So, AK trip - awesome! We had a great family reunion in Cordova with Mom and Greg. We were all there for a weekend, Teal had a booth at the Salmon Jam and we all ran in the Salmon Runs. Teal did the 10k, Lelia and I did the 5k and Murray and Scott took the kids around the 1 miler. Conner placed 4th and Teal (that speedster) got 2nd (or 3rd? I forget exactly, but she rocks).
Then I came back to Anchorage solo to meet Sharyl and Bill's new daughter, Svea, and help them as much as I could as they settled in. That was the funniest homecoming I've ever seen. The road in front of their house was TOTALLY ripped up and when we informed the road crew the family was on their way home from the hospital, they got the front loader and bulldozer out and built them a quickie ramp so they could drive into the driveway then took it away immediately for the crane that arrived moments after Svea, Sharly and Bill did. Crazy.
Murray and the kiddos joined me Wednesday and we moved up to Rick, Tanya and Suresh's house where Murray "studied" for his Board Exam which he took on Thurs (all day). I'm quite confident he'll pass, simply because he's, well, Murray. And Murray is amazing.
He went home on Fri and we moved up to Teal and Scott's. For those of you who don't know, my sister is re-creating our childhood and, while I've wondered at the wisdom of that, I'm so grateful to her and Scott because now I get to visit them - back the valley and up the mountain. It's amazing. Just beautiful, with access to fabo hikes out their driveway. We went Geo-caching with the kids one day which was fun for adults and kids alike (and we got herded by a moose! No joke). I went for a lovely hike with Sam that recharged my soul. It wasn't long or intense (I did have Sam on my back after all), but it was perfect. I need the mountains in order to be whole.
We had some great visits with Grandma Mimi and Grandpa Frank - Natty didn't think it was nearly enough time though. And they gave us some yummy Bristol Bay sockeye to bring back - ahhh, soul food.
There was much more fun had by all that I don't have the time or space to go into. I'd really like to make an AK trip happen every year but want to fine-tune the living situation. Couch-surfing is still couch-surfing, even though the guest quarters have improved over those of the college years! Anyone know of a little cabin to rent/housesit for a month, preferably in the Anchorage area? Let me know!
On the way home we stopped in Seattle to hang out with Kris and Janet and their tots which was fun and a necessary break for me since I'd booked us on red-eyes. The kids travelled great, but I was pretty tired since I don't sleep well on a plane.... with a baby in my arms. Natty decided she was old enough for her own rolling bag and we found the perfect one: pink with all The Princesses and rainbow sparkles. It's awful and she loves it so much.
It is great to be home. Except the day after we got here, someone broke into our house and stole our new iMac and Nattie's DVD player. Grrrr. We've spent a lot of time on damage control (changing passwords, etc) and now we don't have internet at the house. But we are well aware that in the big picture it's not a huge tragedy and life goes on.
Including... our house purchase! Looks like it's a Go. I've got my panties in such knots about it! In good and bad ways, of course. We went to a barn sale the soon-to-be-former owners were holding this morning (I was supposed to be working but got put on call, which was nice).
So, let's see....AK trip, break-in, house purchase - I think that's the biggies. I could ramble on about things like my garden, picking blueberries and eating fresh sweet corn, but I'll save it for another time.
