:)

 

but let me tell you if we have to get older than there is no better way to do it than celebrating life with the people you love! old friends, new friends and family. this weekend was cram packed! breakfast with the family for june birthday celebrations. londy, me, darcy and darlene. we had yummy waffles, fresh peaches, razzles and strawberries. quite possibly the thickest yummiest bacon one ever laid eyes on and all on china with crystal! grammie would have been proud! there was dinner at the white chocolate grill, which i had forgotten how much i loved! i got to spend time with two of my oldest and dearest friends hailey and lindsey, along with their cute hubbys and with the standard foursome of apes and dustin and us. we laughed and ate and took a bunch of pictures. every time we are together we pick right back up where we left off and truly to me that is what a good friend is. someone you can not see in months or even years and still jump right back in! oh how we need to do that more! if only we lived a little closer:(

apes, me, linds, baby tanner and hailey girl

we’ve been friends through a lot!

we had such a fun time at the fashion party at a rockin boutique in scottsdale with the amazing girls i work with and sushi catered in by kona grill. i got hooked up with some hot dresses and you can’t beat good company and great food!

leave it to me to crawl up on the hood of a strangers rental car! we laughed our holy guts out. jame told me it was her car. had me ready to crawl on it when the rightful owners walked up and said it was a rental and to climb aboard.  there were lots of pictures taken and laughing! it takes so little to make bri have a good time. and im pretty sure us crazy ladies made these strangers night!

i spent some quality time in the sunshine layin by the pool. ate yet another yummy dinner with mom and us, followed by a not so yummy moment of londy throwing up spaghetti in the back seat…all over her carseat…down the floor…grrrr! thank goodness noni lives close and we could go bathe her and thank goodness we had bought new jammies that were in the bag in the car! the weekend was packed full of fun and all with the people i love! how can one be sad about a birthday that starts with vegas and ends with yummy dinner.

i forgot to mention how great the girls at work were to me (oh and cory too…everyones work husband) when i got to work friday my station was decortated top to bottom with glitter, streamers, balloons and bouquets of flowers. i should have gotten pictures of this!

this is me and hadar! is she not the most stunning girl?

thanks for all the memories everyone! it was one heck of a birthday week:)