Summer Fun in Fairbanks, Part 2

We continued to enjoy the sunshine and variety of playgrounds Fairbanks has to offer.

We also continued to enjoy our time with the Jacobsen cousins.

However, the weather turned cold and rainy for our last week in Fairbanks, so we found fun things to do indoors.

Leinna decided she still wanted to play outside, so we "went outside" to play inside the car! She had so much fun pretending to drive the car. 

We also helped Grandma Jacobsen make some mixed berry jam.

Lukkas was content to play with his toes!

And finally, Leinna spent several hours in the wood shop with Papa and Grandpa Jacobsen (aka Pope). She had a BLAST playing in the saw dust and even let Papa use the air compressor to "brush her off".  

Now you may ask why was there so much saw dust? 

It all starts with a plan...

Papa and Grandpa had built a chest of drawers when Papa was in college.  Now that Papa has a growing family, he wanted to make more furniture. Since Grandpa has his wood shop up and running now, Papa built 3 pieces of furniture this summer - 2 chest of drawers and 1 dresser.

After cutting all the pieces out, many hours were spent sanding.

And then the frame work could be put together

After the frame was built - let the staining begin.

A few final touches and the pieces were ready to bring home.

We were welcomed back to Cordova with beautiful sunshine and a show from the humpback whales.

And now that we are home...

The furniture looks great and...

our snow is gone! YAHOO!!!

It was a great trip to Fairbanks and it feels good to be back home. Now to finish unpacking and start to get ready for the new school year!

Happy 2nd Birthday Leinna

Happy 2nd Birthday to my wonderful little girl!

 We started our day off by going to Pioneer Park. 

In addition to playing on the play ground equipment and taking a ride on the train around the park, Leinna had her first lesson in Miniature Golf. 

Her version of the game is to pick the ball up and drop it in the hole! She did have fun walking to all the different greens.  

After a fun time at the park, lunch and a much needed nap, we decided to open presents so she would have time to play with her new toys before bedtime.

 A very fitting farm house from Grandma and Grandpa Emerson since they now live on a farm!

 A fun Sesame Street play house that Leinna calls her car. The only reason I think she calls it a car is because it resembles the Little Tike play car that she has played with at day care. 

 Of course some new books for my little reader! 

She especially enjoyed having her cousins read to her. 

A new bib complete with Mr. Potato Head glasses! 

 After presents we had dinner - a milk can supper made by Grandma Jacobsen- YUMMY!! And then it was time for birthday cake.  A simple jello-cake topped with blueberry/strawberry/kiwi flowers - or at least it was my attempt to make it look like flowers. 

 Leinna thought it was pretty neat to have her family sing happy birthday to her.

And with a little help from Papa- her birthday wishes came true.

We had a wonderful day celebrating her birthday and extra special memories that her Jacobsen side of the family could help her celebrate!

Summer Fun In Fairbanks Part 1

I'm sure I'll have plenty more pictures and stories to share, but thought I would write an update since we are about half-way through our trip. 

First of all- the sun and warm weather is just what the soul needed! We've had a few rain showers, but the fact that it rains and then the sun returns on the same day- is SO refreshing to me. The plant above (delphiniums I believe) is another 3 feet taller than I am!

Leinna can't get enough of being outside. So thankful for a park near by- just a short drive from Grandma and Grandpa (aka Pope's) house.

She has so much fun and I can't help but smile. This is what summer is all about. Being outside and enjoying the day.

I'm also thankful for the time we've had with the Jacobsen's cousins. They are so kind with Leinna and Lukkas. The kids are going to miss having them around when they return to South Dakota at the end of the week. 

Grandma Jacobsen has some amazing flowers around the yard and Leinna makes sure to help water the plants and that the flowers smell good each day. 

Of course we spend time loving on brother every day. This would have been such a cute picture if Leinna would have looked at the camera. Oh well- first day I was able to get all of her hair up into piggy tails :-) 

Mister Lukkas is 14 weeks now and when he's not sleeping, he's trying so very hard to roll from his back to his stomach. He also loves to suck on his hands. I wasn't going to give him his pacifier unless he was trying to sleep- but I've opted to give it to him just to give his poor little hand a break. He literally has little blisters on his hands!

