Canoeing the Chena

We spent our final afternoon in Fairbanks canoeing the Chena River with Peter and Rebecca's family. Bryant and Shauna made their way around town and managed to greet us at 4 different locations along the river. It was fun spotting them along the way. The kids had a great time. We only had to call them down about every other minute which is way better than every minute. ;) To say we had a wonderful time while in Alaska would be an understatement. Thanks to Rob's parents for housing us and putting up with all the noise that comes along with us. We loved every single minute. It was a lot of fun waking up to a house full of people and enjoying our time together. This is definitely one trip that we will always cherish.

Happy 4th of July!

Our 4th of July started with a run and bike ride. Well, I ran and Rob rode his bike. Brian was my running partner until he left so Rob reluctantly joined me on the bike he bought while he was in high school. I was having visions of being attacked by a moose or bear so he was my protection...or something like that. It didn't help that I ran faster than he rode but moral support goes a long way. He claimed to be taking in the sights. ;) During our run, Grandma was busy repairing Klein's blanket while Riggs helped Grandpa around the yard. Then again, he was pretty much Grandpa's shadow anytime they were in the yard. Riggs really liked being outside, despite the mosquitos. After lunch we all loaded up and headed to Chena Lakes. It was a beautiful day for paddle boating, canoeing, and row boating. The kids had a great time and the weather was perfect. After a couple of hours rowing around the lake, we made our way back home to enjoy hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill. The kids wanted fireworks but if you take a look at the last picture, it was taken after midnight and fireworks during daylight just aren't quite the same. ;) After dinner, Rebecca suggested the girls do their own version of "Chopped". Ben kind of got us all hooked on the show while we were there so the girls were extremely excited to do their own. Peter and I were the judges. Let's just say their creativity is top notch. So glad Peter was a great sport because he was a much better judge than myself. Overall, a very fun and Happy 4th for us in Fairbanks!

Relaxing Day

On Thursday, Rob, Ben, and myself went to lunch at The Food Factory and then to see Transformers: Age of Extinction. Ben's choice. Very much an action flick. While we were away, Rebecca took the girls to lunch while Grandpa entertained the boys with a trip to Home Depot and Lunch at Sam's Club. When the girls got back, they made homemade raspberry jelly with Grandma. We were able to bring home 7 jars. Good stuff! Later that evening, we made a trip into town to visit the Morris Thompson Cultural Center which is a visitors center with lots of fun information about Alaska. While downtown, I snapped a picture of the Chena River which flows through Fairbanks. It was extremely high due to all the rain the past few days. Our next adventure would be to canoe it. :) Another fun day in Fairbanks!

Seward Highway, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and Moose

Wednesday morning we decided to head back towards Seward to visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Even though it was backtracking, we looked forward to it. The Seward Highway is well worth it. I took a lot of pictures but it's never quite the same., especially for an "All American Highway" award winning road.   ;)  The Conservation Center is a neat little place where we could get an up close look at the wildlife found in Alaska. The amazing scenery was a bonus.  After our visit there, we were on the road again back to Fairbanks.  Just before entering Denali, there were several cars on the side of the road.  In Alaska, this means wildlife.  ;)  We pulled over to see three moose taking a bath in the lake. Rob was so excited for them to finally see a moose, in the wild, not just in a cage.  We watched for a little bit, snapped some pictures, then back on the road.  We had a lot of fun in Anchorage and Seward.  Our little excursion was well worth the drive!

Seward, Alaska

Tuesday we made the drive from Anchorage down to Seward. BEAUTIFUL drive. I have more pics of that later but Rob and I both agreed that the scenery never gets old. We arrived a couple of hours early so we made our way through the town. We happened to see a fireman outside washing a fire truck so we stopped to chat. They invited us in the station for a quick tour. Riggs really enjoyed this part of the day. We thought it was very nice of the retired Fire Chief to do this for the kids. After the tour, we headed to the dock to load our boat. Rob chose an excellent kid-friendly tour of Resurrection Bay. The kids were given little books when we boarded. They each completed three pages in the book, enjoyed hands on activities on the boat and listened out for the Park Ranger's description of each animal we saw which included seals, sea otters, bald eagles, porpoises, sea lions, humpback whales, puffins, and mountain goats. At the end of the cruise, they all received Junior Ranger badges. Kind of neat. For the adults (and kids), we enjoyed the all you can eat salmon and prime rib buffet. ;) If you ever find yourself in Seward with little ones, I highly recommend this day cruise. After the cruise, we headed back to Anchorage and decided to make a pit stop at Portage Glacier and the Alyeska Resort for a tram ride up the mountain. Wow. The pictures do not do the view justice. It was amazing. After the tram ride we headed back to the house but not before we stopped at a neat little bakery for the biggest sugar cookies we have ever seen. And yes, we headed back their for breakfast the next morning for their giant cinnamon rolls. :)