Lukkas is loving the warm weather too! The fresh air has helped him settle into a nice routine and we've even had a couple of nights in a row of sleeping through the night. YAHOO!!!

Miss Leinna Daisy will be 2 tomorrow, July 6th! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. I look forward to my next update - full of birthday pictures and the rest of our trip.

Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun...

Amazing how many more pictures I take when the sun is shining! 

When the sun shines in Cordova, everything comes to a stop and you go outside and enjoy every moment you can!   We've been blessed with a few sunny and warm (almost 70 degrees!) weather the past few days. What a difference a little sunshine can make in a person's attitude and outlook on life. The whole town just seems happier!

Our sunshine weather means we've been walking Leinna to her day care provider. She lives about a mile from our house and Leinna enjoys riding in the stroller.  Here she is enjoying the sunshine with one of her day care buddies.

We've also been bringing Lukkas to Ms. Sarah's so they can get to know each other. Lukkas will start up in August as I will be going back to work full time next school year. I'm sad that I won't be with my baby during the day, but so very, very thankful Ms. Sarah has a spot for Lukkas!

Now that the sun is out- it means the slugs are too!  You can see Leinna still has a jacket on - it wasn't quiet warm enough until...

a few days later! Yep- check that out- hair in a pony-tail, shorts, bare feet! LOVE IT!! 

We've enjoyed many beautiful walks out at Hartney Bay. We love walking out there as there is very little traffic and Leinna can run, run, run to her hearts content!

Sunshine - also means summer time meals.

 Leinna LOVED eating corn on the cob. Fresh produce can be rather expensive in Cordova- especially when I grew up with a garden and the thought of spending $1 for ONE ear of corn, about makes my heart stop.  However, it was worth every penny to watch Leinna enjoy eating the corn on the cob. She actually ate an entire ear by herself!

Mr. Lukkas is enjoying the warm weather too! 

Can't believe it's been 12 weeks since my baby boy joined our family. 

He's so much fun and such a good baby.

Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun- won't you please shine down on me!

To my friends and family who read our adventures... This week we'll be headed to Fairbanks to spend some time with Uncle Lars (Papa's brother) and his family and Grandma and Grandpa Jacobsen. We will be gone for almost a month -  we will do our best to update our adventures - but may not be able to update weekly!  Thanks for checking in with us and following our adventures :-)

Father's Day Part 2

Well, Mother Nature decided to give us a break from the rain and we took advantage of it! After Leinna woke up from her nap, we loaded everyone up and headed out the road. Haystack is one of our favorite trails. Its relatively close to town and it's a short enough hike to complete in an evening.

 

It was a great hike and with a little self photography we captured our hike at the top of the trail.

And even though we STILL have snow in the yard...

we found that spring does exist in Cordova!

And better yet- the weather forecast for the rest of the week...

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

I love Father's Day!

 It's such a wonderful day to take time to celebrate the first man I loved in my life :-)

I have many special memories of my dad, but the ones that stick out are the times we spent outdoors. I love that he encouraged me to get dirty, play with worms, and the art of throwing the fish back in the lake for a score of 10! 

This Father's Day is also special because my family is now complete. Leif and I do not (I repeat- do not) plan to have any more children. So this Father's Day is our first with our completed family.  The weather is not looking to promising to do much outdoors, but I'm sure we'll find something fun to do. 

A couple of weeks ago, Leif instructed Leinna in the fine art of throwing rocks in the water. He could spend hours throwing/skipping rocks. She loved it and now wants to go throw rocks all the time- even in the rain!

Lukkas loves his snuggle time with his Papa.

Happy Papa's Day to Leif! He's an amazing Papa and I look forward to the years to come when he can share his passions with his kids, like my dad shared his with me.

Lukkas is 11 weeks old now - that's almost 3 months! Man- where does the time go!

Leinna playing catch with the balloon. I can't believe we are planning her 2nd birthday in a few short weeks. We will be in Fairbanks this year for her birthday - so it will be fun to celebrate with family.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Father's Day!